Even with the most formidable techniques, one cannot control an opponent without facing them directly. Li Xiangdong was not a reckless desperado; once he realized his usual methods were not immediately effective, he panicked. The eerie blue light that had appeared in his eyes instantly dissipated and could not be gathered again. At this critical moment, the only means of self-preservation mysteriously failed, which made Li Xiangdong even more fearful. As soon as the gunfire ceased, he immediately shouted in terror, “Spare me, hero!” He lifted the conspicuous box of dollars even higher. “Fuck, just hold on for a few more minutes, wait for these useless idiots to rush in, and then I’ll retreat in glory!” The shrill sound of the sirens naturally alarmed the bandits in the basement, sensing that something was amiss, the leader, Big Boss, led the charge with a roar, “Arm yourselves!” The underlings shouted in unison, pulling Li Xiangdong back who was still pretending to throw money outside. Suddenly, they lifted the manhole cover, which was nearly torn apart, and started to rush upward with chaotic yells. Lin Feng, with the advantage of higher ground, smashed down the heads that popped out with his gun butt, causing chaos among the bandits. Amidst the noisy commotion, Big Boss pulled Scarface over and muttered, “Protect the plates and the printing software, let them hold off for a bit while we escape through the emergency exit!” Scarface hurriedly ran back to Big Boss: “Boss, the plates and the program are gone!” “What?! What the fuck were you doing? Did Li Laoban take them?” “Boss, earlier… earlier, the briefcase given to Li Laoban, the disguised plates and program were hidden in the layers of those bills, possibly… possibly…” “Don’t stutter, are you saying Li Laoban gave it to someone above?” Scarface nodded vigorously. “Fuck! Then what the hell are we waiting for? You must get those plates and program back for me! If we lose these, the big sister will punish us, and we’ll all lose our heads. Go find Li Laoban now, beat him until he smokes if you catch him. If he dares to play dirty with me, fuck, I’ll lead a charge myself! We can’t let these things fall into Li Laoban’s hands; he wants to take all the credit alone, no way!” Scarface roared and went to settle scores with Li Xiangdong, while Big Boss, now furious, picked up a submachine gun and led the charge to the surface. With Big Boss leading the assault, the morale of his underlings surged. Lin Feng, unwilling to let his previous efforts go to waste, cursed the stupid police in his heart while employing the Swift Wind Steps and the Hundred Flowers Bone Dislocation Technique, snapping the neck of another daring bandit, who didn’t know whether he was dead or alive, rolling down the stairs and knocking over others trying to follow. Unable to break through repeatedly, the bandits went mad. Someone started shooting first, a bullet grazing Lin Feng’s cheek, nearly giving him an unwanted tattoo. Once the shooting started, others followed suit, and the sound of gunfire was like New Year’s fireworks. Enraged, Lin Feng grabbed two micro submachine guns and started a frenzied sweep at the exit! If he had grenades in his hand at that moment, Lin Feng would have thrown them in without hesitation. But just as he thought of this, several smoke-emitting objects flew up. Even if he hadn’t eaten pork, he had heard pigs grunt; knowing these flying objects were no good, Lin Feng panicked, grabbed a securely tied-up bandit, and ran out into the open. Then he heard a series of explosions behind him, as bright as festival fireworks. Damn! These bastards, are they arms dealers? Recalling his three female classmates still in the warehouse, Lin Feng turned into a gust of wind, rushing back. The bandits, now desperate, were still throwing bombs outside, but fortunately, the small room where the hostages were kept was far from the basement exit, and the bombs hadn’t reached there yet. Lin Feng didn’t dare delay, rushed into the small room, where the three scared girls were huddled together like chicks, squealing in terror when they saw Lin Feng. Lin Feng had no time for explanations, grabbed one and ran outside, put her down, then rushed back for the others, repeating this three times. In no time, the three silly women, still in a daze, huddled together. The commotion inside the warehouse grew louder; gunfire was chaotic as if the bandits had successfully broken out and were now fighting an imaginary formidable enemy. Lin Feng’s earlier display of his clone technique had been too convincing; these bandits thought they were ambushed by many enemies, so they fired blindly upon breaking out. Finally, the longed-for police cars arrived. Seeing many police cars, it was clear that the shots Lin Feng had fired into the phone had a significant effect. The three silly women should be safe now; the police would rescue them and take them home later. This was not a place for ordinary citizens like him, and Lin Feng knew it was time to leave. The high-decibel loudspeakers on the police cars were blaring, intimidating the chaotic bandits inside the warehouse. A group of fully armed police officers jumped out, dispersing in all directions. One particularly tall and sturdy detective, ignoring others’ dissuasion, charged solo into the smoke-filled warehouse like Mark Gor from “A Better Tomorrow.” Damn! There really are such brave and fearless cops these days! Lin Feng felt a surge of warmth in his heart. Upon closer inspection, he was shocked to see it was an old acquaintance, the imposing figure resembling Mark Gor was none other than the detective captain Cao Lei, whom he had recently humiliated… Damn! So impressive? It was all bullets and bombs flying around, and he just charged in like that? Did I mistreat a good person? But whatever, it’s time for me to leave. Considering his usual caution and a subconscious distrust of these police officers, Lin Feng decided not to reveal himself. Until he fully understood the background of the beautiful girl, he didn’t want to become a freak, a non-human, or an unknown life form in the eyes of the public. Moreover, there was always an invisible observer lurking in the shadows, watching him. Activating his Swift Wind Steps once more, Lin Feng transformed into a cloud of dust, escaping before the police could encircle the den. 68 The Third Dragon Ascends When he got home, he was so exhausted he felt like he was on the verge of death. Covering such a long distance with the Rapid Wind Steps was truly not something a human should do. After sneaking back home, he glanced at his reflection in the mirror and almost didn’t recognize himself. Good grief, his face was covered in dust, looking like an African native, with each strand of his not-so-long hair standing straight up, forming a streamlined water droplet on top of his head, making him look like a reincarnation of Lei Zhenzi, or even like Astro Boy in a live-action show. His clothes were even worse; covered in a thick layer of mud with sharp, angular shapes, they looked almost like ancient armor. If his mom saw him in this state, she would certainly raise hell. He quickly turned on the water heater to shower, and threw all his clothes into a bucket to soak. He thought to himself that there was a lot to do, and he was so tired he just wanted to lie down and sleep, but to avoid raising suspicions, he had to muster up some energy to dispose of the evidence.
Sure enough, Lin Feng was bustling around in the bathroom when his mom, hearing the noise, got up, knocked on the door, and asked hesitantly, “Is that you, Lin Lin?” “Mom, of course, it’s me!” “You kid, why do you always come back in the middle of the night? Are you not comfortable staying at Doctor Wang’s?” “No, I just missed you, so I sneaked back to check on you! Mom, you go back to sleep, I’ll be done in a bit!” “Okay, Lin Lin, go to bed early after your shower, I’ll make something delicious for you in the morning!” “Got it!”
Thankfully, his mom didn’t launch into a long lecture, and Lin Feng felt relieved, thinking he had managed to keep things under control for the moment. Just as he was about to continue his chores, he turned around and let out an “eh” in surprise, as if he sensed something was off. He had been so tired he was about to fall asleep standing up, but after his mom’s interruption, the drowsiness seemed to vanish. What was going on? Lin Feng focused his mind and began to inspect.
