Feigning Madness and Playing Dumb

"Move! Get out of the way—everyone, get out of the way—"

Using Cao Dongfeng as a hostage, Jiaming, his mouth full of blood, had clearly fallen into some kind of frenzy. He used his dagger to cut Shasha's ropes, then they retreated toward the rear of the logging yard. The Japanese girl, whose outward appearance remained perfect despite actually being battered all over, also struggled desperately at that moment. She staggered along at Jiaming's side. Though she was enduring tremendous pain, every step sending needle-like agony through her body, there was still not the slightest expression on her doll-like beautiful face. She knew this was her last chance to escape.

Meanwhile, Shasha followed along while anxiously watching Jiaming. The bamboo sword had not struck his face, yet blood had stained the corners of his mouth red. His eyes were filled with trembling crimson light. This boy, who usually seemed timid and trouble-averse, and whose smile was always sincere and honest, was now shouting hysterically. He had to be in so much pain, so terrified. Where had he found the courage to do this?

Usually at the martial arts hall, when Uncle Ye forced him to practice martial arts, he always tried to slack off. He would rather do odd jobs, hand people water and towels, than train. Only when he had no choice would he reluctantly go through a couple of forms. His stances were correct and precise, but once he sparred with someone, he could never win. After trading a few moves, he would run all around the ring like a loach. In Uncle Ye's words, his boxing was nothing but rigid imitation. A full routine looked beautiful, but once broken apart, he had no idea how to use any of it.

Yet just now, those few moves of his had clearly been combat techniques Uncle Ye had taught on a whim. Charging forward, grabbing someone, dodging—his movements had been nimble and swift, completed in one seamless sequence. Even that perverted old Japanese man had failed to react in time. But standing beside him, she could clearly see the faint trembling in his arms and body.

"Get farther away—all of you—cough, cough cough..."

After the boy's hysterical shout, his voice carrying a faint sob, came several coughs as the blood in his mouth choked him. The dagger, shaken at that instant, stabbed a little deeper. Cao Dongfeng immediately began shouting in a tearful voice as well. "Back off! Get back! He's about to stab me! He's about to stab me!"

The several dozen vicious-looking men holding machetes paused at those words, then continued following in a semicircle. Cao Jinghao shouted from among them, "Kid, don't do anything stupid! If you dare hurt him, I'll kill your whole family!"

"I'll kill your whole family!" Before he had even finished, Jiaming shouted with bloodshot eyes, "Say that one more time if you dare! Believe it or not, I'll make sure your family line ends right now!"

"Fine, fine, I was wrong. I won't say it, I won't say it anymore. Good boy, relax, relax, don't be nervous..." Cao Jinghao was used to giving orders, and only now realized that the other side held the hostage. If it had been a rational adult, that would have been one thing, but judging from the boy's current state, he had clearly been beaten badly and was now practically half-crazed. When people like that were pushed too far, they were capable of anything.

Holding the hostage, the three retreated from between two buildings toward the rear of the logging yard. There was a small gate in the fence there, leading into the forest behind it. Shasha thought it would have been better if they had gone out the front, but Jiaming surely had not considered that at the time. Now, with dozens of machete-wielding men surrounding them in a crescent formation, there was no way they would let the few of them leave through the front. After thinking about it, she looked again at Jiaming beside her, half-mad with fear, and her heart ached. Usually, she and Lingjing were the ones protecting him, yet because of her family, he had been beaten and reduced to this state. But seeing him hysterically protect her and drive back all those glaring villains also gave her an inexplicable trace of sweetness.

The group passed through the small gate and retreated into the woods. When they reached the edge of the forest, Jiaming suddenly shouted again, "Don't move! Don't follow us!"

"That's impossible. Think about it from my side too." Cao Jinghao tried his best to soften his tone. "What if you run away and kill my son? I have to keep an eye on you. I have to..."

"Your son deserves to die!" Jiaming shouted. "But I'm not leaving. I'll let you see him, but Shasha has to go, she has to! I have to make sure Shasha gets far enough away before I let him go!"

"Fine, Shasha can leave, but I have to see my son safe. And that woman too..."

"She has nothing to do with me, but if any of you dare come closer, I'll kill him!"

"Fine, we won't come over, we won't. I'll explain it clearly to Mr. Yuechi too..." As he spoke, he had the interpreter tell the old Japanese man not to make any sudden moves to capture anyone. The old man merely snorted and said nothing, but he did not move either.

The four slowly retreated into the forest behind them. The dozen or so people on this side could clearly see Jiaming and Cao Dongfeng standing behind a patch of low bushes, while the girl named Shasha was crying and shouting something there.

"I'm not leaving. If we go, we go together. I can't leave you here..."

"I told you, get out of here! I'm staying here to hold them off! You'll only be a burden, so get lost!"

"No... I won't..." Shasha shook her head, her face covered in tears. "I can't leave. You never used to dare scold me, but I know you're trying to make me escape alone. I won't... I'm the reason you got beaten. If my dad weren't in the underworld..."

"What's the point of saying that now? Go!" Jiaming said, then kicked Shasha in the stomach. He had not used much force, but Shasha had not expected Jiaming to kick her. She staggered a few steps and fell onto the leaf-covered ground behind her. Rising while clutching her stomach, she cried out aggrievedly, "Jiaming, you kicked me..."

"I..." Jiaming cried out, then his tightly tensed shoulders finally slumped. At that moment, he seemed to suddenly return to his former timid, trouble-averse self, and his wrist shook even more violently. "I-I'm sorry... But, Shasha, I'm scared. Only one of us can leave... If I hold Cao Dongfeng, they'll definitely follow us. I have to stay here and keep watch..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually became choked with sobs. "Shasha... I'm afraid of pain, and I'm afraid of dying too. I like being with you and Lingjing. If I die, I'll never see you again... It hurt so much just now. When they beat me, I almost couldn't stop myself from shouting, from crying. But I'm a man. Sometimes, I can't shout, and I can't cry... I'm a man, so I have to stay behind now. If you get out, call the police to come save me immediately. It's getting dark, Shasha. You have to escape from here..."

Looking at Jiaming like this, Shasha cried even harder. After a while, she finally said, "Okay... I'll definitely call the police, but Jiaming, you have to promise me that you'll escape too. Don't let them catch you."

"Mm, I will."

"And... could you... let me kiss you once..."

"Mm, huh?" For an instant, Jiaming was stunned, nearly losing the expression of crying he had been putting on. Fortunately, evening had already fallen, and the light in the woods was poor, so Shasha could not see clearly.

Still stunned, he saw Shasha walk over. Her soft lips pressed against him, but not against Jiaming's mouth. Instead, they pressed against the blood at the corner of his lips. Her soft, wet tongue reached out, only stopping after it had licked away the blood from his mouth. Then she wiped her tears and ran softly crying into the depths of the forest.

Uh... saliva felt much worse than blood...

Feeling the blood at the corner of his mouth replaced by saliva after it had been licked away, Jiaming felt a little helpless. Then he looked at the girl still standing beside him, Yuechi Xun, and frowned.

Yuechi Xun happened to be looking at him too. She did not understand Chinese, so she could only follow Jiaming for now. But a moment later, she suddenly bowed and said in a sweet, delicate voice, "Arigato." Then she turned and painfully jogged toward another direction in the forest.

Huh... what was that about...

Jiaming was somewhat taken aback. In truth, Yuechi Xun had misunderstood his intentions. Ever since she had been captured, the old man had beaten her legs the most. Though she had gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand, her actual ability to move was already worse than that of an ordinary person. That glance Jiaming gave her had been him considering how to get this girl away as well, but Yuechi Xun took it as the boy worrying that she would become a burden to him. After all, Jiaming's act had been too convincing. In her eyes, this boy probably had not undergone training like she had. Yet when he was beaten, he could grit his teeth and endure it. Though fear made his entire body tremble, he could still keep fighting in the face of so many enemies, even bringing the two girls here. That made Yuechi Xun admire him immensely.

The enemy's tracking ability was formidable. In her current state, escaping them was practically impossible. But this boy's strength had its limits too. She could not drag him down any longer. Even if there was only one chance in ten thousand, she had to try...

Outside the forest, dozens of people watched with hostile eyes. Cao Jinghao nervously stared at his watch. Gradually, ten minutes had passed since Shasha fled. Looking at the two people behind the bushes, he shouted, "Enough! They've been running for ten minutes! Let him go now!"

In the forest, Cao Dongfeng felt the dagger at his back loosen slightly and quickly said, "Jiaming, it's enough. Run now. I promise I won't chase you. If you run now, you can definitely get away."

Having heard what Jiaming said to Shasha, he had already decided that Jiaming was in a state of extreme panic. But if he had dared to turn around and look at Jiaming's expression right then, he would have known just how terribly wrong he was...

The trembling Jiaming had displayed before the two girls was gone. His expression was relaxed and casual, and a wicked smile curled at the corner of his mouth as he leaned toward the boy in front of him.

"Did you enjoy beating me just now?"

"I... I..."

"Don't worry. I won't beat you, and I won't kill you. I'll let you... learn what real pain and despair are—despair."

Cao Dongfeng's mind likely had not even fully processed those words before Jiaming raised his hand and struck the back of his head with the dagger's hilt. Then, dragging the unconscious Cao Dongfeng, he vanished into the darkness of the forest.

Outside the woods, Cao Jinghao and the others could only see his son's body suddenly collapse, followed by Jiaming turning and disappearing...

"Go after them!"

Wielding machetes and iron rods, dozens of men swarmed into the forest. The old Japanese man was the fastest of them all. The direction he chose was different from everyone else's—it was the direction Yuechi Xun had fled.

The sun dipped behind the western mountains, and even its final trace of afterglow gradually vanished beyond the horizon. At dusk, the forest became like a crouching primordial beast, swallowing everyone into its depths...

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