Chapter Seven: The Dark Torrent of Falling Rain (7)

Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang heard the terrifying sounds echoing from behind them.

Only moments ago, they had heard these same sounds—the gruesome noise of muscles being severed and bones being shattered, muffled by the relentless rain. They felt as though they could hear the shadows wailing in agony.

Unable to resist, both men looked back. They saw only the man, wielding his blade with the ferocity of a lion. His movements were dazzling, a relentless blur of steel where one strike chased another. This was no longer a swordsmanship attainable by any human; it was so blindingly fast that both of them could only catch fleeting afterimages of him.

Whether it was the shadows that had been besieging him or those pursuing Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang, all were hacked into pieces amidst the flashes of his blade and his phantom movements. It was as if an invisible curtain of energy had unfurled from the man, standing as a barrier against everything for them.

Chu Zihang had never imagined a man could be so majestic, and this man was his father.

He lunged into the driver's seat, turned his head, and screamed into the curtain of rain: "Dad!"

The man did not look back. After cutting down the shadows that had attempted to pursue them, he turned around and charged straight toward Odin!

Suddenly, a strange sensation gripped him, as if a thread connecting him to the man had been severed forever.

Another wave of shadows surged forward, but the man’s domain had expanded, enveloping them all. The shadows that even the Maybach at full speed could not shake off now moved like comical sloths within the man’s domain, every action slowed down a thousandfold... only Odin did not slow down.

Odin drew the spear Gungnir and struck. In an instant, lightning surged as countless bolts fell from the heavens, crashing down upon the man.

Yet, the man ignored the lightning entirely. Wielding his blade, he stepped upon the shadows, leaped high into the air, and slashed downward!

In Chu Zihang’s eyes, the man’s falling silhouette was reflected like a kite with a snapped string, plunging straight into the mass of shadows. His alchemy domain collapsed from the severity of his wounds, and a mist of blood erupted in an instant.

"Son, drive and get out of here!" the man roared at Chu Zihang.

Chu Zihang suddenly understood: the man had charged at Odin on purpose. He was using himself as bait, luring all the shadows toward him.

"Be obedient. Remember what you promised me." The man’s golden eyes, stained crimson with blood, stared fixedly at Odin, yet he spoke to Chu Zihang: "If I die, the only thing I leave in this world is you. If you die too, then I will have nothing left in this world. Trust your old man—if you survive, we will have a day to meet again. Your old man still has an ultimate move he hasn't used yet; if you stay here, I’m afraid my area-of-effect attack might hit you."

Lu Mingfei watched the man amidst the shadows, his hands clenched into fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. Once again, he faced a scene of such despair, yet he was utterly powerless.

"Lu Mingze! Lu Mingze! Lu Mingze!"

He buried his head, slamming his fist against the center console of the passenger seat again and again, calling out Lu Mingze's name over and over. But no matter how he called, the little devil in the gothic suit never appeared.

He wanted to do something... but without Lu Mingze, he could do nothing at all.

"Damn it, you brat! That car is expensive—nine million worth of machinery! After spending so much money on it, even gods can't block its path, so don't you dare break it for me!"

Chu Zihang didn't know who this "Lu Mingze" was, but he felt the sorrow that Lu Mingfei shared with him.

He looked at the keyless center console and finally understood what the man had been boasting about earlier. There were three people who could wake this car up, and he was the third.

"Start!" he commanded.

The engine roared like a lion, shattering the somber sound of the rain.

"Well done, son!" The man raised his blade amidst the shadows and the blood mist.

Chu Zihang struggled to recall the steps to drive: ignition, gear, release the handbrake. Under his control, the car sped backward. The man had once secretly taught him how to drive using this very Maybach; they had once sped down dirt roads in the countryside in springtime with the sunroof open.

The audio system began playing automatically after the ignition—it was still that song, *Daily Growing*, on repeat. Once again, the daughter sang a duet with her father inside the car:

*Daughter, dear daughter, my arrangements for you were not wrong,*
*I married you off to the son of a wealthy house,*
*Once I grow old, he will be the man you rely on,*
*He is still young, but he is growing.*

Chu Zihang finally understood the song. These were the words his father wanted to leave for him. He had lived his life in the dust, sending his son into a wealthy family, hoping only that he would live a better life than he had.

He had always said that Chu Zihang would understand one day. Now, Chu Zihang understood, but the man... the man was likely already dead.

He would never again hear his father speak with that devil-may-care tone while showing concern for him.

The car reached the bottom of the slope. The red and green lights of the toll booth flickered faintly in the distance. This time, they had truly reached the end of the bridge.

But unexpectedly, Chu Zihang slammed on the brakes. With a piercing screech of tires against the pavement, the Maybach came to a halt in the rain, blocking the empty elevated road.

Lu Mingfei watched as Chu Zihang opened the sunroof and gasped for air, letting the torrential rain pour in, soaking everything with its biting cold.

Yet, he felt no cold. In his world, all sensation had faded, leaving only the man's voice and that song looping in his ears.

"Start! Start!" he suddenly roared at the center console.

The lights on the console flickered for an instant, then went dark.

The car was too weary. Even the fiercest lion eventually reaches a moment of total exhaustion. Just like that man.

In this moment, he finally understood that he was truly, finally going to lose that man.

Chu Zihang suddenly kicked the door open and bolted out, running wildly against the wind and rain on the elevated bridge. After two seconds of shock, Lu Mingfei snapped out of it and shoved his own door open to chase after him.

"What do you think you're doing!" Lu Mingfei lunged at Chu Zihang, roaring.

"Let go!" Chu Zihang struggled to break free from Lu Mingfei’s hold. His face was drenched, and it was impossible to tell what was rainwater and what was tears.

"You want to go back? Are you insane?"

Through the physical training at Cassel College and the devilish curriculum of the High-Level Nurturing School, Lu Mingfei’s strength was already far greater than that of an ordinary person.

Yet he felt as though Chu Zihang possessed infinite strength; he couldn't hold him back at all. He decided to use his legs as well, locking Chu Zihang in place.

"Have you forgotten what your father told you? As long as you stay alive, there will always be a day for you to meet again."

Lu Mingfei clung to Chu Zihang with all his might: "Right now, in the whole world, you are the only one who remembers your father. If you die too, then your father will truly, completely disappear from this world."

Chu Zihang froze, and the hands he was using to break Lu Mingfei’s hold finally dropped.

Lu Mingfei felt Chu Zihang’s body gradually relax, but he didn't dare to let go immediately, maintaining the hold with both his arms and legs.

If a third person had been present, they surely would have been reminded of the classic scene from Stephen Chow's film *Fist of Fury 1991*:

"Did the senior brother lock up Ho Kam-yin? No, it was Ho Kam-yin who locked up the senior brother!"

"I'm sorry," Chu Zihang said silently. "You're right. If I die too, he will truly be gone."

"Glad you see it that way."

Lu Mingfei exhaled. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but found he didn't know what to say to break the heavy atmosphere.

Damn it... in such a sad moment, why did the atmosphere have to be so awkward?

Fortunately, Chu Zihang broke the silence himself: "Let go... I won't run anymore."

Lu Mingfei hesitated, then nodded. "Okay."

Lu Mingfei let go, and Chu Zihang slowly stood up from the muddy, rain-slicked ground, staring blankly in the direction of the man. Lu Mingfei stood obediently behind him.

Watching Chu Zihang’s lonely silhouette standing in the downpour, Lu Mingfei felt a sudden, inexplicable grief.

In the eyes of others, Chu Zihang always radiated a brilliant light, like a dazzling sun—yearned for, yet difficult to approach. But who knew that his own world was actually drenched in a torrential downpour, devoid of a single ray of sunlight?

Perhaps there had been a little sunlight before, but after today, it might be gone forever.

Unable to bear looking at his back any longer, Lu Mingfei turned away and wiped his face in the rain. As he looked up, he suddenly froze, his eyes widening in disbelief.

It was a tiny figure. She was sitting on the roof of the Maybach, swinging her legs, gazing at Chu Zihang’s back while humming a song.

The little figure seemed not to have expected Lu Mingfei to turn around suddenly. Her eyes shimmered with a faint, golden light as she locked gazes with him across the air.

Xia Mi.