Chapter 19 - Rainy Alley
Before he could get home, the rain began to fall.
When the first few drops splashed onto his face, Lu Yuan knew he was in for it.
And sure enough, within a few seconds, the rainfall became vicious.
"Whoosh..."
Raindrops the size of beans fell from the sky, as if someone was pouring buckets of water from the heavens in the dead of night.
Lu Yuan quickly sought shelter under the eaves of a shop along the street, shook the water droplets off his hair, and proceeded home along the narrow sheltered area.
After the heavy rain began, there were even fewer people on the streets.
Occasionally, he could see one or two unfortunate office workers who had been working overtime, clutching their laptop bags and sprinting along the road.
The orange lights of electric scooters and cars pierced through the curtain of rain, speeding past Lu Yuan from time to time.
Suddenly, a small van stopped at the entrance of an alley ahead of Lu Yuan.
As Lu Yuan walked on, he glanced casually in that direction.
The van door opened, and four or five men in black short sleeves tumbled out, two of them seemed to be carrying something.
Wrapped in black oilcloth, it was unclear what it was.
After the men got out of the van, two people quickly emerged from the alley to meet them.
The two groups immediately went into the alley, leaving only a man in his twenties, with dyed blonde hair, standing at the alley entrance smoking a cigarette.
The rain was too heavy.
Lu Yuan couldn't understand why the young man chose to stand in the heavy rain to smoke.
"Can that even stay lit?"
Lu Yuan mumbled to himself.
As he passed by the young man, the latter seemed to glare at him, cursing under his breath.
Then, tossing his cigarette on the ground, he also turned and headed into the alley.
Lu Yuan walked a few dozen meters further, preparing to cross the street.
Looking at the blinking red light across the road, he unconsciously glanced back at the alley he had just passed.
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
The red light turned green.
Lu Yuan stepped onto the crosswalk.
Even with his hand shielding his head, the raindrops still rapidly rolled down his hair.
Squinting, he carefully avoided the puddles on the road.
Halfway across, Lu Yuan stopped.
He stared at the swiftly walking green man on the traffic signal for a moment. Something stirred within him, and abruptly, he turned around and sprinted back the way he came.
"I hope... I'm just overthinking."
Lu Yuan ran to the alley where the van had stopped and peered inside.
The heavy rain blurred his vision, and the alley was pitch black.
Not a single light.
This was part of the oldest district, with many unrenovated rural-style houses. Almost no one lived here anymore.
Lu Yuan took a few steps into the alley.
Suddenly, he squatted down and picked up a pink hair clip from the waterlogged ground.
The hair clip looked new, the kind that high school girls would wear.
No matter how he looked at it, Lu Yuan found it strangely familiar.
Images flashed through his mind like scenes from a movie.
"Recently there have been multiple missing persons cases in our city, the police have established a special investigative team."
"Lu Hui, Female, Age 28, last seen wearing a white top. If you have any information, please call..."
"Lu Yuan, want to walk back to class together? I want to check the math answers we did yesterday afternoon."
"What're you looking at, punk! Scram!"
"Snap!"
A flash of lightning overhead suddenly illuminated everything before me.
Lu Yuan suddenly connected all the clues in his mind.
"Are they kidnapping Ling Yue for human trafficking?!"
He reflexively reached for his phone, but a faint whistling sound approached swiftly through the heavy rain.
"Bang!"
The rusted steel pipe slammed heavily on the cement ground.
Lu Yuan crouched on the ground, his clothes and pants damp with mud from rolling over. He looked somewhat disheveled.
"Whoa, you actually dodged that?"
The yellow-haired youth looked at Lu Yuan in surprise, the silver earring on his left ear glinting with each flash of lightning.
Lu Yuan swiftly stood up, his legs tensed, instinctively wanting to rush at the yellow hair.
But in the next moment he forcibly stopped himself, and abruptly turned to run out of the alley instead.
The adult soul in this teenage body told him.
In this situation, the first priority was to get to safety, then call the police - that was the best decision.
But before Lu Yuan could get out of the alley, the parked van at the entrance suddenly turned on its orange headlights. It swerved into the alley, blocking the narrow path completely.
"Vroom!"
The engine cut off, the van sealed the alley shut.
The blinding headlights made Lu Yuan squint and turn his face slightly.
He saw the van door open, and an average-built, plain-looking middle-aged man walked emotionlessly out of the car.
"Damn it!"
Lu Yuan realized now.
Someone had been inside the car the whole time.
All his hesitation, turning back, everything he did in the alley had been witnessed clearly by this man in the car.
"Ha-"
Lu Yuan heard a mocking laugh, then the swooshing sound of a weapon swinging at his head again.
He desperately dodged to the side, and in that split second, he twisted his body and launched a flying kick at the yellow-haired youth with the steel pipe.
"Thud!"
The kick landed solidly.
The yellow-haired youth was sent flying 3-4 meters back until he hit the wall and slumped down on his butt.
The steel pipe also fell from his hand.
"This kid knows martial arts!"
The yellow hair yelled while clutching his chest.
The middle-aged man blocking the alley frowned, and rushed at Lu Yuan on his own initiative.
Lu Yuan's left hand gripped the hair clip tightly, his cheeks flushed. His intuition told him the blood in his whole body seemed to be boiling over in this moment.
Two lifetimes.
This could be considered his first real fight.
Basic punches, basic kicks, basic footwork, basic grappling.
Jab, left hook, right roundhouse kick, forward slide step.
All those combat skills he had painstakingly trained floated messily through his mind, but Lu Yuan couldn't grasp any of it.
He could only follow his instincts, sinking his stance slightly, then punching straight at the man's face with full force.
His fist pierced through the heavy curtain of rain, but before it could land, the middle-aged man casually slapped it aside.
The man followed up with a punch of his own aimed at Lu Yuan's neck.
Lu Yuan could only tilt his body, but his shoulder still took the blow.
The two swiftly grappled, the sounds of fists and feet clashing in the rain going "pap pap".
It was completely different from sparring with Cheng Peng.
With no protective gear on, the blows landed directly on his body.
But right now the adrenaline was surging, plus his Physique boosting him, Lu Yuan barely felt any pain.
The middle-aged man was clearly also trained, his speed and power far exceeding Lu Yuan's.
In terms of actual combat experience, Lu Yuan was even further behind.
Almost as soon as they engaged, he fell at a disadvantage, forced into passively taking hits.
He had only lasted this long through sheer willpower and tenacity.
"Splash ---"
Behind him, splashing footsteps suddenly approached through the water.
Lu Yuan punched away the man's attack, swiftly stuck his body against the wall, and looked back.
He saw 5-6 figures in raincoats walking over, holding weapons like sticks and obvious cleavers.
The yellow-haired youth he had kicked flying was also back on his feet.
He approached with the others, eyes filled with viciousness like stray dogs fighting over food.
"Bro Hei!"
Someone shouted.
The middle-aged man blocking the alley smiled, replied in dialect, glancing at Lu Yuan mockingly as he spoke.
Lu Yuan watched the two groups converge, about to join forces.
In the heavy rain, the tall cement walls of the village alleyways almost melded into the dark sky.
A strange panic and despair welled up from his heart.
Lu Yuan began to feel flustered.
He could hear the thumping of his heartbeat in his chest.
The raindrops on his face and body felt icy cold.
"Huff- Huff-"
His breathing grew heavier and rougher.
Just as he was about to reach a breaking point.
"Bang!"
Lu Yuan smashed his fist heavily into the wall behind him. Like a beast, he suddenly pounced at the nearby middle-aged man.
Under the downpour, the sprinting youth gritted his teeth fiercely, his handsome features twisted from the exertion.
His eyes lit up with sparks of madness.
Unseen by anyone.
A pale blue virtual screen quickly condensed.
On the screen.
The two available free attribute points disappeared instantly, at the same time, a change occurred in the Strength stat.
From the original 9
It silently became. 11!