Evening — Central District
The neon signs of Central District flickered to life as the sun dipped below the skyline. The weekend crowd thinned just enough for shadows to stretch comfortably across the pavement. The air was warm, carrying hints of fried skewers and sweet fruit drinks from nearby stalls.
Xue and Liu Yue walked ahead, still buzzing from the arcade.
Liu Yue:
"…I'm telling you, that claw machine is rigged. I fed it five coins—FIVE!—and it just laughed at me."
Xue burst into laughter, hugging her new plushie.
"You were threatening to sue it!"
"I stand by that threat."
Their voices were light, carefree—two girls enjoying the weekend without a trace of the danger trailing behind them.
Feng followed half a step behind.
Hands in his pockets. Quiet. A steady presence.
Arachne vibrated his smartwatch.
He lifted his wrist slightly—just enough for the text to appear without drawing attention.
[Arachne 2.0]
Movement tightening. Estimated confrontation: 3–5 minutes.
He flicked the notification away in one smooth gesture.
Ahead, Liu Yue pointed at a claw machine through a shop window.
"That one owes me money. Actual money."
Xue giggled. "Yue, please, you already won a plushie earlier."
"That was pity, not victory."
They turned onto a narrower street beside the game store, where foot traffic grew sparser and the light dimmed. Neither girl noticed the subtle shift.
But Feng did.
The space grew quieter.
A little too quiet.
Angles of the alley that should have been empty now held silhouettes leaning just slightly out of view.
He kept walking.
Xue and Yue chatted and laughed, oblivious to the way the stage was quietly closing in around them.
Arachne had been right.
The confrontation would happen anytime now.
---
The trio walked through the alley, Xue and Liu Yue walked ahead—laughing, comparing their arcade scores, arguing about who cheated more—Feng followed a few paces behind.
Then—
A shape moved.
And then Another...
Four men stepped out from different angles, cutting off the path forward and boxing them in.
Their eyes locked onto Liu Yue, not even sparing Xue a glance.
Cheap grins.
Cheap clothes.
Cheaper intentions.
Feng's eyes lowered slightly.
As expected.
One of the thugs sauntered forward, "Pretty thing like you shouldn't be out here alone. Come over here. Let us—"
His hand reaching out toward Liu Yue's arm.
GRASP.
His hands stilled as Feng's hand closed around his wrist before he could touch her.
And then, with a subtle twist—controlled, precise—
CRACK.
The sound snapped through the narrow street.
The thug's scream followed a heartbeat later, raw and high.
He stumbled backward, clutching the ruined wrist, collapsing into his comrades.
Xue reacted instantly, pulling Liu Yue behind her on instinct—protective, sharp, eyes wide.
The other three thugs erupted at once.
"Bastard—!"
"You think you're tough?!"
"You're dead, you hear me?!"
Their curses were loud, sloppy, but Yue wasn't cowed.
No—she stepped out from behind Xue and fired back with her tongue like a machine gun.
"Threats? Cute. You rehearse those in the mirror before coming out? Cowards! Trash! Walking sewage tanks! You kiss your mothers with those rotten mouths!?"
She pointed at one of them.
"And YOU—don't you glare at me with that rotten fish eye. Your face already looks like a tax problem."
Feng blinked once.
He honestly hadn't expected her to still be this fiery in the middle of danger.
The thugs didn't appreciate it.
One of them grabbed a metal rod from behind his back and lunged forward with a furious roar.
But to Feng—
The movement was slow.
Telegraphed.
Obvious.
He saw the grip.
The arm tension.
The trajectory.
Before the thug even finished raising the rod, Feng stepped in—
—and slammed his palm into the man's chest with a Xing Yi–based strike.
A single, short, explosive motion.
The thug flew backward like a rag, hitting the ground hard and not getting up.
Silence lasted half a second.
Then—
"GET HIM!"
The remaining two thugs charged.
Behind Feng, Liu Yue grabbed the fallen metal rod and—eyes blazing—prepared to rush them.
Beside her, Xue—
…was holding a brick.
From where?
Only God knew.
But she held it like she was about to make a last stand against an horde of zombies.
However—
Before Yue could take even two steps, Before Xue could fully lift the brick—
Feng had already finished.
Three seconds.
Maybe less.
Two bodies dropped with dull thuds.
Feng stood there, calm, adjusting his jacket sleeve.
He turned.
And saw:
• Liu Yue frozen in mid-charge, holding the metal rod like a heroic gremlin.
• Xue gripping her mysterious brick like a small, elegant gangster.
Both staring at him with the same wide-eyed expression—
Feng blinked.
They blinked back.
A perfect moment of shared, stunned silence.
The girls' thoughts:
'How was he THAT fast??'
Feng's thought:
'…What were THEY planning to do??'
The broken wrist thug whimpered somewhere in the background, but none of the three paid him any mind.
The stunned silence remained for a while, leaving the alley quiet—except for the groans of the thugs scattered across the pavement.
Liu Yue slowly lowered the rod and hid it behind her back like a guilty child.
"A-Ahem!" she coughed loudly, eyes darting everywhere except at Feng.
"I was… uh… providing strategic backup."
Seeing Feng's eyes linger on the brick, Xue's cheeks warmed.
She quickly shuffled it behind her bag with the world's most unconvincing nonchalance.
"I—I found it… somewhere," she muttered.
Feng raised one eyebrow.
"Found it…"
Xue looked at the sky.
Yue looked at the ground.
Neither responded.
Liu Yue leaned toward Xue and whispered—loud enough for Feng to hear anyway:
"You didn't tell me Li Feng was Bruce Lee."
Xue whisper-snapped back:
"I didn't know he was this good!!"
Feng's eye twitched.
Before anyone could die of embarrassment, he gestured lightly.
"Let's go."
Both girls hurried to Feng's side —
Xue trying to pretend she definitely hadn't been holding a brick,
and Liu Yue trying very hard not to kick the unconscious thugs.
She failed.
As they walked past the last groaning thug, Yue gave him a sharp little nudge with her shoe — perfectly timed, perfectly petty.
"That's for trying to touch my sleeve, you bacteria farm," she muttered.
Feng gave her a side glance.
She straightened instantly, hiding her fiery side behind awkward politeness again.
The three of them stepped out of the alley and back into the neon glow of the main street—Xue clinging to Feng's arm in silent relief, Yue walking stiffly beside them, clearly still processing everything.
Behind them, the thugs lay scattered like broken furniture.
Ahead of them, the night moved on.
And for a brief moment, despite everything, Feng let a small smile curl at the corner of his lips.
These two really were… something else.
---
Zhou Envoy's Temporary Base — Late Evening
The apartment door slammed open as the four thugs stumbled inside, clutching bruised limbs and wheezing like broken accordions.
The Zhou envoy's expression darkened immediately.
He slammed his teacup onto the table.
"What," he said coldly,
"is this?"
The leader stammered,
"S–Sir, we… we ran into a problem—"
"A problem?" the envoy snapped.
"I sent you to scare a high school girl's friend, and you return looking like you were tossed into a blender?"
His glare sharpened.
"USELESS! Absolutely useless! Even street rats have more competence than this!"
The thugs shrank under his voice.
"We—we didn't expect the boy—"
"What boy?" the envoy barked.
The room froze.
The leader swallowed.
"…Her brother... Li Feng."
Silence.
Then—
The envoy scoffed, incredulous.
"Li Feng? You were beaten by Li Feng?"
His voice dripped with disdain.
"A docile little thing who was hospitalized months ago for speaking out against his sister's engagement? That Li Feng?"
The thugs nodded miserably.
"He… he wasn't docile today sir," one whispered.
"He fought like— like—"
"ENOUGH" the envoy snapped.
"Stop trying to save face by exaggerating."
The leader shook his head violently.
"N–No sir! He moved fast—too fast. He broke my wrist before I even—"
"I said enough."
The envoy lifted a hand, stopping the excuse.
He was angry…
But beneath the anger, something else began to flicker:
Annoyance.
Curiosity.
A reluctant acknowledgment.
He tapped his finger against the table, slow and thoughtful.
"So he's not completely spineless after all," he murmured.
"Still no real threat… but not as harmless as we assumed."
He paced once.
"I should report this to the young master…"
The room held its breath.
"No," he decided with a dismissive wave.
"This is not worthy of disturbing him."
His mouth twisted.
"The thugs' story is clearly embellished anyway."
The four men exchanged defeated looks.
The envoy straightened his jacket.
"Regardless, this Li Feng…"
A slight pause.
"…requires a bit more attention. Just to ensure he does not become a nuisance to the young master's plans."
His voice cooled to ice.
"But remember this—he is merely an afterthought.
The girl is what matters."
He flicked his hand toward the door.
"Patch yourselves up. I'll handle the next steps."
As they limped away, the envoy returned to his tea.
Annoyed.
Dismissive.
But no longer ignoring the name Li Feng.
---
Hello, Author here!
Thanks for reading — I hope you enjoyed today's chapter.
If you're liking Li Feng's journey so far, don't forget to leave a comment or drop a Power Stone. Your support helps the story grow and motivates me to keep updating!
See you in the next chapter!