I've got my eye on you

Lan Ying trembled uncontrollably with fear.

Without hesitation, Song Ning raised the stick in her hand and swung before the man could reach her.

It struck him squarely on the head.

With a muffled grunt, he toppled to the ground.

He struggled to get up, but Song Ning stepped forward and struck him hard twice more. He stopped moving.

Song Ning quickly grabbed Lan Ying and ducked into a narrow path nearby.

"Th-that man was the big guy who works for Brother Da!" Lan Ying's voice shook.

Song Ning watched for a moment and found no sign of anyone else on the path.

"Don't be scared! He was alone! No one else has spotted us!"

As she spoke, she pulled Lan Ying along and ran back the way they had come.

The house where they had been confined stood right at the village entrance.

Running in that direction would take them out of the mountains.

Meanwhile, the traffickers' leader, Brother Da, had discovered Long Bangs and Mustache lying on the ground and was furiously preparing to go out and catch the fugitives.

But then-

Not only had the entire village erupted into chaos, flames were rising high into the air. Torches were lit one after another, and people chased pigs, pursued dogs, and fought fires. It was pandemonium!

For a moment, even they were stunned!

"B-Brother Da! Wh-where do we even start looking?" His henchman Da Kui stood beside him, dumbfounded.

Brother Da's face turned livid with anger. "Come on! Find the village chief! Get the whole village searching! Tell them whoever finds those two women can keep them!"

Just as Brother Da rushed into the village with his men, Song Ning brought Lan Ying around the other side of the house.

The two raced out of the village along the narrow mountain path.

Only after stumbling along for several miles did they dare switch on the flashlight they had stolen.

They fled without stopping for most of the night. When scattered cornfields began appearing beside the road, Song Ning knew-

They had reached the next village.

When she looked up, she could still see stars. It was the darkest hour before dawn.

She took Lan Ying's hand and headed straight into the village.

At this hour, the villagers should have been sound asleep.

But as soon as they reached the entrance, they heard a commotion ahead. Torchlight mingled with flashlight beams, and shouts and cries rose and fell without pause.

Closer up, they could see two groups facing off. Though "facing off" wasn't quite right: one side clearly outnumbered the other, and the fighting had already begun. The two groups were tangled in a brawl, with screams ringing out constantly.

Some villagers who had been woken by the noise stood watching from a distance, clothes draped over their shoulders as they pointed and commented.

Under cover of darkness, Song Ning easily led Lan Ying closer and got a good look at the people fighting.

It couldn't even be called a fight. It was a beating.

One group was clearly far more skilled than the other. They all seemed to have combat training and knocked their opponents to the ground with little effort, drawing scream after scream.

Their leader was a tall, powerfully built man in a denim jacket, with a full beard and hair long enough to brush over his eyes. A cigarette hung from his lips as he stood to one side, quietly watching the fight.

His brazen, thuggish air was intimidating.

Song Ning shifted her gaze to the people on the ground-

Through gaps between the men, she could just make out three men curled up with their arms over their heads. There was blood on their clothes, but she couldn't see their faces. Their pleas and screams never stopped.

From the curses traded between the two sides, she gathered that the leader of the attackers was called Pan TuozI. He apparently had quite a reputation in the underworld. The men being beaten had foolishly stolen his business... It seemed to be two gangs fighting over turf, criminals preying on criminals.

But Song Ning frowned. This Pan TuozI was a little too brazen... What made him so confident he could attack rival criminals this openly?

After a moment's thought, she took Lan Ying back the way they had come. Once she was sure no one was following, she slipped into an abandoned woodshed beside the road on the village outskirts.

She had noticed it before they entered the village.

Lan Ying was puzzled. "Sis! Aren't we... leaving?"

Song Ning searched around and found a thick club. "Lan Ying, I need to go out for a bit. There's something I have to find out! Wait here and don't go anywhere! Barricade the door after I leave! Don't open it until I tell you to!"

Lan Ying nodded miserably.

"Sis! Come back soon! Please come back soon!"

Song Ning nodded and slipped out.

The sky was still dark, and even the few remaining stars had disappeared.

When she crept back to the village entrance, the fight was over and the spectators had dispersed.

Following the moving flashlight beams and noisy voices, Song Ning easily pinpointed a house a short distance away.

It was brightly lit-the place where Pan TuozI and his men were staying.

Compared with the traffickers, these men seemed even more brazen and harder to deal with.

Song Ning made a wide circuit around the house before finally using the trees for cover to creep up to a window on its side.

But before she could make out what was happening inside...

She heard the faint sound of someone stepping on dry grass behind her.

Startled, she swept a leg backward without turning and swung her right fist at the same time-

But her kick missed, and the other person caught her right arm.

She swung her left fist while driving her knee up hard toward his groin.

Only for him to catch her left arm too, while her knee struck empty air...

Then she heard him give a soft chuckle. "Tsk! Nasty moves you've got there!"

With both hands restrained and her legs unable to reach him, Song Ning found herself trapped.

He lifted both hands, hoisting her clean off the ground from behind, and carried her to the front entrance in a few long strides.

A fire blazed in the brazier in the main room, and several lamps had been lit, flooding the doorway with light.

The grip on her arms loosened. With a light shove forward, Song Ning was exposed to everyone inside and outside the house.

Several men quickly converged from around the house, and one grinned as he spoke.

"Well, well! Boss! It's a girl?"

Song Ning rubbed her aching arms and looked behind her-

The man emerging from the darkness was none other than the leader in the denim jacket she had seen earlier that day.

He was tall, with a full beard. Beneath the hair brushing his eyes, his gaze was sharp and assessing.

"Tsk! This girl circled our place for ages. I spotted her a while ago and wanted to see what she was up to!" one of the men remarked.

"Isn't it obvious? She's got her eye on our boss!"

"With our boss's reputation, there's actually a girl brave enough to come knocking?"

"You never know! Maybe some women like his type..."

"True enough! Women love bad boys!"

As the men laughed and joked, Song Ning discreetly surveyed them all, confirming her suspicions once again.

Pan TuozI stepped forward, grabbed Song Ning by the back of her collar and her arm, and hauled her inside.

Two of the men outside casually peeled away and vanished into the darkness.

The others followed them inside and closed the front door.

Only after dragging her beside the brazier did Pan TuozI shove her forward and let go.

Song Ning stumbled several steps before regaining her footing.

Pan TuozI leaned back against the edge of a table and folded his arms. He tipped his chin at her, his voice low and casual.

"Out with it! What are you doing sneaking over here in the middle of the night?"

In the bright firelight, Song Ning studied Pan TuozI again. He stood straight, his muscles firm beneath his denim jacket. Short boots, slightly tousled hair, sharp eyes-though his rough beard obscured his features, nothing could conceal his formidable presence.

"What? Brave enough to sneak up, but too scared to talk?"

Seemingly impatient, Pan TuozI lowered his head to light a cigarette. He took a deep drag, then blew the smoke straight into her face, looking every inch the thug.

"They were right!" Song Ning said.

"Right about what? Spit it out!"

"I've got my eye on you! You're exactly my type!"

Through the lingering smoke, Song Ning looked straight at Pan TuozI and spoke with utter seriousness.

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