Green leaves drifted with the wind, streaking diagonally like raindrops in front of the two men.
Lin Fei chuckled softly, slightly bent over, and suddenly lunged forward. The Bear Claw in his hand transformed into a black streamline, reaching for the middle-aged man's neck.
The man's expression intensified, his body sidestepped, and with a spinning step underfoot, he twisted directly behind Lin Fei, while the latter, due to excessive force, couldn't turn back immediately. A hint of joy flashed in the man's eyes. His elbow smashed down fiercely toward the back of Lin Fei's head.
"Ripping!"
"Tss."
The golden-red sunlight lingered on Lin Fei, the skinny youth basked in dazzling light, his face indiscernible. Only the corners of his mouth bore a savage and frenzied smile. The black Bear Claw in his hand slowly dripped drops of blood. At this moment, it seemed to have fully transformed into the claw extending from his hand.
The man fell to his knees with a thud, his hands clutching his neck, where there was a huge wound over ten centimeters long, a hissing sound echoed from the wound, a sign of a severed windpipe. A massive amount of blood gushed from the wound like a fountain, quickly staining his whole body red.
His eyes conveyed extreme astonishment, as if he couldn't understand why he was in the ascendancy one moment, and the next, he had instantly become a fallen loser.
"Clap clap clap clap....."
Suddenly, applause broke out near the forest, crisp and rhythmic.
Lin Fei turned around.
A young man dressed in a white suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, calmly walked out from behind a large tree from the side.
"Sun Chengbin, I didn't expect you to face this day," the man in the white suit said indifferently to the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground.
"You know each other?" Lin Fei narrowed his eyes slightly, emitting a dangerous aura.
"Don't! Don't get excited! I'm not your enemy," the man in the white suit was taken aback and hastily waved his hands.
"Appearing at the wrong time, at the wrong place, it doesn't matter whether you're an enemy or not."
Lin Fei lightly shook off the blood on the Bear Claw and surged forward in a flash. His movement followed the Footwork of the Basic Sword Technique, eerily twisting the Strength concentrated in his right hand that held the Bear Claw.
The man in the white suit's expression instantly tensed as Lin Fei was too fast, denying him the time to say another word. He had to hastily defend with a silver object he flicked from his hand, blocking Lin Fei's rapid thrust.
The two exchanged blows in a rapid rhythm for several rounds. The man in the white suit was clearly stronger than the previous middle-aged man and had an extremely shrewd battle experience. Often, before Lin Fei made his move, he already knew the point of attack.
The Basic Sword Technique was indeed formidable; Lin Fei's physical fitness was still far from the man's level, with at least a threefold gap, but even with such a difference, Lin Fei forcefully used the Basic Sword Technique's power focusing technique to compensate.
Finally, the man in the white suit seized an opportunity to thrust a full-force punch to push Lin Fei back, and quickly shouted aloud, "I'm not your enemy, I came here to chase him down!! Hold your fire!! I've got more people coming!! How many can you kill?"
Lin Fei's expression remained unchanged, about to attack again, but upon hearing the other's words, he immediately sheathed the Bear Claw with a snap.
"Then we stop fighting. Tell me, who exactly are you?" The sensation of killing still lingered in his heart, a feeling of completely breaking through limits, as if freeing oneself from countless constraints.
"Who we are isn't something you need to know. But the man you killed was once one of us, and now a traitor. So, in a way, you've indirectly helped us," the man in the white suit said regretfully as he glanced at the middle-aged man lying on the ground. "He was a real core member of our organization, such a pity."
"So, I needn't worry about cleaning up the aftermath?" Lin Fei said calmly. His gaze continually drifted towards the man in the white suit's rear, obviously checking if someone was indeed coming from behind.
"Interested in joining us?" The man in the white suit looked at Lin Fei with interest. He was very intrigued by this powerful youth. The organization was currently in a period of turmoil and change, and recruiting a few new strong personnel could be considered indirect support for his own faction.
Lin Fei watched the man in the white suit for a while, then suddenly said, "It's just you behind your back, right?"
"Ah..." The man in the white suit was momentarily taken aback. "Even if it's just me, you should understand, I'm not Sun Chengbin, you can't kill me."
Lin Fei sincerely nodded his head. "Indeed, I can't kill you, but if you can prove that the organization you mentioned really exists, I might consider joining you." He had long wanted an opportunity to delve into the Inner World, and he naturally wouldn't refuse such an occasion.
"That's easy to handle," the man in the white suit's expression brightened. Undoubtedly, he valued Lin Fei highly; being able to kill Sun Chengbin at such a young age meant he could potentially reach much higher levels in the future. Such a potential future master was naturally worth recruiting.
"Although our branch is far from here, with my authority, it is still possible to mobilize a few resources to prove it," the man in the white suit said as he took out a cell phone. He skillfully dialed a series of numbers.
Lin Fei stood opposite, watching him assume a leader's posture and speak a few words to the person on the phone, then requesting the dispatch of two nearby vehicles.
With a snap, he hung up the phone. The man in the white suit smiled at Lin Fei.
"Let's go, someone will be here soon to handle the aftermath. We don't need to worry anymore."
Lin Fei turned back one last time to look at the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground. This was his first battle and his first time killing someone.
In his heart, a faint sense of superiority quietly emerged, as if from then on, his gaze upon anyone would carry a condescending flavor. People, in his heart, had quietly become torches burning one by one.
Lin Fei had an illusion that if he wished, he could extinguish anyone's life flame at any moment. It was a subtle illusion of dividing himself from ordinary people into two distinct species.
He lowered his head to look at his pale palms, a feeling of controlling his own fate spontaneously arose.
"What, first time killing someone?" the man in the white suit asked with a slight smile.
"Yes."
"Do you feel a sense of freedom, completely detached from ordinary people?" the man in the white suit articulated Lin Fei's current sentiments.
"It's a strange feeling. It's as if, the former me lived in a huge cage. It was safe yet limited everywhere. Suddenly, it feels like I've been freed from that cage. Though without the cage's protection and having to face the dangers of the outside world on my own, this feeling of freedom," Lin Fei paused, "is very comforting."
"That's right," the man in the white suit nodded affirmatively. "We are not ordinary people. Having strength beyond ordinary, yet living a constrained life. It is a shackle in itself."
Ten minutes later, the two men stood by the edge of the woods. The man in the white suit lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. The white smoke slowly dispersed in the light of the setting sun.
On a nearby path, four or five sturdy men were jogging towards them.
"They are the quickest manpower we can mobilize from around here. What do you think of their strength?" the man in the white suit asked with a smile, pointing at the approaching men.
Lin Fei's gaze landed on their footsteps.
"Stable and powerful, good balance, not much chest fluctuation, but there is sweat on their temples. They have obviously run a considerable distance. Minimal chest movement suggests a sustenance of breath. Their overall physical quality is not low."
The smile on the man in the white suit broadened.
"However, five breaths are sufficient," Lin Fei smiled, adding a sentence.
The smile on the man in the white suit immediately stiffened.
"Human life is like a torch, easily extinguished. Truly fragile," Lin Fei said somberly, sighing. He recalled the memories from his past life, where even the present him, in those people's eyes, appeared as fragile and vulnerable as the group running towards him.
"If you feel fragile, then become stronger," the man in the white suit said, looking at the young man beside him as if seeing his past self. "Take advantage of your youth. You are a person who can join my Shueisha."
"Shueisha? A society that gathers the heroic?"
"No, a society that gathers elites," the man in the white suit corrected with a smile. "Although I recommend you, to truly gain entry, you still need to pass an assessment by the society."
"Not now. I have other matters, let's schedule a time," Lin Fei shook his head.
"My name is Lu Jun. In ten days, I will come to find you. Tell me your name," the man in the white suit took out a business card from his jacket pocket and handed it to Lin Fei.
"Lin Fei," Lin Fei received the business card and glanced at it. It was printed with "Lu Jun, Executive Director of Rainbow Group," followed by a line of contact numbers. Although the card was white, it was exceptionally thick, apparently not made of simple paper material.
He knew that this was the beginning.