When they arrived at a gas station, Su Jianmo stopped the car.
“Wait here. I’m going to put some fuel in the car.”
Shen Biqian softly acknowledged him, but she straightened in her seat, ready for battle at any moment. In her previous life, this was the place where a group of bandits had stolen their vehicle.
“Haha! Looks like a big fish has arrived. Just look at this car.”
A bald, burly man holding a gun approached with a group of followers. He circled the vehicle, clicking his tongue in admiration.
“A Porsche Cayenne. Not bad, not bad at all.”
Suddenly, he raised his gun and pointed it at Su Jianmo, who was refueling the car.
“Tell the woman inside to get out.”
Su Jianmo merely glanced at him indifferently. He calmly finished refueling before standing upright.
“No need. I’m enough on my own.”
As soon as he spoke, he sprang forward, kicking the gun from the man’s hand. Following that, a spinning kick sent the bald man crashing heavily onto the ground.
Seeing their boss knocked down, the underlings rushed forward all at once.
Su Jianmo showed no fear. Manipulating the wood element around him, he launched attacks at the charging men. These people were only ordinary humans—how could they withstand spiritual energy? With a single move, every one of them was knocked flat onto the ground.
In her previous life, Su Jianmo had been protecting her. To conserve his wood-element energy and avoid conflict, he had allowed the bandits to take the car. This time, with no such concerns, there was no need to show mercy.
However, Shen Biqian found it strange. With demonic beasts roaming the streets everywhere, how had a group of ordinary bandits managed to survive?
“I was wondering why Dafu had been gone so long. Turns out he ran into some tough opponents. Looks like you’re an awakened ability user too.”
A cocky, carefree voice sounded.
Four more people emerged from inside the gas station—three men and one woman.
The speaker was the woman. Her hair was dyed in multiple bright colors, heavy smoky makeup covered her face, and a row of sparkling earrings lined her small ear.
When she got closer and saw Su Jianmo’s face clearly, a look of amazement appeared in her eyes.
“Not bad, little brother. You’re quite handsome.”
She smiled suggestively.
“Since you’re exactly my type, I’ll let you off for injuring my men. Stay behind and become my male companion. As for the woman in the car, let my brothers have some fun with her, and we’ll call it even.”
As she spoke, she reached out, intending to touch Su Jianmo.
In her eyes, although he was an awakened ability user, he was still alone. They had four awakened users on their side. No matter how she looked at it, he was at a disadvantage. Surely he’d be smart enough to abandon the woman and join her.
She had never even considered the possibility that he would refuse.
Seeing the disgusting hand reaching toward him, Su Jianmo’s expression instantly turned cold.
He manipulated the surrounding wood element and smashed it fiercely into the woman.
Caught completely off guard, she was struck head-on. Her arm immediately went limp.
It was broken.
At that moment, Shen Biqian stepped out of the car and came to Su Jianmo’s side.
She carefully observed the four newcomers.
If she wasn’t mistaken, all of them were awakened ability users.
In her previous life, they had handed the car over to the bald man without resistance and never met these four. It seemed that today would be a difficult battle.
The woman gently rubbed her broken arm.
“You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!”
She greedily stared at Su Jianmo’s handsome, icy face and licked her upper lip.
“But I like men with backbone even more. Brothers, get them! Leave those two alive for me!”
“Heh heh, don’t worry, Sister Li. That little beauty is exactly our type. We’ve got a deal—the man is yours, and the woman belongs to us brothers.”
“Of course. I only want him. The woman is yours to play with.”
Shen Biqian looked at the group who had casually decided her and Su Jianmo’s fates after only a few sentences.
“You’re awfully confident. Do you really think we’re soft persimmons you can squeeze however you like?”
“Wood Binding—go!”
Without hesitation, she unleashed her strongest technique.
The vines instantly wrapped around Sister Li, who appeared to be the strongest among them.
Caught off guard for a second time, Sister Li flew into a rage and struggled desperately.
But the more she struggled, the tighter the bindings became.
Panic began to rise in her heart.
“What kind of rope is this?!”
Shen Biqian sneered coldly.
“A rope that will take your life.”
Ignoring her afterward, she turned toward Su Jianmo.
“How about it? You take two, I’ll take one?”
But Su Jianmo stopped her.
“No need.”
Knowing he had a bit of a macho streak, Shen Biqian had intentionally offered to handle only one opponent.
Yet he insisted on facing all three men by himself.
“You…”
The three men had already been shaken after seeing Sister Li subdued in a single move.
But when they heard Su Jianmo say he would fight all three of them alone, they exchanged glances.
“Good! That’s what a real man should be. What’s heroic about hiding behind a woman?”
Their plan was simple.
Capture this arrogant brat first, then exchange him for Sister Li. Once the four of them were reunited, they would have overwhelming odds against the two enemies.
But Su Jianmo said nothing.
Manipulating the wood element around him, he charged directly into the midst of the three men.
In the past, he had been weak.
He had watched helplessly as bandits violated his mother, powerless to stop them.
This time, he would protect Shen Biqian with everything he had.
This girl, whose smile resembled his mother’s so much…
He would not allow her to suffer even the slightest harm.
Shen Biqian stared at him intently.
Unlike ordinary awakened users, Su Jianmo could not absorb spiritual energy into his body for cultivation, putting him at a natural disadvantage.
Although his combat skills had improved greatly during those days of fighting demonic beasts, the three men before him were also battle-hardened veterans. Their combat experience was no less than his.
Biting her lip, Shen Biqian watched as more and more wounds appeared on his body.
Yet she remained rooted to the spot and did not move.
She could feel Su Jianmo’s determination.
It was no longer mere male pride.
It was an obsession buried deep within his heart.
She didn’t know what obsession drove him to such lengths.
But she knew that, at this moment, he did not need her help.
He needed to defeat those three men himself.
Only then could the obsession in his heart finally be shattered.
Su Jianmo dropped to one knee.
A drop of blood slid down his flawless profile, gathering at the tip of his sharp chin.
His skin was pale, and against the crimson blood, he possessed a strange and captivating beauty beneath the dark night sky.
Two men had already fallen beside him, and the last one was kneeling on the ground, glaring fiercely at Su Jianmo.
“You brat… you’re ruthless!”
Su Jianmo let out a cold laugh.
Suddenly, he lunged forward. Under the man’s terrified gaze, he raised his leg and delivered a vicious kick to his jaw.
The man could no longer hold on and collapsed limply to the ground.
As he fell unconscious, a single thought lingered in his mind:
He’s more seriously injured than I am. Where did he get the strength to stand up and kick me again?
After delivering that kick, Su Jianmo also collapsed.
Shen Biqian hurried over to him and wiped the blood from his face.
“Why are you so stubborn? It’s not like I’m helpless and need your protection all the time. I can protect you too. At times like this, shouldn’t we be helping each other?”
Su Jianmo looked at her as she continued scolding and lecturing him without end.
Then he gave her a brilliant smile.
“Alright. From now on, we’ll protect each other.”