Heroes Return

"I was referring to an attribute," Lin Jie could only explain helplessly upon hearing Lu Xian'er's words. However, it was only then that Lin Jie realized Lu Xian'er's understanding of character attributes was still limited to combat will. She seemed to know very little about the affairs of this world. Of course, this wasn't just Lu Xian'er; the other three sword spirits were the same. Zhu Xian'er had only begun to understand modern affairs after living in the world for a long time.

"Forget it, we can get to know each other slowly when we have time! Now that we're out this time, let's not go back! It's actually quite nice to enjoy life as a human being for a while." Lin Jie said, then smiled at Lu Xian'er: "After the battle with Dao Qizhan, it seems we'll be living together for a long time! I don't want to see you in your sword form every day."

"I understand." Hearing Lin Jie's words, Lu Xian'er nodded lightly: "Since you wish for this, then I will have a little more time. But there is a condition."

"What are the conditions?" Hearing that Lu Xian'er, who rarely showed her face, would say this this time, Lin Jie couldn't help but reveal an excited expression. Of course, in the past, many people would have said Lin Jie was crazy. After all, the sword spirits of the four swords only appeared for moments of slaughter. Almost no one dared to let the four swords roam freely.

However, Lin Jie dared to let them roam freely because he knew very well that they had already been modified! Moreover, as long as he lived, they wouldn't do anything. Of course, if he died in the battle against Dao Qizhan…

Then there's nothing left to think about. This is also why Lin Jie must defeat Dao Qizhan, because Dao Qizhan's sword intent is to destroy everything! If he loses, nothing in the world will exist. Naturally, there's no need to care about these things.

"Pet shop..." A soft voice reached Lin Jie's ears.

"Can't you speak a little louder?" Lin Jie looked at Lu Xian'er with some confusion. But once he looked, Lin Jie couldn't take his eyes off her.

Lu Xian'er actually blushed! The beauty, who had always been like an iceberg when she mentioned the pet shop, blushed at this moment! This unexpected contrast left Lin Jie momentarily stunned. Because of this, Lin Jie didn't notice what Kuror said after finishing her song on the street screen…

Chapter 20

"Thank you all for your continued support. I'd like to ask you all for a favor. If anyone has seen this person, could you please contact me? Thank you so much. I really want to find him as soon as possible..." As she spoke, a cute blush appeared on Kuror's cheeks. "I have something important to say to him in person."

As Kuror spoke, everyone on the street turned their attention to Lin Jie's face.

In an instant, all the immense anger was directed at Lin Jie.

Even if Lin Jie was slow to react, he noticed something was wrong; after all, everyone on the street was now focused on him. Cold sweat trickled down Lin Jie's body in that instant.

"That's him! Grab him!" With a shout, many people on the street rushed towards Lin Jie. Most of them were young people, and surprisingly, many professional heroes were among them.

Seeing this scene, Lin Jie didn't hesitate and immediately ran into a building. As soon as Lin Jie ran into the building, a large crowd followed him in.

"That guy ran this way! Catch him!" The first person to see Lin Jie shouted loudly at Lin Jie's back.

"This bastard actually got Miss Kuror to keep an eye on him! Why?! Grab him!!" someone on the other side said.

"That's right! Kill him!"

"Kill him! Kill this scum! My Miss Chlorine can't possibly meet someone like that!"

"That's right! Don't hand him over to Miss Kuror after you catch him! Just bury him alive! Let him vanish into thin air..."

Judging from Kuror's expression earlier, almost all the male fans showed anger, and for a time, the whole world was searching for Lin Jie's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Kuror's fans on the streets of H City began a frantic chase after Lin Jie. Kuror had said she had something important to tell him, and this kid was just staring at another beautiful woman on the street!

"Do you need me to kill them?" Lu Xian'er asked Lin Jie calmly as she followed beside him.

"Forget it, they're just ordinary people. We can't just kill them like this!" Lin Jie directly rejected Lu Xian'er's suggestion.

"I understand," Lu Xian'er said, and then disappeared from Lin Jie's side.

"Hey! Have you turned back into your original form yet!?" Lin Jie said helplessly, looking at Lu Xian'er who had disappeared beside him.

"There are too many people here, I don't want to come out."

"At least help me get out of here first!" Lin Jie shouted helplessly, while simultaneously and smoothly taking down each of the people who rushed towards him to intercept him. Because most of them were ordinary people, and Lin Jie had extensive experience with unparalleled martial arts, he could still throw them to the ground without harming them.

Knowing that taking down everyone here wasn't a hero's goal, Lin Jie had no intention of fighting ordinary people. So all he could do was run.

Fortunately, as Lin Jie fled upwards, it seemed that not many people were actually able to catch up with him.

When Lin Jie ran to the rooftop, only a few hundred people caught up with him.

"Damn! Are you all from J City? I climbed forty floors!!" Looking at the crowd in front of him, Lin Jie sighed helplessly. Then he jumped backward, landing on the other side of the building, instantly creating distance between himself and the others.

However, when Lin Jie was about to go downstairs, he found that the area below the building was crowded with people, and there were many others watching him from the side.

Left with no other option, Lin Jie jumped towards another building. He eventually landed in an empty alley.

However, when Lin Jie landed at the bottom of the alley, he found that people were rushing towards him from both sides of the alley at the same time.

"Damn! There are just too many people on Earth!" Lin Jie said helplessly, and then ran towards another deserted alley.

However, when Lin Jie arrived at the alley, he found a luxurious hovercar parked in front of it.

In truth, leaving would be simple for Lin Jie; he could easily disappear from everyone's sight using his power. However, Lin Jie didn't intend to do so. The reason was simple: Lin Jie didn't want to use his power in front of ordinary people. He didn't want everyone to know that he still possessed that power. Therefore, when facing these civilians, Lin Jie only appeared to be slightly stronger than an average person.

Such a force can still be explained.

After so many years of living the life of a hero, Lin Jie has come to a profound understanding of some things. He is no longer the naive and ignorant boy he once was. Lin Jie knows very well that if an individual in a clan becomes too powerful to be controlled, it is definitely not a good thing for that clan.

Therefore, Lin Jie doesn't know about his power as much as people do; otherwise, things could get very complicated in the future. This world may need a hero, a symbol of justice, but without a doubt, it needs a controllable symbol of justice, not one that can destroy the world at will.

In fact, what Leng Yan is preparing to create is precisely the latter symbol of justice.

Seeing the car stop in front of him, Lin Jie was a little puzzled. Just as he was about to jump over, he was surprised to find the car door open. Dong Xue'er appeared in the car.

"Get in the car! I've been waiting for you for so long." Dong Xue'er said to Lin Jie, "Let's go somewhere else! This doesn't seem like a good place."

"Thanks!" Hearing Dong Xue'er's words, Lin Jie rushed into her car without hesitation. The moment the car door closed, the hovercar took to the sky. After changing its appearance in the air, the hovercar finally disappeared from everyone's sight.

With the disappearance of the hovercar, Lin Jie finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's great! We finally escaped. I was worried we were doomed today."

“I don’t think you’ll be finished so easily.” Dong Xue’er’s voice suddenly rang out from beside Lin Jie: “Speaking of which, you seem to be quite popular.”

"Popular?" Hearing Dong Xue'er's words, Lin Jie could only give a helpless bitter smile: "They all seem to really want to kill me, don't they?"

"Yeah! You're quite famous now." Dong Xue'er looked at Lin Jie and said helplessly, "How does it feel to be liked by the big star Kuror?"

"It feels like I'm about to die." Hearing the other person's words, Lin Jie sighed helplessly: "Speaking of which, you're not planning to participate in this boring farce, are you? It's about time it ended."

"Is this how you speak to your savior?" Hearing Lin Jie's words, Dong Xue'er couldn't help but say, "No matter how you look at it, I did help you just now! But, how many things are you still hiding from me, great hero, Zero?"

"Didn't you already know?" Lin Jie couldn't help but say after hearing Gao Dongxue'er's words.

"But I was the last to find out! Doesn't that mean my power is the same as that of those glasses?" Dong Xue'er said to Lin Jie with dissatisfaction.

In other words, at the same time they were talking, the hovercar had already landed at the Dong family's house.

As Lin Jie left the hovering car, he unexpectedly encountered an even more troublesome person: Dong Yang!

Although she used to be a man, judging from Dongyang's current attire, she looks like a beautiful girl, doesn't she?

“This outfit suits the body better.” Looking at Lin Jie, Dong Yang smiled and said, “And I’ve found that this kind of attire seems to be more advantageous in many things, especially in negotiations.”

"Hey! You've really decided to become a woman, huh?!" Lin Jie couldn't help but say when he saw Dong Yang's expression.

Dongyang is currently wearing a sky-blue dress and has long, cascading hair. She looks incredibly pure and cute, and doesn't look like a man at all.

“Spiritual energy has no gender; the only difference between genders is the physical structure.” Seeing Lin Jie’s surprised expression, Dong Yang said nonchalantly, “Since my current body is female, then I can only live as a woman! Since I’m going to live as a woman, there’s nothing special about wearing women’s clothes. In fact, I don’t feel out of place wearing them. Although I have more memories of being male in the past, now that I’m female, I don’t need to adapt. I can’t exactly have sex reassignment surgery, can I? That would be too disrespectful to the original owner of the body.”

"This is the first time I've ever seen someone talk about women's clothing with such logical rigor!" Lin Jie couldn't help but say after hearing Dong Yang's words. "But thinking about it carefully, what you said doesn't seem to have any problems! And it really doesn't look out of place when you wear it."

"Alright! I have no interest in discussing such boring things as my cross-dressing." Dongyang said, then looked at Lin Jie: "Actually, I want to talk to you alone."

"Huh?" Hearing his words, Lin Jie looked at Dong Xue'er in confusion. Dong Xue'er, standing beside him, nodded helplessly.

“I know I can find you without much effort, so I won’t ask him for help.” Dong Xue’er said, then looked at Dong Yang: “You’ve been acting strangely ever since you came back! Let me warn you! Don’t do anything too outrageous to Lin Jie! You were a man before, after all.”

"Don't worry! I have no interest in seducing him!" Looking at Dong Xue'er's carefree expression, Dong Yang couldn't help but say, "Besides, if it really came down to seduction, as a man in the past, I definitely know how to seduce a woman more effectively than you."

"..." Hearing his words, Dong Xue'er was speechless. But in the end, she nodded to Lin Jie: "Don't worry, he just said he wanted to talk to you! I won't ask him to do anything more."

"It's nothing, I was just a little surprised." Hearing Dong Xue'er's words, Lin Jie nodded, and then followed Dong Yang into the building.

Chapter 21

When Lin Jie and Dong Yang arrived at an office, Dong Yang immediately pressed a button. In that instant, all the windows in the room closed. The room, however, remained brightly lit.

“Now, there will be no signal detection or eavesdropping here, nor will there be any surveillance facilities. We can talk freely now,” Dongyang said to Lin Jie with a smile.

"Hey! What exactly are you trying to do by deliberately creating this secret room?" Hearing Dongyang's words, Lin Jie couldn't help but ask Dongyang this time.

"Of course, it's to confirm something with you." Dongyang said, looking intently at Lin Jie: "Have you really lost your power?"

"Hey! You're not the first person to ask me this today!" Lin Jie said to Dong Yang with a helpless expression after hearing the other person's words.

“I tried to read your mind, but I found that I couldn’t succeed at all.” Dongyang suddenly spoke to Lin Jie after hearing his words.

"Hey! Just say things like that out loud, aren't you afraid I'll beat you up?"

"You won't! I still believe that." Hearing Lin Jie's words, Dong Yang said seriously to Lin Jie, "Then I'm curious, tell me, what exactly are you now?"

"You ask me what exactly I am?" Dongyang's question surprised Lin Jie, and he was even a little confused: "Me? I'm just a guy who was lucky enough not to be arrested."

"I'm not referring to your identity, but to your very existence. What exactly is it?" Dong Yang wasn't satisfied with Lin Jie's answer. Instead, he spoke earnestly to Lin Jie once more: "Although I'm not qualified to ask you this, I still hope you can give me an answer! As the embodiment of justice, the representative of righteousness, the terminator of evil! You are one of the greatest people in the world! And your changes are destined not only to represent your personal changes, but your changes have already represented the entire world! Rather than resorting to pointless speculation and deduction like the families of the past, it's better to get the truth directly from you! At least it can avoid a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings."

Hearing what the other person said, Lin Jie sighed helplessly.

"Although I roughly understand why you asked me that, there's only one answer I can give." Lin Jie said, opening the window and looking at the view outside the city. "I'm just a human being."

Lin Jie spoke very naturally, and he wasn't afraid of being monitored. However, it was precisely because of this that Lin Jie's reaction was very difficult for Dong Yang to understand.

"What a joke!" Hearing Lin Jie's words, Dong Yang finally snapped: "Are you just trying to fool me? The first time I tried to read your mind was after I gained immense power. I controlled everyone in the world, but I couldn't control you. At that time, when my mental energy probe touched your mind, it felt like touching a sharp sword. If I touched it, I would be killed on the spot! Is this what you call sword intent?!"

But now it's completely different! I tried to contact your spirit again, but I couldn't sense it at all! It's as if you don't exist at all! I can clearly see and touch you, but why has your spiritual power vanished? It's elusive and impossible to pinpoint! This is something no creature of this world should possess! So! What are you now? A human? Is it possible for humans to exist in this way, yet seem not to exist at all?

"Ah! You found out?" Lin Jie was somewhat surprised to hear Dong Yang's words. He hadn't expected Dong Yang's mental power to be able to detect something like this. But thinking about it, it made sense. It was indeed quite strange that a normally incredibly powerful mind could suddenly become so weak that it couldn't even sense anything.

Hearing Dongyang's words, Lin Jie abandoned his plan to continue hiding the truth from her. Although Dongyang had taken the wrong path in the past, upon reflection, he hadn't ultimately caused any substantial harm. Only two types of people can undergo the second form of redemption: the first are those who are truly without remorse, and the second are those who realize their mistakes but are not truly evil. However, redemption remains an extremely dangerous method, since almost everyone who has undergone it has died!

However, Yiwen and I thought they were the only two exceptions! Clearly, when Yiwen was wielding the Redemption Sword, he was truly innocent and had a clear conscience. In fact, this sword strike might have made him even more determined.

As for Dong Yang, at least for this period of time, he doesn't seem like a bad person! He helped the Ying Association build welfare facilities. He also personally destroyed all of the Dong family's dark businesses, even going so far as to send many family members to prison. In the short time since Dong Yang returned, the Dong family has lost hundreds of millions of assets, but similarly, these assets were lost in a very meaningful way.

"I just want peace of mind, after all, you are the embodiment of justice that I acknowledge." Dongyang said, and really looked at Lin Jie.

"I am, after all, just a human being," Lin Jie said earnestly to Dong Yang. "If you're willing to keep it a secret, I can tell you."

"Ultimately, you're human?" Hearing Lin Jie's words, Dongyang felt a sense of relief: "It seems you weren't joking."

"I have indeed stood at a very high place, high enough to look down upon this world and all of humanity. But I will never do that. Even the most powerful being should not stand on a high place and look down upon his fellow human beings as a god! That would only cause him to gradually lose his humanity! With the change of power, the change of the heart is even more terrifying." Lin Jie said to Dong Yang with a smile, "Is that what you are afraid of? I have become a higher being, and finally transcended the realm of humanity."

"..." Dong Yang did not answer Lin Jie's words, but this could be considered as tacit agreement.

"First of all, there's one thing I can tell you! I am ultimately human, and I will always be human. That alone will never change! Everyone has a bottom line, and mine is to place myself above all else." Lin Jie said earnestly to Dong Yang, "As for my changes, are you really willing to keep them a secret for me?"

“Unless I die, no one else will know about this conversation,” Dongyang said earnestly to Lin Jie.

"That's great! From now on, this will be a secret between the two of us." Lin Jie said to Dong Yang with a smile, "Actually, I did lose my original power, but in losing my original power, I also gained another kind of power. Sometimes losing something doesn't mean it's a bad thing; it might even make you stronger."

"Is that so? What kind of power is it?" Upon hearing Lin Jie's words, Dong Yang couldn't help but frown and ponder.

"I can't explain it clearly either; it's just a state of mind," Lin Jie said with a smile to Dong Yang. "So, knowing all this, what do you plan to do?"