Time passed quickly, and before long, darkness enveloped the sky.
Zheng Zheng stretched lazily, hurriedly packing up his stall, indifferent to the fact that he had earned nothing today.
After finally waiting for the bus, he sent a text to A Long. After a bumpy half-hour ride, he finally arrived at Xiaonanmen. A Long was already there waiting with a girl.
A Long was a tall and slender young man, whose full name was Song Xiaolong. He had a square-shaped face, thick eyebrows, and big eyes, exuding a youthful charm. He recognized Zheng Zheng in the crowd at a glance and called out with a big smile, “Ah Zheng, over here!”
Zheng Zheng noticed A Long and walked over to size him up. Then he lightly punched A Long's shoulder and lowered his voice, saying, “Nice going, kid. Just like a modern-day Ximen Qing, charming girls wherever you go.”
A Long quickly replied in a low voice, “No, no, no, I’m serious this time.”
At that moment, the girl A Long brought along also stepped forward, looking at Zheng Zheng with curiosity. “A Long, is this your high school classmate?”
Song Xiaolong quickly introduced the two.
Zheng Zheng nodded slightly. The girl’s name was Bai Ling; she had delicate features, a slim figure, and a trendy youthful vibe, making her a beauty by anyone's standards. Moreover, judging by her simple demeanor and appearance, she seemed to be a refined and elegant girl. For Song Xiaolong to be with someone like her was quite a stroke of luck; now it all depended on whether he could settle down.
After chatting briefly, the three decided to head to a night market for dinner.
The street of food stalls at Xiaonanmen was bustling with business, filled with crowds of people. Song Xiaolong led Zheng Zheng to a place called “A Sheng Da Pai Dang” and they sat down.
The restaurant was quite popular, already filled to 80% capacity, creating a lively and noisy atmosphere.
Once the food and drinks arrived, Zheng Zheng and A Long clinked their glasses, reminiscing about their high school days, sharing stories, and sighing with nostalgia.
Song Xiaolong let out a long sigh and then said mysteriously, “Ah Zheng, do you know what Cheng Haishan is doing now?”
“Cheng Haishan?” Zheng Zheng was taken aback, then suddenly remembered this woman and chuckled, “I’m not that close to her; how would I know what she’s up to?”
Song Xiaolong looked at him with disdain and said, “Stop pretending. Who didn’t know you were closest to her back then?”
Zheng Zheng was curious and asked, “Where is she now, and what is she doing?”
Song Xiaolong smugly replied, “Want to know? You have to beg me.”
Zheng Zheng rolled his eyes and said, “Forget it, I really don’t care.”
Cheng Haishan was Zheng Zheng's classmate in high school and the school’s recognized beauty. Back then, Zheng Zheng loved playing soccer and basketball, and Cheng Haishan, due to her brother's influence, also had a passion for these sports. Their seating arrangement allowed for plenty of conversation, which led to some interaction between them.
At that time, Zheng Zheng was still a naive kid, lacking emotional intelligence and not understanding the dynamics between boys and girls. He had innocently helped pass numerous notes for several admirers of the school beauties. Naturally, those with ill intentions assumed he was pursuing Cheng Haishan, and he received warnings from a few influential students in the school. No matter how much he tried to explain, it was in vain. After the note-passing incident, it seemed that Cheng Haishan held some resentment towards him, and their relationship gradually faded.
Thinking back on this, Zheng Zheng felt a rush of nostalgia; time really does fly.
Seeing Zheng Zheng’s indifferent expression, Song Xiaolong could no longer resist his urge to gossip and revealed everything he knew: “The school beauty is working at the Land Bureau in Wenzhou now. Apparently, a wealthy bachelor comes driving his luxury car to pursue her every now and then.”
Zheng Zheng chuckled lightly, “Well, beautiful women attract attention; it’s normal for someone to pursue her.”
Song Xiaolong shot him a disdainful glance and asked, “Don’t you want to rekindle any romance?”
Just as Zheng Zheng was about to retort, a commotion broke out nearby.
Within a minute, they heard someone shouting, “Someone's been stabbed! Someone’s been killed!”
The three of them looked up simultaneously to see a burly man charging through the crowd like a tank. He was holding a bloody machete, blood dripping continuously from it. Pedestrians screamed and scattered in panic. The man appeared calm despite committing a violent act, sprinting down the street for about thirty meters, heading towards a dark alley where he seemed about to disappear.
Zheng Zheng suddenly felt an odd connection to the assailant, as if there was something tying them together. He closed his eyes in contemplation. Suddenly opening them, he reached under the table and pulled out a talisman that lay quietly in his hand.
“Go,” Zheng Zheng said softly. The talisman transformed into a streak of lightning, piercing through the dark night and heading straight for the fleeing assailant. In mid-air, it turned into a green smoke, and then ten or more long, dark green vines shot up from the ground at visible speed, wrapping around the assailant. These vines were tipped with barbed spikes, which instantly pierced into the assailant's body, causing him to scream in pain. His escape was forcefully halted.
The assailant looked utterly shocked; he couldn’t comprehend how these plants had suddenly emerged from the ground. He instinctively swung the machete in desperation, but the vines held firm. After desperately chopping for one or two minutes, he found that his efforts were in vain; he couldn’t cut through them. At that moment, three or four security officers appeared in the distance.
Just as the assailant was about to be caught, the vines suddenly shattered into fragments and vanished completely.
Zheng Zheng sighed softly; a failed talisman was indeed a failure. It couldn’t even hold up against an ordinary person for more than a few minutes, let alone face an immortal practitioner. However, the objective had been achieved; dealing with an ordinary person didn’t require him to use a fully functional talisman.
Since it was night and the binding talisman had acted around the alley corner, the entire event unfolded in a short span, and almost no one had seen what had happened. Even if someone had witnessed it, they would likely think they were seeing things.
Zheng Zheng stood up and, amidst the surprised looks from A Long and Song Xiaolong, quickly ran to the alley. The assailant had already vanished, but he didn’t mind. He swiftly examined the ground, picking up some torn fabric pieces, carefully storing them in his ring before letting out a light sigh. He had a feeling that these items might come in handy in the future.
At that moment, A Long caught up with him, desperately pulling Zheng Zheng back while quietly exclaiming, “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Zheng Zheng smiled slightly, curiously asking, “Is the public security in Wenzhou still chaotic these years?”
Song Xiaolong, appearing somewhat distracted, replied, “Not really; public security has improved a lot in Wenzhou over the years. But there are still some gangs; they just keep a low profile. Ordinary people hardly ever see them.”