Nan Jin instinctively grabbed her washbasin just as a pair of large, rough hands shot toward her crossbody bag, yanking it violently. It was the man’s coarse grip.
The woman with him seized Nan Jin by the hair, pulling her forward forcefully while brandishing a glint of cold steel in her other hand.
Nan Jin was terrified. Without thinking, she swung the washbasin hard at the woman, letting out a sharp cry—partly from the pain of her hair being pulled, and partly because the bag’s strap dug painfully into her neck as it was tugged.
The knife in the woman’s hand clattered to the ground, struck by the basin, and ended up stabbing her own foot. Gasping in agony, she glared at Nan Jin with wild eyes.
She raised her hand to claw at Nan Jin’s eyes, tightening her grip on Nan Jin’s hair and dragging her closer. Nan Jin, forced to bow her head, used the momentum to slam her forehead hard into the woman’s face while simultaneously driving a fist into the woman’s stomach.
The move was almost involuntary, born of desperation.
The woman’s outstretched fingers, meant for Nan Jin’s eyes, met the hard impact of Nan Jin’s head instead, producing a faint cracking sound. Struck in the stomach, the woman instinctively released her grip.
Freed, Nan Jin swiftly lifted her leg and delivered a sharp, precise kick to the man’s groin.
Just then, Yuan Zheng rushed out, wrapped only in a towel, and swept a powerful kick into the man’s side.
The woman tried to flee, but Yuan Zheng pivoted and delivered another long, sweeping kick to her waist.
How could she withstand such a blow? Staggering forward, she fell face-first, teeth and blood spraying from her mouth. Dizzy and disoriented, she couldn’t recover for a long moment.
The man, too, was knocked down by Yuan Zheng’s blows, but he reacted faster than the woman, scrambling up to run again. Yuan Zheng stomped hard on his ankle, eliciting a sharp cry as the man collapsed once more, tears and snot streaming down his face.
Yuan Zheng spared a glance at Nan Jin, his thick brows furrowed, his voice low and cold. “Are you alright?”
Nan Jin’s scalp still tingled with pain from the earlier pulling. “They had a knife. Robbery was just an excuse—they wanted to kill me.”
She remained remarkably calm. If they were merely robbers, they wouldn’t have resorted to a knife so quickly. After all, she was a woman facing two assailants—robbers wouldn’t assume she posed a threat. Even if they knew Yuan Zheng was inside bathing, they would have snatched the money and fled, not pointlessly escalated to murder. A homicide investigation would change the nature of the crime entirely.
Yet they had drawn a blade on her from the start. They had come for her life; robbery was merely incidental.
Yuan Zheng was impressed by her composure under such circumstances. What had this girl been through lately to make her so mature and level-headed?
As the woman began to stir and attempted to rise, Yuan Zheng stepped forward and kicked her down again.
Bystanders began to gather, and the innkeeper’s wife, emerging from the crowd, finally spoke up. “What’s going on here?”
Yuan Zheng replied sternly, “Call the police. These two attempted robbery and murder.”
“Someone’s already gone. The police will be here soon.”
Running a hostel near the bus station, she was clearly no stranger to such scenes.
She must have instinctively sent someone to report to the police the moment the screams were heard earlier.
Yuan Zheng walked over to check, confirming that the two could no longer escape, before quickly stepping inside to put on his clothes.
By the time he finished dressing and came out, four or five police officers had arrived, holding batons and eyeing the man and woman on the ground, as well as Nan Jin, with caution.
“Did you take down these two?”
They stared at Nan Jin in astonishment. This woman looked to be only about 1.6 meters tall, yet the two individuals—a man close to 1.8 meters and a woman around 1.6 meters—had been subdued by her alone?
Given her petite and slender frame, could she really possess such capability?
Nan Jin quickly shook her head and picked up her ceramic basin.
“It was him.”
Yuan Zheng also approached them, showing his work identification.
Upon realizing he was a regiment commander, the five officers immediately stood at attention with deep respect.
“Rest assured, Commander, we will investigate this thoroughly.”
Another officer added cautiously, “However, we may need to trouble you both to come back with us to give statements.”
Yuan Zheng naturally agreed and turned to Nan Jin. “How are you feeling now? Do you need to go to the hospital for a check-up?”
He had noticed her hair being pulled by the woman when he came out.
Nan Jin quickly wrung the water out of her clothes and placed them in the bucket, replying softly, “Probably not necessary.”
In truth, she was still trembling with fear, her hands and feet shaking uncontrollably.
It was fortunate she had sensed something amiss at the time; otherwise, a stab from the woman could have been fatal or at least caused severe injury.
Yuan Zheng said nothing more. He first carried his clothes back to the room, then accompanied Nan Jin to the nearest police station with the officers.
The police questioned them in detail about the incident, and Nan Jin recounted everything truthfully—from the appearance of the assailants, to her resistance, and finally Yuan Zheng’s arrival.
After listening, one of the officers gave her a thumbs-up.
“Comrade, well done. If you had hesitated even a few seconds longer, you might be lying in a hospital bed right now.”
Nan Jin nodded in heartfelt agreement.
Another officer reviewing the statement noticed a discrepancy.
“Comrade Nan, have you offended anyone recently? Why do you believe they were specifically targeting your life?”
Yuan Zheng also looked at her with a furrowed brow, his expression grave.
Nan Jin replied in a trembling voice, “They were two people robbing a lone woman and even pulled out a knife. Isn’t that intent to kill?”
It was clear she was still shaken.
“Comrade, don’t worry. Please sit down and have some water. We’ll get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.”
The officers comforted her, and a female officer brought her a cup of water.
She accepted it, her hands still trembling slightly. After taking a sip, she closed her eyes and tried to calm her nerves.
Meanwhile, the police went to interrogate the two assailants.
“Officers, we were just short on cash and wanted to borrow some money. We really meant no harm.”
The man grinned cheekily. “She kept clutching that little bag—there must have been money inside, right?”
The officer glared at him coldly. “Then why did you pull out a knife?”
“Officer, when you’re out on the streets, carrying a knife is for self-defense and to intimidate others.”
“We only meant to snatch the bag, but she picked up a basin to hit us. We just wanted to scare her with the knife—we never intended to hurt anyone.”
No matter how the police officers interrogated them, they insisted they only wanted to scare her.
Nan Jin said nothing more, growing increasingly silent.
Was it really just an accident?