"Listen up! Five hundred grand, plus these three ladies spend the night with my brothers—then we’ll let you go. Otherwise, not a single one of you leaves!"
The burly man’s face was ice-cold as he shouted angrily.
As soon as he finished, the other thugs hefted their weapons, glaring at the group like hungry tigers.
Victor Wen was kicked to the ground, grimacing in pain. His three buddies were so spooked they didn’t dare make a sound.
Claire Li turned pale. Yolanda Jiang, seeing things go south, wondered who she should call—regretting not just flooring it and driving away earlier.
Ivy Liang clutched her cat, creeped out by how unreasonable these people were—especially the way those thugs leered at her, making her skin crawl.
"Hey! Kid, what do you think you’re doing?"
Just then, the burly man spotted a boy getting out of the pink Beetle, backpack slung over his shoulder, heading straight for Dog—the guy lying on the ground with a busted leg.
He hadn’t planned to mess with the kid, but now his tone turned icy.
As soon as he spoke, everyone turned to look at Evan Lin.
"You should run. Don't stick around here."
Earlier on the train, Evan Lin helped Claire Li drive off that country bumpkin, but now, with over ten burly guys holding weapons, Claire didn’t believe Evan could handle this mess.
"Coward," Ivy Liang sneered.
Ivy Liang shot Evan Lin a look, full of disdain.
But Evan didn’t even glance at the burly man. He walked straight up to Dog, squatted down, and lifted him up with one hand.
Dog’s face changed. "What are you doing?"
Seeing this, the burly man cursed, his heart skipping a beat. "Damn it, you little punk, what do you think you’re doing?"
"Let go of Dog, or we’ll kill you!"
"Let him go!"
Seeing Evan Lin effortlessly lift Dog, the whole group panicked and rushed toward Evan, looking ready to attack.
"What’s he trying to do, get himself killed?" Ivy Liang stared at Evan Lin like he was an idiot. His move was basically begging to piss off the burly guy and his crew.
Victor Wen saw the thugs rushing toward Evan and shouted, "Run while you still can!"
His face changed. He scrambled up from the ground, barely finished yelling before someone spotted him—then got kicked again, landing face-first in the dirt.
Evan Lin held Dog like he was hauling out the trash. As the burly man and his crew surrounded him, Evan glanced around and said coolly, "This guy’s injury is old."
"What the hell are you talking about? Put Dog down! Or you’re gonna regret it!" the burly man growled, face darkening.
Yolanda Jiang frowned at Evan’s words. "These guys don’t care about reason at all. Talking won’t help—what’s he even trying to do?" she muttered.
Yolanda had been about to call for help—no way was she letting these thugs hurt anyone. But now Evan’s move was just pouring fuel on the fire, making her even more uneasy.
Claire Li watched Evan, totally confused about what he was planning.
"Hey, I’m talking to you! Didn’t you hear me?"
The burly man roared, his voice echoing through the night.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone’s eyes locked onto the boy in front of them.
Right then, Evan Lin slowly reached out, pinching Dog’s broken leg with just two fingers, his expression flat. Then he gave it a gentle twist.
Crack.
Everyone heard a sharp, clear bone-cracking sound. Dog’s face went from panic to shock, and finally he tried moving his leg—he could move it!
“Holy crap! My leg’s healed!”
Dog’s face lit up with joy, unable to hold back a shout.
Evan let go, dropping him to the ground. Dog took a few steps, his face beaming.
His leg had been broken last year by a car crash—just like Evan said, it was an old injury. The hospital had written him off as crippled for life.
After that, Dog made a living off his disability, running crash-for-cash scams with the black-shirted crew. Every hit was a guaranteed payday.
Now, with his leg suddenly healed, Dog was over the moon.
The black-shirted thugs all froze, startled by Dog suddenly bouncing around. Several of them stared at Evan with a strange look.
"Hey! His leg’s fine now, so can we go?" Claire blurted out, seeing Dog walking like nothing ever happened.
Yolanda Jiang and Ivy Liang stared at Evan, eyes wide with shock. That bone-setting move was unreal—he’d fixed a broken leg in seconds?
"Yeah, exactly! Look at him, he’s jumping around like he’s totally fine. Since he’s healed, shouldn’t we be allowed to leave?" Victor Wen chimed in.
He barely finished before getting kicked by one of the thugs. "Shut the hell up!" the guy cursed.
The black-shirted leader fixed Evan with a cold stare and sneered, "So you’re a doctor, huh? Not bad, kid. But even if you healed his leg, you still hit someone. You still gotta pay up!"
"That’s not reasonable!" Ivy protested.
"Sweetheart, where do you think you’ll find ‘reason’ in this world? Right now, I’ve got the numbers and the muscle, so what I say goes. That’s how it works, get it?" The thug leader squinted and grinned.
Yolanda and the others all turned pale at his words.
Just then, Evan reached out again, picking Dog up like trash—same as before, his face completely calm.
"What are you doing?" Dog flailed, trying to escape Evan’s grip.
Dog’s shout made the thug leader impatient. He glared at Evan, snapping, "Quit messing around! Even if you fixed his leg, you’re still paying. Don’t you understand? Or are you just stupid?"
Everyone watched Evan, now surrounded by thugs, thinking he looked ridiculous for helping a scammer.
I mean, the guy was obviously faking it to extort money. So what if you healed him?
But at that moment, Evan spoke calmly: "That was an old injury. Now it’s a new one."
As soon as Evan finished, everyone froze. Before they could process his words, they saw him lift his foot—and kick Dog’s leg bone, hard!
(End of chapter)