After the darkness!

At first, Lin Yijue thought it was the energy crystal he had obtained earlier that was taking effect.

After all, the latter's function is to continuously improve the body and increase strength.

When he had been training for half an hour and found that the frequency of his strength increase far exceeded that of yesterday, he vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

He was an energy crystallization that was activated the day before yesterday. Normally, if the training frequency is maintained at the same level yesterday and today, the increase in strength should be the same.

But yesterday, his strength increased from 7.2 to 7.3 throughout the entire day.

But now, the strength has increased directly from 7.3 to 7.5.

"Most importantly... this time, the emptiness from the strange disease came even earlier than the insect bites..."

It made it hard for him not to suspect the connection between the two.

Lin Yijue gulped down water, trying to fill the emptiness within him, but to no avail. The ever-present hunger within him was like a black hole, seemingly impossible to fill no matter what he did.

"Is it possible that this thing can only be suppressed by eating raw meat?...?"

He was momentarily confused, and the joy he had felt from the increased power vanished completely.

Some things really can't stand up to scrutiny.

He dared not think about it too much, but took a deep breath and prepared to continue practicing his boxing.

Now, besides practicing boxing and the eighteen forms, he seems to have no other choice but to do something else.

Confused, helpless, and with a touch of fear.

On the contrary, the tactile sensation of his fist colliding with the sandbag gave him a rare sense of security.

"Lin Yijue, wait a moment." Suddenly, Li Yan's voice rang in his ears, waking him from his chaotic thoughts.

Lin Yijue lowered his head and saw that Li Yan had come to his side at some point, with her arms crossed, looking him up and down.

"What's wrong?" he asked instinctively.

"It's nothing. I just saw that you're already practicing kicking techniques, and I wanted to remind you that if you're still used to practicing with sandbags, you shouldn't just use sliding steps in your footwork. Instead, you should mix in some circling steps."

The circling step can effectively disrupt an opponent's straight-line attack route by moving laterally; however, its effectiveness is not always guaranteed.

"So what do you mean?"

Li Yan looked at Lin Yijue and said, "The best method is definitely sparring. Sparring can not only complete stick distance training, but also truly train combat ability."

She paused after she finished speaking, her voice softening slightly, "After the next few lessons, the club will organize sparring sessions. If you take it seriously then, it will benefit you."

After saying that, he gestured for Lin Yijue to continue practicing, then turned and left.

"What are the benefits of sparring?" Lin Yijue understood the other party's implication.

It's probably to get him ready.

Lin Yijue shook his head, took a deep breath, got into position, and continued training.

He's just not in the mood to think about it too much right now.

The club ended around 4:30 pm.

Lin Yijue slung his backpack over his shoulder and ran home.

He didn't run and fire in the air like last time.

After all, according to his calculations, he wouldn't have much energy left after boxing practice.

This energy will also be used to practice the "Eighteen Forms".

The streets were much busier than the day before yesterday.

Many stalls were set up along the roadside, and a large group of elderly people brought small stools and sat down directly on the street.

Lin Yijue glanced at the stalls. Some of them seemed to be offering free medical consultations. Doctors in white coats, wearing stethoscopes, sat at tables, taking the pulses of the elderly and occasionally glancing at the computer instruments next to them.

Some stalls were also boiling medicine on-site, and it was Chinese medicine, using several large iron pots, with a pungent smell of medicine filling the air.

Lin Yijue didn't think much of it and ran straight past.

Four or five minutes later, he passed by the milk tea shop where he had rested last time.

He glanced into the shop, instinctively wanting to see if the couple was still there this time.

The result, naturally, was that they weren't there.

But the milk tea shop is still doing very well, with not a single empty seat at the round tables outside.

Lin Yijue felt inexplicably down, so he quickened his pace and turned into an alley.

If you walk through this alley and run another kilometer or so, you'll be in the old capital district.

It'll be another ten minutes' run to their residential complex.

Just as he turned into the alley, a fine, tingling sensation suddenly spread across the back of his neck.

It felt like a gust of wind suddenly blew across the back of my neck.

Lin Yijue subconsciously stopped and looked back.

The alley was lined with trash cans, flower pots and other odds and ends, but the entrance to the alley was empty.

In the distance, only a few withered leaves swirled in the wind, and the neon sign of the convenience store flickered in the twilight.

There was nothing there.

No... there is.

After Lin Yijue saw a pile of trash cans at the alley entrance, the dark figure moved.

No, it wasn't a shadowy figure; the box moved.

There seems to be something behind us.

As he stopped walking, the box made an increasingly louder noise.

"Is that a cat or a dog?"

Lin Yijue thought to himself.

Meow!

Just then, the topmost cardboard box in the distance was suddenly pushed open, revealing a tuft of grayish hair.

The next second, the thing suddenly darted out, and it really was a black cat covered in blood!

Lin Yijue breathed a sigh of relief.

Its emerald green eyes stared intently at Lin Yijue, a chilling growl emanating from its throat, and the fur on its back stood on end as if warning something.

It then flew past his feet like an arrow released from a bow.

Lin Yijue subconsciously took half a step back, his back slamming heavily against the wall.

Just as the black cat disappeared into the alley, he heard the sound of a box scraping against the ground behind him.

He turned around abruptly, only to see a black figure suddenly appear among the pile of boxes.

I just stood there, looking at him.

A faint smell of rust suddenly filled the air.

"That is..."

Lin Yijue was a little confused, but the next moment, when he saw the black figure squat down like a dog, a strong sense of palpitation suddenly surged into his heart.

He straightened up and ran.

My sneakers slipped a bit on the uneven cobblestone path, and I heard the screeching sound of something heavy dragging on the ground behind me. The wind, carrying the smell of rust, rushed into my nostrils.

The sound of footsteps echoed.

Two heavy breaths mingled together.

Lin Yijue didn't dare to turn around, but as he turned the third corner, a pile of old glass placed beside the alley suddenly shattered.

The breathing behind me was slightly soft.

At that moment, he couldn't help but turn to the side and caught a horrifying glimpse of a dark figure crawling on the ground in a posture that defied human anatomy, with its limbs making a sickening "clicking" sound as they dislocated.

"Who the hell is causing trouble here...?"

A voice suddenly shouted from behind.

There was actually someone sleeping among the pile of blankets next to the glass.

I was woken up by the noise, stood up, and instinctively wanted to curse, but before I could finish speaking, I just yelled.

"What the hell is this?"

next moment.

"ah!!!"

A scream.

Lin Yijue's throat tightened with fear, his lungs burned with pain, and hunger and palpitations tore at his body at the same time.

He didn't turn around, but simply took as many steps as possible.

Time passed second by second, the screams behind them grew fainter, and the light at the alley entrance grew brighter.

Swish.

He rushed out of the alley in one breath.

The noise of people began to fill my ears, and only then did I dare to turn around.