She stood completely rigid. To her surprise, Yin Feng understood what the man was saying. He raised his head, still looking at You Mingxu, but his expression suddenly turned defiant: “I know who you are now! You’re Luo Yu’s people. Ah Xu… Ah Xu isn’t his! She doesn’t belong to him!”

You Mingxu gritted her teeth and shouted, “Yin Feng, shut up!” This foolish boy, didn’t he know when to back down?

Sure enough, the men snickered, and one said, “Paying debts, drowning thieves, a life for a life—it’s the natural order of things. Come on, what are we waiting for?”

Two men twisted Yin Feng’s arms while another pressed down on the back of his head. Yin Feng’s entire face tensed as he struggled desperately. The two men immediately started punching and kicking him. You Mingxu could only hear Yin Feng’s muffled groans, and she felt like she was about to explode. But the cold iron rod remained pressed against her throat, and nearby, the dagger was still pointed at Liu Ruyu.

“Stop! Come at me instead!” You Mingxu shouted.

They acted as if they hadn’t heard her and pushed the upper half of Yin Feng’s body into the water. You Mingxu watched clearly as his lips pressed tightly together, his face ashen as he closed his eyes. After being held under for a while, he was struggling to breathe underwater, constantly releasing bubbles, his head shaking. But the thugs, with their tattooed arms, held him down firmly.

You Mingxu suddenly found herself unable to make a sound. The person under the water’s surface appeared blurry. When his struggles gradually slowed, the two men exchanged glances before finally pulling him up. Yin Feng’s usually handsome face was now distorted and pale beyond recognition. His eyes were vacant, his lips trembling, like a dying fish suddenly given oxygen, taking deep, heavy breaths.

At that moment, he saw You Mingxu. That nearly broken face suddenly regained a hint of consciousness. Looking at her, in this most helpless and wretched moment since they’d met, those clear eyes gradually filled with tears.

You Mingxu felt her heart contract sharply, a silent but piercing pain. A voice in her head said: Don’t cry, Yin Feng, don’t cry. Don’t be afraid, I’m here.

But he had already slowly closed his eyes.

Then they pushed him underwater again. Once more came the desperate breathing, the futile struggles, the brush with death. Then they showed mercy by pulling him up, letting him catch a few breaths.

Then pushed him under again.

Yin Feng no longer looked at her. He breathed desperately, his face more distorted, his breathing weaker, no longer making futile resistance, allowing them to torture him like a puppet.

You Mingxu’s hands slowly clenched into fists against the ground. She felt a throbbing in her eye sockets, a strange sensation. Then she felt something cool on her face; she reached up to wipe it and found it wet. She bit her teeth, making no sound. She gradually stopped hearing the sounds coming from Yin Feng’s direction. In life’s most crucial moments, the heart can somehow become incredibly silent. Her ears twitched, first catching movement from the mountaintop.

Soon, the men also noticed it, all stopping their actions to look up. You Mingxu knew perfectly well that reinforcements would take at least ten minutes to come down the mountain, but this was the moment she had been waiting for. She pushed against the ground with both hands—these few minutes of pause had allowed her exhausted body to recover somewhat. She sprang up from the ground, and before she was fully standing, her foot had already kicked the arm of the man threatening Liu Ruyu with the dagger. He had no time to react as the dagger fell. You Mingxu grabbed the dagger and rolled across the ground toward the two men holding Yin Feng. The dagger cut mercilessly into their calves, at least an inch deep, making them cry out in pain.

Just then, the iron rod struck You Mingxu’s back.

The man with the rod, panicked when striking, suddenly remembered the boss’s orders: the woman must not be harmed at any cost. Although he quickly reduced his force, the rod still hit You Mingxu solidly.

You Mingxu’s body contracted from the blow, her movement distorted as she let out a grunt and crashed directly into Yin Feng. The two men had already released him, and he lay on the ground, hoarsely coughing but motionless.

The people on the mountaintop noticed something was wrong, and several flashlight beams shone down. Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, the men fled. You Mingxu couldn’t chase them anymore. She sat up from the ground, feeling an intense, dull pain in her back. She paused, took a breath, and without making a sound, reached out her arms to pull Yin Feng up from the ground. His face was deathly pale, his body still trembling, his eyes fixed and slightly vacant as he stared at her. You Mingxu fought back tears and pulled him tightly into her embrace.