Unexpected Malice

Translator: CinderTL

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That night.

The incident at the hotpot restaurant came to a peaceful conclusion. Chen Feng declined Mr. Li's offer to drive him home.

After all, his neighborhood was quite far, while Mr. Li lived nearby and had an apartment assigned by the research institute.

He waved goodbye to Chen Yun and walked towards the bus stop again.

Clack-clack!

His footsteps echoed in the night, with the sound of cars passing by on the asphalt road. Lights from the vehicles flashed past his vision.

In the small alley behind the bus stop, pedestrians walked leisurely, and the sounds of their chatter mixed with the distant music from street dancers.

"Did you hear? Old Zhou's daughter got into the Safety Bureau?"

"Yeah, the Zhou family's ancestors must be smiling down on them. They're really showing off now."

"Hey, some people are just born lucky. My kid doesn't seem to have any future."

"Ha, I've got a suggestion for you."

"Really? What?"

"Let your son chase after Old Zhou's daughter. Things will get better, right?"

The gossip and chatter buzzed in Chen Feng's ears, but he remained calm as he crossed the street.

Clack-clack!

His pace slowed as he was about to reach the bus stop.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, his steps faltered.

Chen Feng sensed something unusual.

Or more accurately, a faint malice coming from not far behind him.

Cold, disdainful.

Negative emotions subtly gathered, and he squatted down, pretending to tie his shoelaces, glancing behind him.

A black car was parked at the edge of the small street behind the bus stop.

Through the windshield, he could vaguely see two people sitting inside.

One in the driver's seat, the other in the passenger seat—both men.

"Who are they?"

Chen Feng squinted, feeling something was off.

Then, perhaps realizing his abnormality, the black car suddenly turned on its headlights.

It wasn't too glaring, and he saw it slowly move forward, passing him by.

A half-meter distance between them, the car's front and body passed by in sequence.

The closed windows were pitch black, but Chen Feng could clearly feel the cold malice emanating from the car.

Buzz!

Finally, the car sped away with a slight rev of the engine.

Chen Feng pretended to casually withdraw his gaze, but he silently noted the car's license plate number.

"Who could it be?"

A flash of wariness crossed his eyes as he slowly walked toward the bus stop.

This unexpected malice made him wonder if he had offended someone recently.

Could it be the three thugs from Zhao Jin?

Or was it revenge for his actions at the hotpot restaurant today?

The dim streetlights still shone brightly, and the pedestrians at the bus stop were absorbed in their phones.

A series of thoughts ran through Chen Feng's mind, but he quickly dismissed them.

The three thugs from Zhao Jin were too insignificant, and based on the original body's memories, it didn't seem like they had any other accomplices.

As for the hotpot restaurant?

The troublemakers there had been detained by the security agency, and they didn't seem to have any significant background.

They should still be in custody at the agency.

"Could it be Xu Dongtai trying to pull something?"

With a puzzled look, Chen Feng didn't think that was likely either.

With the upcoming assessment, if anything happened to him, the inside story would be easily guessed.

Unless the other party didn't want to reenter the core of the martial arts academy, but even then, it seemed unlikely.

After thinking for a while, Chen Feng felt a bit frustrated.

He turned his gaze to the street corner, and the black car was now completely gone. The malice had disappeared.

Instead, the 17-no. bus finally arrived, slowly approaching his stop.

It stopped for a short time, and Chen Feng had no choice but to withdraw his gaze and silently board the bus.

"Maybe I'll ask Lin Hao tomorrow."

"Let's see if this guy can find out who owns that license plate."

He suppressed the thoughts in his mind and sat by the window, slowly clenching his fists, trying to control his irritation.

He hated this feeling of unknown malice.

So...

He had to figure it out.

---

Click!

Around 10 PM, Chen Feng arrived home.

The lights turned on, revealing the gray floor tiles.

The blackened LCD TV screen was slightly dusty, as if he hadn't cleaned his house for a while.

He walked softly, opening the doors to each room and glancing around, casually observing the indoor items and some dusty windows.

"No sign of anyone breaking in..."

After making his assessment, Chen Feng hoped he was just overthinking.

After a quick wash and tidying up, he locked the windows and doors before returning to his bedroom to try and sleep.

"My mental state is normal, no sign of weakness…"

He muttered to himself as he adjusted his sleeping position.

However, he soon found that despite trying to sleep, he just couldn't.

After taking a few deep breaths, he tried to calm down his emotions.

Eventually, after some tossing and turning, he couldn't resist and took his phone from under his pillow.

Click!

He unlocked the screen, the light a bit harsh.

Adjusting the brightness, Chen Feng quickly entered the search page and typed in a keyword. 

[Central City]

He recalled what Mr. Li had said earlier.

Soon, the search results appeared.

[Central City, the capital of the Red Kingdom, also known as the self-circulating city.]

[Access to Central City is extremely complicated, and residents not born there must meet strict requirements...]

A series of search results appeared, but there were no photos or descriptions of the current state of Central City.

Chen Feng read part of it and could only vaguely sense that Central City was very hard to enter, and it was quite mysterious.

"It feels deliberately blocked… or perhaps the information is isolated?"

Not finding much useful information, Chen Feng shook his head.

It was still a long way from him, and he didn't delve too deeply.

Instead, fatigue finally started to set in, so he put the phone down and closed his eyes.

Soon, his consciousness sank.

Suddenly, he felt his feet slipping, and he jolted awake, opening his eyes.

The long-awaited dream world had finally appeared again.

---

"Just as expected, I've entered smoothly."

Standing on the street outside the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, Chen Feng held a knuckle duster in his hand, standing still.

Mist enveloped the area, and the night was dark as ink.

The dim streetlights around him illuminated the area, with the once-explored single-story villas and apartments standing behind him like a shelter.

He sighed in relief, quickly refocusing, his gaze shifting toward the open doors of the martial arts academy.

The masked man had not appeared, and he didn't sense any malice.

"It seems that as long as I don't go in, it won't come out to attack me."

Chen Feng thought deeply, only to notice something different.

His right arm no longer hurt!

He looked down and saw that his arm was perfectly fine, and he casually swung it around, as normal as could be.

Clearly, in the dream, this body had fully healed from the injury.

"So, I probably couldn't enter the dream last time because of mental exhaustion."

"Now that my mind is completely restored, I entered smoothly, and the injury is healed... Could it be that this body is composed of mental energy?"

A sudden guess popped into Chen Feng's mind, and he felt it was very likely.

However, thinking of the attribute improvements in the dream world, which were also reflected in reality, he couldn't help but wonder.

If this body was truly made of mental energy, why would his physical fitness improve as well?

His eyes flickered for a few seconds as he pondered.

"No matter.

"It's good to have found a pattern. I'll search for answers slowly later."

He exhaled, forcing himself to suppress all extra guesses.

He then turned to look at the two other areas beside the martial arts academy.

The mist had cleared, revealing two low buildings.

His sensing ability once again responded, and Chen Feng knew there were limit-breaking light orbs present.

He stepped forward, quickly heading in that direction.

(End of the Chapter)

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Translated 4 Series, 1.5K+ Chapters and 1.78M+ Words.