The surging heat wave even fluttered the clothes of Liu Nan and Yuan Nan Nan some distance away.
The explosion directly stunned Yuan Nan Nan, while Liu Nan did not hesitate in the slightest. She put down her phone, grabbed Yuan Nan Nan, and ran away from the blast.
At the same moment the explosion rang out, a lean man in a tailcoat and top hat slowly emerged from the darkness.
Looking at the blazing flames, the skin on his cheek slowly twitched, pulling into a cold smile.
Buzz--
This was the sound of the long sword slicing through the air.
Amid the blast wave, the Green-Clad Woman charged straight at the lean man in the tailcoat with her long sword in hand. The hem of her clothes had already caught fire, and the flames were spreading up toward her body.
The man removed his hat, took a bronze mirror from it, and raised it to block the incoming sword.
Bang--
With the clash of metal, the long sword bent, and the bronze mirror became covered in cracks.
The lean man was sent flying by the blow, landing in the distance after a backflip.
"Magic Apprentice?"
The Green-Clad Woman landed on the ground and held her sword in reverse. With a flash of sword light, she cut away her burning clothes. They flew off in the night wind before burning into ash.
"I still prefer it when you call me a magician." The lean man held his hat and bowed slightly to the Green-Clad Woman. "Magician Ou Zhuo greets Ni Yu Jushi."
"Hm?"
Ni Yu glanced at the flaming vehicle, now reduced to nothing but a frame, then at Liu Nan and Yuan Nan Nan as they gradually fled farther away. She spun her sword once and, without another word, charged directly at Ou Zhuo.
Ou Zhuo did not confront her head-on. Instead, he removed his hat and released a flock of White Pigeons, obscuring Ni Yu's vision.
By the time the White Pigeons disappeared, Ou Zhuo had already escaped into the distance.
Ni Yu looked at Ou Zhuo's retreating figure, then at Liu Nan, who had fled away. After hesitating for a moment, she still gave chase.
Ou Zhuo had even used bombs. His methods were far too ruthless, and leaving him at large posed too great a threat to society. She could not let him escape.
The two chased each other northward.
Meanwhile, Liu Nan was also rapidly fleeing in a certain direction, pulling Yuan Nan Nan along with her.
"Liu Nan, what's going on? Where are we going now...?"
Yuan Nan Nan had been scared out of her wits by the bomb. She could no longer care about food and could only let Liu Nan pull her along.
Liu Nan said nothing, simply dragging Yuan Nan Nan onward.
Very soon, Yuan Nan Nan got her answer. A group of neatly dressed men in black suddenly poured out of the alleyways. They surrounded Liu Nan and Yuan Nan Nan, protecting the two of them in the center.
At the same time, a black car sped out of the night, made a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree drifting turn, and stopped beside them.
"Miss, get in."
One of the men in black near the car swiftly opened the door and gestured for Liu Nan to get in.
Yuan Nan Nan was dumbfounded.
"My dad hired bodyguards for me."
Liu Nan explained in a low voice, then prepared to pull Yuan Nan Nan into the car.
She had already been attacked once. Naturally, she could not have made no preparations.
The two quickly got into the car. Just as Liu Nan, who had entered first, settled down and let out a breath of relief, the door beside her suddenly took a violent impact. She had entered first, so she was sitting on the side facing the road rather than the side facing the bodyguards.
With that impact, the originally protruding car door was smashed inward. The window shattered instantly, and fragments of glass sprayed through the air. Liu Nan hurriedly raised her hand to shield her head, but the flying shards still cut her hand.
"Ah!"
Yuan Nan Nan screamed in terror at the sight.
Liu Nan looked out the window from behind her elbow and saw a man standing there, his muscles bulging and his skin red as though he were a Bull. A savage smile hung on his face as he reached out to grab Liu Nan.
"Drive! Drive now!"
Liu Nan immediately shouted.
It had all happened too fast. Though the driver was somewhat panicked, he still started the car quickly and slammed the accelerator to the floor.
The vehicle jolted. The engine let out a piercing roar, and the wheels spun in place, but the car did not move at all.
The Bull-like man's muscles swelled all over his body. With his left hand, he tightly gripped the front door and the B-pillar. He had actually stopped the car by force.
Under Liu Nan's shocked gaze, he gave a savage grin and swung his right hand, tearing the rear door clean off.
What kind of monster was this... What had happened to this world...?
As this thought surfaced in Liu Nan's mind, the man had already grabbed her shoulder and yanked her out of the car as easily as if he were pulling out a down pillow.
Endless fear crawled through her heart. All of her composure was shattered in that instant. This world seemed to have diverged violently from the world she knew.
Even so, she did not cry out. Countless names echoed through her mind as she desperately tried to think of someone who could save her from her current predicament.
In the end, one name emerged before her eyes: that Youth full of secrets.
"Find He Ao! Go find He Ao!"
She turned her head toward the panicked Yuan Nan Nan and roared at the top of her lungs.
She did not know whether that Youth could save her, or whether he would save her. But she would only know if she tried.
If he really saved her again this time, then she would owe him an enormous debt of gratitude...
Yuan Nan Nan had been left completely helpless by the sudden turn of events, but Liu Nan's high-pitched roar pulled some of her rationality back, snapping her out of it. She nodded instinctively. "Okay!"
But as she nodded, the Bull-like man had already hoisted Liu Nan over his shoulder and rushed into the night.
It had all happened too fast—so fast that the bodyguards outside the car had not even reacted.
Even if they had reacted, it would have been useless. They were only ordinary people making a living as bodyguards. Without firearms, they simply could not defeat a monster capable of stopping a car.
"Find He Ao, find He Ao."
Yuan Nan Nan murmured absentmindedly. She pushed open the car door and ran toward the other side under the gaze of the bodyguards.
--
"Cold noodles for sale~ Fragrant and sweet cold noodles~"
He Ao, who had been idly dozing at his stall, was suddenly awakened by his phone's ringtone. He took out his phone and glanced at it. The caller ID read "Zhang Anxia."
Hm? He did not seem to have given him his number. Did he get it from Team Leader Liu?
After thinking about it, he answered the call. "Hello?"
"Is this little brother He Ao?"
Zhang Anxia seemed to be rushing somewhere as he asked urgently.
"Yeah. What is it?"
He Ao stood up, stretched lazily, and looked around to see whether any new customers had arrived.
"Are you interested in taking on a temporary part-time job? It won't take much of your time," Zhang Anxia said quickly. "Just tonight. The guaranteed pay is two thousand... no, ten thousand! If anything extra comes up, we'll negotiate the price separately."
"Hm? What exactly is it?"
He Ao's eyes lit up. Now this was enough to wake him up.
"You know Bull, right? That Youth who broke into your home yesterday. We need to catch him now. Hold him off for a while, and the money is yours."
Zhang Anxia spoke quickly.
"Is it legal?"
He Ao asked calmly.
"It's legal!"
Zhang Anxia emphasized.
!
He Ao was stunned for a moment.
This guy had a grudge against me, was worth money, and catching him was legal.
This guy had stacked all the buffs.
"He Ao, He Ao!" At that moment, a figure suddenly came running over from the distance. It was Yuan Nan Nan, still shaken from fright. She leaned over He Ao's cold noodles cart, panting heavily. "Save... me. He Ao, save me."
He Ao:?
The short-haired girl hiding in the corner and eating noodles one strand at a time trembled, snapping the noodles she had picked up with her chopsticks.
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