Tokyo Knights: The Odd Jobs X Files

Suddenly, a head flew up and landed directly in front of the ninjas; it was the same ninja who had taken a half step back earlier.

The sight of their comrade's head horrified the ninjas. They turned to look behind them and saw a man in samurai attire standing with a sword, glaring angrily at them: "Ninjas, those who retreat in the face of battle shall die!"

Under the weight of their long-standing power, these ninjas instantly forgot how terrifying Li Xin was, drew their weapons, and charged at him.

Li Xin couldn't be happier. He was only afraid that these ninjas would hunt down Gao Jin, not that they would make things difficult for him.

Having raised his "Wedding Dress Divine Skill" to 60% power, Li Xin disregarded his internal injuries and other issues, determined to deal with these guys as soon as possible and catch up to protect Gao Jin.

These well-trained ninjas were basically easy targets when facing a serious Li Xin, who could take them down with a single punch. Although they had learned many skills to overcome the strong with the weak and had unpredictable tricks, they had no chance to use them against Li Xin, who had an absolute advantage in speed and strength. They were knocked to the ground, and being hit by Li Xin's punch meant death.

"A bunch of useless trash!"

The samurai with the sword looked at the ninja lying on the ground with disdain, then pointed his sword at Li Xin and said, "Don't think you're anything special just because you've dealt with these small fry. They're just expendable resources."

Li Xinyong looked at the swordsman with a questioning gaze.

If you want to fight, then fight; if you want to withdraw, then withdraw. What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Is this person out of their mind?

However, the swordsman was not very bright, but Li Xin was clear-headed. Without saying a word, he punched the swordsman. Who knew if this guy was stalling for time, wasting his breath talking to Li Xin while secretly sending others to hunt down Gao Jin and his group? Killing him quickly and joining up with Gao Jin and Long Wu was what he should be doing.

The swordsman smiled contemptuously when he saw Li Xin make his move.

With such crude boxing skills, how could it possibly be...?

Li Xin suddenly increased the speed of his punch midway through, startling the swordsman. It was too late to dodge, and he could only parry with his sword. However, to the swordsman's surprise, Li Xin was still agile while maintaining such a fast punch speed. With a slight twist of his fist, he punched the swordsman straight in the chest.

The swordsman, struck in the chest, frowned and, without a word, launched a counterattack, kicking Li Xin hard in the abdomen, specifically the dantian area.

The dantian is the location of the body's qi sea, and it is the most important part for any martial artist. Even with Li Xin's profound internal strength at the seventh level of the "Wedding Dress Divine Skill", a heavy blow to the dantian would cause his true qi to surge, forcing him to retreat several steps backward, kneeling on one knee with cold sweat streaming down his face.

His expression as he looked at the swordsman was filled with disbelief. How could this be? There actually be someone like that in the world…

The samurai kicked Li Xin, temporarily rendering him unable to fight, and then raised his sword to strike at Li Xin. Li Xin quickly braced himself against his injury and narrowly avoided the samurai's sword.

The swordsman was about to press on and kill Li Xin when a melodious flute tune rang out. Upon hearing the flute, the swordsman's expression changed. He glared at Li Xin with hatred and sneered, "Consider yourself lucky!"

After saying that, he ran in the direction from which the flute music came.

Li Xin clutched his lower abdomen, circulating his internal energy to regulate his breathing. He stared at the departing figure of the sword-wielding warrior with disbelief on his face.

But now is not the time to think about that. The fact that the other party retreated upon hearing the flute means that he must have accomplices nearby. Gao Jin and his group may be in danger, and I must catch up with them immediately.

Thinking this, Li Xin disregarded his injuries and hurriedly chased after Gao Jin and Long Wu in the direction they had fled. However, after only a few steps, his unstable "Wedding Dress True Qi" went out of control due to his forceful exertion. Li Xin was in excruciating pain, and coupled with the sudden attack of anger, he quickly collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.

Some time later, a young man rode by on his bicycle and saw Li Xin lying unconscious. The young man exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, what happened to someone lying here!"

Then he got off his bicycle, picked up Li Xin, and carried him halfway before realizing he couldn't take it anymore: "So heavy!"

Even so, he still managed to lift Li Xin onto the bicycle with great effort, let him lie on the back seat, and then pushed the bicycle forward himself.

"You're lucky you ran into me. I, Ah Yin, am the kind of person who would never stand by and watch someone die!"

The young man pushed Li Xin with difficulty, and in the moonlight, the words "Rongji Ice Room" were particularly eye-catching on the back of his clothes.

....................................

After letting Li Xin go, the swordsman walked towards the direction from which the flute music came, and then found a bewitching woman in a kimono under a large tree.

The samurai with the sword knelt on one knee before the alluring woman in the kimono, then asked in bewilderment, "Boss, I was about to kill that person, why did you call me back at this crucial moment?"

"Why did we bring you back? Look at your own chest!"

The alluring woman in the kimono stared coldly at the samurai with his sword.

The swordsman looked down and saw a large hole in his chest. Looking through the hole, he could even see some of his organs writhing.

He muttered to himself, "Ah, so I'm already dead..."

After saying that, his body seemed to have been ripped from its soul, and he fell straight to the ground.

"Useless trash, even if you are given power, you still can't do anything well."

The woman in the kimono, her face full of disdain, bent down and made a grabbing motion towards the forehead of the samurai with the sword.

A ball of cyan light appeared in the kimono-clad woman's hand. She smiled as she held the ball of light, saying, "Fortunately, although the container was damaged, the most crucial treasure was unharmed. Otherwise, even tearing it to pieces wouldn't be enough to quell my anger!"

Having said that, the woman in the kimono left the samurai's corpse behind and slowly walked away into the distance.

Main text

Chapter Forty-Eight: The Golden Partner

Li Xin suddenly woke up on a very simple hard wooden bed. He sat up and, seeing that he was in an unfamiliar place, quickly got off the bed.

Just then, a young man walked in carrying a rooster-shaped bowl, slurping noodles in his mouth. Upon seeing Li Xin regain consciousness, he immediately bit off a piece of noodles and said, "Brother, you're awake! I almost called the doctor when I saw you rolling around in pain on the bed!"

Li Xin glanced out the window and saw that it was still dark. He immediately asked, "How long have I been unconscious?"

"It wasn't long, just over an hour."

The young man continued slurping his noodles.

Li Xin did not breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing this answer.

An hour is enough time for a lot to happen. He needs to find out how Gao Jin and Long Wu are doing and whether they escaped.

"Thank you for saving me. My name is Ashin. May I ask your name?"

“My name is He Jinyin, you can just call me A Yin.”

The young man introduced himself.

"Ah Yin, I have important matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving now. I'll definitely come back to repay you once I've finished dealing with these things!"

Li Xin said to He Jinyin.

He Jinyin smiled and continued eating his noodles: "It's nothing, it was just a small favor, no need to mention repaying me."

While He Jinyin could say that, Li Xin couldn't let it go so easily. One should be grateful and repay kindness; that was Li Xin's principle.

"Goodbye, Ah Yin."

Li Xin left He Jinyin's house, looked back, and firmly memorized the name of He Jinyin's house before heading towards Dayue's villa—if Gao Jin and Long Wu were safe and sound, then that was probably where they were most likely to be.

On the way, Li Xin checked his physical condition. Having survived the backlash of internal energy, Li Xin felt that his skill had subtly increased. This would be something other martial artists would absolutely desire and be overjoyed with, but for Li Xin, it was not a good thing.

The deeper one's skill in the "Wedding Dress Divine Skill," the greater the damage it inflicts on the body. After learning the internal energy cultivation method, Li Xin managed to keep the damage from the "Wedding Dress Divine Skill" within a range where he could barely heal himself. This improvement in skill, however, actually pushed Li Xin further down the path of self-destruction.

But now is not the time to worry about that. He still doesn't understand what the swordsman he encountered last night was.

Is it possible for a normal person to survive a punch piercing their chest?

Li Xin felt it was probably not going to work; he was certain he couldn't do it. So, after punching the swordsman through the chest, Li Xin relaxed, only to be kicked in the dantian by the swordsman, nearly causing him to fall into a ditch.

Upon arriving at the villa, Li Xin was immediately greeted by a stern reprimand as soon as he entered.

"How did you protect Brother Jin! Mr. Shangshan spent so much money just to hire a useless piece of trash like you!"

Gao Yi cursed at Long Wu.

Long Wu kept his head down and didn't speak. The veins on his hands kept throbbing, but he didn't lose his temper or pull out a gun to press against Gao Yi's forehead.

If it were any other time, and someone pointed at him and cursed him like that, no matter who it was, Lung Wu would definitely make that person pay. But this time, Lung Wu was negligent in his duty and failed to protect Ko Chun. Now that he was being criticized by Ko Chun's cousin, he had nothing to say.

Janet, Gao Jin's girlfriend, stopped Gao Yi, who was constantly yelling at Long Wu. Although her face was full of worry, she still tried to remain calm and asked Long Wu, "Mr. Long Wu, how is Ah Jin?"

Just as Long Wu was about to speak, he saw Li Xin walk over, his face showing even more guilt.

"Ah-Xin, I'm sorry, I've let you down. I've lost Mr. Gao!"

Long Wu said, blaming himself.

Li Xin had already guessed this would happen when he saw Gao Yi cursing Long Wu. He had personally experienced the strangeness of those people and knew how troublesome they were. It was normal that Long Wu couldn't handle them. So he asked, "What exactly happened? What happened after we got separated?"

Facing Li Xin, Long Wu naturally spoke frankly. He said, "Back then, you covered the rear for me and Mr. Gao. We dared not waste the opportunity you created and ran forward with all our might to seek help. But after running for a while, several ninjas appeared. Mr. Gao and I worked together to kill them, but Mr. Gao slipped and rolled down the hillside during the process. After I finished dealing with the enemy, I went to chase after him, but I could no longer find him."

"Ha, you've even made up ninjas. Do you people think you can get away with this?"

Gao Yi sneered.

Janet also found the ninja thing somewhat absurd, but since Li Xin and Long Wu were invited by Ueyama Hiroji, she maintained basic politeness and did not directly question them.

“What Mr. Long Wu said is true.”

Ueyama Hiroji's voice rang out, followed by two subordinates who were dragging a corpse—the very ninja that Li Xin and his group had encountered earlier.

Upon seeing the body, Janet, being a woman, took a few steps back in fear. At this moment, Hiroji Ueyama said, "This body was found at the location mentioned by Mr. Ryugo. There were several other bodies at the scene, but I have already cleared them away."

As ninjas are a "specialty" of Japan, Hiroji Ueyama knows much more about them than Ryugo and his group. He knows that although ninjas have become legendary in Japan, there are actually quite a few organizations and forces that raise and train ninjas. The reason why they are not well-known is entirely due to the nature of the ninja's work - ask yourself, who would admit to raising a group of thieves and assassins under their command?

Now, a group of ninjas has appeared in Hong Kong, and their target is Ko Chun. Ueyama Hiroji knows without a doubt that they were sent by the elders of the society who do not want him to take revenge and seize power.

Ueyama Hiroji took a deep breath and said to everyone, "The most important thing now is that we must find Mr. Gao Jin as soon as possible. We can't let our enemies find him before us, otherwise Mr. Gao Jin will be in danger!"

Ko Chun is currently only missing; his death has not been confirmed. Therefore, Ueyama Hiroji is more inclined to believe that Ko Chun is still alive and has simply gone into hiding.

Long Wu immediately said, "I'll contact my friends and ask them to help me find Mr. Gao."

He has extensive connections in Hong Kong, and in terms of finding people, Hiroji Ueyama, being Japanese, is certainly no match for Ryugo.

Hiroji Ueyama bowed to Ryugo and said, "Thank you, Mr. Ryugo!"

Long Wu said with a resolute expression, "Mr. Gao disappeared while I was in his hands. I will definitely find him. If I can't find him, I will give my life for Mr. Gao Jin!"

After saying that, he left the villa without looking back.

Seeing Long Wu leave, Gao Yi's lips moved slightly: "He talks so tough, I wonder if he's really serious!"

Janet frowned slightly, feeling that no matter what, the other party had at least made their attitude clear. The most urgent thing was to find Ah Jin, not to keep harping on his mistakes. However, Gao Yi was not only Gao Jin's assistant, translator, and driver, but also Gao Jin's cousin. Therefore, even if Janet was dissatisfied with Gao Yi's words, she couldn't say anything. Moreover, she thought that Gao Yi was in such a state because he was confused due to Gao Jin's disappearance, so she couldn't scold him for talking nonsense.

After Long Wu left, Ueyama Hiroji said to Li Xin, "Mr. O-Xin, Mr. Long Wu said you covered their retreat. What happened after that?"

Those ninjas, even Long Wu and Gao Jin working together could barely kill a few, so it should have been even less of a problem for Li Xin. However, when Ueyama Hiroji sent people to the place where Li Xin and the ninjas were fighting, they found nothing but corpses and no sign of Li Xin. Therefore, Ueyama Hiroji guessed that something must have happened afterward.

Li Xin thought for a moment and asked Ueyama Hiroji, "Mr. Ueyama, have you ever heard of a strange case where someone's chest was pierced by a bullet, yet they were still able to jump around and move around?"

"A bullet piercing your chest and you're still jumping around? I have to say, you guys are all really good at making up stories to escape responsibility!"

Gao Yi sneered, "Long Wu's claim of encountering a ninja was already exaggerated enough (although it was quickly proven true by Ueyama Hiroji), but now Li Xin is saying he encountered someone who survived being pierced through the chest. This is even more absurd. This isn't a zombie movie!"

"You won't die if your chest is pierced..."

Unlike Gao Yi, Ueyama Hiroji did not make sarcastic remarks. Instead, he pondered for a moment and then asked Li Xin, "Mr. O-Xin, please tell me in detail what happened at that time."

Li Xin nodded, and then described the whole incident to Uesugi Hiroji in detail.

"I see……"

Hiroji Ueyama nodded. Judging from his expression, he seemed to have some understanding of what Li Xin had said, but he didn't say it. Instead, he said to Li Xin, "Mr. Ueyama, since you are injured, you should rest here for now. Finding people is not your forte. I will inform you as soon as I have news about Mr. Gao."

Li Xin thought for a moment and could only agree to this for the time being. He nodded to Ueyama Hiroji and said, "Okay, Mr. Ueyama, I understand."

After Hiroji Ueyama left, Li Xin's injuries had not yet healed, so he could only borrow a room to practice his internal energy and regulate his breathing. And so, the whole night passed by.

The next morning, Gao Jin was still nowhere to be found. The atmosphere in the villa was tense. Although Janet didn't say anything, Gao Jin's cousin kept looking at Li Xin with hostility. Li Xin felt guilty, so he didn't stay in the villa and left to do something else.

Since the work of protecting Gao Jin could not be carried out for the time being, Li Xin thought for a moment and decided to visit the old friend that Zhen Yuanzhai had mentioned.

Besides wanting to fulfill Chin Gentsai's request, Li Xin also had another idea: to ask Chin Gentsai's old friend about the strange samurai who had survived a bullet hole in his chest.

Zhen Yuanzhai is knowledgeable and experienced. Anyone who can befriend him must also be an extraordinary person, and perhaps know something about this kind of thing.

However, Li Xin was unfamiliar with Hong Kong, so finding someone wouldn't be easy. After a series of difficult internal struggles, Li Xin waved down a taxi and said to the driver, "Please take me to the Global Elite Sports Centre (hereinafter referred to as the Elite Centre)."

"The elite center, right? Alright, sir, buckle up!"

The driver smiled and said that after picking up Li Xin, they quickly arrived at the Elite Center.

After getting out of the taxi, Li Xin's feet were dangling, not because the driver was going too fast, but because the fare was too exorbitant.

Li Xin had heard Crocodile Man complain that taxi fares in Japan were expensive, unlike those in Hong Kong, so he naively thought that taxi fares in Hong Kong were very cheap. This gave him the courage to take a taxi. However, when the taxi driver arrived at his destination, he asked Li Xin for money, and the price he quoted almost made Li Xin jump up.

Was I in a taxi or on a plane? Why was it so expensive?

What terrified Li Xin even more was that if taxis in Hong Kong were this expensive, how expensive must taxis in Japan be?

Li Xinguang shuddered at the thought.

From now on, I'll never take a taxi again, no matter what!

Li Xin said this to himself.

Upon arriving at the Elite Center, Li Xin asked the students for an address and, amidst their strange looks, found himself in front of a general store.