“…and then I’ll rescue you.”
Jiang Niaoniao’s whisper faded into the night wind as her white figure swiftly disappeared down the trail leading upstream from the cliff.
The scene returned to the clearing in the woods.
Bang!
Another punch slammed solidly into Bai Linlin’s right cheek.
Her head jerked violently to the other side.
This time her right ear started ringing.
Both cheeks were now symmetrically swollen and burned with pain.
“Ah!”
Bai Linlin’s scream had taken on a sobbing tone.
That scream acted like a shot of adrenaline for Lin Zhizhi.
She stared at Bai Linlin’s pain-twisted little face, at the swollen red skin and tear-filled eyes.
Taking a deep breath, an almost ecstatic flush spread across her face as her body trembled slightly.
“So… so good!”
Lin Zhizhi licked the corner of her mouth, her eyes blazing with frenzy.
“This is exactly the feeling! Fear, pain, helplessness… it’s all written across your face!”
“It’s ten thousand times more fun than beating those cowards who only know how to beg for mercy!”
Amid the pain and fear, Bai Linlin’s mind was also flooded with question marks.
Damn it, what the hell does this crazy woman actually want?!
And what was that about “Jiang Niaoniao saying we’re in love”?
What kind of nonsense is that?!
At that moment, through the narrow slits of her swollen eyelids, she caught a glimpse of a figure slowly emerging from the shadows between the trees.
Long black hair, pale cheeks, and an expressionless face.
It was Xiran.
Bai Linlin’s entire body stiffened. She even forgot the pain on her face as her blood ran ice-cold in an instant.
We’re finished, finished, finished… Double finished!
Just escaped the tiger’s den (Xiran), entered the wolf’s den (Lin Zhizhi), and now the wolf and tiger are meeting up? Is this the start of the feast?
With me as the main dish on the chopping block?
After Lin Zhizhi finishes physically torturing me, am I going to be handed over to Xiran for mental and physical destruction? Is today really my death day?
Ruan Yuan! Where’s the promised protection?! Your Linlin is facing two psychos at the same time!
Lin Zhizhi also noticed the direction of Bai Linlin’s terrified gaze.
She stopped punching, turned around, and saw Xiran standing under a tree a few meters away.
To Bai Linlin’s surprise, Lin Zhizhi showed no tension or retreat whatsoever. Instead, her lips stretched into a provocative grin, as if she had spotted an interesting side show.
“Oh, who do we have here?”
Lin Zhizhi shook her slightly reddened wrist from all the punching, her tone frivolous.
“If it isn’t our dear ‘Victim’ classmate Xiran? What, you want to join in too? Get in line.”
She lifted her chin toward Xiran with a defiant look.
“Last time at the cliff, you got the drop on me because I let my guard down and got ambushed. This time is different.”
Lin Zhizhi pointed at the suspended Bai Linlin, then at herself, and made an extremely insulting gesture at Xiran.
“You’d better just stand there obediently and watch.”
“Watch how I play with Bai Linlin.” She deliberately emphasized the name, her smile vicious.
“Otherwise…”
She clenched her fist, making her knuckles crack with a soft pop.
“I’ll kill you too later. Got. It?”
The night wind brushed through the forest, rustling the leaves.
Xiran stood quietly, listening to Lin Zhizhi’s barrage of provocations without any change in expression.
She didn’t speak.
Her pitch-black eyes slowly moved from Lin Zhizhi’s arrogant face to Bai Linlin, who was hanging in the air with swollen red cheeks and eyes full of despair.
Her gaze lingered for a few seconds on Bai Linlin’s rope-bound body and her obviously beaten face.
Then her eyes returned to Lin Zhizhi’s face.
She still said nothing.
But this silence was far more unsettling than any fierce response, making both Lin Zhizhi uncomfortable… and Bai Linlin’s heart crawl with dread.
Xiran was too calm. Unnaturally calm.
Lin Zhizhi clicked her tongue, apparently taking the silence as submission. Her interest returned to Bai Linlin.
She turned back and happened to catch the look of complete despair on Bai Linlin’s face—the expression of someone who believed the heavens wanted her dead—after seeing Xiran appear.
This expression clearly delighted Lin Zhizhi greatly.
“Look at how scared you are,”
Lin Zhizhi maliciously poked Bai Linlin’s swollen, painful cheek with her finger, drawing a cry of pain.
“This is getting even better. Seems like you’re really afraid of her, huh? Then I have to take even better ‘care’ of you right in front of her.”
As she spoke, Lin Zhizhi reached into the small pouch at her waist, rummaged around, and pulled something out.
Bai Linlin narrowed her swollen eyes to look.
It was… a metal knuckle duster?
But different from the usual kind.
Ordinary brass knuckles had several connected rings, but this one had short, sharp, cold-gleaming triangular spikes welded onto the knuckle protrusions—like attaching miniature tiger fangs to a fist!
Bai Linlin’s pupils contracted sharply.
Lin Zhizhi you fucking maniac! Are you insane?! Hitting someone with that thing—do you want to put holes in my face?! I’ll die! I’ll actually die!
“Ugh…! No! Lin Zhizhi! Calm down!”
Bai Linlin ignored the pain in her face and screamed hoarsely, her voice distorted by fear.
“You’ll kill someone! You just want to have fun, right? There’s no need to go this far!”
Lin Zhizhi calmly slipped the terrifying “tiger-spiked” knuckle duster onto her right hand, adjusting the fit.
The cold metallic gleam flashed between her fingers.
She flexed her wrist, examining the sharp spikes under the moonlight with a smile that mixed cruelty and anticipation.
“Don’t worry, ‘Bai Linlin.’”
She walked toward Bai Linlin, the spiked fist slightly clenched.
“I know how to control my strength. After all, I’ve played so many ‘games’ before. I know exactly where a hit will kill you and where it will only… hurt a lot, or leave some interesting souvenirs.”
She stopped in front of Bai Linlin. The spiked right hand slowly rose until the sharp tips were almost touching the skin of Bai Linlin’s swollen cheek.
“It should only ruin your face a little bit,”
Lin Zhizhi whispered like a demon.
“A few scars? A little disfigurement? Maybe it’ll even give you more character.”
Bai Linlin felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen. Her eyes were fixed on the deadly weapon right in front of her, her breathing stopped.
“After all…”
Lin Zhizhi suddenly paused, tilting her head as if listening to the wind in the trees. Her smile deepened.
“The real protagonist, that ‘gentle and kind’ Jiang Niaoniao, hasn’t arrived on stage yet.”
“A good show always needs the audience to arrive before it truly gets good, right?”
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