"Ah!"
With one kick from Evan Lin, Dog was sent flying. His leg twisted into a grotesque shape, and as he hit the ground, he instantly started writhing in agony.
Dog howled in misery, his voice piercing and desperate. His face turned ashen, every hair on his body bristling from the sudden, intense pain. His features twisted so much he looked like a demon.
Silence.
After Evan's kick, everyone stared dumbfounded at Dog rolling and wailing on the ground.
"Holy crap..."
Victor Wen looked at Dog’s mangled leg and felt a chill run down his spine.
"Yuran... Where did you meet this guy?" Yolanda Jiang stared at Dog’s leg, her pretty face changing color, her voice tinged with disbelief.
"On the train. He helped me chase off some thugs..." Claire Li answered Yolanda blankly. She hadn’t expected Evan Lin to act so ruthlessly—Dog’s leg was now way worse than before, almost completely separated except for a bit of skin holding it together.
Ivy Liang’s hand, still holding her cat, trembled slightly. Her gaze at Evan Lin was now filled with shock.
"Dog!"
The burly, dark-skinned leader saw Dog lying there like a dead dog and roared in rage. He glared viciously at the young man standing nearby. "You wanna die, punk? Fine, I'll grant your wish today!"
"Get him! Beat this little bastard to death!"
The leader’s furious shout snapped Claire Li and the others out of their shock.
Seeing the thugs charging with wrenches, clubs, and knives, Victor Wen was the first to react. He jumped up, grabbed Claire Li’s wrist, and dragged her toward the car.
"Go, go, go! Get out of here! Now!"
Victor shouted, yanking the still-stunned Claire Li into the Audi.
The other three boys snapped out of it too—one grabbed Yolanda Jiang, another pulled Ivy Liang, hustling them into the Audi and the pink Beetle, respectively.
As Ivy Liang was pulled into the car, still clutching her cat, her last sight was of more than a dozen thugs swinging weapons like hungry wolves, charging straight at the boy in the middle.
And that boy—his face cold and indifferent—just glanced blandly toward the pink Beetle, showing no reaction at all to their sudden escape.
Once in the car, the man’s face was tense as he floored the gas pedal.
The Audi and the pink Beetle shot off down the road like wild horses breaking free.
"What a pitiful bunch of ants."
Evan Lin sighed softly. As the dozen thugs closed in, he hadn’t moved—until now, when he casually stepped forward.
With that single step, a powerful burst of force erupted from Evan Lin, blasting outward. The thugs didn’t even know what hit them—all they felt was a heavy blow to the chest before they were sent flying, collapsing unconscious on the ground.
In just a few seconds, all the noise vanished. The street was suddenly silent.
"Could’ve just been decent people, but they had to scam others. Serves them right."
Evan Lin yawned, not even glancing at the thugs sprawled everywhere. The force he’d unleashed had already seeped into their bodies; from now on, their health would steadily decline. He hadn’t killed them, but they’d never be able to bully anyone again—most would be crippled for life, barely scraping by.
Late at night, a cool breeze blew over Evan Lin as he looked at where the Audi and pink Beetle had vanished. He shook his head slightly.
"People sure value their lives, but wow, they ran fast."
Earlier, when Evan Lin got in the car, he'd put his small rolling suitcase in the pink Beetle’s trunk. Luckily, it was only filled with books—nothing too important.
It was getting late. Evan Lin shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled down the road. If anyone was watching, they’d notice something strange: on that dim asphalt road, every step he took seemed normal, but somehow he covered an uncanny distance with each stride.
The scene was downright eerie.
......
"We just left him there—what’s he going to do?" Claire Li, sitting in the pink Beetle, looked pale as she turned to glance out the rear window. All she saw was darkness; the boy was nowhere in sight.
"Don’t worry, Yuran. With a kick like that, he’s clearly trained. Even surrounded, he’ll get away." Victor Wen, driving with a bruised face, spoke up. His stomach still hurt, but inside he felt secretly pleased.
He was still plotting how to make that kid disappear quietly. After all, Evan Lin had played the hero and rescued Claire Li on the train. If he did it again, and Claire got the crazy idea of dating him, Victor Wen’s chances would be toast.
"But..." Claire Li tried to say something.
"No buts. Besides, us staying there would’ve just made things worse for him. It’s late, we’re all hungry, let’s just find somewhere to eat and drink. Even if we went back now, it wouldn’t help."
Victor Wen’s words finally made Claire Li sigh and fall silent.
In the other car—the pink Beetle.
Yolanda Jiang was still a bit shaken. She turned to Ivy Liang beside her. "Wasn’t it kind of unprincipled for us to just run off like that?"
Yolanda had spent plenty of time in bars and clubs, and she’d seen fights where someone got betrayed halfway through. This wasn’t exactly the same, but the boy had stood up for them, and ditching him felt pretty ungrateful.
"He wanted to play hero—nobody forced him." Ivy Liang’s tone was odd. Her mind kept replaying that last image: the boy, calm and detached, standing alone as the crowd closed in.
"I’m hungry. Step on it."
Ivy Liang’s voice was icy. The driver quickly pressed harder on the gas.
But as for what happened to that boy in the end—nobody really knew.
Yolanda shook her head. Ivy Liang leaned back in her seat, gazing out the window with a quiet sigh.