Dragon Raja: Reboot

Chapter 197 Catching the Cat

"That was close!" the crow clasped its hands together in prayer. "If it had happened a few minutes later, we would all be buried in the flames!"

Yuan Zhisheng continued walking forward, looking tired.

"Boss, don't look at me like that. Someone risked their life to rush into the fire to save you. Of course, I'm not talking about myself. Give me some reaction, okay?" Crow muttered softly.

He suddenly stumbled, narrowly regaining his balance, and almost fell to the ground.

Sakura kicked him in the back of the knee.

Although he might seem a bit heartless, Crow isn't a crude brute like Yasha. He knows Sakura likes the boss, which is a good thing. But unfortunately, the boss is a blank slate with no romantic experience, so in the end, he has to help bring them together. Sigh, the capable are always busy.

"Turn around." Genji walked to the Hummer.

Before Sakura could react, he turned her around, and Genji pulled up his black trench coat, revealing his swollen shoulders and back.

In her haste, she rammed into the bronze door, trying to break it open, but she was burned when she touched it. Although the armor was heat-insulating, it was ultimately just a thin, light garment, like stockings, so its effectiveness was limited.

Genji took out burn ointment from the back seat of the car and applied it layer by layer to Sakura's wound.

The crow glanced at the scene twice and decided it wasn't appropriate for it to continue watching. It turned around with its hands behind its back and began humming a song to the night sky.

He didn't care about seeing Sakura half-naked, but Sakura's face was even redder than her swollen shoulders. If he looked at her a few more times, he might be silenced by Sakura when he got back.

After applying the burn ointment, Genji took scissors and trimmed the burnt ends of Sakura's hair. He then draped his black trench coat over Sakura's shoulders and patted her face, saying, "Thank you."

The crow was still humming a few steps away when he suddenly saw a hand reach over his shoulder, holding a cigarette. He quickly took it and put it in his mouth. As he turned around, Genji had already lit a lighter and offered it to him: "Thank you."

"Serving you wholeheartedly is what we should do, but of course I'm not someone who has any ulterior motives towards you."

The crow instinctively blurted out a sarcastic remark, but then, noticing Sakura's displeased expression out of the corner of its eye, it immediately shut up.

Yuan Zhisheng lit a cigarette, remained silent for a long time, and then said softly, "I just saw my younger brother."

The crow was taken aback: "Boss, where did you get a younger brother? He's not back to compete with you for the head of the family, is he? Is this some kind of succession struggle like in the TV shows?"

Sakura frowned slightly and kicked Crow in the back of the knee again.

"His name is Zhinu, and he is my younger brother. I once thought I had buried him, but I was wrong. He came back from hell to find me."

Yuan Zhisheng slowly closed his eyes, feeling utterly exhausted.

The fear that had been lurking in his heart came over him, and he never escaped that rainy night.

"Your younger brother?" Sakura asked cautiously. "Young Master, you are the Emperor, your younger brother is not...?"

The crow stared wide-eyed, not daring to make a joke about the matter, and covered its beak.

After a long silence, Yuan Zhisheng said in a low voice, "Yes, Zhinu is a demon, and my brother is a demon too."

The dark clouds that had been gathering in the sky for so long finally brought down a torrential downpour.

Large raindrops poured down from the sky, the rain lines stretching from the sky to the ground, obscuring the distant skyscrapers, and the air was thick with a chill.

He stood in the rain, looking up at the dark sky. Raindrops fell into his eyes and extinguished the cigarette in his mouth.

The sky and earth were a vast expanse of white.

In a daze, he seemed to have returned to that rainy night when he was all alone.

A black umbrella suddenly opened above his head.

Yuan Zhisheng was stunned.

Sakura took a black umbrella from beside the car door and held it over his head, the rain flowing down the umbrella to the side.

The crow flicked away the cigarette butt that had been extinguished by the rain from his mouth, took another one and put it in his mouth, then took out a lighter and lit it.

"Boss, are you satisfied with the service?"

In the dim, orange glow of the cigarette butt, the faces of the crow and the cherry blossom looked so warm.

……

……

The rain finally came down.

The street was flooded, with turbid waves that reached up to the calves.

There weren't many streetlights along the long street, and the signs for capsule hotels and love hotels illuminated each other. There were only a few pedestrians on the street.

In such heavy rain, not many people were running around outside, but a young couple was strolling down the street with an umbrella and slippers.

"What the hell?! Can't you even be trusted anymore?" Lu Mingfei cursed into the phone. "I've gone around in circles following the address you gave me, and where's the ramen stand you were talking about?"

"Huh? What did you say? Sorry, I can't hear you. The signal is bad here. I'll hang up now, brother. You can keep looking; you might find it eventually!"

Lu Mingze's voice on the other end of the phone was intermittent, as if the signal was really bad, and then he hung up.

Lu Mingfei stared at the disconnected movie screen and gasped. This guy had actually learned to hang up on him!

He angrily pressed the redial button.

Erii stood beside him, looking around.

Her ruby-like eyes reflected the skyscrapers that were gradually turning misty in the cold, wet rain.

The hazy, blurred neon lights in the distance, shrouded in the rain, caught Erii's attention like a casual stroke on a painting.

She let Lu Mingfei lead her by the hand as they wandered the streets, her eyes never missing anything around her. The city in the rain had a refreshing feel to it; the same scenery, though hidden by the rain, had a unique charm.

Just like life, a long and uninteresting life, but because of the appearance of someone, a rich and colorful chapter is added.

Tonight, a torrential downpour has blanketed the sky in darkness, but Erii sees it as a kaleidoscope of colors.

She would rather stand in the rain gazing at the city in the cold, damp night than sit in a warm wooden house lost in thought.

Erii suddenly looked to her right, tugged at Lu Mingfei's sleeve, and pointed to a spot on the side of the street.

This is a small street near the back gate of the National University of Tokyo. This is the only neighborhood in the area that has never undergone large-scale commercial development. There are still old wooden houses built before World War II on the street, and plane trees and cherry trees are planted on both sides of the street, giving it a quiet but slightly dilapidated feel.

At the spot Erii pointed to, a wooden van was parked on the street.

These handcarts are called "ramen-ya carts" in Japan, and they are designed specifically for selling ramen from street to street.

Lu Mingfei was taken aback. They'd finally found it?

He gave Erii a thumbs-up to show his approval.

Erii touched her flat, even slightly sunken, belly, and everything was self-evident.

Lu Mingfei looked ashamed, grabbed Erii's hand, and ran towards the carriage, stepping through the surging muddy water on the street.

The advantage of wearing slippers became apparent at this moment. The two did not avoid the puddles at all, but instead deliberately ran into the deeper water, splashing water up to half a person's height.

Erii is wearing a knee-length white dress today. Her calves, which are exposed below the hem, are long, beautiful, and her skin is fair and radiant.

Under Lu Mingfei's guidance, she initially tentatively waded through the water, but soon grew to like this "casual and unrestrained" behavior.

At a time when everyone else avoids puddles, they brazenly wad through them. This feeling of "going against" the whole world and everyone else struck Erii as something novel.

She once thought that she was very far removed from the world.

The world is like a jewel guarded by a swarm of snakes—beautiful, distant, and dangerous.

She seemed so out of place in this world, unable to integrate into it because the world didn't like her, so she could only gaze at this strange and beautiful world from afar.

Under Lu Mingfei's guidance, she actually found enjoyment in "going against" the world for the first time.

The boy beside her seemed to be telling her that if the world doesn't like her, then so be it. Why should she go along with the world?

Lu Mingfei lifted the cloth curtain and pulled Erii to sit in front of the carriage.

The dark blue cloth banner perfectly covered their upper bodies, shielding them from the rain.

A Japanese ramen stall is simply a pushcart with a roof over it. Inside the cart is a soup pot, and in the cabinet below are side dishes and sake. Once the cart is stable, a long bench is placed in front of it, where customers sit and eat. A curtain on the roof partially covers their backs, creating a slightly private space on a chilly night street.

Compared to the "signature ramen" in the store, the environment and taste of this food stall are inferior, but the price is much cheaper. Most of the people who come here to eat noodles are poor students from Tokyo University. The owner, Chef Yue, has been running this business for many years and his reputation is decent.

He and Erii weren't the only ones eating noodles; there was also a young couple, though they looked like they had just finished eating.

The girl had her hair dyed brown, braided at the temples, and wore white knee-high socks. She was an extremely beautiful girl who would put her breasts on the table while eating noodles.

The black-haired boy next to him paid the bill. "Master Yue, Asuna and I are leaving."

"Okay! Remember to be careful, Kiritani-kun!" Master Yue gave a thumbs up, his lecherous eyes seeming to say, "This kind of safety is not what you think."

Master Yue is quite old. His white hair is neatly parted, and he wears the white linen uniform that ramen chefs wear. He has a black towel tied around his forehead, and he looks like he has been dealing with ramen his whole life.

The heavy rain pattered against the shed.

"What would you two like to eat?" Chef Yue wiped his hands with a towel, glanced at the sky, and said, "Oh dear, the rain is getting heavier and heavier. If you hadn't come, I would have closed up shop."

"Two bowls of soy milk ramen, plus sesame seaweed and pickled garlic," Lu Mingfei announced, raising his hand.

"His soy milk ramen recipe is a self-taught style he learned from Hokkaido." A very familiar voice suddenly came from behind.

The curtain of the van was pulled back again, and a dashing old man in a black suit walked in.

"I suggest you switch to abalone and sea urchin ramen, that's his signature dish."

Angers smiled and sat down next to Lu Mingfei, raising an eyebrow at the girl beside him, and said meaningfully, "Is this your goal in coming to Japan?"

Upon seeing Angers' appearance, even Lu Mingfei was taken aback. He slapped the back of his head and chuckled, saying, "Principal, it's been a long time since I've seen you. You look so young again."

"Huh, Mingfei's here too? Japan is definitely known for its small size."

Before you see the person, you see their belly.

The vice-principal puffed out his belly, folded his umbrella, and moved into the carriage. He squeezed his buttocks onto the bench, making way for Angers, and let out a comfortable sigh.

"Hey you, stop standing there, bring the drinks!" He glared at the wooden-faced boss and said casually, "Ten bottles of the best Japanese sake first, then a bowl of abalone and sea urchin to the brim. Don't be stingy, your good friend is here, getting a single-headed abalone isn't too much to ask, is it?"

"You look like a single-headed abalone to me," Master Yue replied expressionlessly.

As soon as Yue stepped into the van from Angers, his expression changed. Although he was still wearing the ramen chef's clothes, he seemed to stand tall and majestic, as if on a distant mountain peak.

It wasn't until the third person entered the house.

The priest walked into the room with a smile, raised an eyebrow when he saw Lu Mingfei, and asked casually, "And who are these two?"

"This is our only S-rank character right now; His Excellency the Bishop has heard of him," Angers introduced.

The priest suddenly realized and said with a beaming smile, "So you're that promising young S-class student! I've heard so much about you."

Lu Mingfei grasped the priest's outstretched hand with both of his, shaking it vigorously, his gaze equally sincere, and asked, "Your Excellency the Bishop? May I ask where this Your Excellency serves God?"

"If I have Buddha in my heart, then God will naturally be in my heart as well." The priest put his hands together and said, "Amitabha."

Master Yue was also stunned. "Old man, what kind of oddball did you bring to see me? And this young man is your student? Are you in cahoots?"

"He is indeed my student, but I never expected to see him here." Angers paused, then looked at Lu Mingfei with a strange expression. "Mingfei, how have you been since you arrived in Japan?"

Lu Mingfei had a strange feeling of being caught in a puppy love relationship by his parents, and chuckled dryly, "Pretty good. When did the principal come to Japan?"

"A few days ago, I first met with a delinquent student in Japan, and then I was invited to give a few lectures at the University of Tokyo."

Angers casually reached out and took the two bottles of sake, while the vice-principal readily took the small drinking cup.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do. In Japan, you have to use this when drinking sake," the vice principal said as he filled the priest's cup.

"A lecture?" Lu Mingfei asked in surprise. "You came to Japan specifically to give a lecture?"

"Of course not, I'm here to rescue your eldest and second senior brothers." Angers sipped his cheap sake from a small cup and shrugged. "But I'm also an educator. I entered the country with an invitation letter from the University of Tokyo as a visiting scholar. I gave three lectures at the University of Tokyo on the topics of medicine, mathematics, and theology, and they were all packed. I guess you could call me a star scholar."

Lu Mingfei couldn't help but feel a deep respect: "I almost forgot you're a Cambridge graduate!"

"Oh...that's really hurtful to hear," Angers sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Shouldn't you consider me a first-rate teacher?"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't ignore me, you bastards!" Master Yue's forehead veins bulged as he slammed his fist on the table. "I'm closing up shop, you'd better get the hell out of here!"

"Closed for business?" The vice principal waved his hand without turning his head. "It's okay. We didn't come here expecting to pay, so you're not really in business."

Angers smiled and said, "That's what I think too."

Master Yue roared in fury, "Damn it! Who is this fatso?!"

"Well, although you haven't officially met, you've seen each other's photos," Angers said, pouring another drink. "The president and vice-president of Kassel College are both attending your ramen stall, aren't you going to give them face?"

Master Yue was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened in horror as he stared incredulously at the vice principal groaning on the table.

He shook his head violently.

"Impossible! Don't try to fool me. How could this thing possibly be Leonardo DiCaprio?" Master Yue sternly rebuked Angers for his unreliable introduction. "Although that bastard is a complete scumbag, a degenerate, a piece of trash, he's also a good-looking scumbag, a degenerate, and a piece of trash!"

The vice principal's face darkened, a rare occurrence for him.

Don't panic... There will be an update every month or two. Today I worked overtime until after 8 o'clock, rushing to fill in a few reports.

I suggest joining the group. If I update late, I usually say so in the group. If I fall asleep... well, there's nothing I can do about that.

Speaking of which, Jay Chou is releasing a new song tomorrow. He finally remembered he's a singer, an NXP member.

(End of this chapter)