Volume One, Chapter Six: Speed Is Merely My Middle Name

Tong Yan looked at Jiang Chen, who was sitting in the passenger seat, with surprise. “You want to try? Do you even know how to drive? Do you have a license?”

Jiang Chen nodded lightly. “I know a little.”

Tong Yan glanced at the disappearing taillights and gritted her teeth. “Alright, give it a shot!”

Everyone was young and competitive—nobody wanted to be left behind, and Tong Yan was no exception. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder: could a celestial master who spent most of his time in the mountains really handle a sports car?

Jiang Chen slid behind the wheel and gripped the steering wheel. Two minutes passed and the car still hadn’t started…

Tong Yan couldn’t hold back any longer. “Don’t tell me… you don’t know how to start the car?”

Jiang Chen scratched his head in embarrassment. “It’s been too long since I’ve driven. I forgot.”

Tong Yan rolled her eyes, tapped the display screen twice, and instantly the engine roared to life.

But by then, Tong Yan’s hopes had faded. This was a sports car, after all—a few seconds could put them kilometers ahead. Who knew how many minutes had already passed? They must have been left far behind.

Jiang Chen revved the engine twice and said, “Fasten your seatbelt. We’re setting off!”

Almost at the exact moment the seatbelt clicked into place, the white Ferrari shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. The speed was so astonishing that even Tong Yan, who was used to wild drives, couldn’t help but cry out.

The engine’s roar was like a tiger, caged for ages, now unleashed and charging free.

Scenes outside the window blurred and changed rapidly. Tong Yan laughed with delight. “Wow! Little Master, I never thought you’d be so skilled! You’re nearly as fast as a Formula 1 professional!”

Jiang Chen, pleased with the praise, smoothed his hair. Driving a sports car was nothing to him.

When he was sixteen, on a mission at Golden Slope, he’d driven an off-road vehicle for three days and nights to chase drug traffickers. The jungle was full of challenges—far more difficult than today.

As for Formula 1, Jiang Chen never even glanced at those races. The cars weren’t powerful enough for his taste.

This villa district was relatively quiet, with few people or vehicles. Most residents were home for lunch at this hour.

Jiang Chen pushed the car to its limits. The scenery outside streamed past in reverse. Tong Yan, exhilarated, opened the window. Were it not for her seatbelt, she would have already leaned out.

She kept slapping Jiang Chen’s thigh and screamed, “That’s what I call driving! Little Master, why don’t you become my private chauffeur? You can drive all my cars!”

Jiang Chen laughed softly. “Let’s see if I can catch up with them first. There’s still time!”

In a flash, Jiang Chen tapped the accelerator three times. The sports car responded like it had found its true master, unleashing even greater speed.

Tong Yan exclaimed, “How come, even when I floored the gas, I couldn’t get this kind of speed?”

Most drivers only operate cars within their regular parameters—no matter how fast, they can’t exceed the numbers on the dashboard. But Jiang Chen was different. Sports cars are always limited by speed governors, as stated in the manual.

Yet few ever truly study their cars, let alone the limits. So, naturally, their vehicles only run within those bounds. When Jiang Chen was on assignment in a peninsula famous for producing top drivers, the world’s number one racer, Rick Elfa, explained to him that real sports cars could have their speed limits removed.

...

Li Jing Beast’s hand was caressing a pale, smooth thigh as a cigarette dangled from his lips.

“Boring, so boring. Even the rich in this villa district are average,” Li Jing Beast sighed, feeling a wave of depression.

He’d scoured the city’s wealthy circles, and not one could match him for skill or competition.

“What do these rich people do all day? Wait for inheritance like me?”

The woman beside him, lips painted crimson, replied, “Young Master Li’s driving skill is second to none in our circle. Even if they try hard, none of them could beat you.”

Li Jing Beast just smiled. His hands were about to climb higher when a roar sounded behind him—a sports car sped past.

It was the very person he’d just mocked.

Li Jing Beast watched as the once slow-moving car suddenly came alive, and a grin curled at his lips.

“Now this is something interesting.” Li Jing Beast placed both hands back on the wheel, and with a roar, his car shot forward.

Seeing herself overtake Li Jing Beast, Tong Yan was beside herself, waving her arms in excitement.

But her joy was short-lived. Li Jing Beast’s Lamborghini quickly caught up, and in the blink of an eye, he was racing side by side with Jiang Chen.

The window rolled down. Li Jing Beast called out, “Hey, kid, not bad! Are you a professional racer?”

Jiang Chen rolled his window down as well. “Taxi driver.”

“What?”

“Huh?”

Tong Yan in the passenger seat paused for a moment, then realized Jiang Chen was teasing him.

Li Jing Beast was stunned, then understood he’d been played. “You dare mess with me, kid?”

Jiang Chen shrugged.

Li Jing Beast’s voice grew cold. “I won’t waste words. Let’s see who’s better on the road.”

With that, Li Jing Beast floored the accelerator again.

Jiang Chen glanced around and saw they had left the villa district and were now on the main road.

Watching Li Jing Beast speed ahead, Tong Yan grew anxious. “Little Master, hurry up and overtake him! Otherwise, he’ll just mock me again!”

Jiang Chen reached out. “Lend me your phone. Mine’s dead.”

Tong Yan, puzzled, handed over her phone. Jiang Chen dialed quickly.

“Hello, Qingcheng Traffic Police. How can we help you?”

Jiang Chen cleared his throat. “Officer, someone’s speeding, license plate is... Yes, very arrogant, could you please punish him severely?”

Tong Yan was stunned. What a ridiculous move!

But it felt so satisfying—why hadn’t she thought of this before?

Jiang Chen handed the phone back to Tong Yan. “There, now you’ve vented. We can go home.”

Tong Yan’s eyes sparkled. If it weren’t for the fact that she’d be scolded for coming home too late, she’d definitely go and flaunt in front of Li Jing Beast.

Jiang Chen didn’t pursue, not only to avoid trouble, but also because he sensed a trace of deathly aura on Li Jing Beast—one that matched the baleful energy he’d dispelled earlier that morning. It was likely the work of the same person.

Having just come down from the mountain, he hadn’t expected to encounter such a complicated situation. Who was targeting these wealthy people? If it were only one, Jiang Chen might chalk it up to personal vendetta, but now there was Li Jing Beast as well—clearly, it was more than that.

Meanwhile, not far away, Ning Rou sat in her Mercedes, watching the two laughing together. Anger burned inside her. He’d promised to marry her that morning, and now at noon, he was already chasing someone else!

“Scoundrel! Absolute scoundrel!”