He An let out a furious roar. His voice echoed through the woods, yet sounded strangely bleak.
The middle-aged man burst into laughter.
"Kid, are you all talk? I won't waste my breath on you. Since you won't hand over what's mine, I'll just take it myself."
"But before that, you're coming with me."
He reached out, intent on seizing He An.
At that moment, Zhang Shun spotted an opening and charged, slamming into the middle-aged man with all his might. The other man didn't budge an inch.
"Brother He, run!"
He roared, then immediately turned and tried to flee.
But the middle-aged man noticed and casually struck him with a palm. Zhang Shun flew through the air and crashed into the woods some distance away.
Fortunately, the trees broke his fall, keeping his spine from snapping outright.
Crack, crack, crack.
Even so, he still broke a bone.
Lying on the ground, Zhang Shun felt as if his whole body were about to split apart. He struggled to rise and roared, "Brother He, run!!"
He An's heart warmed.
In truth, he and Zhang Shun hadn't interacted much.
When He An was transferred away from the Criminal Prison, he'd wanted someone he knew by name to oversee it, which would make things more convenient for him later.
So he suggested to Sun Wangxian that Zhang Shun take charge of the Criminal Prison.
From then on, Zhang Shun had been deeply grateful to He An.
Now, when danger struck, Zhang Shun's first thought hadn't been to save himself, but to get He An away. That was truly precious.
He could hardly have dared to hope for it.
"Run? You won't get away!" The middle-aged man sneered, his gaze settling on He An again. "Kid, come along quietly!"
"You're not worthy."
He An