Why did it feel so familiar?
Rewind the clock a little.
The scene shifted upstream by the cliff, beneath the tree where Lin Zhizhi had been tied.
After Xiran carried Bai Linlin away, the forest fell into complete silence.
Lin Zhizhi leaned against the rough tree bark, the ropes still binding her, but that terrifying invisible restraint didn’t vanish just because Xiran had left.
She could move her body a little, but her wounds hurt terribly—especially her hands.
The two clean holes in her palms throbbed with every heartbeat.
Her mind felt fuzzy and buzzing.
It was like a revolving lantern had begun to play.
From the day she transferred in, to discovering the strange “bullying game” between Bai Linlin and Xiran, to thinking she had uncovered the truth and excitedly getting involved, kidnapping Bai Linlin, and then…
Every step had landed precisely in the trap the hunter had laid in advance.
No, it wasn’t even a trap.
To that monster called Xiran, this probably didn’t even qualify as a trap.
It was more like an ant waving its antennae, fearlessly crawling up to the paw of a resting beast and trying to take a bite.
“Heh… haha…”
Lin Zhizhi wanted to laugh, but the slightest movement of her lips pulled at the wounds on her face, turning the sound into a hoarse wheeze.
How had she dared back then? How had she dared to boast in front of Xiran about “dealing with Bai Linlin”?
Thinking about it now, what they had wasn’t bullying and victimhood at all.
It was clearly just a couple with a slightly special kink!
What was she doing, forcing her way in?
“Interfering…”
She murmured to herself. The word felt especially ironic.
So what was she now?
A plan? Entertainment? An observer?
It had all become a joke.
Her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Not from the cold, but from lingering fear, from the pain, and even more from the complete collapse of her understanding of her own power that seeped from her bones.
She had been granted nearly superhuman physical strength and recovery.
She had always thought this was the symbol of “strength.”
At least in this school, she could walk around like she owned the place.
But tonight, Xiran had crushed that “strength” in the most casual way possible.
There had been no grand spectacle, no fierce exchange of blows.
It turned out her so-called “strongest” was so fragile, so… insignificant and lowly in front of a real monster.
“So cold…”
“So hungry…”
“So tired…”
Blood loss, pain, exhaustion, and the massive mental blow all surged up at once.
Her usual arrogant flame had vanished without a trace, leaving only the most basic physiological needs and helplessness.
“Is there anyone… to save me…”
The words slipped out, so weak they were almost inaudible.
The moment she said them, she herself was stunned, followed by an even deeper sense of absurdity and shame.
Save me?
Someone who took pleasure in bullying others, who called herself the “strongest bully,” was now, in her despair, instinctively craving rescue like all the “weaklings” she had once despised?
“Save me… huh?”
She repeated it, her voice laced with self-mockery.
How ridiculous.
Who would come to save a notorious bully?
Especially when the one who had reduced her to this state was an even more terrifying “bully.”
Was this karma?
Despair wrapped around her heart like icy vines.
Perhaps dying here, rotting away and disappearing, was the most fitting end for someone like her.
Just as her consciousness was about to be swallowed by darkness and cold—
A faint sound of a twig snapping came from not far away, followed by a cautious call.
“Lin Zhizhi?”
“Lin Zhizhi! Is that you? How… how are you here?”
The voice sounded somewhat familiar, full of obvious anxiety and disbelief.
Lin Zhizhi laboriously lifted her heavy eyelids and peered through the swollen slits of her eyes.
A petite figure with a flashlight was stumbling toward her, stepping carefully.
The beam of light swayed, illuminating the newcomer’s always-serious face, now written with shock.
It was Xiao Ye.
The “Justice Messenger” Xiao Ye—the one she had knocked out with a single punch, the one who had avoided her ever since.
Xiao Ye ran closer.
The flashlight beam fell on Lin Zhizhi, revealing her blood-soaked body tied to the tree, her swollen cheeks, missing teeth, and overall miserable state. Xiao Ye gasped in horror.
“Oh my god! You… how did you get hurt like this! Don’t be afraid, I’ll untie you right away!”
She hurriedly set down the flashlight and began working on the coarse rope knots.
The ropes were tied tight, and she struggled to loosen them.
Her fingers turned red from the rough hemp, but she didn’t stop.
Lin Zhizhi watched her, her throat moving, but no sound came out.
This girl… this weak, stubborn, meddlesome girl she had easily taken down… why was she here?
And… trying to save her?
Xiao Ye finally untied the ropes.
Lin Zhizhi’s body went limp and started to slide to the ground.
Xiao Ye quickly supported her, helping her sit slowly against the tree trunk.
“Are… are you okay? Can you talk? Who did this to you?!”
Xiao Ye looked at her mangled palms, her voice trembling—whether from fear or anger, it was hard to tell.
Lin Zhizhi twitched the corner of her mouth, tasting blood.
“…Why?”
She asked hoarsely.
“Huh? Why what?”
Xiao Ye was rummaging through her small bag, apparently looking for something to bandage with, and looked up in confusion.
“Why… save me?”
Lin Zhizhi stared at her, eyes complicated.
“I hit you. You… should hate me, fear me. Seeing me like this, shouldn’t you… think I deserve it?”
Xiao Ye’s hands paused.
She looked into Lin Zhizhi’s eyes—eyes that had always been full of ferocity and mockery, now containing only brokenness and confusion.
“Because you need help.”
Xiao Ye answered, her tone matter-of-fact, even a little puzzled why Lin Zhizhi would ask.
“I saw you needed help, so I came. Does it need any special reason?”
Lin Zhizhi was stunned.
“This… what a ridiculous reason.”
She said softly, though it didn’t sound like a rebuttal.
“It doesn’t need to be a ‘ridiculous’ reason.”
Xiao Ye said earnestly, her voice still a bit shaky but her eyes firm.
“As long as there’s a victim who needs help, I’ll appear. That’s my principle, my… justice.”
She finally pulled a relatively clean handkerchief from her bag and carefully, as gently as possible, wrapped it around Lin Zhizhi’s more severely injured right palm.
“Is that how it is…” Lin Zhizhi fell silent.
She looked at the girl in front of her.
Weak, clumsy, always doing things that seemed futile, stubbornly clinging to a “justice” that many people—including her past self—saw as naively foolish.
Yet here she was, appearing at the moment when Lin Zhizhi was most desperate, when she thought no one in the world would offer a helping hand.
Perhaps… the “strength” she had always pursued was completely in the wrong direction?
Perhaps this seemingly soft, stubborn, even a bit silly persistence was something far more resilient?
A ridiculous yet faintly warming thought rose in her deadened heart.
“…Hey,” she said.
“Hm?” Xiao Ye was trying to figure out how to treat the other wound.
“That ‘justice’ you mentioned before.”
Lin Zhizhi licked her cracked, bleeding lips.
“I… can I join?”
Xiao Ye’s head snapped up.
Her eyes widened, her face filled with astonishment and disbelief, as if she had heard the most unbelievable words in the world.
“You… what did you say? Join… justice?”
“Yeah.”
Lin Zhizhi looked away, staring at the ground.
“You said you’re the ‘Justice Messenger,’ right? But you’re only one person, and that’s too weak. You need… partners, don’t you?”
Xiao Ye opened her mouth, but it took her a long moment to speak.
She studied Lin Zhizhi carefully, trying to decide if this was serious or another cruel joke.
After a while, she replied hesitantly, her voice soft but clear:
“I… I am the Justice Messenger. Right now it’s just me, and yeah, that’s pretty weak… so I really do need partners who can fight alongside me.”
She paused, then her voice grew firmer.
“Even though… even though you’ve done a lot of bad things before. You’re a… well, a ‘villain.’ But…”
She took a deep breath and looked straight into Lin Zhizhi’s eyes.
“Villains aren’t without the chance to turn over a new leaf. If you really want… if you really want to walk the path of justice.”
She extended her hand—small, stained with blood—and held it out to Lin Zhizhi.
Her face shone with a mix of nervous hope and pure conviction.
“Then… welcome to justice.”
“My… partner.”