Dawn of a New Era

Chapter 18: The Unpredictability of Life and Death

Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
A passerby that was blocking his way was tossed aside with a push from the barbarian. That poor victim flew six to seven meters away before heavily smashing onto the ground.

Luckily, the cars on the street instantly braked when they realized something was wrong. It was only then that a tragedy was averted.

“He is a barbarian. Finish him off, don’t let him escape!” A middle-aged man that had also escaped from the bookstore called out loudly. He took up a broom from a nearby store and turned around, using it as a sword to face off against the barbarian.

Upon seeing his stance, it was clear that he had learned sword techniques before. In fact, it was possible that he might be a martial apprentice or he wouldn’t have such courage to challenge a barbarian.

Chen Shouyi, who was preparing to flee, couldn’t help but slow his steps.

As a young man, his heart hadn’t gone cold yet and his blood was still hot. He glanced at his surroundings, wanting to find a weapon.

But even before he found one, the barbarian already rushed toward the middle-aged man. Chen Shouyi had no way to describe his speed. Even his eyes found it hard to track the barbarian’s movement, as the distance of several tens of meters was crossed in an instant.

That middle-aged man hadn’t even pierced out with his sword, and a punch already landed on his head.

His body flew up into the air. Very soon, he fell on the ground like a broken sack, and his skull shattered like a watermelon that had been smashed apart.

The most terrifying thing was that from the start to the end, that barbarian was still holding on to that large bag filled with books. There were at least over a hundred kilograms in the bag.

Chen Shouyi glanced at the tragic corpses. The hot blood in his heart rapidly receded, replaced by the coldness circulating through his body. He was initially brimming with the desire to fight. But it had now completely dissipated, and only fear was left in the depths of his heart.

Luckily, this barbarian didn’t continue the meaningless killing. After he had established his dominance, he cast a look at the surroundings vigilantly and fled the area. His steps were heavy and his strides were large. He could travel five to six meters with each step.

Several seconds later, the barbarian disappeared into the streets.

The incident was too quick, and when the fully armed special police force arrived, three minutes had gone by.

And at this moment, Chen Shouyi had left the scene long ago.

The two of them pushed their bicycles as they walked. The passerby, upon seeing their shirts were stained with fresh blood, all kept away from them with a look of fear on their faces.

But because their mental states hadn’t recovered yet, the two of them didn’t realize this.

Zhang Shaoyue was considerably quiet. Her body was still trembling now.

Chen Shouyi could sense the fear in her heart. Actually, not only her, wasn’t he filled with fear as well?

For people who lived in times of peace, they could never imagine the cruelty of death. Even though the news would report tragic news like that, because they were simply too far from death and didn’t personally experience it, there would always be a sense of surrealism.

Dongning City had always been a quiet and peaceful little city. Even though there was an on-going war against the Other World from twenty plus years ago, that was an intense small-scale war that happened in an extremely remote frontier area.

In terms of scale, it couldn’t be compared to the two world wars. In fact, it didn’t even affect the livelihood of ordinary people.

From the internet, Chen Shouyi might have enjoyed seeing the war at that time due to the number of advanced equipment deployed. However, he wouldn’t be able to feel the cruelty of that war.

In this city, the only incident that could be classified as an invasion from the Other World had occurred two years ago, when two barbarians had been killed in the outskirts of Dongning.

Not long after the incident, the concealed wormhole near Dongning City had been discovered. And after that, the army immediately had sent troops to be stationed there.

…

The efficiency of the police force was very high, on their way back, the advertisement screens on the streets were already displaying the arrest warrant for the barbarian. This caused many people to stop and glance at it as fear filled their faces.

Chen Shouyi sent Zhang Shaoyue to the entrance of her neighborhood and spoke, “Class monitor, I will take my leave first.”

After pausing for a moment, he consoled her, “That barbarian shouldn’t be able to escape. There are cameras on the street everywhere. Maybe the news will report about his capture during the night.”

“Thank you, Chen Shouyi. If it wasn’t for you pulling me along, I might already have…”

“You are my classmate, how can I leave you behind and not care about you? Don’t think about it too much. I will take my leave first.” Chen Shouyi squeezed out a smile and acted very relaxed.

After that, he rode his bicycle and left quickly.

On the way, he received a call.

“Why are you still outside? Come back quickly!” Mother Chen’s anxious voice could be heard on the phone.

“Yes, Mom, I will return immediately.” Chen Shouyi didn’t ask why.

He hung up the phone and headed back home rapidly.

By the time he arrived, the restaurant had already closed, and the shutter was pulled down halfway. He placed his bicycle at the back door and was pulled into the house by Mother Chen before she rapidly locked the shutters.

“The goddess has blessed and protected us. You have finally returned. Do you know what happened earlier? How frightening!” Mother Chen nervously spoke.

All of a sudden, her expression froze as she turned pale.

“Why is there blood on your body?”

Chen Shouyi touched his body. The bloodstains there had already dried, but there were flecks of bloody scabs rubbing off on his palm with the possibility of some flesh within. When he thought of these bits of flesh from the corpses, he felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Seeing that there was no way to hide it, Chen Shouyi could only answer honestly.

“You…you could have gone anywhere, yet you went to that book store. I am almost scared to death by you.” Mother Chen rejoiced that he was safe, but at the same time, she felt a lingering fear of what might have happened. In the end, she angrily hit him twice. “Quickly remove these clothes, I’ll burn them later. After that, I will pray to the Bodhisattva to rid you of bad luck.”

Most business owners were usually superstitious. There were statues of the god of wealth and Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion in his house. It was just that both he and his younger sister didn’t pray to these statues.

“Alright, mother. Oh, by the way where is Xingyue?” He asked as he took off his jacket.

“She came back long ago and is watching the news upstairs with your father.”

Under the supervision of Mother Chen, Chen Shouyi prayed to the Bodhisattva. When he reached upstairs, he was questioned by Chen Dawei again.

The television was currently playing the news. He saw numerous corpses that were covered in mosaic being carried out from the bookstore. Some of the corpses were only piles of rotten flesh, which were then kept into body bags.

“So far, the death toll has reached 135 for this attacking incident. There are another 43 heavily injured victims and in emergency care…”

Chen Shouyi took a quick look. The broadcasted news was extremely cruel. He stood up, walked to the bathroom, and then took a shower to wash away all the blood on him.

In the evening, after his family had finished a simple dinner together, all of them were seated near the television, watching the latest news.

On the streets outside, the sounds of police vehicles could occasionally be heard. Evidently, the police force was already mobilized.

The atmosphere in the living room was somewhat tense. No one was talking.

This terrifying terrorist from the Other World was roaming freely in the city. No one could afford to rest easy or eat in peace, pretending that nothing was wrong.

At 7 pm at night, another piece of news was suddenly broadcasted.

As he looked at his manuscript, the host had a look of joy on his face. However, it soon flashed past and his expression turned solemn. “Now, I’m going to announce a piece of news. Under the situation where the entire city is on lock-down, at 6.40 pm, the special police forces of Dongning City and several famous members from the martial association have finally found the hiding place of the barbarian in Yanghu Public Park. After an intense battle, the barbarian was finally killed.

“But sadly in the midst of the battle, including the vice headmaster of Dongning City’s martial association, Zhou Shaofeng, a total of four members from the special force have sacrificed themselves…”

Zhou Shaofeng had died!

Chen Shouyi was startled. When he first heard the name ‘Zhou Shaofeng’, it was mentioned by the martial teacher of his school.

Two years ago, the two barbarians that had been discovered in the outskirts of Dongning had been soloed by him. He had used a single godly stance, the Bow Stance Pierce, and killed the two invaders.

But such an immensely powerful character and experienced martial practitioner had actually died so unexpectedly in a group attack against a barbarian.

He felt a lingering fear in his heart, as well as gladness.

If he had chosen to rush at the barbarian due to being hot-headed earlier, maybe he would also have…