She had expected Ruan Xing to ignore her as usual, but surprisingly, she actually accepted.
Wu Jiali couldn’t help but feel even more favorable toward her.
Autumn dusk always arrived swiftly, the glaring sun soon sinking behind the western hills.
After school ended in the afternoon.
Ruan Xing hadn’t forgotten what she needed to do today. She casually made up an excuse to avoid having Uncle Song pick her up.
She needed to find a youth named Lin Shen.
During her years as a wandering spirit after death, she had witnessed a scene: a man in a wheelchair clearing the overgrown weeds before her tombstone, his gaze unbearably tender.
She saw with her own eyes as the man drew a gleaming dagger to avenge her, plunging it straight into Lu Wan’s chest. One stab wasn’t enough—he withdrew the blade and stabbed repeatedly until his hands were drenched in blood. Then he discarded the dagger, took a handkerchief from his pocket, and elegantly wiped the blood from his hands.
After completing this, he turned himself in and committed suicide in prison that same day.
Ruan Xing had no memory of this person from her previous life, nor did she understand why this youth would go to such extremes for her. She was deeply moved yet heartbroken.
No matter what, she was determined to find this youth and protect him properly.
She had inquired earlier—the youth attended Eighteenth High School, which wasn’t far from Third High, just two bus stops away. Ruan Xing hailed a taxi directly.
School had been out for a while now, and she wasn’t sure if she could still catch him.
At the alley entrance.
“You damn cripple dare to lay eyes on my girlfriend? You’ve got a death wish.”
“Beat him! Beat him to death!”
The yellow-haired leader glared fiercely, spewing curses as he barked orders at his lackeys.
The underlings immediately turned vicious, advancing toward the youth.
The youth sat in his wheelchair, his expression unchanging, his eyes icy cold. The only thing missing was fear—as if he didn’t even regard these people before him.
“Think you can steal our big brother’s woman? Look in the mirror, you worthless trash,” the leather-jacketed lackey sneered.
No sooner had he spoken than his face twisted with malice. He stepped forward and viciously kicked the wheelchair, sending the youth tumbling to the ground in a clumsy heap. The youth let out only a muffled grunt.
The wheelchair was already knocked aside, and the youth lay helpless on the ground, his legs completely numb. In this state, he couldn’t even fight back.
The others swarmed him, raining down punches and kicks—ruthless and brutal. Even his face wasn’t spared, soon bruised and swollen into a horrifying sight.
“Worthless cripple, you’re not even fit to shine our sister-in-law’s shoes.”
“A waste like you—why even stay alive?”
…
Filthy insults poured out one after another.
Lin Shen curled into a ball, long since numb. Blood continuously seeped from his mouth, and numerous wounds bled freely across his body, a pitiful sight.
From beginning to end, the youth never made a sound. He clenched his jaw tightly, staring expressionlessly at the group before him, his eyes gleaming with frost.
The leather-clad youth initially wanted to mock him, but the next second, when he met the boy’s fierce, wolf-like gaze, he actually felt a trace of fear.
A sudden chill ran through his body. He couldn’t help but swallow and shiver, the words he meant to say stuck in his throat.
The leader, with dyed yellow hair, was instantly enraged by the boy’s wolf-like eyes. He strode forward and roughly shoved aside the lackey next to him.
“How dare a cripple like you stare at me with such eyes? Tired of living?”
“Get lost.” The boy’s lips curled slightly, his tone icy.
“A damn cripple still acting so arrogant? I’d like to see how tough your bones really are.”
Humiliated and furious, the yellow-haired leader’s eyes turned cold.
He stomped hard on the boy’s chest, then ground his foot down several times, unsatisfied.
The boy’s face showed pain, but he didn’t even furrow his brows.
Seeing this, the yellow-haired leader suddenly smirked with amusement. The next moment, his gaze abruptly shifted to Lin Shen’s legs.
“Do you cripples have no feeling in your legs at all?” he asked, feigning confusion.
As he spoke, the foot that had been on the boy’s chest moved to his leg.
Ruan Xing was in a car passing by the alley entrance when she suddenly saw a scene of violence: several leather-jacketed, colorfully-haired “shamate” youths surrounding someone. The person was blocked from view, and Ruan Xing couldn’t see his face clearly, only faintly catching sight of bloodstains.
She hesitated, worried she might miss Lin Shen if she was late, but she couldn’t just stand by and ignore such a situation. After an internal struggle, she finally got out of the car at the alley entrance.
The alley was dirty and narrow, littered with garbage everywhere, and the air reeked of a nauseating, rotting smell.
The boy was in a wretched state, covered in blood, but his eyes were unusually cold, almost inhuman.
Even with her past life experiences, Ruan Xing was still just a young girl. Faced with such a scene, she couldn’t help but feel afraid.
But now, she had no time to hesitate—saving someone was urgent. The girl hurried over.
“What are you doing?” Her voice trembled slightly.
Just as the yellow-haired leader was about to grind his foot into the boy’s leg, a soft voice suddenly rang out.
Forced to halt his action, the yellow-haired leader and his group all turned their attention to the source of the voice.
The girl stood at the alley entrance, fine beads of sweat covering her forehead, yet she shone brilliantly. She was clean and pure, starkly out of place in the shabby, filthy alley.
The yellow-haired leader and his gang, upon seeing the girl, found their eyes glued to her, unable to look away. They had never seen such a beautiful girl before.
Damn, she’s really fucking pretty.
The yellow-haired leader’s heart raced uncontrollably. This girl was hundreds of times prettier than his girlfriend. After seeing her, he instantly found his own girlfriend dull and uninteresting.
“Little sister, big brother here is teaching someone a lesson. You’d better not interfere in this matter.”
The yellow-haired leader took a few steps forward, his eyes fixed meaningfully on the girl, unable to hide his interest.
Ruan Xing stood there, her legs trembling uncontrollably. Strands of hair on her forehead were damp with sweat, but she forced herself to stay, suppressing her fear.
As the blond-haired boy stepped forward, removing the obstruction, Ruan Xing unexpectedly met the pitch-black, bottomless gaze from the ground, followed by the sight of the youth’s handsome and familiar face.
Ruan Xing’s eyes widened abruptly.