Chapter 2 - Venting
The light rain was clattering on a white rooftop.
The strong wind made the rain look like waves as it fell through the fog. The curtain of rain was thick, slightly blurring the surrounding trees and houses.
"Where are they?"
Cassius stood in the rain with his hair drenched, squinting tightly as tiny water droplets hung from his eyelids.
"Help—"
The moment he heard a noise, he ran frantically toward it. His bare feet left behind one muddy puddle after another.
The rain continued to fall steadily as if it wouldn't stop all night. A layer of gray mist floated back and forth on the path.
Pat, pat, pat… A series of footsteps flashed past.
Under the roof of a building that was near the martial arts training ground, three drunken teenagers were tearing at a girl's clothes. Their roles were clearly divided. One covered the girl's mouth, another clamped her arms, and another pulled at her clothes. Li Wei's sister, Li Chu, was shivering violently and struggled desperately.
However, against the three boys, her strength was simply not enough.
During her desperate struggle, she had suffered two slaps. The bright red palm marks were clearly visible on her beautiful, fair face.
"I dare you to move again!" The freckled-faced redhead with a face full of anger ruthlessly slapped Li Chu again.
"Hold her down properly! Otherwise, this will go on until next year!"[1]
The redhead viciously pulled at her clothes and Li Chu screamed as a large piece of fabric was torn off. A patch of fair skin was exposed to the air, teasing the three boys.
"Her face is so white, of course the rest of her is too!" The redhead's eyes reddened, his hormones stimulated by the alcohol.
Finn's resolve strengthened; it was a rainy night, perfect for his actions to go unnoticed.
The thought of any consequence flew over his head completely. He was driven by sheer impulsiveness.
Finn fiercely grabbed the tear in her clothes and pulled on it, gradually exposing the girl's tender figure.
"Ah!"
The boy covering Li Chu's mouth suddenly yelled. A deep bite mark appeared on his right hand.
Li Chu took a sharp breath and was just about to let out a scream. However, at that moment, she saw something behind Finn and her eyes widened. "Little Wei?!"
"Little Wei?" The redhead was puzzled and turned his head back.
The image of a fist rapidly enlarged in front of his eyes until it filled his entire field of vision. Finn staggered back several steps, clutching his face in pain. He then looked at his palm to discover that it was full of blood.
Blood continued to flow from his nose.
For a moment, the surroundings grew quiet. The white clothes of the young man in front of him were soaked by the rain, and his scrawny figure was not at all intimidating. Wet locks of black hair clung to his forehead just above his eyelids, perfectly obscuring his gaze.
"Little Wei! Quickly run away and find an instructor! There are three of them!" Li Chu struggled again, nearly breaking free from their hold.
"Ptui!" Finn spat out saliva mixed with blood. "You think you can run after hitting me?!"
The brown-haired boy next to him moved behind Li Wei without a word and blocked the path to the dormitory area.
To their surprise, Li Wei had no intention of retreating.
He charged straight at Finn, closing the distance of several meters in an instant. The two immediately twisted into a tangle, wrestling each other with no particular technique, just sheer instinct.
Both boys swung at each other, throwing and taking punches. They hit each other in the face, chest, shoulders…wherever they could.
The sounds of muffled groans and thumps were masked by the pouring rain.
"Fuck!" Finn took another punch to the bridge of his nose. He pulled back and shouted at his friends, "You two! Why are you standing there like idiots?! Help me fuck him up!"
The two boys immediately reacted, charging directly over and throwing punches and kicks at Li Wei.
Li Wei groaned in pain, his steps faltering. Still, he made use of the momentum and charged forward, pinning Finn to the ground.
The two fell onto the muddy ground in the heavy rain.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Finn shook his head vigorously as a large portion of muddy water entered his mouth. His eyes were also covered by a layer of foggy rain.
Boom!
Fractured lightning lit up the sky, tearing apart the clouds with its brilliant light. The thunder roared like cannons hidden in the gray mist.
The loud explosion numbed Finn's scalp, almost as if something hard had struck his heart. He sobered up considerably and at the same time, felt an intense fear that could not be explained.
The boy in front of him was silent like some kind of machine. Despite being hit until he was bleeding, he barely let out a grunt. The boy simply kept pummeling Finn, wordlessly yet relentlessly.
Ruthless! This single word that flashed through Finn's mind.
Thud! A fist smashed hard into his face.
Finn's head swayed, ripples reverberating through his cheek. Two teeth covered in blood fell out the side of his mouth.
He groaned in pain and his fear intensified.
Although he could hazily see that his two lackeys were hitting Li Wei with all they had, Finn's heart was still filled with fear. He feared pain and the relentless ferocity of his opponent.
"Stop, stop! I give up! Umph! Ack!" Finn begged to stop fighting but Cassius was not about to listen to his pleas.
In an instant, another two or three punches were thrown. The numerous punches he had received caused him to lose his bearings and his head and cheeks went numb with pain.
At this point, Cassius was no longer just fighting to save Li Wei's sister, Li Chu. It was more of a form of venting.
Was it the humiliation and fear of having a gun pointed at his head? The helplessness of not being able to save his seniors and mentor? Was it confusion, worry, anger…?
Perhaps it was all of that.
All of those emotions were mixed together and solidified in every punch Cassius threw at Finn. He looked like a ferocious madman.
For every punch received from the two lackeys behind him, Cassius returned one to Finn. The blood from their open wounds dyed the surrounding rainwater red.
Pinned beneath Cassius, Finn could no longer speak. He could only snort and groan on the muddy ground, unable to move his body.
Similarly, Cassius's world was spinning from the aftermath of the hits he suffered. The already hazy rainy day became even more blurry. His face was covered with bruises and blood flowed from his cuts and scratches.
Heavy rain poured from the sky furiously, gathering into gray puddles of water on the ground. The dark sky seemed as if it were about to collapse.
"What are you guys doing?!"
Several instructors quickly approached through the iron gate, shouting.
"They're fighting…"
"Three against one?"
"It's those three troublemakers… They often go out drinking."
Not far away, about a dozen students got awoken by the commotion. They gathered to watch the scene, undeterred by the rain.
The two youths beating Cassius were startled by the fierce voice and immediately ran when they saw the instructors.
"Stop! Don't run!"
Rumble!
The thunder roared hoarsely, as if it had accumulated thousands of years’ worth of resentment that had to be completely let out at this moment.
A blue-white arc of lightning briefly illuminated the entire world.
Everyone, including the three instructors, saw it clearly.
A young man with a face full of blood was straddling another person, wildly swinging his fists and causing the rain to splatter chaotically. He looked like a madman.
1. The original idiom here is "until the Year of the Monkey and Month of the Horse meaning for an impossibly long period of time. ☜
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