After their previous encounter, they had gained some understanding of each other. Tai Chi Chen believed that with his superior footwork, Zhang Lei would not have the opportunity to suddenly break free from the battle.
Moreover, Tai Chi Chen did need some time to calm his breathing. In just over a minute, his breathing had become disordered, something that hadn't happened in decades, not even when that old guy Bagua Li was alive.
It's not that Zhang Lei is better than Bagua Li Qiang, but every punch from this kid seems to contain overwhelming killing intent, which makes Tai Chi Chen very uncomfortable.
Zhang Lei was also wary of Taiji Chen, because he didn't sense any supernatural energy fluctuations emanating from Taiji Chen. It was no secret that Taiji Chen had supernatural abilities long before the Yuan Qi explosion.
Zhang Lei was unaware that if he could learn how to conceal supernatural energy fluctuations from that Japanese guy, how could no one else not know it? This Tai Chi Chen knew it even earlier than Zhang Lei, and he developed it himself. His method was different from Zhang Lei's, but the result was the same, and in terms of effectiveness, it was probably much better than Zhang Lei's. Zhang Lei was merely creating the opposite fluctuations, while Tai Chi Chen was nipping the supernatural energy fluctuations in the bud.
"Sir, may I ask you one more time? Is Li Yang hiding in your house right now?" Zhang Lei pressed the microphone on the walkie-talkie.
"Why bother asking, Your Majesty? Since I'm here, Li Yang is naturally in my house. However, it might not be so easy for Your Majesty to break through my blockade. Although Your Majesty is a genius, I can still risk my life to keep you occupied for two or three hours. By then, the mark Your Majesty left on Li Yang should have disappeared!"
Tai Chi Chen seemed quite smug in his words, as if he were in control of the situation. However, a closer analysis of his words reveals that he was no longer so confident. At least, he no longer had the arrogant feeling he had at the beginning. He even lacked confidence in his own victory. All he had was the confidence that he could hold off Zhang Lei.
"Old man, you are too modest. In fact, if you had used all your strength, it would have been uncertain who would have won or lost, let alone hold me back. I firmly believe that I can do it. However, I admire your magnanimity even more. In my opinion, even those who sacrifice themselves to feed tigers are not as great as you!"
"Do you know who's on the other end of this walkie-talkie?" Zhang Lei noticed that Tai Chi Chen seemed taken aback by his question. Zhang Lei turned up the volume on the walkie-talkie, and Tang Guo's anxious voice came through, "Zhang Lei, Zhang Lei, Brother Zhang, Uncle Zhang, are you there? I beg you, please say something!" Zhang Lei answered the walkie-talkie but didn't say anything because he covered the microphone. He could only hear some background noise, and since he couldn't find Li Yang, he was naturally extremely anxious.
"Did you hear that voice? This is the last person to take in Li Yang. It seems you have a granddaughter you really like. She just finished her college entrance exams and is now enjoying her company at your home!" Zhang Lei saw Taiji Chen's ears perk up and started to become even more suspenseful. Other people's children are always getting their comeuppance.
"Kid, what do you want to say? Speak up!" Tai Chi Chen's expression turned ugly.
He hadn't cared about the younger generation's squabbles for many years. He'd heard that Gossip Li's adopted son, Li Yang, seemed to have a bad reputation, but he hadn't bothered to find out why. Besides, the little guy Li Yang had always behaved well in front of them. He and Gossip Li, especially Gossip Li, preferred to believe that it was all just malicious gossip or some kind of misunderstanding.
Now that Li Yang has passed away, although he was only an adopted son, he was still the old man's only son. Since he came to his door for help, he had to help him. So after receiving Li Yang's call, he intercepted Zhang Lei on his way. Li Yang did indeed tell him to go to his house to hide first.
This world isn't just about Zhang Lei having the advanced skill of making phone calls; Li Yang does it too.
"Tang Guo? I'm on... well, on Tianmu Middle Road, but Li Yang isn't here. He should be at the Chen family in Taiji. You can go and negotiate with him yourself!" Zhang Lei finally understood Tang Guo's anxious heart, but immediately put the microphone down again. "Do you think it's okay for me to say this, Senior Chen?" Even a fool could hear the sarcasm in his words.
"Kid, I'm getting less and less fond of you! You'd better just say what you have to say!" Taiji Chen felt an overwhelming sense of worry. Zhang Lei's words seemed to be hinting at something, but he just wouldn't say it outright.
"Hehe, that's alright. In order to eliminate this great scourge, Li Yang, I probably won't be able to stay in China no matter what. So I won't stay here and get in your way. But, Tang Guo, would you like to say something to him?" Zhang Lei said unhurriedly.
"No need, I can recognize that's Tang Guo's voice. What exactly do you want to say?" Taiji Chen recalled that he seemed to have heard rumors about this before.
"Is that Grandpa Chen speaking on the other end? It's me, Xiao Guo! Grandpa Chen, you must stand up for me!" Zhang Lei had somehow let go of the microphone, and Tang Guo finally heard the conversation.
"Grandpa Chen, I took in that beast Li Yang and let him stay at my house temporarily. Who knew he would ruin my older cousin!" Tang Guo, that kid, knew how to be concise and to the point, and he also understood the responsibility of a supporting character. He explained Zhang Lei's rambling words in one sentence. "Not only that, that beast also killed her! Grandpa Chen, you must be careful of that beast!"
Concern can cloud judgment. In this old man's mind, no matter how many girls Li Yang had ruined, he would protect him out of friendship with Gossip Li. But if his most beloved granddaughter was in danger, that would be a different story.
Zhang Lei didn't seem to hold it in much contempt. He felt the same way; if Li Yang hadn't wronged him, he wouldn't have hesitated to rape and murder the Tang family's eldest daughter, or even if they had all been ruined. "Old man, you don't need to worry too much. I've done some research on Li Yang. As long as he's not seriously injured, he can usually tolerate people who have done him a favor. The incident at Tang Guo's house was purely accidental. Li Yang was too badly injured at the time; if..."
Zhang Lei's words were hardly persuasion; they were clearly adding fuel to the fire. Tai Chi Chen, seeing Li Yang's severely injured state on the way, became even more anxious.
Episode 4: An Eye for an Eye, a Blade for a Teeth - Chapter 81: The Second Superpower (Part 2)
"I admit you've convinced me, but I'm really starting to hate you more and more!" Zhang Lei noticed that Tai Chi Chen was running quite fast; it was truly remarkable that such an old man could be so fast.
Zhang Lei remotely controlled the mark of his internal energy lock, playing hide-and-seek with Li Yang. He easily pedaled the bicycle he had dragged from the roadside, breaking the lock with ease. As for the original owner, he hoped that the owner could have a telepathic connection with his bicycle and that Zhang Lei wouldn't hogging it. However, where the bicycle would be returned to was uncertain.
He had changed into new clothes, and naturally, he had thrown away his old women's clothes. Some people thought that as long as the clothes were hung upstairs, they would be fine and wouldn't be stolen, and they didn't even bother to bring them back at night. Zhang Lei told them, "You're just being careless! Lord Zhang Lei doesn't want clothes that aren't good. He doesn't want clothes that aren't stylish, colors that aren't good, or that aren't new. He doesn't want clothes that aren't from a good brand. What? Fake designer brands? Of course, he can't accept those!"
Tai Chi Chen watched as Zhang Lei kept jumping up and ruining other people's clothes along the way, and couldn't help but shake his head. He then jumped up and stood behind Zhang Lei's car. "Kid, you know the way to my house, right?"
"Hehe, old man, I remember you so-called righteous people are all like that, what's it called, the honest man doesn't drink water from a thief's spring? It doesn't seem right for you to be like this, this car of mine was stolen!" Zhang Lei's two feet pedaled very fast. Don't be fooled by his leisurely appearance, he was actually anxious inside. But haste makes waste. If Zhang Lei was in a hurry, then it would be this old man's turn to be leisurely!
"Hurry up and ride! That's all nonsense. We martial artists have never heard of anyone being so rigid as to follow that rule. Can you ride a little faster, kid?" Although the old man was saying that he was getting more and more annoyed with Zhang Lei, his tone was becoming more and more like that of an elder. Zhang Lei didn't feel particularly disgusted by it, as if that was how the old man should be addressed.
As Zhang Lei rode, he replayed the battle in his mind. Although the fight with Tai Chi Chen was short, the gains were immeasurable.
In their words, this fight was quite something. Zhang Lei tried hard to simulate the battle in his mind, but while Tai Chi Chen's movements were smooth and seemingly not fast when he performed them, when Zhang Lei simulated them in his mind, it was completely different. If he had followed the old man's movements in his mind, Zhang Lei was sure that he would have been beaten black and blue by himself.
It always seems like some key action is missing, making it impossible to connect the actions, but I just can't remember those actions.
If you could learn kung fu just by watching someone demonstrate it once, or by fighting with someone once, then there would be no such thing as apprenticeship in this world.
Tai Chi Chen hurriedly turned Zhang Lei's handlebars to avoid an oncoming truck. "Hey kid, watch out! My old bones can only take a hit from this car, but if you hit that truck, I'm done for!"
In that instant, it seemed as if a door had opened in Zhang Lei's mind. Zhang Lei suddenly raised his head and said, "Brother, you ride for a while. I have something to think about!" Without waiting for Tai Chi Chen's reply, he somersaulted and landed behind Tai Chi Chen. Although there was only a small space there, it did not prevent Zhang Lei from standing on his tiptoes.
Tai Chi Chen hurriedly grabbed the handlebars. If they really crashed head-on into a large vehicle, Zhang Lei would definitely be fine, but he might not be. The two had just clashed head-on and were evenly matched, but that didn't mean their bodies were equally strong. That was Zhang Lei's specialty.
He turned to look at Zhang Lei, who seemed lost in thought, and shook his head helplessly, taking Zhang Lei's place. For some reason, he wasn't displeased by Zhang Lei calling him "brother," perhaps because he felt Zhang Lei truly deserved that title?
Just now, Zhang Lei was riding his bike with an old man standing behind him, which, while not exactly pleasing to the eye, was still somewhat reasonable. Now, a wise old gentleman, dressed in an ancient Tang Dynasty-style suit, is pedaling his bike at breakneck speed, while a young man stands leisurely behind him—that just seems a bit out of place.
Zhang Lei wasn't trying to be lazy; there was really no need to argue with an old man like that. He genuinely felt he should calm down and try to feel what he had just experienced.
Zhang Lei can't remember the feeling of first developing superpowers; he was too young then.
But is it really possible for one person to have two superpowers? Zhang Lei was a little doubtful, wondering if there was some kind of discrepancy in the above.
"Self-examination!" The self-examination during the battle had timed out, so Zhang Lei restarted it, just to find that feeling that always seemed to be playing hide-and-seek with him.
"Kid, what are you doing activating your superpower? Trying to ambush this old man from behind?" Zhang Lei's superpower shouldn't have fluctuated, but Tai Chi Chen somehow knew. However, judging from his tone, he wasn't actually worried that Zhang Lei would ambush him from behind. His own strength was certainly a guarantee, and he believed that a master of Zhang Lei's caliber should have his own style, which was also a reason. Or perhaps, his first impression of Zhang Lei was that Zhang Lei wasn't good at this kind of thing.
What Tai Chi Chen didn't know was that he was completely wrong. If Zhang Lei hadn't already figured out that even if nothing had happened to the old man's family, he probably wouldn't continue to protect Li Yang, he wouldn't have been incapable of launching a sneak attack on Zhang Lei.
Self-examination truly lives up to its reputation as the ability with the highest level of self-control. As soon as Zhang Lei activated self-examination, coupled with the fact that he had already caught the tail of this seemingly superpower, Zhang Lei quickly confirmed the existence of this ability.
Tai Chi Chen turned around in surprise, "Kid, you have two superpowers now? So it's really possible for a person to have two superpowers. I always thought it was just a legend!"
Zhang Lei was somewhat amused and exasperated. His second superpower was actually the ability to recreate reality. He had heard of this ability before, as many people possessed it.
As the name suggests, this ability is to record what you see. However, you should know that video recorders can also do this. This ability can be said to have no other use except to improve some learning ability.
Zhang Lei's second ability was much better than the real-life reproductions they had already recorded, but it was only an improvement in time, range, and accuracy. Zhang Lei couldn't think of any other uses for it.