Chapter 17

That guy Lei grabbed Xu Yan's hair again and pulled his head over. He leaned in close, growling in Xu Yan's face, his spittle flying onto Xu Yan's face: "Listen, kid, don't give us any trouble! Our boss wants to ask you some questions, and if you go quietly, we'll bring you back in one piece! If you give us any trouble—"

Lei grinned viciously, and the hand that held the dagger tightened, causing a sharp pain to tear through Xu Yan's nerves once again. He struggled in agony, emitting a series of groans, the intense pain almost making him faint. He heard Lei's voice: "—then we have ways to deal with you! Do you hear me? Want to try that again?"

Despite the pain, Xu Yan hadn't lost his senses. He shook his head frantically, feeling the wetness in his pants, which were soaked with the blood that had flowed out.

Lei pulled out the dagger and stood up. He looked at the blood on the floor with disgust and ordered his subordinates: "Find some clothes to bandage this waste of space's leg." — He wasn't being kind out of concern for Xu Yan's injuries; he was worried that if Xu Yan bled out in the hallway, it would leave a trail, drawing attention from the neighbors and giving the police a clue.

The thugs responded, and the fat cat turned to go into the inner room to find some clothes for bandaging. But before he could reach the door, it opened on its own, and a girl in ancient attire appeared at the entrance.

Zhu Youxiang had come out.

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze. The thugs were taken aback, not expecting anyone else to be in Xu Yan's room. They were stunned to see a beautiful girl emerge from the inner room.

"Who are you? Why are you breaking into a private residence at night?"

The girl, with one hand on her sword, asked calmly, her voice as cold as ice.

No one expected that the first to react would be Xu Yan, who was tied to the wall. Despite the intense pain, he struggled to make groaning sounds, frantically nodding his head toward the door, signaling Zhu Youxiang to run out and escape.

Zhu Youxiang's gaze swept over the group, and she saw Xu Yan tied to the ground, a large pool of blood around his leg, his face pale. Seeing Xu Yan injured, her expression turned cold, and she said sternly, "How dare you break into a private residence and harm an innocent person? Don't you fear the law?"

At this point, the thugs finally reacted.

"Didn't we say the target lives alone? Why is there a girl here? Girls are the most troublesome!"

Lei cursed inwardly. He knew the intel was off, but it was common. Fortunately, this girl seemed a bit slow, not immediately screaming for help or anything. Instead, she was talking about the law—ha, the law! Was she joking?

"Miss, you've misunderstood. It's like this..." The fat cat approached with a smile, speaking in a very friendly manner. The thugs worked in perfect harmony; while the fat cat distracted the girl, Lei sneered and silently moved from the side, rushing toward the girl—obviously, he intended to cover her mouth and subdue her before she could scream for help, just as he had done with Xu Yan.

Xu Yan lay on the ground, still feeling waves of intense pain. But at this moment, he was more focused on Zhu Youxiang. Seeing the fierce Lei charging toward the slender and graceful Zhu Youxiang, he couldn't bear to watch, closing his eyes in pain: at this moment, he hated his own weakness and helplessness, yearning for strength—ten years of his life, if it could be exchanged for strength.

Why hadn't he trained his body and increased his strength to become a protector for his girl?

"Ah!"

A scream echoed, and Xu Yan opened his eyes. From his angle, he saw Lei stagger back a few steps, all the way to the sofa. Then, he lost his balance, fell onto the back of the sofa, and his limbs twitched a couple of times before going limp, lifeless on the sofa.

The thugs were shocked and rushed over, calling out "Lei" and "Boss." When Lei didn't respond, his face turned even paler, and he had no pulse. One of the thugs, who knew what to do, checked Lei's pulse and found it had stopped. His limbs were already cooling down.

"Lei... he's dead?"

The four thugs looked at each other, none of them believing what they saw. The incident had happened too quickly, and Lei's body had blocked their view. Even the one with the best eyesight only saw the girl raise her hand—then, Lei was mysteriously dead.

The thugs were chilled to the bone: they weren't strangers to fights or deaths, but what they had just witnessed was incomprehensible—no loud shouting, no sweating and fighting, no swinging knives, no bloody wounds, no screams, and no blood. How could a strong man be killed so silently?

"Be careful, this girl is dangerous!"

The thugs exchanged glances, forming a loose circle around Zhu Youxiang, slowly closing in. The fat cat, a short and fat thug, shouted, "Bitch, what did you do to our Lei?"

Zhu Youxiang's expression was calm. She didn't look at the thugs but walked straight forward as if they didn't exist.

A tall, thin youth with a long, sharp "ox tongue" dagger stood in her way. Seeing Zhu Youxiang approach, he lunged at her face without a word, his movements quick and vicious, and his attack was unexpected and cunning.

Zhu Youxiang frowned slightly and said, "Ruffian, how dare you!"

She raised her hand and slapped him with a simple, unremarkable motion. The sound of the slap was loud, and it hit the tall, thin youth hard.

The youth saw stars, spun around on the spot, and lost his teeth. The dagger flew out of his hand. He finally steadied himself and saw that the girl had already passed by him silently.

Zhu Youxiang walked through the thugs' encirclement and came to Xu Yan's side, removing the tape from his mouth. As she untied the ropes binding his hands, she asked, "Master Xu, what's going on? Why did these people break into the house and injure you?"

"Ugh... Ugh—" As soon as his mouth was free, Xu Yan shouted, "Xun Yun, run! These people are robbers, they're not good—ah, be careful!"

Before Xu Yan could finish, Zhu Youxiang casually slapped away a dagger aimed at her back. She thought to herself, "Are these people robbers? Are they not from the government? Master Xu, are you sure?"

Seeing the dagger aimed at Zhu Youxiang's head being deflected by a simple slap, Xu Yan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "They're definitely not police! They broke in without showing any credentials, and they hurt people randomly—police wouldn't do that..."

"Master, there's no need to say more. Since you're sure they're not from the government, I'm relieved. You're injured, so don't move to avoid worsening your condition—don't worry, it's not a big deal."

With that, Zhu Youxiang stood up and turned around. The thugs were startled and stepped back, on full alert.

Earlier, while Zhu Youxiang was untangling Xu Yan's ropes, the fat cat had tried to sneak up behind her and stab her, but she casually deflected his weapon.

The fat cat's eyes were full of disbelief: she had simply waved her hand and sent his knife flying! How was that possible? She hadn't even turned around; it was a backhand slap, and his powerful thrust from a prepared stance couldn't even match her backhand?

He was trained in kickboxing, worked out every day, and was a well-known fighter in the gang, yet he couldn't stand up to this delicate girl—how strong was she?

How could a delicate girl have such terrifying strength? Was this ancient-dressed girl human or... a ghost?

The thought of "ghost" sent a chill down the fat cat's spine: the girl was so beautiful, almost unreal, dressed in ancient clothes, speaking in an ancient language, and possessing immense strength. She could kill with a breath, and Lei's death was so strange, with no blood, as if his soul had been taken...

No matter how he looked at it, this girl fit the description of a ghost!

Thinking of this, the fat cat shivered, his teeth chattering. He cursed inwardly: "What the hell! Qin Boss clearly checked, and Xu Yan is just a poor college student with no background, but who would have thought this poor student would have a ghost protecting him—this is too ridiculous! Who can check relationships in the underworld?"

He glanced at Zhu Youxiang's feet and saw a faint shadow—so, this was a powerful ghost?

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