Actually, Lin Fei didn't have a concrete concept of the Inner World. In her previous life, she had just been a common martial arts enthusiast, had joined a martial gym for a while, and participated in a single Sanda competition.
In fact, in Lin Fei's mind, the so-called experts of the Inner World were simply much more formidable than professional fighters. As for how much more formidable they were over professional fighters, she had no clear idea.
Even now, her own strength, having mastered the Basic Sword Technique, lacked a precise assessment. She just estimated in her heart that she should be a bit stronger than before.
Strength, after all, is validated through combat. But in a lawful society, finding one or two experts that perfectly matched her current level of ability was like finding a needle in a haystack. As for the true experts of the Inner World...
"Let's forget about it for now, I'm still too weak," Lin Fei muttered, shaking her head to dismiss the thought. "I must first discreetly gather relevant data and intelligence from the sidelines."
Knowing nothing of the Inner World's experts, if those guys were the type to kill without batting an eye, rashly approaching would be careless; a slight misstep, and the outcome...
"Maybe, first targeting some local small gangs and hoodlums to test the waters isn't a bad idea."
Lin Fei quietly contemplated the matters that required attention. She felt increasingly that this idea was suitable. Since her current strength couldn't be precisely estimated, she could use ordinary people to gauge a rough estimate, and as for these local ruffians, in her previous life, she had been bullied and had protection money extorted from her. This was one of the reasons she had later resolved to learn Sanda fighting.
Now, she was confident that facing over ten hoodlums head-on wouldn't pose any major problems.
In the Basic Sword Technique, the most crucial content involved acupuncture points! Whether it was the Sword of Death or the Remnant Sword, extreme precision in eyesight and hand strength was required to reproduce the recorded effects of the acupuncture points to the letter, as described – this was considered perfect mastery of the Basic Sword Technique.
These secret acupuncture points were not the meridian points of traditional Chinese medicine but bore strange names with extremely vicious effects.
For instance, between the chest and abdomen, where traditional Chinese medicine has the Juque point among over ten others, the Basic Sword Technique lists over twenty points, all of which had crippling effects. This was also the reason Lin Fei was so confident.
With this map of acupuncture points, coupled with her previous life's fighting experience, she was fully capable of swiftly defeating an opponent. Of course, if she moderated her strength a little, the results shouldn't be so severe.
Deciding to act on her thoughts, she glanced outside to see the sky had completely darkened.
The streetlights along the residential roads cast a bright yellow glow, around which tiny insects flitted and danced. A few elderly people who had finished their meals were taking a leisurely stroll along the roadside, backs held straight, and here and there, young people dribbled basketballs towards the playing fields within the school area.
Although this was just a distribution building for an elementary school, the school had constructed a small basketball court next to the staff cafeteria.
In her previous life, Lin Fei had also played there, but her interest had gradually waned – she really wasn't too keen on basketball. However, if she was to look for trouble with some petty thugs, only a few places were ideal.
Billiard halls, arcades, internet cafes, and basketball courts.
Not the courts inside the housing estate, but a public basketball court in a nearby leisure square.
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The area was encircled by a dense wire fence. Inside was a small, concrete basketball court with four baskets, allowing for two separate games.
Beyond the court were some roadside gardens and stone benches trailing through small paths. Just outside of those was the main road.
In the evening, high-wattage bulbs brightly illuminated both sides of the basketball court. The cool evening breeze still held a touch of warmth, not cold enough to be uncomfortable against the skin. It was the perfect time for a game of basketball.
There were already two teams playing ball on the court.
Some teenagers, halfway to adulthood, gathered around the stone benches at the court's edge, watching the game out of boredom.
Lin Fei was among them. Surprisingly, she recognized some people on the court who were playing.
Cheng Bin, who grew up in the same yard as Lin Fei, though they weren't very close, and he lived in another distribution building – but after more than a decade of seeing each other, they were somewhat friends.
Cheng Bin was strong and tall, a sports enthusiast good at both basketball and football, and had a lively personality. He was also fairly good-looking and quite popular in the neighborhood. However, Lin Fei didn't go over to greet him.
Cheng Bin was overly outgoing. If he saw a familiar face like Lin Fei watching, he'd likely insist on pulling her onto the court to play no matter what.
Lin Fei stood by the side for a while.
"If nothing happens, I might as well head to the arcade." This basketball court often saw friction and fights, so anyone who came to play considered themselves somewhat tough. Naturally, that meant there were more incidents. In her previous life, when Lin Fei passed by, she often witnessed fights breaking out here.
Just as Lin Fei was getting impatient, something finally happened on the court.
The two basketball teams got into an argument over something and began shoving and cursing each other, while the onlookers outside grew excited, perhaps having been waiting for such a moment.
Lin Fei saw everything clearly. It seemed like a girl, who came with Cheng Bin's team, got hit on the head by a ball thrown by someone from the opposing team.
Normally, there were very few girls on the basketball court, and they were the cherished ones of their teams. Suddenly getting hit by a ball inflamed the tall and burly players.
Seeing this, Lin Fei's heart leapt, and she immediately rushed out from the crowd directly towards the court.
"Cheng Bin!" she yelled while running towards him.
Cheng Bin, hearing the shout from the crowd, turned around, his face instantly lighting up. More people meant more power at a time like this. He recognized Lin Fei,
"Lin Fei, what are you doing here?" But his voice was immediately drowned out by the cursing and shouting from both sides.
"Fuck your mother! Calling for backup, huh! Huizi, go and get Mouse and the others!"
"Have the guts not to back down! Grandson! Come on! Weren't you shouting fiercely just now!"
"I've got you marked, come on, hit me! I dare you to hit me!"
The fiercest among the opposite group, a blonde guy, suddenly stripped off his T-shirt and violently thumped his chest, his face twisted with ferocity.
"Fight this way! Come on! Fight! Fight!!"
Naturally, Cheng Bin's side was unable to hold back their anger any longer. It was unclear who threw the first punch. The blonde got smashed hard in the chest with a fist, stumbling backward.
"Dare to hit me!!??"
"They started fighting!! They're throwing punches!!" The other side erupted in shouts of alarm.
"They actually dared to hit Brother Yang!!"
Something felt off to Lin Fei's group. It seemed this 'Brother Yang' blonde was a big deal. The girl who was hit by the ball earlier could only anxiously wait on the side, now wanting to step forward to speak but was held back by a teammate.
Soon, within a few minutes, a full-blown brawl erupted on both sides. Lin Fei was about to jump into the fray when suddenly a burst of siren sounds approached rapidly. Two police cars with flashing lights quickly stopped at the edge of the basketball court, their doors banging open and closed as six or seven police officers in uniform hastily disembarked and ran towards the scene.
The arrival of the police clearly indicated they were there for them. Cheng Bin's group instantly froze, mere ordinary high school students without any backgrounds, faced with such a situation, fear overcame them, their hearts filled with growing dread as the officers approached.
"What the hell is going on here!!" A slightly overweight officer reached the crowd and bellowed at them.
"Disturbing the peace! Brawling! You want to spend a couple of days in jail, is that it!!" The stout officer's face was grim as he waved his hand and issued the order.
"Take them away!!!"
Immediately, several officers behind him surged forward.
....
...
One minute later...
Lin Fei, Cheng Bin, and the others watched the departing police cars, dumbstruck, standing on the basketball court with no idea how to react.
"That blonde guy is done for," suddenly blurted out one of Cheng Bin's buddies.
They initially thought the police were coming for them, but it turned out the officers paid them no mind and directly grabbed the blonde who had been the most vocal and left.
"Let's break it up."
"They've all left."
"Cheng Bin, I'm heading out."
"Oh. I'll speak to my buddy for a second. You guys go ahead."
Watching the basketball team leave first, Cheng Bin patted Lin Fei's shoulder, feeling a little moved as he spoke.
"Real solid of you!"
Lin Fei smiled and was about to speak when his gaze suddenly caught a familiar figure.
Across the street, at the lamp post next to the bus stop sign, under the bus shelter, his younger sister Lin You sat on the stone bench with a nervous expression.
When Lin Fei turned his gaze and saw her, an office lady clad in stockings passed by Lin You. One moment, Lin You's hands were empty; the next, she held a small black notebook.
Lin Fei was slightly taken aback. He glanced at the passing woman in stockings; she showed no sign of noticing anything amiss. Looking back at Lin You, the black notebook had already been quietly slipped into her bag.
"Could it be that Lin You has already started interacting with people from the Inner World?" Lin Fei's mind raced, then he came back to the present and tapped Cheng Bin's shoulder in front of him. "Let's head back now."
Cheng Bin wore a face filled with residual fear.
"Never coming here to play basketball again."
"Safety first."
"Yeah, safety first."