Shackles of Humanity

Luo Kai remained in his room until the afternoon. Only when his stomach began to growl did he get up and head to the hotel restaurant. The restaurant was on the first floor, and as it was peak dinner time, it was extremely crowded. He looked around and saw there wasn’t a single open seat.

”Luo Kai, over here!” a young man not far away called out to him. It was the student named Hao Fei.

Luo Kai smiled and walked over. He wasn’t antisocial, just preferred quiet.

At the table were another man and a woman. The girl had her hair in a ponytail and a delicate, pretty face. The man had a square jaw, thick eyebrows, and large eyes, giving him a heroic air.

Hao Fei invited Luo Kai to sit and made the introductions. ”This is Luo Kai, Principal Liu’s apprentice.”

”Luo Kai, this is Xiaoxue, a student from our school. She’s a great artist! And this is my cousin, Hao Peng. He’s a student at Jinlan Academy. He passed the Body Technique Association’s assessment a few days ago, so he’s an official Martial Artist now!”

The square-jawed young man stood up and shook his hand. ”I’ve heard Principal Liu’s Round Extreme Body Technique excels at a kind of Transforming Force. Perhaps you could offer some pointers sometime?”

”Cousin, you’re going to be disappointed then. Luo Kai only just became his apprentice. He hasn’t learned the Round Extreme Body Technique yet.”

”Hmm... That’s a bit of a shame.”

The girl named Xiaoxue seemed a bit shy. She just nodded at Luo Kai before continuing to doodle in a small notebook.

Hearing the words ”Jinlan Academy,” Luo Kai couldn’t help but think of Yue Han. ’I wonder if that girl managed to escape,’ he thought. He casually asked Hao Fei’s cousin, ”Is there a girl named Yue Han at your school?”

The square-jawed young man smiled. ”Of course, I know her. Yue Han is in my class.” Then he added in surprise, ”How do you know Yue Han, Brother Luo?”

Luo Kai shook his head. ”I don’t really know her. We’ve just met a few times. Is she in Jinlan Prefecture?”

”She is. Yue Han is also participating in the competition this time.”

”Oh.” Luo Kai nodded, ordered some food, and then buried his head in it, eating voraciously. The other three watched, dumbfounded, as he devoured plate after plate of food. Soon, a large stack of empty plates piled up on the table.

As Luo Kai took another plate from the waiter, his Qi and Blood Circulation suddenly accelerated on its own. His expression changed in an instant. He whipped his head to look outside just as a bullet, carrying immense kinetic energy, pierced through the glass and shot straight for him. If he dodged, the bullet would hit the girl across from him, Xiaoxue. He had less than a thousandth of a second to react—no time to even think. Acting on pure instinct, he twisted his body to the side and met the bullet with his fist.

BANG! A chunk was blasted out of his fist by the powerful bullet. At the same time, the bullet was knocked off its original trajectory and hit a customer at the next table in the shoulder. The restaurant immediately erupted into chaos.

Luo Kai was absolutely furious. ’To think that gunman would brazenly open fire in a public place!’ His blood boiled in his veins. With a fierce stomp of his foot, he shattered the window and vanished into the street outside.

”Xiaoxue, are you okay?” Hao Fei cried out, startled.

Xiaoxue’s face was spattered with blood and bone fragments. Her expression was blank, as if she were scared senseless. It took a moment for her to recover. She looked down at the small notebook in her hands. The drawing on the first page was of a person blocking a bullet with their fist to save someone else.

...

Twilight fell, and the hazy lights of the city began to glow. Luo Kai came to a stop on a rooftop. The mysterious gunman was too far away, beyond his sensory range, making them impossible to track.

He looked down at his hand. His pinky, ring finger, and half of his palm were gone. Only the part from his middle finger up—the part formed from crystal—remained intact. If not for this Crystal Finger, his entire hand would probably have been destroyed. It was easy to imagine just how powerful that bullet had been.

What infuriated him wasn’t the injury, but the fact that he was being targeted by such a terrifying marksman and could do nothing about it. The small amount of Evil Energy in his chest began to circulate rapidly, fueling his emotional turmoil. His gaze shifted to a nearby alley, a trace of killing intent leaking out. ’Fine. If this is how it’s going to be, then I’ll just have to go on a rampage.’

Three people were hiding in the alley—the same three who had been tailing him last night. When their leader saw Luo Kai appear on the wall, one hand already mangled, he didn’t hesitate. ”Get him! Kill him!” He pulled out two handguns and opened fire on Luo Kai.

The other two also drew their weapons, one with a sword and one with a saber, flanking him from the left and right.

You could say that every Martial Artist is an expert marksman. Those who specialized in marksmanship even went on to create the incredible Gun Fighting Skill. This is a wondrous technique that uses skillful force while shooting to make bullets curve or swerve. With a bullet’s high velocity combined with an unpredictable trajectory, even powerful Martial Artists find it difficult to use their abilities, as they can’t even get close.

Although ordinary bullets can’t pierce the skin of a Martial Artist skilled in the Skin Refining Technique, the kinetic energy they carry is unavoidable. If they take too many hits, their fragile internal organs will surely be damaged by the shock.

The leader across from him was a Martial Artist who had mastered the Gun Fighting Skill. He pulled the trigger at an extremely fast rate, all while continuously flicking his wrist to make the bullets’ trajectories twist and change, making them incredibly difficult to guard against.

This was the first time Luo Kai had encountered such a bizarre style of marksmanship. The opponent’s bullets completely sealed off all his escape routes. At first, he was a bit flustered, but as his Qi and Blood Circulation accelerated, that omniscient feeling once again filled his mind and body.

The speed and power of his opponent’s bullets were far inferior to those of the mysterious sniper from before. To his heightened senses, they posed no real threat. His body dodged nimbly, like a twisting, slithering snake. His Qi and Blood Circulation began to accelerate, and a bloody glow gradually coated his eyes.

The two men on his flanks closed in. They didn’t dare get too close, merely blocking Luo Kai’s escape routes. Their intel said this young man had the strength of a High-level Martial Artist. Although they found it hard to believe, caution was paramount in their line of work. If the target hadn’t been injured, they wouldn’t have dared to make a move. But now, with one of his hands crippled, his strength had to be down by at least thirty percent. They felt they now had a decent chance.

”This guy’s tough! Use your ultimate moves!” The leader grew anxious. He started to realize something was wrong. At first, the young man had clearly been flustered, but now he was weaving through the bullets as if taking a leisurely stroll. A bad feeling rose in his heart, and he shouted urgently.

The men on both sides immediately sped up. The saber-wielder let out a loud shout, leaped high into the air, and brought his blade down with the force of his descent. The swordsman suddenly threw his Longsword, which shot forward like a silver dragon. They hadn’t attacked before, but when they did, it was with the force of a thunderbolt.

With Luo Kai’s current strength, it wouldn’t be difficult to kill these three if he went all out. He had only been curious about the leader’s Gun Fighting Skill. Now, there was no need to hold back. He instantly pushed his Qi and Blood Circulation to its peak. The violent speed of its circulation felt like it was about to make him explode.

He drew the Severing Blade from his back. The air rang with a sharp hum. With one slash, he cut the oncoming Longsword in two. He immediately followed up with an upward flick. Under the tyrannical Power of his full-force outburst, the slash seemed to tear through the very air. With a sharp ZZZT, the saber-wielder was cleaved in two, man and saber alike, in a spray of blood.

Seeing their companion slain in a single exchange, the remaining two finally realized that the thirty-million-yuan bounty wasn’t going to be so easy to collect. They turned and fled.

Luo Kai stomped his foot violently, and the pavement beneath him shattered. He gave chase like a bolt of lightning. The air tore with another sharp ZZZT. The leader was also sliced in two. Luo Kai’s figure vanished once more.

After killing all three men one by one, Luo Kai stood silently in the street. His gaze turned to the roof of a tall building not far away. A figure in a black robe stood there. The moment their eyes met, intense battle intent flared between them. It seemed tonight was destined to be a night of slaughter.