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Big Scar had barely finished talking when a dark blur shot toward him—"Wham!" Suddenly, his burly frame felt like he was flying through the clouds, just like those cheesy commercials brag about "flying sensations." Then, a wave of bone-crushing pain exploded from his jaw, spreading like wildfire to his neck, and his head felt like a hundred old crows were squawking nonstop! The next thing he knew, a stench so foul washed over his face and invaded his nostrils.
"Clang—" Big Scar's machete clattered to the floor, his head smacked into a bucket of sewage sitting in the hallway, and he got drenched in filth from head to toe. The stench was unbearable, but he didn’t have the strength to get up. That punch to his jaw was so powerful, his mind went blank, his vision faded in and out, and his limbs turned to jelly. He was half-dazed and couldn't move.
"Ah! Y-You actually hit Big Scar!!" The nearby thugs were stunned, frozen for a moment before freaking out and shouting.
Shawn Young snorted and strode toward the thugs, face icy, eyes sharp with menace. He swept his gaze over them and said, "This is your last shot. Clean this place up—now. If I’m not satisfied, you’ll be licking it clean. Believe me or not, but don’t come crying later!"
The thugs shivered under Shawn Young’s icy, murderous stare. It was like being tossed naked into a freezer. They glanced at each other, totally lost. Shawn barked again, "Move it! Or do I need to say it twice?!"
One of the thugs, Big Scar's right-hand man, snapped out of his shock and pointed at Shawn Young, shouting, "Screw you! Stop trying to scare us! Guys, let’s get him—beat him to a pulp!"
With a wild yell, that thug charged at Shawn Young. Shawn’s eyes narrowed—time to make an example. He waited until the thug was right in front of him, then threw a lightning-fast right hook—"Thud"—straight into the thug’s gut. The guy groaned, pain shooting through his whole body, like his bile was about to burst out. But Shawn did something even crazier—he grabbed the thug by the neck, lifted him up, and tossed him right over the third-floor railing. He glared at the terrified thugs behind him and said coldly, "Mess with me again, and you'll end up just like him!"
As he finished, Shawn Young secretly cast a protective spell on the thug, shielding his upper body. Then he let go, sending the unlucky guy flying off the third floor—"Thump!" He crashed onto the ground below, howling like a slaughtered pig. His legs snapped under the impact, skin scraped off, blood pooling around him. He landed face-down and passed out cold in the street.
"Ah!! Shawn, you—you killed someone! This is bad! Run, quick!" Chicken turned pale and screamed, glancing down to see the thug lying motionless in a pool of blood, convinced Shawn Young had killed him.
Shawn Young ignored Chicken’s panicked shouts. He fixed a cold glare on the three thugs left in the hallway and said grimly, "I told you—never doubt my words. Trust me, you’ll end up just like that guy downstairs!"
The three thugs were scared out of their wits. They never expected the handsome, well-dressed Shawn Young to be so ruthless. They thought he was just bluffing, but he turned out to be the real deal—a stone-cold killer. As the saying goes, "The tough fear the ruthless, the ruthless fear the reckless, and the reckless fear the crazy!" Shawn Young was clearly the crazy type—he could kill without blinking, either nuts or just plain terrifying!
Without missing a beat, the three thugs scrambled on the floor, kowtowing frantically to Mrs. Gong, who was stunned speechless. They banged their heads so hard the floor echoed. Terrified Shawn Young wouldn’t be satisfied, they wailed and begged: "Ma’am, we’re sorry—we’re trash, we deserve to die, we’re guilty! We’re not even human! Please forgive us, ma’am, please don’t hold it against us! We’ll clean everything up—right now!"
"Hurry up! You’ve got ten minutes. If I still smell anything nasty, you’re going out the window too!" Shawn Young barked at them.
"Ten minutes?!" The three thugs' eyes widened. Ten minutes to clean this dump was way too short.
Shawn Young didn’t care. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. "You’ve got nine minutes and forty seconds left! If I’m not satisfied when time’s up, you’ll find out what ‘dead’ really means!"
At his words, the three thugs jumped up like they’d been electrocuted and scrambled to clean the floor and room, working themselves into a frenzy. Only then did Shawn Young turn to Mrs. Gong and ask gently, "Ma’am, don’t worry. With me here, no one’s going to bully you again! Are you feeling okay?"
Mrs. Gong was still shaken by Shawn Young’s earlier actions. Seeing him care so much, she nodded repeatedly, her voice trembling: "I-I’m okay—really, I’m okay—"
Noticing how scared she was, Shawn Young realized he’d frightened her. He quickly explained, "Ma’am, I’m Joanna’s classmate and good friend. I heard about your family’s troubles, so I came to check on you today!"
"Oh! Oh!" Mrs. Gong breathed a sigh of relief, but still didn’t dare say much. In her eyes, Shawn Young was a ruthless, scary guy—one wrong word and she’d be in big trouble.
Shawn Young saw her hesitation and understood her fear. He didn’t have time to explain further—he was most worried about Joanna’s whereabouts. So he asked, "Ma’am, where’s Joanna? Why isn’t she here with you?"
"Joanna—she left early this morning without eating. I don’t know where she went, maybe out borrowing money from relatives and friends? Poor girl, her gambling-addict father dragged her into this mess! My Joanna’s life is so hard!" Mrs. Gong started sobbing as she spoke about her daughter, tears streaming down her face. She coughed violently in her distress.
"Uh—Ma’am, please don’t get upset. Don’t worry, I’ll settle this debt for you! Right now, let’s focus on finding Joanna!" Shawn Young hurried over to comfort her, gently rubbing her back.
"Oh! Oh! Thank you so, so much!" Mrs. Gong nodded excitedly.
Just then, Big Scar’s phone rang in his pocket as he lay dazed on the hallway floor. He finally regained a bit of consciousness, struggled to prop himself up against the wall, and shakily pulled out his phone. When he answered, his face went blank, then he started sobbing, "Got it, I’ll leave right away, Chief, why didn’t you call sooner? I—I got beat up!"