Chapter 20 – The Girl

“Damn it!”

The middle-aged man grimaced as he saw the young boy charging at him.

He recalled the wild animals he had once caught in the mountains. They too would crash against the cage door before resigning to their fate. Usually, a few hard kicks would calm them down.

The middle-aged man squinted slightly, a glint of light flashing in his eyes as he watched the boy sprint towards him.

Just as the boy was about to reach him, the man moved.

Wham!

A thick right leg sliced through the layers of rain like a whip, landing hard on the boy’s body. The boy didn’t even have time to grunt before he was sent flying sideways, crashing into the wall and rolling into the darkness at its base.

“Spit!”

The middle-aged man twisted his neck, spitting out the rainwater that had gotten into his mouth, and walked step by step towards the boy’s position.

“Fuck you, using me as a stepping stone?”

The man looked down at the boy curled up on the ground and laughed, cursing a few times.

He squatted down and reached out to grab the boy. But as soon as he stretched out his hand, an icy cold grip clamped tightly around his wrist.

“Still got some strength left?”

The man was slightly taken aback and instinctively raised his free left fist to strike. But at that moment, a terrifying force surged from his wrist.

Before the man could react—

Crack!

He watched in horror as his wrist was snapped like a twig. His entire hand was still gripped tightly by the boy, the severed tendons and muscles beneath the skin pulling with excruciating pain.

The boy yanked hard.

The middle-aged man, dragged by the pain, involuntarily leaned forward.

Bang!

Something struck his head hard, causing him to lurch backward uncontrollably.

Then he was lifted up.

In the pouring rain, the two figures were pressed together, charging forward madly.

Finally—

Bam!

They crashed heavily into the minivan at the alley entrance. The vehicle’s body shook violently, the front end dented slightly, and the headlight cover made a cracking sound.

Then everything fell silent.

The sound of the rain.

Lightning rolled through the dark clouds.

Men in raincoats, holding sticks and watermelon knives, stood frozen in place, each one caught off guard by the sudden burst of action before them.

“Hei-Ge!”

Someone finally reacted, shouting loudly.

A figure slowly stood up in front of the now silent minivan, turning to face everyone.

The orange car lights shone from behind him, rain pouring down and merging with the shadows at his feet.

“Hei-Ge?”

The blond youth wiped the water from his face with a strong swipe, gripping a steel pipe as he cautiously took two steps forward, trying to see the figure’s face clearly.

But the figure suddenly sprang into action.

A flash of lightning lit up the night sky, revealing the figure’s appearance.

It was a handsome face, lips tightly pressed together, with an expression that was both fierce and slightly trembling.

“Shit!”

The blond youth was startled and instinctively shouted, “It’s not—”

Bang!

Before he could finish his sentence, he was hit head-on, his whole body being knocked heavily into the crowd behind him.

The fight erupted once more in an instant!

Lu Yuan instantly allocated all his attribute points to his strength. It felt as if a wild beast had suddenly been forced into his body!

This beast roared violently within him, driving him to charge recklessly.

He crashed into the blond youth blocking his way, barging into the crowd with brute force.

Both of Lu Yuan’s hands clenched into fists.

In his state of absolute concentration, all the noise brought by the heavy rain seemed to fade away, leaving only the sound of weapons slicing through the air.

He could see every movement made by the men in front of him, their faces showing shock, rage, fear, or ferocity.

Using his forward momentum, he punched a buzz-cut youth squarely in the face.

The youth collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut, without even a grunt.

Lu Yuan then kicked another man holding a watermelon knife hard in the chest!

Crack!

Lu Yuan felt as though he had broken something.

The man with the watermelon knife flew backward like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the people behind him.

At that moment, Lu Yuan felt a blow land on his back.

Lu Yuan whipped around and saw a man with a baseball bat glaring at him. However, as soon as their eyes met, the man involuntarily shrank back a bit.

Gritting his teeth, Lu Yuan threw a left hook punch.

The man didn’t have time to lift his arm before he was sent flying sideways by Lu Yuan’s punch, crashing into a pile of debris in the corner.

By now, the expressions on the remaining two men’s faces had turned to sheer terror.

Their Adam’s apples bobbed uncontrollably as they began to back away, trembling.

A trace of ferocity flashed across Lu Yuan’s face as he took a big step forward.

Two minutes later, the fight was completely over.

Lu Yuan stood among the bodies sprawled haphazardly on the ground, gasping for breath.

The rain poured down on him, gradually extinguishing the fire burning in his chest.

He was completely soaked, but he hardly noticed.

As his wildly beating heart slowly returned to its regular rhythm, he regained his composure.

Lu Yuan picked up a baseball bat from the ground and went around hitting each fallen person a few more times.

He wanted to make sure none of them could get back up and to see if any had accidentally been killed by his powerful blows.

After all, he had struck with great force, and several hits were aimed at vital areas.

When he finished with the last one, he casually tossed the baseball bat aside.

The blond youth at his feet, whose leg he had just broken, looked at him as if he were seeing a ghost.

Lu Yuan paid no attention to him.

He didn’t know when his heart had grown so hard.

Probably when he had been pushed to the brink earlier.

Lu Yuan pulled out his phone from his pocket and wiped the water off the screen.

The screen lit up, showing several missed calls from Mom and Dad.

Thank goodness it wasn’t broken.

Lu Yuan let out a small sigh of relief, then called his mom back.

“I’ll be home soon, very soon.”

After hanging up, he randomly grabbed a phone from one of the groaning men in raincoats on the ground and dialed the police.

After finishing all that, Lu Yuan took a few steps deeper into the alley.

He saw a slightly ajar door with a faint light seeping through.

He felt for the pink hairpin in the other pocket of his pants, hesitated for a moment, then cautiously pushed the door open.

The room was empty.

Inside the deserted house, there was only a red Eight Immortals table, cigarette butts littering the floor, and an old standing fan creaking as it oscillated.

Lu Yuan immediately noticed a black oilcloth bag discarded in the corner.

Hearing the noise of his entrance, the bag rustled slightly.

Lu Yuan wiped the water from his face and quickly approached the bag.

Squatting down before it, he heard rapid, shallow breathing from inside.

Taking a deep breath, he swiftly pulled the bag open.

Whoosh!

The person inside trembled violently, startled, but made no sound.

A pale, small face quickly came into Lu Yuan’s view.

He froze.

Lying before him was a frail girl with her mouth taped shut.

The girl was still wearing a school uniform.

Blue and white, with the name “Jiaoyan No. 1 High School” embroidered on the chest.

Her eyes were large, and her chin was pointed.

She looked about the same age as Ling Yue and wore the same style of hairpin.

But she was even prettier than Ling Yue.

Have I made a mistake?

Lu Yuan suddenly realized his misunderstanding.

“But she’s also been kidnapped.”

Lu Yuan shook his head to clear away irrelevant thoughts, then ripped the tape from the girl’s mouth. “Don’t be scared. I’ll get you out of here,” he said.

The girl didn’t speak, just stared at Lu Yuan with a terrified expression.

Lu Yuan tried to pull her up, but she kept shrinking back.

So he simply picked her up.

Whoosh!

The rain outside was still pouring.

Lu Yuan, holding a black oilcloth bag, ran quickly through the alley.

When he reached the alley entrance, he jumped onto the minivan blocking the way and flipped over the roof.

Once outside, he ran under the eaves of a nearby shop.

He carefully set the girl down.

Lifting the oilcloth bag covering her, he saw the school-uniformed girl curled up like a cat in his arms, her face showing much less fear.

She seemed to have realized she had been rescued.