Chapter 283 - 282: Gorgeous Wind-Stealing Leg

Chapter 283: Chapter 282: Gorgeous Wind-Stealing Leg

Shi Tiexin opened his eyes.

As a level-one outer gang member, he had been assigned to a six-person dormitory. It cost twenty Gang Contribution points a month, which was equivalent to a monthly rent of two hundred credit points. A price like that would never get you a private room in the Upper City District.

Six people living together in one large room, just like his old student dorms.

However, compared to the partitioned hovel he used to live in, this large room had one major advantage: it was quite clean.

When he moved in yesterday, the young lady at the front desk had shown him in, and the men already living there had been moderately welcoming, if a bit aloof. But today, when a skinny guy kicked his bed, Shi Tiexin knew that this world truly held no Garden of Eden.

The pretty smile belonged to the young lady at the front desk, and that was all it was.

Jingtuan was one of the city’s top gangs, but that was only when looking at the organization as a whole.

When it came down to the individual members, to this very dormitory, to the person standing before him—everything returned to a rhythm Shi Tiexin knew all too well.

The rhythm of the strong preying on the weak.

Shi Tiexin stood up. His expression was calm, completely unruffled. He was a full head taller than the other man.

WHAP. The skinny guy across from him pulled out a small booklet and slammed it down in front of Shi Tiexin.

"Listen up, kid. Now that you’re in the gang, you follow the gang’s rules! And what are the rules? The rules are what’s written in this booklet. And the unwritten rules? Those are rules too!"

"Starting today, you’re responsible for cleaning the room and doing the laundry. Making beds, washing clothes, sweeping the floor—it’s all your job now. You’ll fetch our food before meals and clear the dishes after. Figure out all the other little chores and do them without being told. Got it?"

"And newbie, let me make one thing crystal clear. Jingtuan has hygiene regulations for the dormitories. Any room that fails inspection gets a fine. If we get fined because you screwed up... heh heh... well, kid, you can just imagine the consequences."

The skinny guy’s expression was hostile as he let out a cold sneer.

But he didn’t see a trace of the panic he’d expected on Shi Tiexin’s face.

Shi Tiexin simply cracked his neck, shook out his wrists, and started warming up.

Seeing this, the skinny guy took a wary hop backward. The movement was surprisingly agile, and his expression turned even more menacing. "What’s this, punk? You looking for a fight?"

Shi Tiexin didn’t mince words. "I am."

"Hah! You think you can just defy me?!"

"I’m just following the rules. If you can beat me, your word is law." Shi Tiexin glanced at the other men in the room. The other three were just watching with amusement, showing no intention of getting involved. One bed was still empty; its owner hadn’t arrived yet.

Shi Tiexin understood immediately. ’No matter where I go, the rules are always the same.’

It was true in the Orphanage, true in the Star Worker School, and true here in the Jingtuan dormitory. In a world where the gap between the strong and the weak was obvious, and society didn’t discourage brawls, an ecosystem of oppressors and the oppressed naturally formed.

’This skinny guy in front of me must have been the one getting bullied before. All those chores—making beds, doing laundry, sweeping the floor—they must have all been his. That’s why he was so eager to jump on me the moment I arrived. He’s looking for someone to push further down the food chain.’

"But if you can’t beat me, then everything you’ve said is just bullshit." Shi Tiexin took a deep breath, and his eyes flashed. "So, enough with the trash talk. Let’s go!"

CRACK! A glass-like boundary materialized, and the Mystic Realm activated, enveloping the entire dormitory and isolating everyone else.

Shi Tiexin charged forward with a punch, but the skinny guy was even faster.

"You think I’m afraid of you?!" The skinny guy raised his leg, and his foot shot out with a WHOOSH. "Taste my Gorgeous Wind-Stealing Leg!"

SWISH. In the blink of an eye, the kick was right in front of Shi Tiexin’s face, aimed straight at him.

’So fast!’

Startled, Shi Tiexin threw his upper body backward, narrowly dodging the high kick but losing his balance in the process.

"I’m not done yet! Take another kick!"

As soon as the first kick ended, the skinny guy shuffled forward and launched another one—a low kick that whistled through the air as it aimed for Shi Tiexin’s knee. The sound had barely registered before the kick was almost upon him.

’Still so fast!’

Shi Tiexin had already lost his balance and couldn’t recover. But in a flash of inspiration, he used his surroundings and fell backward, landing square on his bed. He shot his legs up, dodging the low kick.

The third kick came whistling down. Shi Tiexin used the momentum to roll backward off the bed. As his feet hit the floor, he looked up just in time to see the skinny guy’s foot chop down right in front of his face. It slammed into the bed frame with a loud CRACK, turning the bedding into a complete mess.

’Is this skinny guy really that good?’

’The guy who was at the bottom of the pecking order, forced to make beds and do chores, has this kind of skill?’

Though surprised, Shi Tiexin’s instincts took over. His eyes locked onto the foot on the bed, and his hands shot out. In one swift motion, he grabbed the ankle, yanking hard to keep the skinny guy from pulling his leg back. Then, he brought a heavy elbow down on it.

CRUNCH.

It was a solid hit. It sounded like something had snapped.

"AAGH! Oww, oww, it hurts!"

Just as Shi Tiexin was thinking how formidable his opponent was, the skinny guy started howling. Stunned for a moment, Shi Tiexin subconsciously let go. The skinny guy immediately collapsed onto the bed, clutching his ankle and screaming in agony.

With the skinny guy having lost his will to fight, the Mystic Realm instantly dissolved.

The moment the Mystic Realm faded, the broken bed frame repaired itself, and the tear in the bedsheet vanished. The ankle he had just broken still throbbed with pain, but the fracture itself had healed, and the agony was no longer life-threatening.

"No way! That round doesn’t count! I was just careless!" The skinny guy’s face was a mask of indignation. "Let’s go again!"

Hearing this, one of the other men, who was slowly getting dressed, let out a derisive snort. It wasn’t clear what he was laughing at, but the skinny guy’s face immediately flushed a deeper shade of red.

"Best two out of three! I’ll knock you flat this time for sure!"

’Honestly, the guy was just talking crap. It was his own fault for being careless; was I supposed to just let him win? That’s probably what the other guy was laughing at.’

However, Shi Tiexin had been genuinely impressed by the skinny guy’s Leg Technique. He also wanted to get a proper measure of Jingtuan’s standards to accurately gauge his own standing. So, he gestured with his hand. "Fine. Let’s go again."

CRACK. The glass-like boundary expanded, and the Mystic Realm unfolded once more.

The two men faced each other across the bed, their eyes locked in an intense, focused stare.

’If the enemy doesn’t move, I don’t move.’ Shi Tiexin was perfectly patient.

The skinny guy, however, couldn’t wait. With a sudden roar, he leaped onto the bed and lashed out with a kick.

Kicking downward from his high position, he unleashed a low kick just as fast and vicious as the one before, tearing through the air like a sudden gust.

In response, Shi Tiexin simply grabbed the bedsheet and whipped it sharply. The skinny guy cried out, "Agh!" and went down with a WHOOSH, as if he’d slipped on a banana peel.

Shi Tiexin shot out a hand and grabbed one of the guy’s feet with perfect precision. Then, pulling with one hand while pushing with the other, he seized the sole and gave it a vicious twist.

SNAP.

’The ligament definitely tore.’

"AIIEE! It hurts! It hurts! Let go! Let go! Let me go!"