Chapter 919: A Story
Lin Rui’s response did not convince Johnny. He had just met Lin Rui, a strange high school student, or at least he looked like a high school student, the previous day and was visited by Mephisto that night. Johnny was suspicious of their relationship and was on high alert due to having recently awoken from a coma and being visited by Lin Rui and Bucky.
Lin Rui continued, saying: “Actually, shouldn’t we be asking you this question? You’re supposed to be an ordinary person named Johnny Blaze, but you killed an innocent person with cruel means last night. I know you won’t believe me, but…”
Lin Rui suggested that Johnny was likely responsible for the fire they saw the previous night, as it was probably caused by his bike. They also believed that Johnny may have been responsible for the strange death of an innocent man outside the factory building in the small town. Despite this, Johnny appeared normal both currently and the previous day.
Upon hearing Lin Rui’s words, the look in Johnny’s eyes changed drastically as he remembered the events of the previous night. He recalled encountering individuals with special magical abilities, killing someone by whipping them to death, and witnessing a robbery on the side of the road. Based on these memories, Johnny strongly disagreed with Lin Rui’s a.s.sertion that he had killed an innocent person.
While being questioned by Lin Rui, Johnny loudly defended himself, saying: “That guy was not innocent! He was a criminal, a heinous criminal! I simply made him feel the pain of his victims!”
Lin Rui was surprised upon hearing Johnny’s loud explanation and asked, “Criminal?” They wondered if the worker who had died so brutally was really a criminal.
“That’s right! He was committing a robbery on the side of the road at that time. If I hadn’t intervened, he might have harmed an innocent woman,” Johnny explained, trying to alleviate the guilt he felt for taking someone’s life.
“Hooligan? Are you sure we are talking about the same person?” Lin Rui asked, seeming to notice a discrepancy in their words. The corpse they had seen outside the factory was clearly a worker in overalls, not a hooligan. It did not seem to fit the description of the person Johnny was describing.
“No matter what, I’m sure I didn’t hurt any innocent people!” Seeing Lin Rui’s hesitation, Johnny shouted loudly.
After Johnny emphasized once more that he did not harm any innocent people, the old man standing behind him finally spoke up, saying: “I believe you. The Penance Stare commands the burning of evil people. Using the Penance Stare on innocent people would be ineffective.”
After observing Lin Rui and Bucky for a short time, the old man was confident that they were not demonic ent.i.ties as he had initially suspected. They seemed to be unaware of Ghost Rider and were questioning Johnny after seeing something about him the previous night. The old man speculated that they might be from some special organization on Earth.
“Penance Stare? What is that?” After the old man spoke, both Johnny and Lin Rui asked curiously.
The old man told Johnny and Lin Rui, “If you want to know more, come with me. Johnny, there are some things you need to understand on your own. Otherwise, I got a nice cozy spot picked out here for you.” As he spoke, he noticed that Lin Rui and Johnny still looked puzzled.
The old man had originally intended to speak with Johnny about some things and invite him to stay. However, he now had two unexpected visitors. Despite this, the old man trusted his own judgment and did not believe that the young man who resembled a high school student, and the vigilant soldier behind him were enemies.
Hearing what the old man said, Lin Rui turned to Bucky and asked, “What do you think?”
Both Johnny and the old man couldn’t help rolling their eyes inwardly upon hearing Lin Rui call Bucky by a different name than Steve, which had just been introduced.
“Whatever.” Bucky doesn’t care about Lin Rui’s decision, anyway, he will go with Lin Rui as he has nothing to do now.
“Alright, then let’s go listen to what the old man has to say. I’m really curious about the things I encountered yesterday,” Lin Rui said, nodding in agreement. He then continued walking forward.
Lin Rui and Bucky examined Johnny closely as if they were trying to determine if he was the same person who had driven past them on a motorcycle the previous night. However, during the day, Johnny seemed like a normal, strong guy. They took a look at him and walked over.
After Lin Rui and Bucky walked past him, Johnny was still struggling with his thoughts. He was now certain that the events of the previous night had not been a dream, and the old man behind him seemed to know more about what had happened. However, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to get any further involved.
“They will come back again. If you want to survive, you should come in,” The old man said to Johnny, who was still standing there, as he led Lin Rui and Bucky towards the small Bourne behind him.
Then, regardless of whether Johnny would turn around or not, the old man had already led Lin Rui and Bucky toward the small cabin behind.
“d.a.m.n it!” Johnny cursed under his breath and finally turned and followed the old man, Lin Rui, and Bucky.
A few minutes later, the four of them were seated at a table in the small log cabin, which had been decorated to look like a chapel. Johnny drank several gla.s.ses of water as he was still very thirsty and his body had not fully cooled down. When he had just awoken, he had felt like his whole body was on fire.
“You can speak now, old man,” Lin Rui said to the old man as he watched Johnny finish his fifth gla.s.s of water.
Lin Rui had come there out of curiosity about strange and unusual things. If he found out that this situation was not interesting or beyond his ability to handle, he and Bucky might just leave, so the sooner he gets the story the better.
“Are you really a high school student?” the old man asked Lin Rui, still looking puzzled.
“What else would I be? How old do you think I am?” Lin Rui rolled his eyes and asked back when he heard the old man’s words.
“I don’t know… There are a lot of weird things in this world,” The old man replied.
“Let’s get to the point. How much do you know?” Johnny interrupted Lin Rui’s conversation with the old man and asked, having finished his sixth gla.s.s of water.
The old man’s expression became serious upon hearing Johnny’s words. His eyes became erratic as he seemed to be recalling distant memories. After a moment of contemplation, the old man spoke.