Lan Ying was trembling uncontrollably with fear.
Without hesitation, Song Ning raised the stick in her hand and swung it before the man could get close.
The blow landed squarely on his head.
With a muffled groan, the man collapsed to the ground.
He struggled to get back up, but Song Ning stepped forward and struck him twice more with all her strength. This time, he did not move again.
Song Ning quickly pulled Lan Ying up and darted into a narrow side path.
“T-That man just now… he was that big guy who follows Brother Da!” Lan Ying’s voice shook.
Song Ning watched carefully for a moment and saw no other movement on the road.
“Don’t be afraid. He was alone. No one else has noticed us.”
With that, she grabbed Lan Ying’s hand and ran.
The house where they had been imprisoned stood near the entrance of the village.
Running in this direction meant heading out of the mountains.
Meanwhile, the traffickers’ leader, Brother Da, had already discovered Long Bangs and Little Mustache lying unconscious on the ground and was angrily preparing to hunt down the escapees.
But—
The village had descended into complete chaos.
Chickens and dogs were running wild, flames were rising high into the air, torches were being lit one after another. Some people were chasing pigs, some were chasing dogs, and others were trying to put out fires. The entire village was in an uproar.
For a moment, even they were stunned.
“B-Brother Da! H-How are we supposed to track them now?” asked one of his men, Da Kui, looking completely overwhelmed.
Brother Da’s face turned livid with rage.
“Let’s go find the village chief! Get the entire village searching! Tell them whoever finds those two women can keep them!”
As Brother Da led his men into the village in a hurry, Song Ning and Lan Ying happened to run past the other side of the same house.
The two women raced along the narrow mountain path toward the outside world.
Only after stumbling several miles away did they dare switch on the flashlight they had stolen.
They fled nonstop for most of the night.
When Song Ning finally spotted scattered cornfields beside the road, she knew—
They had reached the next village.
Looking up, she could still see a few stars in the sky. It was the darkest hour before dawn.
Pulling Lan Ying along, she headed straight into the village.
Ordinarily, this should have been the time when everyone in the village was sleeping soundly.
Yet as soon as they entered, they heard a loud commotion ahead.
Torchlight and flashlight beams intertwined in the darkness. Shouts, curses, and cries rose and fell without end.
As they drew closer, they saw two groups confronting one another.
Though “confronting” was not quite accurate.
One side clearly outnumbered the other and had already started fighting.
The two groups were tangled together in a brawl, and screams echoed through the night.
Villagers who had been awakened by the disturbance stood at a distance, wrapped in their coats, pointing and whispering among themselves.
Concealed by the darkness, Song Ning and Lan Ying quietly moved closer and finally got a good look at the people involved.
This was not even a fight.
It was a beating.
One group was obviously far more skilled than the other. They looked like trained fighters and effortlessly knocked their opponents to the ground amid continuous cries of pain.
The leader of that group was a tall man wearing a denim jacket.
His face was covered with a thick beard, and his slightly long hair hung just low enough to shade his eyes.
A cigarette dangled from his lips as he stood quietly to the side, observing the battle.
There was something frighteningly arrogant and unruly about him.
Song Ning shifted her gaze toward the men on the ground.
Through the gaps between people, she could vaguely make out three men curled up with their heads covered. Their clothes were stained with blood, though their faces were impossible to see.
Their pleas and screams never stopped.
From the insults being exchanged, she gathered that the leader of the attackers was called “Pan Tuozi.”
Apparently, he was well known in the underworld.
The men being beaten had foolishly tried to steal his business.
It seemed to be a classic turf war between criminal gangs.
Yet Song Ning frowned.
This Pan Tuozi…
He was far too bold.
To carry out such a public show of force and act with such confidence—wasn’t he a little too fearless?
After some thought, she took Lan Ying’s hand and quietly withdrew.
Once she was sure no one was following them, they slipped into an abandoned woodshed near the edge of the village.
Song Ning had noticed it before they entered the village.
Lan Ying looked puzzled.
“Sis! We’re… not leaving?”
Song Ning searched around and found a thick wooden club.
“Lan Ying, I need to go out for a while. There’s something I absolutely have to confirm. Wait here and don’t go anywhere. Once I leave, bar the door. Don’t open it unless you hear me call for you.”
Lan Ying nodded miserably.
“Sis! Come back soon! You have to come back soon!”
Song Ning nodded and slipped out the door.
The sky was still dark.
Even the few stars that had remained had vanished.
When she returned to the village entrance, the fight had already ended.
The onlookers had dispersed as well.
Following the swaying flashlight beams and lingering noise, Song Ning quickly located a house not far away.
The place was brightly lit.
It was clearly where Pan Tuozi’s group was staying.
Compared to the traffickers, these men seemed even more arrogant and far more difficult to deal with.
Song Ning circled the house once before finally using the cover of nearby trees to approach a side window.
But before she could see what was happening inside—
She heard the faint crunch of dry grass being stepped on behind her.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Without turning around, she lashed out with a sweeping kick and simultaneously threw a punch.
To her surprise, the kick struck nothing.
And her right arm was caught.
She immediately punched with her left hand while driving her knee toward her attacker’s groin.
But her left arm was caught as well.
And her knee hit nothing.
Then she heard a chuckle.
“Tsk. Pretty vicious moves.”
Both of Song Ning’s arms were restrained.
She couldn’t reach him with her legs either.
For a moment, she found herself completely trapped.
The man lifted both arms and effortlessly hoisted her entire body off the ground from behind.
Then he carried her several strides to the front entrance.
Inside the main room, a brazier burned brightly, and several lamps illuminated the area.
The doorway was flooded with light.
The restraints on her arms loosened.
She was gently pushed forward and suddenly appeared in full view of everyone inside and outside the house.
Several men quickly gathered around.
One of them grinned and said,
“Yo, Boss! Why’s it a girl?”
Rubbing her sore arms, Song Ning looked behind her.
The man emerging from the darkness was the same leader she had seen during the day.
The man in the denim jacket.
Tall and imposing.
His face hidden beneath a thick beard.
Beneath the hair hanging over his eyes were sharp, scrutinizing eyes.
“Tsk. This girl circled our house for quite a while. I noticed her ages ago. I just wanted to see what she was up to,” one of the younger men said.
“Do we even need to ask? She came because she’s got a thing for our boss!”
“With Boss’s reputation, there are actually women who dare throw themselves at him?”
“You never know. Maybe some women like his type.”
“True enough! Bad boys are irresistible!”
…
Amid the laughter and teasing, Song Ning calmly surveyed the room.
Once again, her suspicions were confirmed.
At that moment, Pan Tuozi stepped forward.
Grabbing the back of her collar and her arm, he dragged her into the house.
Two men outside naturally dispersed and vanished into the darkness.
The others followed inside and shut the door.
Only when Pan Tuozi hauled her to the brazier did he finally release her.
Song Ning stumbled a few steps before regaining her balance.
Leaning against the edge of a table with his arms folded, Pan Tuozi tilted his chin toward her.
His voice was low and casual.
“Well? What exactly are you doing here in the middle of the night?”
Under the bright firelight, Song Ning studied him again.
Straight posture.
Lean, powerful muscles.
Denim jacket.
Short boots.
Slightly messy hair.
Sharp eyes.
Though the thick beard obscured most of his features, the fierce aura surrounding him could not be hidden.
“What? You had the guts to sneak around here, but not enough courage to speak?”
Pan Tuozi seemed to be losing patience.
He lowered his head, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and then deliberately blew the smoke straight into her face.
Every bit the swaggering rogue.
“They were right,” Song Ning said.
“Right about what? Speak clearly.”
“I’ve taken a liking to you.”
“I like your type.”
Through the lingering smoke, Song Ning stared directly into Pan Tuozi’s eyes and delivered the words with complete seriousness.