Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 129: Su Xiaoquian’s Spring Strategy (3)

Dragon Raja 4

Lu Mingze was silent for a long time before he suddenly smiled. “I understand how incredible she is, but what surprises me more is you. You’ve grown up.”

“Did you really think the Student Union was full of saints? Every generation of Student Union presidents was a troublemaker, and I’m no different.” Lu Mingfei looked away.

“Since you’ve figured it out, I’ll step aside for now and wait for your final showdown.” Lu Mingze patted his shoulder. “Right now, the airport, port, and highways are all closed. Only one road out of the city remains. I’m sure you’ve guessed it—Odin will be waiting for you there. It’s the eye of the elemental storm. Inside the eye, things will be calm. But staying hidden in the city won’t help either. The Nibelungen will eventually invade reality again.”

“How long until the door opens?”

“Less than 48 hours. Odin is recovering. You’ve got time for a few more rounds of this game to build up your skills.”

“Reset it now. I don’t want to watch her die.” Lu Mingfei held the girl tighter as her body grew colder.

“But we have to take a break. You have a visitor.” Lu Mingze grinned. “Break time’s over!”

The booths around the dance floor were gradually filling up. Many regulars entering the club were surprised to see the best spot taken by four high school students, with one boy dragging along three girls. Some snapped photos and posted them on social media. The local socialites mostly knew each other, and soon, even the people trying to set up Su Xiaoqian with a boyfriend had indirectly heard that she was at Fox Bar drinking with a boy who might be her boyfriend.

Su Xiaoqian received a flood of curious WeChat messages from her aunts and uncles, laughing uncontrollably. “People are really talking about us!”

“Let them talk! It’s not like it’ll hurt us!” Liu Miaomiao responded.

Su Xiaoqian ordered some strong tequila, grabbed a lemon in one hand and sprinkled salt on the back of her other hand, teaching everyone how to drink tequila. The girls were starting to feel the effects of the alcohol, and their conversations became more casual. Su Xiaoqian pointed at Liu Miaomiao’s nose and said, “I still remember the fight we had! But since you called me today, I’ll let it slide. Drink a shot, and we’ll call it even!” Liu Miaomiao laughed, “If it weren’t for Senior Brother getting into trouble, I wouldn’t have talked to you, hahaha!”

Su Xiaoqian then pointed at Chen Wenwen’s nose, teasing, “Zhao Menghua is so possessive! If he finds out you’re drinking with Senior Brother Mingfei, he’ll be furious!” Chen Wenwen whispered, “I don’t have any feelings for Senior Brother Mingfei. Zhao Menghua wouldn’t get mad.”

The space around them was filled with candlelight, music, and the reflections of glassware. Men in suits and women, either demure or seductive, mingled with hidden meanings in their words.

“Look around you—this is the adult world. Everyone has their secrets, and nothing is simple anymore.” Lu Mingze swirled the wine in his glass, sitting beside them as if he belonged there, listening in. “Every word has truth and lies mixed in. Every drink holds both opportunity and hidden signals. Pay attention—Chen Wenwen and Liu Miaomiao are constantly texting back. They should’ve left by now, but someone’s pressuring them. They’re making excuses. They both have boyfriends, and those guys don’t like it when their girlfriends stay out late at bars. Senior Brother Mingfei’s reputation can solve many problems, but if your girlfriend is a fan of Justin Bieber, you still wouldn’t want her out drinking with him late at night. These are opportunities. Will you seize them?”

“Another one of your devilish philosophies, huh?” Lu Mingfei sighed. “So basically, as you’ve told me a hundred times, growing up means losing trust and playing mind games. I’ve heard it all before.”

Lu Mingze seemed a bit embarrassed. “Aren’t you supposed to feel disappointed and frustrated? This twisted world isn’t as nice to you as it seems.”

“Even if nine out of ten things people say are lies, I can still listen to that one truth,” Lu Mingfei said. “Maybe they all have their own issues, but tonight, they’re happy.”

“Are you happy?” Lu Mingze wrapped his arm around Lu Mingfei’s shoulder.

“It’s not about being happy or not, but I feel like I’ll remember tonight. It has meaning.”

“Brother, you’ve been getting deep lately, and it makes you seem really impressive, like a rhino.”

“A rhino’s strength isn’t in being deep, it’s in the horn that can gore someone.” Lu Mingfei ruffled the little demon’s hair.

“Brother Mingfei! Let’s go dance!” Su Xiaoqian jumped up, setting down her glass.

“You guys dance first, I’m going to the restroom.” Lu Mingfei stood up. “When I come back, I’ll show you some real moves!”

But instead of heading to the restroom, he went to the front desk and asked a server for an umbrella.

“Don’t tell Su Xiaoqian. I’ll be right back.” He slipped the server a hundred as a tip and took the elevator downstairs.

Water was flowing in torrents on the streets, with no cars in sight. The rain was too heavy for ride services to come out, afraid of flooding.

Lu Mingfei’s gaze shifted to a small alley, where an old man in a raincoat stood shivering next to a three-wheeled motorcycle. These black-market tricycles were meant for transporting the staff getting off work, not the wealthy customers of Fox Bar.

The old man approached eagerly. “Need a ride, young man? I’ll take you. In this rain, don’t even think about getting a taxi.”

Lu Mingfei pulled out his wallet, took out all the cash, and handed it to the old man, along with his watch. “I’ll rent your tricycle for a bit. The money is yours, and the watch is a deposit.”

He couldn’t afford the high-end Swiss watch on his wrist—it was a loan from the Student Union, which had bought it for him to wear as their chairman.

The old man weighed the watch in his hand, a bit skeptical. “My tricycle is expensive. How do I know this watch is worth anything?”

“The case is gold, but the brand and functions are too complicated to explain. It’s expensive enough, trust me.”

The old man was about to bite it when Lu Mingfei stopped him. “Rose gold isn’t pure gold. You’ll hurt your teeth. Just trust me. Listen to my accent, I’m a local.”

After hesitating for a while, the old man asked, “Can you even drive it?”

“I’ve driven bumper cars before,” Lu Mingfei grinned, “and a Bugatti Veyron. A tricycle shouldn’t be too hard.”

The old man nodded. “It’s easy. This is an automatic transmission, just like bumper cars—accelerate and brake. But the road’s slippery in the rain, so be careful.”

Lu Mingfei put on the old man’s raincoat, climbed into the tricycle, and sped off into the endless rain. The old man stood in the rain, watching curiously as the gears of the watch continued to tick.

The map in his mind was already marked. Highway 10, the only elevated highway in the city, was the last functional route out. The rain couldn’t flood it, making it the only path still open. It was the lifeline keeping the city supplied.

Late at night, the toll booth manager was dozing off when something flashed past the window. Rubbing his eyes, he stared in disbelief as a dark red tricycle with a trailer rattled through the toll gate, driven by a young man in a school uniform, sitting tall and proud, like a marshal riding a donkey into battle.

The wind and rain whipped against him as the black mountains and forests on either side seemed to close in. The world felt like it was rushing toward him. The road was eerily familiar, the kind of place he’d fought through many times in his nightmares. His theory was right—Chu Zihang had once accidentally found himself on a road called Highway 0, but it didn’t really exist. According to the laws of the Nibelungen, Highway 0 was a distorted version of a real road—Highway 10. Mysterious forces had erased the “1.”

The storm had sealed off the city, with the airport, harbor, and highways all paralyzed. The only way in or out was Highway 10. Finger and Nono were preparing to leave the city, so they would inevitably use Highway 10. Fate was guiding Nono to meet Odin there.

The elevated highway passed through areas that were once full of newly developed neighborhoods and a theme park with a Ferris wheel and roller coasters. Even late at night, they used to be brightly lit. But tonight, they were dark. The world was subtly twisting, with the rain visibly eroding the shadows of buildings, replacing them with distant mountains, endless forests of broad-leaved trees, farmland, rivers, and unlit villages.

Lu Mingfei was heading directly toward Odin’s location, already hearing the faint calls of crows above. But instead of continuing on the highway, he veered off at an exit where the sign had been removed, entering a dilapidated industrial area. This place had been abandoned for a long time, with tall weeds growing by the roadside and the rusted skeletons of industrial machinery standing in the rain like the bones of dead giants. A sign on the iron gate bore a notice: “This property has been seized by the City Intermediate People’s Court as part of the foreclosure of Huanya Group.”

Without a second glance, Lu Mingfei crashed through the gate.

The rows of factory buildings were all dark and open, with rusted machinery discarded along the roadside. He sped past them and stopped at the edge of a deep pit.

Yellow caution tape surrounded the area, reading “Unauthorized Personnel Keep Out.” The white building had sunk into the collapsed foundation. The water had been drained from the pit, revealing the rooftop of the building at the bottom. Lu Mingfei jumped into the pit, found the iron door leading to the stairwell, and pried it open. The walls and floors were caked with mud. He turned on his flashlight and descended, clearing away debris as he went until he reached the second basement level, where he found Chu Tianjiao’s former living quarters. The room was filled with water-soaked trash, and any clues left by Chu Tianjiao had been destroyed. But what Lu Mingfei was looking for was deeper.