Chapter 24 – Yearning

Early the next morning.

Inside the small shop.

Lu Yuan sat in front of the television, his eyes fixed on the screen as he took bites of the steaming buns in his hand.

The morning news was playing on the TV.

“Yesterday, our city’s police successfully cracked a kidnapping case, arresting eight gang cult members. Only two hours after the incident, the victim was successfully rescued.”

“Kidnapping case? Wasn’t it a missing person case?”

Lu Yuan took a gulp of the pure milk from the small table beside him, swallowed the meat bun in his mouth, and frowned.

He had specifically turned on the Jiaoyan morning news today to follow up on the incident from yesterday.

But the news he received was not what he had expected.

It was just a regular kidnapping case, not the somewhat sensational missing persons case that had been causing a stir recently.

The group of people who got out of the minivan were described as gang cult members.

Gang? Cult?

Lu Yuan couldn’t understand how these two words were connected.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Exactly eight. No more, no less.”

Lu Yuan recalled the number of people he had taken down last night, which matched the number of suspects reported on the news, giving him a slight sense of relief.

At this moment, the TV began showing images of the kidnapping victim.

Though the footage was deliberately blurred, Lu Yuan could still recognize the girl in the school uniform he had saved last night.

“It seems she really didn’t mention me.”

Up until now, his family hadn’t received any calls from the police station, indicating that the police hadn’t traced him yet.

“In this world, the minimum sentence for kidnapping is at least ten years in prison. Even if they have accomplices, they might not trace it back to me.”

The rain yesterday was heavy and the alley where the confrontation took place was dimly lit.

Lu Yuan suspected that many of the gang members hadn’t even gotten a clear look at his face.

“I should keep a low profile for a while, go out less, and wait for things to settle down.”

Lu Yuan pondered over many things because he was genuinely afraid.

Afraid of getting into trouble himself, and even more afraid of his family being dragged into it and facing retaliation.

“Still not strong enough. If I were strong enough, I wouldn’t be afraid of them causing trouble for me!”

Lu Yuan took a fierce bite of a meat bun, thinking, “And I need money too. With money, I can hire bodyguards to watch over my family 24/7.”

Lu Yuan felt he had never craved power and money as much as he did now, not in this life or the previous one.

“It’s almost seven, and your dad still hasn’t come back from the hospital. The delivery truck will be here soon. How am I supposed to move everything by myself?”

Mom, Zheng Qiuling, grumbled as she walked in from outside the shop.

Hearing this, Lu Yuan immediately responded, “I’ll help you in a bit.”

“Don’t you have martial arts class today?”

“It’s fine if I’m a bit late!”

Zheng Qiuling nodded, then came closer to examine Lu Yuan’s face, suddenly asking with a touch of concern, “Is it because you’re in pain from your injuries that you didn’t sleep well last night?”

Lu Yuan was taken aback for a moment and then nodded somewhat sheepishly.

“Will you dare to fight with others again next time?”

Zheng Qiuling, remembering, got angry again and couldn’t help but scold him.

Lu Yuan could only listen obediently.

In reality, his injuries had improved significantly. Overnight, the bruises on his face and body had faded, and the abrasions had scabbed over. Only his back and ribs, the most seriously injured areas, still ached a bit.

The main reason Lu Yuan hadn’t slept well last night was because of the [Imaginary Enemy]!

“Who knew the [Imaginary Enemy] would be so exhausting? Just three fights, and I feel like I’ve been pulling all-nighters at an Internet Cafe for days. Even after a night’s sleep, I’m still a bit mentally drained.”

Lu Yuan had initially thought that after majoring in [Martial Artist], he wouldn’t need to allocate many intelligence points. He didn’t expect that he couldn’t avoid it.

“No matter how many attribute points I have, it never feels like enough.”

Lu Yuan thought to himself. He currently had just one skill point left, planning to save it for when it was necessary.

“Should we go to the hospital for a check-up? What if you have a broken bone and don’t know it?”

Zheng Qiuling was still worried. As she spoke, she couldn’t help but sigh, “If only Lu Jing were home, it would be so much better. With her looking after you, I would worry a lot less.”

“Didn’t you always say she was the one who worried you the most?”

“Better than you. Now you’ve even learned to fight with others!”

Zheng Qiuling gave him an exasperated look, and Lu Yuan immediately fell silent.

At 7:23 AM, the small delivery truck arrived at Lu Yuan’s house.

To prove that his injuries were no big deal, Lu Yuan worked extra hard.

After his strength points reached 11, he found himself much stronger.

He could easily lift bags of rice weighing dozens of pounds with one hand.

He unloaded the whole truckload of goods in less than ten minutes.

While washing his hands, Lu Yuan heard the delivery driver urging Mom to settle the bill, just like the previous times.

Mom, Zheng Qiuling, stuffed two packs of cigarettes into the driver’s hands, said some kind words, and only after a long back-and-forth did she manage to send him away reluctantly.

Lu Yuan watched this scene in silence.

“Today, I must pass the official disciple assessment at the Yuan Martial Arts Gym!”

“Lu Yuan, what happened to your face?”

At 8:05 AM, Lu Yuan arrived at the Yuan Martial Arts Gym.

In the changing room, he bumped into Cheng Peng, who immediately exclaimed in surprise when he saw him.

“The rain was too heavy last night. I slipped while running.”

“Did you really slip? It doesn’t look like it.”

Cheng Peng examined Lu Yuan suspiciously from head to toe. Lu Yuan, not wanting to explain further, quickly changed into his martial arts uniform and left the changing room.

Because he had helped his mom unload the goods, he arrived ten minutes later than usual and was technically late.

But being late wasn’t a big deal.

When Lu Yuan walked into the training room, he found that he was still relatively early.

“Fewer and fewer people are showing up.”

A quick glance around the training room revealed that only about two-thirds of the initial trainees were present.

Over the past month, many people had gradually stopped showing up. Initially, they claimed to be taking a leave of absence, but eventually, they vanished completely.

For instance, the group of girls with hair buns, who were quite boisterous at the start, had mostly disappeared by the third week.

Last class, there was still one left, but now even that last one was nowhere to be seen.

These people’s behavior reminded Lu Yuan of his former self in his previous life.

He would often start learning something with great enthusiasm, but once the initial excitement wore off, he would abandon it and never pick it up again.

“Without the professional panel and the boost from [Absolute Concentration], would I end up just like them in this life?” Lu Yuan silently asked himself.

Maybe he would.

But at least now things were different.

“Lu Yuan, you’re here!”

The only person in this martial arts class that Lu Yuan could consider a friend was the round-faced girl, Liu Yue, who never missed a class.

Seeing Lu Yuan, she immediately greeted him happily.

“Morning!”

Lu Yuan nodded at her. She quickly noticed his face and let out a small gasp, asking the same question as Cheng Peng.

“Lu Yuan, what happened to your face?”

“The rain was heavy last night. I slipped while running home.”

Lu Yuan didn’t know how many times he had used this excuse.

Fortunately, Liu Yue didn’t press further. Instead, she kindly offered to get him some medicine, as she always brought ointment, bandages, and adhesive bandages to every class.

Declining Liu Yue’s kind offer, Lu Yuan began his warm-up.

After the students’ enthusiasm waned, Coach Lin Zhiqin seemed to have become “lax” as well.

For the past few classes, he hadn’t shown up until after 8:30, leaving the first half-hour for the students to do their own warm-up exercises.

Lu Yuan mainly practiced basic leg techniques.

After sparring with the middle-aged man in the consciousness space last night, he had gained some insights.

This was a good opportunity to digest them.

Entering the state of [Absolute Concentration], Lu Yuan unconsciously began to mimic the way the middle-aged man threw his kicks, replicating the movements from his memory.