Chapter 7

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Standing at the classroom door, the person blocking the way brandished a shiny watermelon knife and asked, "Kid, got any money? Lend me some!"

Saying it was a loan was just a pretense; it was actually a robbery.

Yang Tang's heart tightened, but he didn't immediately respond. Using the faint light from a distance, he took a quick look at the person and realized they were two delinquent students, but they were unfamiliar, probably from a nearby middle school.

"What, not saying anything? If you're not talking, you must have money."

The student with the watermelon knife moved closer to Yang Tang, the blade flickering in front of his eyes, the threat clear.

To say Yang Tang wasn't scared at all would be a lie. Even with the twenty years of life experience he gained from his rebirth, he was still afraid when facing a minor who didn't know their own strength. However, he wasn't as terrified as an ordinary student would be in such a situation. He even wanted to figure out if these two were the only ones or if there were more.

If it was just the two students, Yang Tang could try to snatch the knife and fight back, or he could run away. If there were more students, this plan wouldn't work. The idea of taking on a group of them was quickly dismissed from his mind because it wasn't a wise move. Even if he managed to severely injure one, he would likely get hurt himself and might even be expelled from school and miss the college entrance exam.

However, the fleeting thought that "if only he had Bruce Lee's skills, he wouldn't fear the current predicament" triggered a strange "enlightenment" in his mind again.

"Desire in the heart, to resolve the crisis and preserve life!"

Yang Tang couldn't help but mutter, "Ah~ Why is it about preserving life? I was thinking..."

"Bang!" The student with the watermelon knife suddenly punched Yang Tang's shoulder. "What are you mumbling about? Do you have money? Believe it or not, I'll really cut you!"

"No money!" The pain brought Yang Tang back to his senses, and his temper flared. He defiantly replied, "And let me tell you, these few streets are under the control of Shi Zhong, with Da Fei and his crew. Where did you guys come from?"

"Hey, you know Da Fei?" The student with the watermelon knife, who was about to hit Yang Tang, suddenly shouted, reaching out to slap Yang Tang's face, saying, "I even know Da Fei's mom!"

"Slap!" Yang Tang raised his hand to block the dirty hand of the student with the watermelon knife, but was kicked in the buttocks by another delinquent student from behind. His suppressed anger surged, and a new enlightenment arose in his heart. True concealment should be like "seeing the mountain as a mountain," blending in with the crowd, not the maturity he inadvertently showed after his rebirth. This maturity, or rather, endurance, or indifference to the world, didn't fit in with the high school students around him. In this situation, facing a knife-wielding delinquent, fighting back was the right move.

Just as Yang Tang was about to counterattack, another shadow darted out from the side of the road, kicking the watermelon knife student in the side. Before the student could react, the shadow pounced, punching the student's ear repeatedly, saying, "You know my mom, you know my mom..."

"Da Fei?!" Yang Tang immediately recognized the shadow.

"Let's go!" Da Fei called to Yang Tang, snatching the watermelon knife from the student and running quickly toward Shi Zhong.

Yang Tang hurried to follow. After running a few steps, he heard a group of students on the side of the road shouting, "Damn, Da Fei actually beat up that guy for that kid. Does he still want to be in the game?!"

"Chase them, cut them both down!"

Damn, there really are more people!

Yang Tang cursed inwardly and increased his speed.

Da Fei, whose real name was Cheng Yufei, was a sprinter at Shi Zhong. Yang Tang had also won a medal in the 400 meters at the school sports meet, so their escape speed was considerable. They managed to get into the school gate without being caught by the delinquent students.

The school security guard was startled when he saw Da Fei enter with the watermelon knife. He immediately drew his baton and asked, "Which class are you two from?"

Da Fei didn't waste words, directly throwing the watermelon knife to the guard and tossing two cigarettes over, saying, "Why so many questions?"

The guard, recognizing Da Fei and Yang Tang as students from his school, didn't say anything more and let them in.

After walking a bit further into the school, Yang Tang said, "Thanks, Da Fei. But you don't live on campus. If those guys block the school gate after evening study, what do you plan to do?"

"Don't worry, I have it figured out. I'll call in some friends, no problem!" Da Fei said with a carefree expression.

Hearing the nickname "Jian Ren," Yang Tang felt a bit uncomfortable. Jian Ren, whose real name was Luo Jian, was a repeater, having been in high school for five or six years. He was a true social delinquent, relying on his father, who was the head of the student affairs department at Shi Zhong, to stay in school for years. He didn't do anything else but gather students who were not interested in studying, claiming they would do big things in the future.

Yang Tang didn't want to know such people and wanted to advise Da Fei to "stop fooling around," but he didn't say it: "Alright, let's leave it at that for today. I'll treat you to a meal another day!"

"Sure, but how's the burn on your chest?" Da Fei asked, then added with a troubled look, "I borrowed 200 yuan from you yesterday, and I might not be able to pay it back on time next week..."

Yang Tang remembered that he had received 2000 yuan as compensation for his burn yesterday, and he had given 200 yuan to Da Fei, but he wasn't too concerned: "No problem!" He then headed toward the dormitory.

Don't think Yang Tang was paying protection money to Da Fei. The relationship between Yang Tang and Da Fei couldn't be explained by just a bit of money. After the college entrance exam in his previous life, Da Fei had paid back most of the money he borrowed from Yang Tang, so Yang Tang didn't care about this small matter.

Back in the dormitory, Tang Xun and the others hadn't finished evening study. Yang Tang didn't wait for them, washed up, and went to bed, planning to rest early. Little did he know, his absence from evening study was privately considered by Panda Li as a sign of "uselessness."

Lying down, he pressed the area of his chest where the burn was, but felt no pain.

Yang Tang was genuinely surprised. After all, he had just confirmed from Da Fei that he was burned yesterday, but the burn had already healed today. This was scientifically impossible!

"Damn, the burn seems to be really gone, but the pain I felt wasn't fake... There must be something strange!"

"Hold on, that enlightenment... heart's desire, hands holding Ksitigarbha..."

"Let's try it, no harm in trying!"

Muttering, Yang Tang's hand in the blanket covered the healed Ksitigarbha imprint on his chest.

"Hmm... I don't feel anything!"

"Didn't it say it would automatically enter a dream?"

"Looks like it's fake..."

Yang Tang mumbled, and before he knew it, he had fallen into a deep sleep.

"Two merits automatically converted to one cycle point, meeting the requirement to activate the dream!"

"Consuming one cycle point!"

"Verifying the time..."

"Time does not match, can only activate the test cycle dream!"

"Test cycle dream activation count zero, can be activated!"

"Cycle dream (test) activated!"

"Dream is activating..."

...

"Huh? What's happening..."

Yang Tang opened his eyes and found himself standing. He casually looked down and was shocked to discover that he had no legs.

"Where are my legs?"

Excited, he turned and was even more shocked to find that he could float in the air without legs.

"Damn, how is this possible? Hold on, these two marks on my back are..."

After about ten minutes, Yang Tang finally figured out his identity.

He had become a male assassin NPC of the Asura race, and more specifically, he was in a classic online game from his previous life—Xuan Yuan Sword Online!

"Damn, this game hasn't been played for about twenty years. How did I end up in the game?"

Enlightenment suddenly arose.

"Heart's desire—resolve the crisis, preserve life!"

"Since it's a test dream, the skill replication limit is the maximum: five!"

"Searching for survival skills..."

A series of enlightenments left Yang Tang bewildered: "Is this real?" Just as he was wondering this, a player named "Dongmen Luxin" double-clicked him.

"Search complete... killing enemies, hiding oneself, enhancing defense, stunning opponents, all can resolve the crisis..."

Not necessarily, Yang Tang thought.

"Skills locked, five in total: [Scarred Hands NPC version], [Hidden Shape NPC version], [Aimed Shot NPC version], [Tiger Leap], [Iron Shirt]!"

"[Tiger Leap] and [Iron Shirt] need to be replicated from Dongmen Luxin, taking 45 seconds multiplied by the cycle factor, currently 1. Please hold the player for 45 seconds without interruption!"

Hearing this requirement, Yang Tang, who had already recalled the online game Xuan Yuan Sword Online, groaned: As an NPC, I can only interact with players when giving them a quest. How can I hold them for 45 seconds? The game's dialogue can be flipped through page by page, and there are even direct [OK] or [Cancel] options. How can I do this?

However, Yang Tang quickly realized how clever he was. In response to Dongmen Luxin's double-click, he simply replied, "Hmm... you! Ah~ forget it!"

Dongmen Luxin, being considerate, clicked the option to help the NPC Yang Tang: "Senior, do you need help?"

"The old man has a task that needs to be completed..."

Dongmen Luxin was delighted: "What task?"

"Let me see how patient you are first!" Yang Tang switched to persuasion mode, "Please remain silent for one minute..."

Dongmen Luxin believed him and automatically started standing still.

At the same time, Yang Tang felt an enlightenment.

"[Iron Shirt] replication complete!"

"[Tiger Leap] replication in progress..."

"[Tiger Leap] replication countdown: 10 seconds, 9, 8, 7, 6..."

...

...

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