Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from Sekiro

He regretted not bringing the knife with him; it was his best friend. But obviously, it was a controlled weapon, and carrying it on the street would get him invited to the station by the police.

Although he had no weapon, he was still agile. He glanced at the object, quickly jumped up and rolled, and casually picked up a wet mop from the side of the internet cafe's toilet.

Lu Mingfei looked around. The internet-addicted teenagers and the internet cafe manager who was in charge of collecting money had disappeared. Only the glowing screen in front of the seat remained, but the game screen on it had also disappeared, replaced by the gray floral pattern of an old-fashioned black and white television, along with the noisy sound of electricity.

He gripped the mop handle tightly and looked toward the exit of the internet cafe.

He's a master at escaping; in Ashina, if he wants to leave, no one can catch him.

However, that was with the grappling hook of the prosthetic arm. But even with just parkour speed, he was confident he could leave any enemy behind.

"On another note, isn't this supposed to be a harmonious society that values ​​science?"

Do you feel lonely?

A voice came from his original seat.

All the lights went out, and the world seemed to become a closed black box, except for two spotlights that illuminated Lu Mingfei and the little boy sitting on the table.

The boy appeared to be Chinese, about thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a pure black suit jacket, his slender legs, encased in square-toed leather shoes, dangling under the table.

A glow shone on his youthful face; his round face had delicate features, making him look somewhere between a boy and a girl.

Lu Mingfei couldn't understand why such a young child had such a silent and sorrowful expression on his face, as if he had lived for thousands of years.

The boy gazed into his eyes, silently watching, as if looking at the sea.

His golden pupils shone with a fiery light, like a mirror reflecting fire.

"Brother, when did your eyes become so deep?"

"Brother? Who are you?"

"I am Lu Mingze."

"Lu Mingze?"

Impossible. Lu Mingze is clearly a chubby boy who is 160 centimeters tall and weighs 160 kilograms. He also has acne all over his face due to puberty. He has no resemblance to the handsome little boy in front of him.

"Shall we exchange?" the boy asked softly.

"Exchange what?" Lu Mingfei couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Shall we exchange?" the boy asked again.

"Do you know Ashina Castle?" Lu Mingfei put down the mop in his hand and slowly walked towards the boy.

He didn't feel that the child posed any threat to him, or perhaps he subconsciously wanted to be close to the boy.

"Ashina... Castle?" The boy tilted his head.

“There’s a boy named Jiulang over there, who looks a lot like you.” Lu Mingfei sat down next to the boy, and two spotlights converged on each other.

He sensed an extremely strong sense of helplessness from the boy, as well as a sadness and loneliness that seemed to have been accumulated over thousands of years.

“He’s just as good-looking as you, but he can smile, you know. Come on, smile.” Lu Mingfei ruffled the boy’s hair, pulled at the corner of his mouth, and forced an awkward smile.

The boy quickly pried away Lu Mingfei's clutches, pouted, put his hands on his hips, and looked very unhappy.

"Who is Jiulang? Why don't I know him?"

“Jiulang is indeed Jiulang.” Lu Mingfei patted the boy’s head. “Don’t worry, your big brother is here. Tell your big brother if you need anything.”

Tears suddenly welled up in the boy's eyes. "Who is Jiulang!"

He looked as aggrieved as an innocent child whose beloved toy had been lost by his parents.

"Don't cry, don't cry..." Lu Mingfei was flustered and clumsy; he never knew how to cheer up others.

Lu Mingfei put his hands through the little boy's arms and lifted him up high, as if soothing a baby.

"Come on, lift me up high, lift me up high."

The boy suddenly fell silent.

"You're such an annoying older brother." He pouted and broke free from Lu Mingfei's embrace.

“You seem to have changed a lot, brother. One day, I will find that guy named Jiulang and have a fair duel with him.”

"You can only be my brother, and no one can take you away from me."

This sentence seems to convey the coldness of the Glenorchy glacier, yet also carries supreme majesty.

"Since you don't want to exchange, then I'm leaving." The boy turned around and snorted unhappily.

“You can come over to play anytime you want,” Lu Mingfei said.

"No way! You can stay by yourself!"

Lu Mingfei's will was instantly swallowed up by the roar. When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the internet cafe filled with the smell of smoke.

"Cut a plate?" A cat-faced avatar flashed on QQ, the name was "Nono".

Chapter Six: The Pinnacle of Humanity

Nono? Who is that again?

Lu Mingfei never rejects friend requests, so he already had very few friends.

He opened Nuonuo's QQ space, which was blank. This netizen didn't seem to be as willing as others to share the literary sentences she collected.

Lu Mingfei was certain that Nuonuo was not his classmate, because his classmates liked to post about the overflowing melancholy of adolescence on social media.

"Never mind, maybe next time."

A few words were typed in the chat box.

He logged out of QQ, took a sign made from an old cigarette box with his ID number on it, and went to the internet cafe manager to cancel his temporary SIM card.

Back home, Lu Mingze looked sullen.

"Your parents said they're taking you to a job interview the day after tomorrow, so prepare well."

The chubby boy flipped through his phone, seemingly reviewing his chat history with Xiyang.

What a wonderful youth! You don't have to worry about whether you'll have food to eat tomorrow, nor do you have to fear that a sharp knife might pierce your chest from the shadows.

As long as he lies in bed, he can indulge in fantasies in that little box. Perhaps in his cousin's imagination, the sunset is a ballerina in a lace dress, her snow-white neck raised, being sent abroad by her heartless family.

As the sun set, she shone in her high heels and fled her home, which felt like a caged bird. She tugged at the hem of her white skirt and ran to a noisy, dirty internet cafe, just to send a message to her younger cousin.

"I'm going to study abroad."

However, before she could say goodbye, she was kidnapped by her despicable parents.

Let my cousin put on his headphones and listen to Jay Chou's "All the Way North" late at night. From then on, the sunset disappeared from his life. He would never know that the 16-year-old short-haired pretty girl was his cousin who was with him day and night in disguise.

...

The next morning, Lu Mingfei arrived at school.

Everywhere is filled with the wonderful atmosphere of youth. There are energetic junior school girls in uniforms with their hair tied in a ponytail, full of personality, and willful female classmates with their hair full of Hello Kitty.

Lu Mingfei felt like he was in another world when he arrived here. Everyone else was walking arm in arm, chatting and laughing as they entered the campus. But he was all alone, without a single classmate to talk to.

Shilan High School is a key school, with top students getting into Tsinghua and Peking Universities every year, but this obviously has nothing to do with Lu Mingfei. He is at the bottom of the food chain, and everyone's only impression of him is that he is unlucky.

He often uses the guise of "e-sports exchange meetings" to freeload internet access. As long as you're willing to provide him with a computer and a three-yuan Pepsi, he'll immediately follow you around like a puppy.

People's impression of him wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either, because he was sensible and knew his own worth, so he never argued with others.

He entered the classroom, pondered for a moment, and walked to the second-to-last row of seats. He quietly opened the first page of his English book and saw the words "Lu Mingfei" written in crooked handwriting. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat down.

Nobody cared about this little loser; he was only remembered to greet some unfamiliar classmates when they were writing in their yearbooks.

He sat in the classroom, but his mind was far away.

Those who have been to hell know how wonderful life can be.

Even though he killed so many people, his whole body was stained with blood, and all he could smell was the stench of blood, he didn't think he was any great. Because if you don't kill people, others will kill you; he was forced into it.

To be fair, he never intended to kill anyone; he was simply forced into it by circumstances.

Moreover, the power of immortality should indeed not exist in this world.

He felt like Jotaro Kujo, who had awakened the "Platinum Star," and embarked on a journey to defeat the evil DIO and save his comatose mother.

His destined fate led him to Ashina Castle.

Who didn't dream of becoming a great hero when they were young?

Like Wataru, pilot the Shenlong and shout "Victory is certain! Dragon Ascension Sword!" and you can smash the enemy's magical mechs to pieces, achieving victory amidst explosions and black smoke.

But the hero wasn't as glamorous as one might imagine. He also had to go through a phase of kneeling on the ground begging for mercy before he could grip the hilt of the sword tightly and not let go.

During his lunch break, he secretly chuckled as he watched his classmates chattering in the classroom.

He is Peter Parker, the true face of Spider-Man, Superman before he put on his red underwear.

If his classmates found out that the "little loser" they saw was actually a ruthless ninja, I wonder if some of them would be scared out of their wits.

"Lu Mingfei, aren't you going to the literary society activity this afternoon?"

Chen Wenwen was wearing a white, sheer dress and holding a copy of Nietzsche's "The Gathering and Dispersal of Giants".

Her figure wasn't outstanding, especially her chest, which, to use a popular internet phrase, was flat-chested. She wasn't tall either, but her aloof, literary girl charm was unique.

There are three major factions in Lu Mingfei's class: one-third admire the piano beauty Liu Miaomiao, one-third grovel at the feet of the little fairy Su Xiaoqiang, and the rest belong to Chen Wenwen's white cotton dress.

"I have some things to take care of at home." Lu Mingfei scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. He hadn't talked to anyone in a long time and didn't know what to say.

"I wanted to hold a graduation party by the literary society before graduation. I was originally planning to mention it during the literary society activity this afternoon."

"Then let me know when you've figured it out."

"Are you really not going?" Chen Wenwen stared at him, her dark pupils reflecting Lu Mingfei's blank face.

"I'm so sorry, I really can't find the time." Lu Mingfei clasped his hands together and blinked apologetically.

There's still a month until the college entrance exam, and he's not about to waste any time.

Even if it's a last-minute effort, you still have to try.

Chen Wenwen's grades are among the best, and she's practically guaranteed admission to Tsinghua or Peking University. Unlike him, who's at the bottom of the class, she's already used Doraemon's memory bread to imprint the knowledge from her books into her stomach and she won't forget it even when she goes to the toilet.

For someone with his intelligence, comparable to a bear, he really needs to make the most of every minute now. During class today, he was studying diligently; every minute counts.