Epiphanies of Rebirth (重生之豁然)

Chapter 7

As he did, shivering all the while, he glanced back to observe Lin Jingzhe's reaction. The teenager stared at him blankly, playing with the belt. His expression was almost the same as a moment ago when he tried to strangle him to death.

His dark eyes resembled an abyss.

The fear in Zhang's heart reached its peak the second he met them.

His brothers finally found their courage. They came forward and surrounded him, helped him up, then cautiously backed off. Though logically, odds should've been in their favor, none of them wanted to provoke Lin Jingzhe.

And so, the group of people who'd swaggered in and made a ruckus planned to leave quietly. Before they managed to slink away, though, Lin Jingzhe broke the silence: "Wait."

His tone was casual, but everyone felt their hearts leap into their throats.

Zhang's men didn't dare move; Zhang, lying on one's back, started and froze. Under their frightened gazes, Lin Jingzhe shook off Gao Sheng's hand and stepped closer, scrutinizing Zhang's b.l.o.o.d.y face.

Then, with a slight smile, he put the belt that almost took his life on Zhang's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Brother Zhang, it turned out you came here for nothing. Here, I'll give you this belt as a gift to commemorate our first meeting."

When the man carrying Zhang on his back heard this, his knees buckled, and he stumbled, almost falling to the ground.

At the moment, in everyone's perception, the bloodstained belt appeared to be a venom-spitting viper, but no one dared protest. Seeing Zhang obediently close his hand on it, Lin Jingzhe nodded with satisfaction and stepped back. "I won't see you off."

Five seconds later, there was no one left in front of him.

Lin Jingzhe was certain they wouldn't report him. Every single one of them probably had at least a minor offense on their record—would they go to the police and cry about being a.s.saulted by a high school student?

So he let them go and turned around. His attention focused on Jiang Run, who suddenly found himself left alone.

Not too long ago, Jiang Run proudly followed "Azure Dragon" Zhang in, wanting to teach Lin Jingzhe a lesson. Now, with Lin Jingzhe looking at him meaningfully, he wished he'd never left home.

"Cou... Cousin..." Afraid he would get the same treatment as Zhang, he grabbed the table to keep himself upright, and slowly backed away.

Lin Jingzhe lifted his chin in his direction. The gangsters behind Jiang Run, who were supposed to obey Xu Liang, but whose ability to judge the situation was quite astute, grabbed his shoulders and pressed him to the ground.

"Jiang Run." Lin Jingzhe motioned them to sit the other teenager in a chair. He clamped Jiang Run's chin between two fingers and looked down at his panic-filled face.

He leaned close and whispered something in his ear. His voice was gentle, but his words caused Jiang Run's eyes to fly open wide: "Go back and tell your parents that if something like this happens again, they'd better get your coffin ready."

He straightened and waved his hand, at which the gangsters obediently released their hold. Jiang Run fell from the chair with a bang, scared enough to almost piss himself. He never expected Lin Jingzhe to guess the real instigator of today's events.

From early childhood, he believed his cousin was nothing more than a shy, introverted wimp. This impression was now completely overturned.

He didn't dare say anything more, just got up and ran. His legs were soft, and he fell after a few steps but was afraid to stop even for a moment. He scrambled to his feet and fled as if all the devils from h.e.l.l were chasing him.