Lu Mingfei, who had read Dragon Clan before slaying the dragon

"You are not bragging..." Zhao Menghua said blankly, his hand holding the liquor glass suspended in mid-air.

"Well, just think of me bragging." Lu Mingfei filled up the empty beaker in front of him and raised it. "I'll be boarding a plane to the United States soon. The college has already helped me with the paperwork and tickets, so classmates... let's meet again."

Listen, what touching words, mountains and rivers have a chance to meet... What the hell!

Everyone stared in amazement at the young man who made such a casual statement about traveling thousands of miles. Hey, you're the first person in our class to get early admission to a prestigious university! What's with that chugging a glass of wine in a crowded booth, acting like a "Everyone, the wind whistles and the Yi River is cold, I'm leaving first" kind of guy? Do you think you're playing Chen Jinnan from the Tiandihui?

It is such an honor for the family that the students of Shilan Middle School are admitted to prestigious universities in advance. The adults in their families are eager to burn incense sticks one after another until the ancestral graves are smoking and hold banquets one after another until the students graduate.

You're so kind, let me toast to my colleagues with a glass of wine. Won't we meet tomorrow?

"Isn't it a bit too sudden?" Chen Wenwen buried her head in the glass of liquor and said in a low voice.

However, what was in Chen Wenwen's liquor cup was not liquor, but bright red pomegranate juice.

"I won't leave right away. There's still some time left. But during this time I probably won't be able to attend activities like dinner parties." Lu Mingfei put down his liquor glass and said apologetically.

"Why make it like a life-and-death separation? This is something worth being happy about and celebrating. Congratulations, Mr. Lu!" Su Xiaoqiang punched Lu Mingfei's shoulder hard, causing the latter to grimace in pain.

Then he drank another glass with great enthusiasm.

With the little angel taking the lead, all kinds of congratulations and toasts came pouring in. Lu Mingfei was surrounded like rice being eaten by locusts. He forced a smile to deal with them one by one. Every time he drank a glass of wine, he complained to his uncle and aunt who told him, "We must have a dinner together. If we don't, you won't be considered grown up."

Rich blessings, whether sincere or insincere, filled the entire small box, dispelling the unspoken loneliness hidden in the wine of the few people.

……

Maybe in Naruto, there are endless various earth-shattering escape techniques, but the practicality of urinating escape techniques in the real world is just YYDS!

Lu Mingfei finally escaped under the pretext of needing to pee and squatted alone at the door of the izakaya.

The excitement could stay in the box; he couldn't enjoy the kind of treatment that comes with being the center of attention. Some people, like Caesar, are born with the script of being a heartthrob. But Lu Mingfei had never been that type of person. Even after three years of tempering, he had been reborn, but he couldn't help but think, "If someone is praised too much, then they will definitely fall off their butt."

Life is really strange. When Lu Mingfei wanted to choose, he had no choice. There was only one girl named Hui Liyi who did not despise him and treated him as the most precious thing in the world. Now many things are at his fingertips, but Lu Mingfei does not even want to look at them. He is determined to be with the girl he has never even met.

"It would be better to meet you earlier, but if we meet later... I'll have more time to think about you alone." Lu Mingfei murmured to himself facing the setting sun.

"Who are you thinking about?"

The voice came from behind. Lu Mingfei knew who it was without turning around, because the other person's figure was reflected in the glass window of the bright red Ferrari parked in front of the izakaya.

"You woman, you're really haunting me." Lu Mingfei squatted with no intention of getting up.

"How do you talk to your senior sister like that?" Nuonuo, who was wearing a light red kimono, slapped Lu Mingfei on the back of his head, then lifted the hem of her kimono and squatted down side by side with Lu Mingfei.

"I didn't admit that you are my senior sister, so stop flattering yourself." Lu Mingfei said retortively.

"Do you admit that I'm also your senior sister? It's because you entered school a year later than me." Nuonuo made a face. "Don't be so picky. I'm here to be your life mentor."

"Can you still be a life mentor?" Lu Mingfei squinted at Nuonuo. "Even with a white wig and a beard, you still don't look like Professor Guderian. You'd better forget it."

"Why would I pretend to be that old man?" Nuonuo rolled his eyes. "Seeing you squatting here feeling melancholy, I came here to tell you a secret. Guess what I saw in the women's restroom just now?"

"You'd better not tell me that I'm squatting here just because I'm drunk. If you want to talk about disgusting topics, I'll vomit all over you." Lu Mingfei said with disgust.

"What are you thinking about! It's that Chen Wenwen from your class!" Nuonuo said angrily, "I just saw her secretly wiping away tears in the bathroom. She was crying like a pear blossom in the rain, and she kept muttering things like 'Why are you leaving so suddenly?' and 'You haven't expressed your feelings yet?'"

"Oh." Lu Mingfei said lightly.

"Oh?" Nuonuo raised her voice an octave higher. "Such explosive content, and you just said 'oh'? Don't you know who she's crying for?"

"So what else do I want? Rush into the women's restroom, hug her, and then say in a chauvinistic way, 'Don't worry, even though I'm gone, our story will live on in your heart forever'?"

"Shouldn't it be like this? Isn't that how it's played out in soap operas?" Nono asked back.

"Watch less soap operas, they really lower your intelligence." Lu Mingfei waved his hand.

"So you don't like Chen Wenwen or Su Xiaoqiang? You don't have even the slightest affection for them?" Nuonuo asked curiously.

"Except friends, not at all." Lu Mingfei answered firmly.

"Who were you thinking about just now?" Nuonuo asked persistently.

"Hui... aren't you a little too idle? Anyway, I'm not missing you." Lu Mingfei said.

"It's boring. I came here today expecting to see some love confessions between infatuated men and resentful women, but in the end all I saw were a few girls who dared to love but couldn't say it out loud and a clueless idiot squatting at the door." Nuonuo took off her light red kimono. It turned out that she was wearing a tight-fitting sportswear underneath.

She opened the Ferrari's butterfly doors and climbed into the driver's seat as gracefully as if she were riding a red horse as red as charcoal.

"Senior sister is kindly reminding you that it is a blessing to be liked by several junior sisters. The Gate of Kassel is a door that you can only enter but not exit. You still have the chance to regret it. If you choose the academy, OK, then you will have to say goodbye to your previous life forever." Nono rolled down the black mirror-like car window, stepped on the accelerator, and the engine roared, ready to go.

"I know better than anyone what my life should be like."

Lu Mingfei looked at the red Ferrari roaring away like a wild beast.

Chapter 14: Muddy Man

"Are you hiding something, young man?"

A rough voice sounded behind him. Lu Mingfei turned around and saw a strange face.

This strange man was between middle-aged and old. There were a few scattered white hairs on the temples of his square face. His eye sockets were deep and dark. What attracted the most attention was his pair of black old eyes, which were full of vicissitudes of life and experience.

The man gave Lu Mingfei the feeling of a book with an old cover and covered in dust, which made people want to dust it off and open it to read.

"Brother Story, oh no, uncle, who are you?" Lu Mingfei asked politely, shocked that there was actually someone in this world with a face that looked like it said "I have a story".

"My name is Kenjiro, and I own this izakaya." The man smiled and pointed to the wooden plaque that read "Tokyo Izakaya".

"I was just wondering who this guy with this age and ethnic appearance could be. Turns out he's the owner of the izakaya." Lu Mingfei stood up and shook the wrinkles on his shirt.

"I didn't expect that after being in China for a while, people would still recognize me as Japanese at a glance. Am I such a failure?" The izakaya owner scratched his black and white hair.

"Actually, your Chinese pronunciation is already great, but your temperament and dress are still a bit conspicuous." Lu Mingfei thought to himself, you are wearing a black haori from the Muromachi period, and your plastic Chinese is mixed with a harsh Kanto accent. It would be a miracle if you can't tell that you are Japanese!

"Hahahaha, actually I'm used to living in China, so I wouldn't wear a kimono unless it's a festival or a sacrifice. But Miss Chen just now made me insist on wearing it, and I had to give her one to change into as well. She said that only this way could we have the real feeling of dining in Tokyo." The izakaya owner said with a smile.

"So, uncle, you really came all the way from Tokyo to China to chase your wife?" Lu Mingfei asked curiously.

"Well... you could say that. When my wife was alive, she always talked about the hometown where she was born and raised, so I accompanied her back."

Under the warm setting sun, the man's stern face was full of tenderness.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know your wife had already..."

"No need to apologize. Don't you Chinese have a saying that ignorance is not a crime?" The izakaya owner gently patted Lu Mingfei's shoulder. "Besides, this matter has never been a taboo for me. Even after she passed away, I can still feel that she has always been with me day and night."

"Where?!" Although it was broad daylight, Lu Mingfei felt a chill run down his spine uncontrollably when he heard this. He looked around vigilantly.

"Here." The izakaya owner pointed to a crescent-shaped pendant around his neck. "I've always carried her ashes with me, so I stayed here, living with her in her hometown."

"So that's how it is. Uncle, you really are in love! What a man!" Lu Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief, then gave the man a thumbs up with deep emotion.

"If I were a real man, I should have been more decisive back then, and Kiku wouldn't have died on that rainy night." The man said this in a very normal tone, without any frustration or self-mockery, as if he was talking about something as trivial as a plate of sashimi selling for 1500 yen in his shop, rather than something as big as his wife's death.

"Ju? Is this your wife's name?" Lu Mingfei asked softly.

"No, when I first saw her in Kabukicho, I felt that this girl was like a small cornflower. The flower language of cornflower is meeting and happiness. I hope she can always be like that plain little flower, pure and beautiful." Recalling the scene of his first encounter with his beloved woman, nostalgia flowed through the man's weathered eyes like a quiet river.

"Kabukicho..." Lu Mingfei thought to himself that this shouldn't be a place for decent girls.

As if he understood Lu Mingfei's doubts, the man explained, "She's not a singing girl or a dancer. She's just a girl selling roses at the entrance of the cinema. I fell in love with her the first day I met her."

"It's like one of those old cartoons where a young sailor sees a girl on deck and turns to his mate and says, 'Hey, do you see that beautiful girl? One day, I'm going to marry her!'"

"But unlike Ju, I used to be a dirty person living in the mud." The man put away his nostalgic look and put on a serious face, as if only when he mentioned his deceased wife would he reveal a touch of attachment to the beauty of the world.

"Why do you say that?" Lu Mingfei asked with a frown.

"Because the first meeting was not ideal, I went to Kabukicho to collect protection fees, and Kiku was one of the people we charged." The izakaya owner pulled off the collar of his kimono with one hand, revealing a touch of indigo body paint.

That's a tattoo, a symbol of the Japanese underworld.

Lu Mingfei nodded slightly, but his heart was shocked. He didn't expect that the owner of the izakaya whom he met unintentionally at a dinner party was actually a big boss who used to be involved in the Japanese underworld?

And the izakaya owner said he was from Tokyo, and the Tokyo underworld... is probably related to that family.

The emperor who was deeply rooted in the dark world of Japan was also the longest-lasting head family of the Japanese underworld - the Yaki Eight Clan.

"And then?" Lu Mingfei suppressed the throbbing in his heart and asked.

"Back then, I was actually sent by my family to the grassroots to learn and fight in secret. However, I lived up to everyone's expectations. In just three years, I became a well-known leader of that generation. I collected protection money from my subordinates, and threatened and warned them if they didn't pay. If they still didn't pay, I would personally come out and kill them. Now I think about it, my youth was soaked in scarlet blood!"

Lu Mingfei thought to himself, that's right. Most people would quarrel with their parents during adolescence, but you, on the other hand, became arrogant and took pleasure in hacking people during adolescence. You said you were living in the mud, which shows that you are quite self-aware.

"Until I met my Ju, I ordered my men not to charge her protection money. I would also deliberately avoid her when passing by that street. I was afraid she would see my dirty side. After all, she was so flawless."

"You know, for us gangsters, we can just rob women, but I don't dare. I'm afraid that my sinful hands will taint that pure white flower."

"But it was as if God was playing a trick on me. The more I avoided her, the more frequent our encounters became. I was afraid to meet her clear eyes. Whenever I passed her, I would walk away quickly without even looking up, until that day."

"It was a starless night, with thin, shallow clouds, making the moonlight appear especially dazzling. Kabukicho was still ablaze with lights. I had just killed my enemy, and the blood was still smeared on my face. But at that moment, I felt no pleasure at all. I realized I was no longer the reckless young man who spent his days shouting for war and killing. Gradually, I grew tired of that life on the edge of a knife... and dreaded it."

"As we were passing through the alley, the thing I feared most happened. I met her eyes. Under the moonlight and neon lights, my face was stained with blood and my chest was covered with scars. I looked like an Asura who had just crawled out of hell. I thought to myself, this is it, I'm dead. The girl I loved saw my most embarrassing side. I wanted to commit seppuku on the spot."

"But she just held a bright red rose and walked towards me quietly, like a pure and flawless angel..."

"Sir, forget everything about today and leave the night to yourself. I wish you a good dream and tomorrow will be even better."

"She said so."

Chapter 15: Authentic View of Famous Things

"It's a very old story."

"But it's beautiful." Lu Mingfei said sincerely.

Hearing the boy's heartfelt praise, the man smiled.

"Yes, in my eyes, chrysanthemum is the most beautiful gift in the world." The man

"Then what? Did you get together?" Lu Mingfei asked curiously.

"Yes, we are together now, and I was the one who confessed first!" The man said very proudly, as if confessing his love to his beloved girl was the thing he was most proud of and proud of, and compared with that, his legendary experience in the underworld was nothing!

"That's when I realized that Ju had actually been secretly in love with me for a long time."

"In the eyes of others, I am a heinous gang leader who commits all kinds of evil, but in Ju's eyes, I am just a tired and exhausted man. That's all."

"That's how Ju and I formed a family. Ju continued to sell roses outside the cinema. I was tired of the violence and bloodshed, and became increasingly perfunctory in my family missions. However, by then, I had already completed my family training ahead of time, so I was summoned back to my family."

"My abilities were outstanding, so I was entrusted with important tasks by the family, and the head of the family gifted me with a famous sword. My position became increasingly high, and I gained more and more confidants. Of course, I also asked my subordinates to secretly take care of Ju's flower business."

"On our wedding day, I bought out an entire flower shop in Kabukicho and gave it to Kiku, along with the roses from the flower shop, as a wedding gift. It was not far from the cinema where she used to sell flowers."

"Ju said that she had been in poverty for half her life, with only Rose as her companion. She would trim a rose for me every day and put it in front of the store, hoping that I would return home safely." The man's face shone brightly in the fiery red sunset.

His face was as warm as a rose, and his clear eyes hid the plain color of cornflowers.

"This world is a mess, but there is still a clean and bright moon quietly waiting in your sky. So this is love!" Moved by the man's story, the boy couldn't help but smile beautifully, wondering who he was thinking of.

"Yes, this world is really a mess, and Kiku is my only clean moon." The man named Kenjiro looked deeply at the boy and saw the smile from the bottom of his heart on the corner of his mouth.

"Ju is my angel, but where there are angels in this world, there are also evil spirits. On that rainy night, the evil spirit came to me."

The man suddenly changed the subject, as if he had turned into a demon shrouded in hatred, and the hatred in his words overflowed from between his lips and teeth.

"In the final analysis, everything is my own fault. As the demon slayer of my family, I don't want to commit more sins of killing. The evil demon was released by me personally, and retribution will eventually come upon me."

"My memories of that night are very hazy. I only remember that it rained heavily, nearly drowning Tokyo. My family had developed a potion that could release power, and everyone was celebrating. Even though I held an important position, I stayed up late and got drunk, completely unaware that Kiku was already pregnant with my child. The moment I returned to the flower shop and opened the door, I saw a tragic nightmare that I will never forget."

The flower shop was in ruins, its windows and vases stained with blood redder than the roses. Lightning streaked through the clouds, and in the torrential rain, Ju's cries and pleas for help seemed powerless. She collapsed in a pool of blood, her eyes helpless and unfocused, while evil spirits gnawed at her body.

"I collapsed. My brain felt like it was being hammered down by a mighty hammer, and my soul was shattered. I screamed like a madman, fighting the evil spirit in the blood of chrysanthemums. In the end, I bathed in the blood of chrysanthemums and killed the evil spirit."

"Ju's blood had already cooled on my body, dried, hardened, and crusted. I wandered alone on the streets late at night, treating everyone I saw as if they were ghosts. I cursed at them, brandished my knife, and even hacked down many innocent passersby."

"It's as if I've never truly exterminated the demon that harmed Chrysanthemum. It's burrowed into my heart, and I've become a new demon. Even the heavy rain all night can't wash away my sins."

"The gods gave me a memory as precious as a dream, but they also took away my cornflowers and roses."

"Failure to protect those who matter most leaves those who arrive late with nothing but endless anger and regret. Regret is like a poison with no antidote. It wipes out your beautiful memories, leaving you with only a heart full of powerless pain and the thought, 'Let's just die together.' This thought took root in my mind and then took deep root, like a slow slicing of flesh, cutting me into pieces every lonely night."

"When I regained consciousness, I wanted to drive the evil spirit out of my body, so I cut off my sword-holding arm, apologized, left the family, and returned to her homeland with Ju."

The man opened his kimono, and the tattoo across his chest was of a demon with bared fangs, but half of the demon's face stopped abruptly at his right shoulder, because the right sleeve of the man's haori was empty.

Lu Mingfei looked at the man's gloomy face and empty right arm, and his heart could not calm down for a long time.

How similar was all this to him in the story! In the story, he hadn't been able to protect that important girl either. Even though he'd transformed into the greatest monster in the end and annihilated that nightmare woven of blood and white, so what? He still lived, stumbling along, as if atonement!

"Just now when you were squatting at the door and muttering to yourself, I seemed to see chrysanthemum in your eyes for the first time in a long time." The man's words woke Lu Mingfei up. He looked at the man, unable to fully understand what he said.

"In your eyes, there are cornflowers that belong to you. It's the girl you were secretly thinking about just now. Seeing you reminds me of my past self." The man explained to Lu Mingfei, full of emotion, "If only I could go back to your age, I would definitely protect my cornflowers this time."