Chapter 33 - Holy Bath Festival
One after another, the two figures dashed into a dark alley, the sound of their rapid footsteps echoing in the narrow space. The man tried to duck around a corner, but Cassius pursued him aggressively.
A cold gleam flashed before his eyes, the blade tinted red.
Thud!
Cassius kicked, sending the burly man flying. His clothes scraped against the rough ground, making a rustling sound. Face twisted in pain as he got to his feet, he first looked briefly at the dagger that was now far out of his reach, before wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. The man quickly leaped over the wall and disappeared into the darkness of the neighborhood.
At the corner of the street, Cassius decided not to go after him. He glanced at his right arm. His forearm's sleeve had been slashed open, blood oozing out in a line that was as long as his palm, and gradually dying the surrounding fabric red.
It was a superficial wound, however…
Cassius hurried forward and picked up the silver dagger from the ground. The blade was slightly curved and looked very thin, with an edge that was polished to an exceptional smoothness. But it was not poisoned.
Phew… He exhaled deeply, his pounding heart slowly calming down, and his breathing gradually returning to normal.
While it was possible to become immune to lethal poison, Cassius, in his current physical condition, was not quite there yet. He would need to train the Wind Elephant Covert Martial Arts to a highly advanced level to be able to suppress and be partially immune to some toxins. Because once those toxins invaded the body, it would be hard for any living being to not be affected, and experiencing detrimental symptoms was basically inevitable.
But if he looked at it another way, if he couldn't become immune to the poison from weapons, then he might as well not try. If he trained his muscles and skin to be as hard as iron so that the weapons' blades wouldn’t be able to cut through his skin, the result would be the same.
In the Wind Elephant Covert Martial Arts, the Elephant Soul had three levels—Prickling, Bug Bite, and Burning Wind, and unlocking each level would improve the practitioner's physicality significantly.
Although Cassius had not even reached 30% of the first level, Prickling, his physical fitness and strength had seen remarkable improvement.
Despite the fact that the assassin was half a head taller than Cassius, he had actually been at a slight disadvantage during their fight. His physical advantage had been completely nullified by Cassius's Elephant Soul, and Cassius even managed to come out on top. Cassius's muscle strength was also likely much higher than the burly man's.
If he could master the first level of Elephant Soul, Prickling, or even the second level, Bug Bite, not only would daggers no longer be an issue, maybe a small-caliber handgun…
Cassius lightly patted the dust off his hands, putting a stop to his daydreaming. With one hand pressed to his wound, he rushed off.
Next time, I'm bringing a dagger…
***
White clouds floated in the azure sky the next day. A ray of sunlight shone through the golden-edged gap, making the rooftops of gray-white buildings and the leaves of low trees sparkle.
In Baichuan City, at 25 Flag Street, Jessica Apartments. On the fourth floor, in a sunlit room.
A light blue embroidered curtain blocked most of the sunlight, with a single beam slanting through the gap. A rectangular strip of golden light divided the room on the white floor tiles. The sunlight slowly lit upon the brown bed sheet, making it warm to the touch.
An angular face lay on the bed, eyes closed. He wasn’t particularly handsome, but there was an inexplicable aura of determination in his brows.
A series of crisp bird calls suddenly sounded from outside the window.
"Hmm?" Cassius opened his eyes, his expression somewhat confused.
He had been dreaming that he had turned into the original Li Wei. On that rainy night, Finn and his two thug buddies were tearing at Li Chu's clothes while he hid in the corner like a coward, trembling alongside the rumbling thunder.
"Damn it!" Cassius cursed softly, getting up.
He wasn't the original Li Wei. The things that the original cowardly Li Wei was too afraid to do, Cassius did them all during his transmigration. He beat people up! Saved his sister, and beat people up again! And Cassius would have killed them all, had it not been for the restrictions.
He has always held the belief that people were not born to be submissive. If one kept blindly giving in, they would only push themselves to the edge of the cliff.
Back in the youth training camp, Cassius lived the way Li Wei wanted to live, and he did what Li Wei most wanted to do. But these weren't just Li Wei's desires; Cassius wanted to do them too. Even if the time-travel was a mere illusion and he was ultimately unable to change the past, Cassius still wanted to get back at those people—for Li Wei, for Li Chu, and for himself.
Of course, all of this was only possible if he had strong fists. The day before, he had made seventy thousand Federation dollars, which was just enough to buy medicinal herbs.
He got up and strolled over to the window, pulling open the curtains. The bright sunlight immediately illuminated the white room, sweeping away any shadows. He opened the window and took a breath of fresh air. The sunlight fell on the sparse green vegetation below, revealing a verdant sheen. Next to Jessica Apartments was a camphor road with two rows of tall, sturdy trees, rustling in the wind.
In the parking spaces around the edge, there were about five parked black goldfish-mouth cars, their roofs buried beneath fallen branches and leaves that had accumulated from the night before.
"Happy Holy Bath Festival!"
"Happy holidays!"
"…"
Down in the street, a long procession slowly approached. The leaders wore traditional costumes, and the women, draped in black gauzy headscarves, were all young and beautiful. They carried flower baskets in one hand and scattered petals with the other.
Amongst the crowd, some held religious symbols like crosses, some carried white ribbon flowers, and others played musical instruments. There were about a hundred people in total. Residents on both sides lined the street in welcome, with some even standing deliberately in the path of the falling petals and letting the white petals land on their heads.
This was the Holy Bath Festival, a nationwide festival in the Hongli Federation. Originally a religious festival, it had became much more widespread.
The women scattering white petals on people's heads was meant to mimic the ritual of pouring holy water all over the body and washing away sin and impurity. In general, it carried a positive connotation. Adults liked the festival. Children even more so, because the Holy Bath Festival meant they had a day off from school and had no homework.
Cassius quickly freshened up in the bathroom at Jessica Apartments. Then he got dressed and walked down the stairs.
A chubby old lady with white hair shuffled toward him. She wore a floral dress, reading glasses, and leaned on a cane.
"Good morning, Madam Jessica." Cassius waved to the landlady of the apartments.
"Ah… Good morning ah… Mr. Demetrios." There was a slight hesitation in Madam Jessica's voice before she responded. She turned to watch Cassius's back, seemingly frowning in thought.
Everyone in the apartments knew Madam Jessica had a poor memory, which was why Cassius didn't care what name she called him.
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