The internet café was located near the City A University campus. In the original plot, after Xiang Qing and Shen Yeyi had their “uncontrollable” encounter, Xiang Qing—torn with inner turmoil—had refused his offer to drive her back and taken a cab back to school on her own.
Passing right by this internet café, she had happened to rescue a pitiful, bullied Bai Xiu.
The two had crossed paths a few times before, though they weren’t particularly close. But after Xiang Qing comforted him during that incident, Bai Xiu learned about her tragic background. Aloof and proud by nature, he felt a sudden kinship with her, as he too had been abandoned by his father and treated like an unwanted burden after his mother remarried.
Su Mu wondered if Xiang Qing—having had her intimate moment with Shen Yeyi exposed in front of everyone earlier—would still manage to pass by and save that pitiful little Bai Xiu today.
After stepping out of the taxi, Su Mu didn’t rush over to the scene. Instead, she walked into the cyber café and rented a computer terminal.
The atmosphere inside was quite pleasant. Strict anti-smoking regulations meant the room was free of the usual heavy smog, the prices for standard hall seats were reasonable, and the attractive waitstaff provided a pleasing view.
Su Mu was dressed simply in jeans and a white shirt carelessly tucked into her waistband, a style that accentuated her long, slender, perfectly straight legs.
Her slender fingers danced across the keyboard with fluid speed, yet her posture remained utterly relaxed and elegant. Her striking beauty genuinely made her look finer than a painting.
Countless eyes across the cyber café drifted toward her, though her cool, distant aura kept anyone from daring to approach.
Tucked away in a dark corner of the café, Bai Xiu hadn’t noticed any of this. Sharp, aloof lines defined his profile, warning others to keep their distance. Soft fringe fell over his striking eyes, his lips pressed into a tight line as he stared intently at job postings on his screen.
Just as Su Mu finished a match, the sky outside began to darken.
She let out a lazy stretch and motioned for a waitress to bring her a bottle of water.
At that moment, seven or eight rowdy, disreputable-looking young men suddenly stood up, cigarettes dangling from their lips and hair dyed in various loud colors.
“Mumu! Here they come, here they come…!”
w-444’s voice flared with sudden excitement.
Its Mumu was about to fight! It wanted to watch so badly—rumor had it that hosts from the Slaughter Department were absolute masters at brawl!
Su Mu cracked her knuckles lightly, yet made no further move. Instead, she started another game queue.
w-444: “…”
What happened to… earning reward points?!
When w-444 glanced back over, it noticed that ‘Target Number Three’ had just realized his wallet was missing. Realizing his money had been stolen, he was already chasing those thugs out the front door.
“M-Mumu, Target Number Three ran outside…!”
w-444 offered a cautious reminder, but Su Mu appeared completely unbothered.
“What’s the rush? If I go out right now, all I’d get is a simple ‘thank you.’ If you want to leave an indelible mark on someone’s mind, you have to make the experience unforgettable.”
Hearing this, w-444 suddenly thought it made a lot of sense!
The match ended exceptionally fast. w-444 could only see its host’s fingers blurring into faint shadows across the keyboard, terrifying the player sitting beside her so badly that he died immediately upon landing.
With the game wrapped up, Su Mu strolled out of the cyber café, turned two corners, and slipped into a narrow side alley.
Night had fully fallen. While the main street outside was bright with dazzling neon lights, the alley—separated only by a single wall—was dark, filthy, and cluttered with debris, with dirty water pooled in uneven muddy ruts.
The alley snaked around two sharp turns.
From around one of the corners, harsh insults and suppressed, muffled groans echoed faintly through the gloom.
Su Mu glanced into the dark corridor, her steps remaining unhurried as she walked in.
“Ptui! What a piece of trash—chasing us over a measly two hundred bucks! Broke loser!”
“Haha, imagine being this broke and still bothering to live!”
Abusive curses rang out one after another, accompanied by the dull thuds of heavy punches.
Su Mu pulled out her phone and dialed the police, her voice neither loud nor soft:
“Hello, I’d like to report a robbery and assault…”
Before she could finish her sentence, a hand snatched the phone right out of her grip and slammed it hard onto the ground.
The thugs had all emerged from the shadow of the turn, eyeing Su Mu with cold snickers. As their eyes swept over her from head to toe, their expressions slowly curdled into pure malice.
“Yo, got a little chick standing up for you! Hey, do you know her? She isn’t your girl, is she?”
One of the men dragged Bai Xiu out from around the corner and shoved him directly into a foul puddle of stagnant water, mockingly resting a heavy boot right on top of his head.
Bruised and battered, his face swollen, Bai Xiu let out a muffled groan as he struggled in vain.
“Man, this chick is a total stunner. A useless wimp like you doesn’t deserve a woman like this. How about…”
The speaker raised a hand, reaching out to touch her face.
Su Mu’s gaze, however, merely brushed past the shattered remains of her phone lying on the pavement.
“That phone was a limited edition. Eighteen thousand eight hundred.”
To her surprise, the statement yielded only a burst of raucous laughter from the group.
“Hahaha! Your phone is worth eighteen thousand eight hundred? Then how much are you worth, baby—aahh!”
A blood-curdling screech tore through the air. The thug who had tried to stroke Su Mu’s cheek was kicked backward, flying through the dark alley.
Without uttering another word, the sickening sound of flesh hitting solid fist echoed repeatedly through the shadows.
A few minutes later, the alley floor was carpeted with groaning bodies. Su Mu picked up her phone; the screen was spider-webbed beyond repair, refusing to even power on, and a good portion of the inlaid micro-diamonds had popped out.
That was the problem with expensive things—they couldn’t survive a drop.
“My phone. Eighteen thousand eight hundred.”
Su Mu set her heel squarely over one thug’s fingers, grinding down with heavy force while her expression remained completely deadpan. The man let out a series of agonizing shrieks.
“Eighteen thousand eight hundred. Who’s paying?”
Su Mu’s eyes swept over the men scattered across the ground. The few who managed to scramble up scrambled backward in terror, while the man beneath her heel let out another sharp, tortured scream.
In the end, the terrified thugs had no choice but to frantically call everyone they knew to pool their money together.
Even so, they only managed to raise under five thousand yuan.
Su Mu offered them a cool glance, snatched the leader’s phone, and saved his contact number into her mind.
“When I call, you report. Anyone who tries to run…”
“…I’ll kill them.”
Su Mu looked down at the group, her eyes devoid of any emotion, cold as deep water, as if making a death threat was merely an insignificant chore.
The men nodded frantically, turning to flee, but the thug who had tried to touch her face earlier was stopped short by Su Mu’s hand.
“Dirty hands don’t deserve to stay attached.”
Su Mu’s slender, elegant fingers clamped down on the man’s right wrist. Accompanied by the terrifying sound of splintering bone, a sharp scream rang out, enough to curdle blood.
The man’s hand dangled uselessly—it was no ordinary fracture. It looked as though it were held together by a thin layer of skin, swelling up with dark blood so fast it was horrifying to witness.
Their faces turned the color of ash, and the thugs dragged their injured comrade away, scurrying out of the alley like beaten rats.
Once the alley fell quiet again, Su Mu finally turned her attention to Bai Xiu, who was slowly dragging himself up from the ground.
Bai Xiu stole two quick glances at Su Mu before swiftly dropping his gaze.
“Thank you.”
His face was severely bruised from taking multiple hits, his eye bruised dark red, and his clothes soaked through with filthy, foul-smelling water.
“I’ll take you to the hospital.”
Not a trace of disgust showed in Su Mu’s eyes as she reached out to support him. Panicked, Bai Xiu hurriedly stumbled backward to avoid her touch.
“N-No need! I’m fine…”
A subtle, clean scent of mint wafted into his nose, instantly flushing Bai Xiu’s bruised cheeks deep red. He felt only a sudden, overwhelming shame, terrified that the filth covering his body would ruin the pristine woman standing before him.