When Ling Feng stumbled back to the workshop like a startled bird, he wasn't greeted by a cold iron door, but by the sound of anxious, heavy breathing squeezing through the crack.
The door was pulled open from the inside with a creak.
"Feng-zi!"
Shi Lei's mountain-like body blocked the doorway, his face etched with an anxiety that was about to overflow. He yanked the nearly collapsing Ling Feng inside, slammed the door shut behind him, and jammed a steel rod firmly into the bolt.
"You... you're alive!" Shi Lei steadied Ling Feng by the shoulders, his saucer-like eyes scanning him up and down, his tone a mixture of lingering fear and disbelief. "The Ash Market is in an uproar! I heard from people who fled that some kid used a weird trick to take down Zhao San and the Iron Fist Gang... I just knew it had to be you!"
His friend's warm, strong hands and the undisguised concern in his words were like a warm current, flowing into Ling Feng's body, which had grown cold with fear. In this familiar and absolutely safe haven, his taut nerves finally gave out.
His legs went soft, and he slid down along Shi Lei's arm to the floor, gasping for breath.
"Water..." he said hoarsely.
"Got it! Got it!" Shi Lei scrambled to get a cup of water from the storage tank, crouched down, and carefully held it to Ling Feng's lips.
The cool, purified water slid down his throat, extinguishing some of the fire in his chest. Leaning against the wall, he looked up at his partner bustling about for him, and the unfocused look in his eyes, clouded by fear, finally came back into focus.
"They... they didn't follow me, did they?" Ling Feng asked.
"No!" Shi Lei shook his head forcefully, but his tone was incredibly grave. "But the situation is bad. I snuck out for a look just now. The Iron Fist Gang is like a pack of mad dogs; they've blocked all the intersections and are searching inch by inch. Zhao San also called in the security team, saying they need to arrest a 'thug who maliciously disrupted market order.' Feng-zi, you've really raised hell this time!"
The external threat, described by his friend, became incredibly real and heavy. Ling Feng's heart, which had just begun to calm down, was once again seized by an invisible hand.
He briefly told Shi Lei what had happened at the Ash Market. He left out the strange state induced by the jade pendant, only saying that in a moment of desperation, he had detonated a self-defense device he had modified.
Even so, Shi Lei's heart pounded as he listened. When he heard how Ling Feng had been framed and cornered, he slammed his fist on the ground in anger, making a dull thud.
"Those bastards!" he cursed. "All they know is how to bully people like us who don't have registered identities!"
After cursing, he looked at the pale Ling Feng, sighed, and pulled out half a synthetic nutrition bar from his clothes, handing it to him. "Eat something first. An army marches on its stomach. Even if the sky is falling, you have to fill your belly first."
Ling Feng took the nutrition bar and chewed mechanically. The food tasted like wax, but he knew he had to regain his strength as quickly as possible.
Seeing Ling Feng's distraught state, Shi Lei sat down next to him. After a long silence, he said in a muffled voice, "Feng-zi, I know you feel terrible. But... what you did today was awesome! Seriously! At least you didn't let those scumbags get their way. You're not like us..."
He paused, his voice dropping. "Not like us... who only know how to endure."
His friend's simple words were like a key, unexpectedly unlocking the lock in Ling Feng's heart that was wrapped in layers of fear and humiliation.
That's right.
I fought back.
I didn't just submit, like a lamb to the slaughter.
No matter how dangerous the process or how great the cost, the result was—I won.
A faint, scorching emotion rekindled from the embers in his heart. It wasn't pride, but a most fundamental affirmation of his own existence.
"Shi Lei," Ling Feng looked up at his friend. The fear and confusion were still in his eyes, but now there was something else. "Thank you."
Thank you for watching over this home for me.
Thank you for waiting for me here.
Shi Lei grinned and scratched his head.
"What's there to thank me for between us? But seriously, you definitely can't stay here anymore. What's your plan?"
The question made the newly lit flame flicker in the cold wind of reality.
Right, what now? Run? But where could he possibly run to in the entire Rust Belt?
Ling Feng subconsciously touched the jade pendant on his chest.
Its warm, smooth feel reminded him of that strange, all-controlling coolness.
He looked at his worried friend, and for the first time, a thought formed with absolute clarity in his mind—
He could no longer rely on luck, nor could he endanger his only friend.
He had to find a way, a power that could truly protect himself and this "home." And the answer to all of this was likely hidden in the pendant his parents had left him, and in the secrets of his own body.
"I need... to think," Ling Feng said to Shi Lei.
"You should go back first, a bigger group is a bigger target. Remember, if anyone asks, just say you haven't seen me all day."
Shi Lei knew Ling Feng needed to be alone. He nodded emphatically and left the only other nutrition bar he had.
"Be careful. I'll come back to check on things before dawn tomorrow."
With that, he gave his friend one last look, then quietly pulled the door open and disappeared into the night like a nimble cat.
Once again, Ling Feng was alone in the workshop.
But this time, he no longer felt lonely. The lingering warmth left by his friend dispelled the most biting cold of the night.
He walked to the workbench and placed the jade pendant gently on the table.
His eyes no longer held only fear and confusion.
A light, mixed with awe, curiosity, and determination, slowly began to glow in the depths of his pupils.
He was going to dissect and study the secrets of himself and this pendant, layer by layer, just as he would with a precision instrument he had never seen before.
And the first tool required for this monumental project was "knowledge."