CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 37: THE CROW AND THE FLY SHUTTLE_1

The competition on the stage continued.

As they watched the tenth fight, also the last of the night, Lin Zhiquin, who had been providing commentary, suddenly stopped. He changed the topic, asking Lu Yuan, "When are you free each day?"

Lu Yuan was taken aback. After a moment of silence, he replied, "School finishes at 5:30, so anytime after that. In two weeks, it’ll be summer vacation, so I’ll have a lot more free time then."

"Good." A smile spread across Lin Zhiquin’s face. This meant Lu Yuan had officially accepted.

"Then, I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon. Which school did you say you go to again?" The tone of Lin Zhiquin’s voice became noticeably more relaxed and friendly.

"So soon?" After some thought, Lu Yuan said, "I wanted to prepare first, maybe get some insurance or something..."

"Ha..." Lin Zhiquin couldn’t help but laugh and scold, "What are you thinking? First, I’ll teach you some practical fighting strategies and a bit of other stuff. Your fundamentals and Fist Strength are good, but to get on stage... you’re still a bit lacking. True, the main purpose of competing is to get combat experience, but it’s better to avoid a beating if you can. That way, you’ll also get scolded less at home, right...?"

Suddenly, Lu Yuan found Lin Zhiquin, standing before him, rather endearing.

All ten fights concluded, ending with a dance similar to the one at the opening. The emblem of the Mosa Religion appeared on the large screens on all four sides. The eyes of the massive Goat Head Statue on the venue’s ceiling began to flash red light repeatedly. This time, Lu Yuan was certain; it was definitely fitted with red sensor lights.

Before the dance on stage had even ended, Lu Yuan and Lin Zhiquin left the venue. They passed through the main hall they had come through, the corridor, and took the elevator to the first floor.

Outside, it was already pitch dark. The streetlights along the road were on, and a moon hung in the sky. It was quite round but appeared hazy and indistinct.

"It’s almost nine o’clock. I’ll take you home," Lin Zhiquin gestured for Lu Yuan to get in the car.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to open the car door, he suddenly heard a cacophony of flapping wings overhead. He looked up into the sky. The cloud that had previously obscured the moon had dispersed at some point. The moon, as if it had caught its breath, appeared large, round, and white. And against this bright, moonlit sky, a flock of black bird-like silhouettes swiftly flew past, vanishing into the distance.

"That’s..." Lu Yuan squinted, watching them for a moment. Crows?

Where would so many crows gather in the city?

Lu Yuan shook his head, got into the car, and didn’t give it another thought.

「...」

"12.33 seconds!"

"Again!"

"12.54 seconds!"

"Again."

On the track field, a young man was repeatedly practicing 100-meter sprints. At the finish line, another boy of similar age was continuously recording his times with a phone.

After yet another sprint, the boy responsible for timing suddenly jumped up, shouting excitedly, "Damn! 11.89 seconds!"

"Lu Yuan, you’re incredible! That speed could match a professional sprinter!" Cheng Peng stared at Lu Yuan, his phone still in hand, his expression one of utter amazement, as if looking at a monster.

Lu Yuan slowly walked back from the distance. My speed has improved quite a bit. Before, I couldn’t even break the 13.5-second qualifying mark for the 100-meter sprint. Besides agility, I think it’s also related to strength; my leg’s explosive power has increased significantly. Hmm, Absolute Focus also provides a certain buff...

Lu Yuan had run the last sprint with Absolute Focus activated. As a result, he’d actually broken the 12-second barrier. The time Cheng Peng recorded on his phone wasn’t perfectly accurate, of course.

The multiple sprints in quick succession had caused a large buildup of lactic acid in his leg muscles, making them feel a bit sore and numb. Cheng Peng was still exclaiming loudly.

"When did you become such a badass? I’m seriously impressed! Kid, have you been secretly taking performance enhancers behind my back?" Cheng Peng considered himself quite the athlete, but Lu Yuan’s current all-around performance left him in the dust.

"You just get better with practice," Lu Yuan nonchalantly replied while gently massaging his own legs.

"Damn it, how long have you even been training Martial Arts?!" Cheng Peng grumbled and then couldn’t help complaining, "Speaking of which, you didn’t drag me out of afternoon self-study just to have me watch you run, did you?"

"What’s wrong with some exercise? We sit in the classroom all day until our butts go numb. Getting out and moving our bodies helps clear the mind and improves study efficiency..."

"You’re second in the grade. Of course, you’re amazing, you’re incredible..." Cheng Peng gave him a thumbs-up, but his face clearly said, "You’re unbelievable."

The results of this month’s exam came out. Just as Lu Yuan had predicted, he had indeed placed in the top three of his grade, ranking second, only a few points behind first place. Naturally, this brought plenty of praise from his homeroom teacher and subject teachers, as well as admiration from his classmates...

If this had happened a month ago, Lu Yuan might have been very happy. But now, he just felt... it was nothing special. It couldn’t compare to the sense of achievement he felt from making progress in Martial Arts. However, placing in the top three in this month’s exam and receiving the two thousand yuan scholarship from the school was quite practical.

The final exams are in two weeks; I can win it again then. Thinking about this, Lu Yuan cheered up and called to Cheng Peng, "Let’s go to the tuck shop. It’s my treat today; pick whatever you want."

"Really?" Cheng Peng seemed a bit tempted, but then he looked at the time. His eyes suddenly twinkled. "Forget it, I have something to do. I’ll get you to treat me to a big meal next time."

With that, he surprisingly started running towards the academic building. Sensing something was off, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but call out, "Where are you off to?"

Cheng Peng turned his head and gave him a grin, blinking as he said, "Got to deliver something to someone. Your bro... your bro is in love, haha!"

"Damn!" Lu Yuan was shocked and blurted out, "Since when?"

"I’ll tell you later. We’ll be third-years soon. If I don’t start dating, my youth will slip away! I’ll leave Ling Yue for you. Give it some thought, Lu Yuan!"

Cheng Peng ran without looking back, arms spread wide as if embracing his youth with abandon. Unfortunately, this idyllic moment lasted less than two seconds before a loud shout from the distance shattered it.

"Hey, you there! Which class are you in? Stop right there!"

Cheng Peng bolted like a startled rabbit, his speed seemingly even faster than Lu Yuan’s 100-meter sprint earlier.

Lu Yuan stood there speechlessly, watching Cheng Peng’s figure quickly disappear. He wasn’t worried about being caught by the Dean of Discipline. Given his rank as second in the grade, even if he were to urinate on the sports field now, the school administration would probably praise him for nurturing the plants, let alone for skipping self-study.

Youth... Love... Lu Yuan shook his head, pushing these two words out of his mind. Such a waste of time. Better to study and practice Martial Arts.

I’ll train a bit more. Lu Yuan glanced at his Profession Panel. His Basic Step Skill had gained a few experience points from this sprinting session.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to run a couple more laps around the field, suddenly, a faint humming sound came from above.

WHIRRR—

The sound was like countless dragonflies vibrating their wings as they flew past his head. He instinctively looked up. He saw several shuttle-shaped, silver-grey aircraft slowly traversing the sky above. They were very close, so close it felt as if he could reach out and touch them.

Magnetic Suspended Shuttles... Lu Yuan paused for a moment. He had only ever seen such things on the television news. For some reason, Lu Yuan suddenly recalled what Lin Zhiquin had said in the car yesterday.

"Up there..."

Are people from "up there" coming?