It was almost eleven o'clock, and there were pitifully few cars on the road. The journey was smooth.

Chen Shouyi looked out the window for a while, then retracted his gaze.

At this moment, a doubt flashed in his mind. Who would be setting off fireworks in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?

He looked out the window again and found that the fireworks had stopped.

A bad premonition suddenly arose in his heart, and he said:

"Dad, drive faster."

"It's too dark, I'm already going sixty miles an hour. Going any faster would be dangerous," said Chen Dawei.

"Better to go slow, better to go slow. A car accident would be terrible," Mrs. Chen also said.

Seeing his parents insist, Chen Shouyi did not persuade further; indeed, driving too fast at night was risky.

Maybe he was just overthinking it.

Chen Shouyi thought to himself.

Ten minutes later, as the car entered the national highway, there were even fewer cars on the road, and often several minutes would pass without seeing a vehicle coming from the opposite direction.

The car gradually moved away from the city, and Chen Shouyi gazed back at the dark city behind him with some melancholy.

This was the city where he had lived from childhood to adulthood.

It was filled with countless memories, and it was also where his first love resided.

He didn't know when he would be able to return after this departure.

Nor did he know when he could meet Zhang Xiaoyue again.

Love to Chen Shouyi was like an elusive breeze on a hot summer day, unexpected yet vanishing without a trace.

...

As time passed, the buildings on both sides gradually gave way to farmland.

Chen Dawei also increased the speed appropriately to seventy miles per hour: "We'll be in Pingqiu City in about half an hour."

"Once there, we'll stay overnight in a hotel. Tomorrow we'll look for a house. I just wonder if we can find a hotel once we arrive?" asked Mrs. Chen.

"If not, we can just manage in the car for a night!" Chen Dawei said.

Perhaps because they were getting close to Pingqiu City, the oppressive atmosphere since their departure began to ease.

Chen Shouyi glanced at Chen Xingyue and found that she was already a bit drowsy, her head nodding up and down, her eyelids struggling to stay open.

It's understandable, today had been a day full of events for her, her nerves had been taut like steel wires, and any relaxation would lead to exhaustion.

At this moment, a light shone into the back of the car.

Chen Shouyi turned to look and saw through the bright light a car speeding toward them.

This speed must be over a hundred miles per hour?

A sinking feeling gripped his heart, and he nudged Chen Xingyue.

She gave a startled jolt and woke up abruptly, "Brother, what's wrong?"

"Stay alert!" Chen Shouyi said.

Just as he finished speaking, the rear window shattered instantly, and he heard a burst of gunfire in his ear.

He quickly pushed Chen Xingyue's head down, and the next moment, the car shook as if a tire had been blown out, causing the vehicle to skid sideways rapidly.

There was a burst of screams from inside the car, but fortunately, Chen Dawei reacted quickly, immediately steering the wheel sharply and slamming on the brakes. After an ear-piercing screech, the car finally came to a stop.

"Get down, get down, stay in the car, don't come out. Don't worry, leave these people to me." Chen Shouyi crouched down while speaking loudly, quickly picked up the war bow beside him.

"Be careful!" Mrs. Chen said worriedly.

"Brother, be safe."

Chen Shouyi didn't respond. His breathing gradually steadied, his heart pounding fiercely.

The gunfire continued for a brief moment, then ceased.

Immediately, he heard the sound of the other car stopping.

Now's the time!

Chen Shouyi took a deep breath, swung the car door open, and sprang out like a leopard.

Before he even stood still, he twisted his body, swiftly drawing the bow, and loosed an arrow fiercely.

Some twenty or thirty meters ahead, a black car was filled with people.

A gunman in the front passenger seat, having just swapped out a fresh magazine, reached for the car door. Just as he was about to step out, a lightning-fast arrow pierced through the front windshield and his skull in an instant.

The others, seeing this, were terrified and hurriedly ducked down.

Chen Shouyi, with a stern expression, swiftly pulled out another arrow and shot towards the driver's seat.

The five-hundred-pound war bow had incredible short-range power; the thin metal sheeting of the car was as fragile as tissue paper against this strong bow. The arrow shot through the car's hood next to the window, pierced the plastic dashboard and continued its momentum, embedding itself in the body of the driver hiding behind.

Chen Shouyi fired ten more arrows in quick succession, and the entire car looked like a porcupine, filled with arrows.

He threw aside the war bow, pulled out a long sword, and began walking toward the car to check for any survivors.

However, he had only taken a few steps.

Then unexpectedly it happened.

With a thunderous bang, the car door was violently blown a few meters away, landing on the road with a clang.

A burly man in a black suit, one hand holding a sword and the other an arrow, emerged from the backseat. He twisted his neck and clicked his tongue, saying:

"I didn't expect just coming here to see, I'd encounter such a skilled expert."

His footsteps were unhurried, his demeanor composed.

His walking posture was very peculiar. Though he took step by step like an ordinary person, if one looked closely, one would notice his body didn't sway at all. It was as straight as a line.

If not watching his legs, it seemed as though he was gliding, yet it imparted an unparalleled sense of coordination.

"As expected, those trash are unreliable. It's up to me to handle it myself." He tossed aside the arrow in his hand, "Oh, by the way, you almost managed to harm me earlier."

Chen Shouyi felt a heaviness in his heart, but his tone was unyielding. Just bluffing, who wouldn't?

"You should be grateful you lived a few seconds longer, trash! Lapdog of the Barbarian God! Traitor."

"Hahaha, lapdog." The man in black seemed provoked, "Ah, youth is indeed naive. Unfortunately, you won't survive the night."

"So much talk before dying, come on then!"

Chen Shouyi sneered, drew his long sword with a metallic "clink," discarded the scabbard, and his body transformed into a blur, swiftly stabbing toward the man in black.

A loud "clang" was heard.

Sparks flew, saturating the air with a metallic scent.

The swords parted as quickly as they clashed.

The man in black parried his long sword and advanced with a sword strike aimed at Chen Shouyi's throat.

His swordsmanship was honed through countless battles, far superior to Chen Shouyi's. Each strike, each move was as elusive as a graceful antelope and vanished like a sudden glimpse of a flying swan, akin to lightning.

Fortunately, Chen Shouyi reacted more swiftly, stepping to the right, tilting his body, and simultaneously counter-thrusting with his sword.

All along, he had a misconception, believing a martial artist's strength had to be at least 12.7 points. He assumed agility needed to be the same.

In reality, compared to strength, increasing agility was exponentially more difficult.

This was related to neural response speed, and the regular 36-style body refinement routine didn't effectively enhance neural response speed. Apart from continuous reflex training, one had to rely on innate talent.

In truth, agility only needed to be about 12.3 to meet martial artist standards.

And Chen Shouyi's agility was 13.2, even if the opponent was already a martial artist, his reaction ability was three levels faster than the man in black. These three levels completely compensated for his weaker swordsmanship experience.

In the darkness, the two figures moved at high speed like illusions, each leap and bound flashing like electric swords, occasionally bursting with sparks.

After the initial phase of the battle, which brought immense pressure, Chen Shouyi soon became increasingly at ease, gaining the upper hand.

A few seconds later, his body flickered, avoiding an incoming sword light, swiftly countering with a strike while stepping past the man's flank, the sharp blade lightly dragging along through his rapid movement.

The fight suddenly ended.

Both stood still at their original positions.

"You…" The man in black uttered a single word just before a rustling sound from his abdomen, as a large heap of intestines spilled from his belly, his body swaying before collapsing to his knees.

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