Chapter 4

The man stared at her as he slowly stepped out of the car.

Shangguan Xuan glanced at him and noticed that at some point, he had also picked up a crowbar. He must have prepared it inside the car beforehand.

The man advanced toward her one step at a time, forcing her to retreat repeatedly.

Suddenly, he raised the crowbar high and swung it directly at her head.

Shangguan Xuan remained calm. She turned sideways to evade it while swinging the iron rod in her hand toward the back of the man’s neck.

The man bent forward with the momentum and dodged the blow.

Shangguan Xuan was slightly surprised. She had not expected him to be so skilled, though when she thought about it, it was hardly strange.

Some time ago, she had followed a news story about several serial murders in the eastern district of S City. The killer was a man in his thirties who drove a taxi with cloned license plates. He frequently picked up young female passengers at night, took them to remote locations, and murdered them.

Shangguan Xuan had been a race car driver and was extremely familiar with vehicle performance and modifications. She could tell at a glance whether a license plate was fake. Moreover, the ornament hanging inside his taxi was identical to the one seen in the vehicle linked to the crimes, and a dried red substance was faintly visible in the gap around the trunk. It looked very much like blood.

From this, she could conclude that there was a nine-in-ten chance the man before her was the serial killer the police had been pursuing for more than two months. Since he was a serial killer, he must have possessed some skill; otherwise, he could not have claimed so many victims.

Shangguan Xuan began to feel grateful that the original character’s ​Read on BaiLianTales​body was not as frail as Lin Fei’s. She had practiced a few fighting techniques with her bodyguard, A-Cheng, since childhood. Otherwise, she truly would not have known what to do today.

At that moment, the man swung the crowbar at her again. The fifty- or sixty-centimeter-long crowbar sliced through the still air with an eerie sound. If its sharp hook caught Shangguan Xuan’s body, it would undoubtedly tear away a large chunk of flesh.

Shangguan Xuan no longer underestimated him. She raised the iron rod to block the attack. A deafening clang rang out, and the rod vibrated with a metallic hum. The impact also made her hand tremble slightly.

The man, meanwhile, stumbled several steps backward before regaining his balance.

Shangguan Xuan stepped forward and swept her leg toward his lower body. The man lifted his leg to evade her while swinging the crowbar toward the left side of her face.

Shangguan Xuan blocked it with the iron rod again. Taking advantage of the motion, she caught the crowbar’s hook with her rod and pulled hard, wrenching it from the man’s grip. The crowbar fell to the ground with a clang.

The man looked surprised. Before he could react, Shangguan Xuan turned sideways and drove her elbow into his abdomen.

The man let out a muffled groan of pain and doubled over.

Shangguan Xuan brought her elbow down against his back. The blow knocked him to the ground, and she immediately raised the rod and struck him with all her strength—once, twice, three times.

Each blow landed with a dull thud. The man curled up on the ground, covering his head as she beat him.

As she struck him, Shangguan Xuan spat at him and cursed, “You animal! Who knows how many more people a monster like you would hurt if you remained alive? I might as well beat you to death!”

She aimed her final blow at his temple.

Realizing the danger, the man suddenly reached out and wrapped both arms around her right leg. Shangguan Xuan lost her balance and fell backward, hitting the ground with a thud.

Seizing the opportunity, the man staggered to his feet and fled.

Just then, police sirens began wailing outside the industrial district. Several police cars slowly drove in, their blinding headlights illuminating the man. He instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes.

Several detectives rushed forward and subdued him completely.

Shangguan Xuan climbed to her feet and rubbed her aching back before walking toward the car behind her.

Lin Fei was still unconscious. Shangguan Xuan sat in the back seat and sniffed the air, detecting a strange smell inside the car. It smelled like some kind of knockout drug.

The clothes covering Lin Fei’s upper body had been torn to shreds, and her bra had been pulled halfway down, exposing half of her breast.

Shangguan Xuan looked away uncomfortably and reached out to pat her cheek. “Hey, wake up!”

Lin Fei let out a soft moan in her daze, then slowly opened her eyes.

Shangguan Xuan kept her eyes turned elsewhere, only occasionally stealing a glance at her from the corner of her eye.

Upon waking, Lin Fei felt a cool sensation across her chest. She lowered her head to look and immediately flushed bright read the original at bailiantales.com red. Hurriedly propping herself up, she covered herself with one arm. When she raised her eyes and saw Shangguan Xuan’s shifty expression, she slapped her hard across the face without a second thought.

The sharp smack was especially jarring.

The blow turned Shangguan Xuan’s head slightly to one side. She covered her cheek, seemingly unable to react. A moment later, she stared at Lin Fei in astonishment and snapped, “What’s wrong with you? I saved you, and you still hit me?”

It was only her first day after transmigrating, yet this woman had already slapped her twice and bitten her. How could she be so unlucky as to encounter such a vicious hellion?

Lin Fei regarded her suspiciously. “You saved me? Since when were you that kindhearted?”

Shangguan Xuan was speechless with anger. “Believe whatever you want. Hmph!” With that, she turned and walked away.

A-Cheng came running toward them from a distance, followed by several police officers. Several high-powered flashlights brightly illuminated the industrial building.

Shangguan Xuan had only taken a few steps when she stopped. After thinking for a moment, she removed her leather jacket and tossed it to Lin Fei.

Lin Fei caught the jacket and looked up at her.

“Miss…”

A-Cheng looked Shangguan Xuan up and down, checking her for injuries.

Shangguan Xuan said, “I’m fine.”

The man was handcuffed and placed inside a police car.

Two police officers then approached and asked, “Who is the victim?”

Shangguan Xuan glanced behind her.

Lin Fei staggered out of the car, drawing everyone’s attention.

One of the officers walked over to Lin Fei. “Miss, are you all right?”

Lin Fei shook her head.

The officer said, “Then we’ll have to trouble you to come with us and give a statement.” He turned to Shangguan Xuan and continued, “You as well. You helped the police capture this murderer, so you’ll receive a reward. Since you’re also a witness, we’ll need you to come with us and give a statement.”

Shangguan Xuan replied, “All right, no problem.”

Lin Fei followed behind Shangguan Xuan. As she watched her retreating figure, she instinctively pulled the jacket more tightly around herself.

The two were placed in another police car, while A-Cheng followed behind in their own vehicle.

Shangguan Xuan and Lin Fei sat at opposite ends of the police car’s back seat. They kept so bailiantales.commuch distance between them that there was enough room for two more people in the middle.

Shangguan Xuan took a compact mirror from her bag and examined the left side of her face. Several dark finger marks marred her fair cheek, overlapping with a few lighter ones. She gritted her teeth and glared angrily at Lin Fei beside her.

Lin Fei had turned her head toward the window and did not notice her gaze.

Shangguan Xuan put away the compact mirror. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. In more than twenty years of life, no one had ever slapped her. Why should she have to endure this woman hitting her again and again? Worse yet, after hitting her, Lin Fei did not feel the slightest bit guilty.

Shangguan Xuan glared fixedly at Lin Fei and silently ground her molars. When she noticed the jacket around Lin Fei’s body from the corner of her eye, she suddenly said, “Give me back my jacket!”

Lin Fei froze. She clutched the collar with one hand and peered warily at Shangguan Xuan, her cheeks faintly red.

Without the slightest hint of “gentlemanly conduct,” Shangguan Xuan immediately reached over and began tugging at the jacket.

Embarrassed and furious, Lin Fei said, “Let go… You pervert…”

“I’m taking back my own jacket. How does that make me a pervert?”

“I’ll give it back to you.”

Shangguan Xuan refused to relent. “I want it now!”

The jacket’s zipper was pulled more than halfway down. Lin Fei’s face reddened as she desperately shoved Shangguan Xuan away, secretly astonished by how strong the woman was.

Shangguan Xuan pinned Lin Fei against the back seat, leaning over her with her entire body.

No matter how one looked at it, their position was exceedingly suggestive.

Shangguan Xuan’s mind went blank, and her expression froze for a moment. Looking down at Lin Fei’s flushed face and furious glare, she could not help feeling awkward.

Heaven knew she had only intended to tease Lin Fei. She had not been trying to do anything else.

Lin Fei had one hand trapped in Shangguan Xuan’s grip while the other clutched the jacket tightly. Raising her voice, she shouted, “Get off me!”

Only then did Shangguan Xuan come to her senses. She raised her hands and started to get up.

Unexpectedly, the car suddenly braked hard. Because of the momentum, they both tumbled heavily from the seat onto the floor.

Shangguan Xuan’s eyes widened. Her right hand seemed to be touching something soft, while her lips had also landed against something equally soft.

Lin Fei’s eyes widened even more than hers. She hurriedly struggled off Shangguan Xuan, then fumbled frantically for the jacket’s zipper and pulled it all the way up.

The person in the driver’s seat turned to look at them and asked with concern, “Are you all right? The road is too dark here, and I didn’t notice the huge pothole ahead. I’m terribly sorry.”

Shangguan Xuan replied, “We’re fine.”

She then climbed to her feet and sat pressed against the window, though she could not help replaying what had just happened in her mind.

Hmm… It had felt pretty nice…

And tasted pretty good too…

It was just a shame that her first kiss was gone—just like that!

Shangguan Xuan lamented inwardly.

Lin Fei’s cheeks were crimson as she turned and glared at her resentfully.

Shangguan Xuan pretended not to notice and looked out the window.

Her anger was gone!

By the time they finished giving their statements, it was already one in the morning. Shangguan Xuan carried a commendation banner awarded by the police, along with a thick stack of cash as her reward. She placed the money in her bag.

Lin Fei turned on her phone and found dozens of missed calls, all from Gao Lan. She glanced at Shangguan Xuan, then walked to one side before returning Gao Lan’s call.

Shangguan Xuan quietly strained her ears to listen.

The phone rang several times before the call connected. The moment it did, Gao Lan launched into a furious barrage. “Lin, you finally decided to call me back? Do you have any idea how many times I’ve called you tonight? I’ve been waiting for you all night! When exactly are you coming over?”

Lin Fei frowned slightly and moved the phone away from her ear. Once Gao Lan had finished, she lowered her voice and said, “Something happened on my end. I’m coming over now.”

Gao Lan immediately asked, “What happened?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when I get there. My phone is about to die. I’m taking a taxi to your place now, so help me pay the fare when I arrive.”

“You…” Gao Lan fell silent for a moment before anxiously asking, “How can you not even have enough money for a taxi? Tell me—did Ye Shen do something to you again? Where have you been these past few days? I went to your company, but I couldn’t find you. Your coworkers said you resigned a long time ago. You’ve been hiding it from me this entire time, haven’t you? You…”

As Lin Fei listened, the stinging sensation in her nose grew stronger, and her eyes gradually reddened. All the grievances she had kept suppressed inside seemed ready to spill out through her tears.

She tilted her face upward and took a deep breath, but then suddenly smiled. At least there was still one person in this world who cared about her—and that person was Gao Lan.