Dragons begin with courage

Just as Lu Mingfei finished speaking—

"Oh……"

A low chuckle leaked out of the speakers without warning.

The sound was extremely deep, yet it carried a strange sense of grandeur, as if it were not being played through a loudspeaker, but rather vibrating directly from inside the heavy bronze bell, creeping into the brain along the eardrums.

Chu Zihang was startled, subconsciously thinking it was electrical interference or that he had accidentally pressed the play button.

But the next second, he knew it wasn't.

Looking in the rearview mirror, he saw his father's face—that face that always carried a hint of ingratiation and a touch of weariness—change in an instant.

His pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints, and the bluish-black blood vessels around his eyes, like slender snakes suddenly awakening, bulged and throbbed violently. In an instant, the lines of his entire face tightened and hardened, as if red-hot forged iron had been quenched in ice water. All relaxation and smiles were replaced by a bone-chilling coldness, leaving only an almost ferocious sharpness.

That was Chu Tianjiao, a completely unfamiliar person whom Chu Zihang had never seen before.

The pupils that suddenly contracted did not reflect surprise, but rather a kind of triggered, deep-seated... terror.

thump.

A muffled thud came from outside the car door.

Chu Zihang's heart skipped a beat.

Boom, boom, boom.

The sound continued, muffled and rhythmic, like... someone was knocking on the window.

But this happened on an elevated highway where speeds are 120 kilometers per hour! In the midst of a violent storm!

"Don't open the window!" Chu Tianjiao's explosive shout shattered his last shred of hope. There was no trace of his usual slickness in his voice, only a steely command and extreme vigilance.

not human!

Chu Zihang felt as if his blood had turned cold. The knocking sounds quickly became more frequent and rapid, surging in from all directions! One, three, five… no, many! More and more!

Through the rain-distorted car window, he saw—shadowy black figures clinging to the outside of the speeding car. They had no clear features, only blurry outlines, and… countless pairs of cold eyes staring intently at the life inside the car through the water.

"Hold on tight!"

Chu Tianjiao roared and slammed his right foot down on the accelerator!

The V12 engine roared like a trapped beast, the tires screeched on the wet road, and the immense push-back feeling was like an invisible hand pressing Chu Zihang firmly into his seat. He instinctively gripped the armrest tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"Don't be afraid... son," the father's voice came from the front seat, unusually calm, drowning out the roar of the engine and the wailing outside the window, "Your dad's here."

"...Mmm." Chu Zihang forced out a response, forcing himself to remain calm. He suddenly remembered Lu Mingfei and hurriedly turned his head—

In the back seat, the loser was slumped over, eyes closed, motionless. It was unclear whether he was stunned by the sudden turn of events or had hit his head during the violent acceleration.

Crack!

A teeth-grinding sound replaced the banging! It was something sharp scraping against metal and glass! Again and again! Mad and violent! A picture flashed through Chu Zihang's mind: those were the fingernails of those shadows outside!

"Come here!" Without giving a chance to speak, Chu Tianjiao grabbed Chu Zihang's wrist with an astonishing force, almost dragging him out of the back seat and shoving him heavily into the passenger seat.

"Fasten your seatbelt!" Chu Tianjiao's voice was low, but every word was like a hammered nail. At this moment, there was no trace of fear on his face, only a hardened, iron-like resolve. The timid driver had disappeared, and sitting in the driver's seat was a warrior about to step into a battlefield of carnage.

The accelerator pedal remained firmly planted, and the massive Maybach accelerated relentlessly amidst heart-pounding vibrations. The speedometer needle swung wildly to the right: 180…200…and it kept climbing! Yet, in the rearview mirror, through the white, misty rain, those distorted black shadows remained relentlessly pursuing, like a persistent, lingering leech!

Mercury-white light pierced the car from all directions. Amidst the interplay of light and shadow, countless dark figures danced and pounced around the speeding car, like vultures that had caught the scent of death, circling above the heads of the dying.

Just then, an indescribable, excruciating pain suddenly gripped Chu Zihang!

He groaned, involuntarily clutching his head and curling up. Deep within his brain, something seemed to explode; countless bluish-purple, lifelike lines twisted and spread wildly in the darkness of his consciousness, as if an ancient seal had been forcibly broken, and a dark and violent power was surging and awakening through his veins!

Beneath his tightly closed eyelids, a faint, burning golden light was subtly emanating!

"This day... has finally come." Chu Tianjiao held the steering wheel steadily with one hand, and squeezed his son's cold, trembling hand tightly with the other. There was an extremely complicated sigh in his voice, "I always hoped... it would be a little later."

"Your bloodline is awakening. Such a violent reaction..." He paused, looking at Chu Zihang's pained expression, his eyes heavy, "I don't know if this is your fortune or your misfortune."

"What... is wrong with me?" Chu Zihang squeezed out the question through gritted teeth, his head throbbing and his vision filled with bizarre and surreal images.

Chu Tianjiao took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, his voice was resolute, carrying a solemn, almost ritualistic quality:

"Son, welcome to—"

His gaze was like a drawn sword, piercing the endless rainy night and shadows ahead.

"The real world."

===================

Chu Zihang couldn't tell if this was a nightmare or reality. The speedometer needle was approaching 300 kilometers per hour! Everything outside the window blurred into elongated, distorted blocks of color. At this speed, the slightest tremor of the steering wheel would be enough to cause this steel beast to instantly lose control, roll over, and disintegrate!

But Chu Tianjiao's hands on the steering wheel were as steady as a rock, and his sharp eyes pierced through the rain, as if he were not driving a runaway luxury car, but rather an extension of his own body.

boom!boom!boom!boom!

The pounding intensified, no longer tentative taps, but a frantic hammering and slamming! The entire car body vibrated, and the glass groaned under the strain!

Chu Tianjiao's eyes narrowed slightly, and the veins on the side of his neck bulged. His free left hand suddenly reached towards the inside of the car door—where it appeared to be the umbrella holder—grabbed it, and pulled it out!

He held a dark, arcing shape in his hand.

It's not an umbrella.

It's a knife.

The scabbard was plain, but the moment he pressed his thumb against the guard, a clear, cold light, like autumn water, slid out and illuminated half of his profile, which was as hard as a stone carving.

Chu Zihang's breathing stopped.

He saw that good-for-nothing driver who usually bowed and scraped to his boss, was ridiculed by his relatives for being useless, and smiled obsequiously at the bathhouse...

At this moment, he held a Japanese sword with a murderous aura in one hand.

The aura emanating from him was an almost tangible sharpness that could only be felt from the most dangerous beasts!

Chu Tianjiao's eyes flashed, and he aimed at a certain point on the side of the carriage. Without hesitation, he thrust out his long knife with a backhand!

The sharp blade pierced through the specially made car door in an instant! At the same time, he slammed his right foot down on the brake pedal!

squeak------!!!

The ear-piercing screeching of friction echoed through the rainy night as the heavy body of the Maybach slid and lurched violently across the slippery road! The dark shadows that were pouncing on the side of the car, relentlessly pursuing it, were as if they had collided head-on with an invisible, sharp noose. With a series of chilling thuds, they were sliced ​​in half by the blades that pierced through the door and the immense force of the car sliding!

However, more shadowy figures swarmed out from the rain, letting out silent howls, their eyes gleaming with cold golden flames. They surrounded the vehicle again from all sides, their claws scraping against the car body, producing a metallic, groaning sound.

This lightning-fast killing and counterattack completely overturned Chu Zihang's understanding of this man and the world over the past fifteen years.

Has he... and this world... gone mad?!