Luo Ren had studied the terrain beforehand, moving quickly through streets and alleys. The ancient city was built along the mountainside, and most tourists were unwilling to climb up and down. Therefore, the higher up the mountain, the fewer people there were, especially at night. Some alleyways closed their doors early, with only a lantern or two left to add charm to the ancient city.

This made things easier for Mu Dai. With crowds, displaying martial arts would cause some apprehension, but with no one around, there were no concerns. She generally took two steps to get on a roof, stepping on eaves to flip across alleys from a commanding height. Luo Ren couldn’t shake her off, no matter what. Once or twice, she suddenly flipped down from the rooftop with an aerial knife-hand strike, forcing Luo Ren into an awkward defensive position.

However, Luo Ren had also figured out Mu Dai’s style. Generally speaking, men and women who practice martial arts have different strengths, and few women train in external hard-style techniques. To give a simple example, those who break stones with their chests are large, burly men—has anyone ever seen a woman mistreating her own chest that way?

Mu Dai likely practiced lightness techniques. First, girls are naturally lighter, giving them an advantage. Second, back in Chongqing, her “wall-climbing gecko” move had already revealed her style.

But nothing in this world is perfect. If all her energy were spent on lightness techniques, hand-to-hand combat would be her weakness.

Luo Ren made up his mind. At the next alley intersection, he suddenly changed direction, darting into a not-so-dense grove of trees. Mu Dai, following closely, hesitated for a moment but still pursued him.

The grove wasn’t like the alleyways. First, it was dark, making it difficult to see. Second, there were too many branches that would entangle arms and legs, making it hard to maneuver. Third…

Mu Dai became somewhat anxious. Luo Ren had disappeared into the grove. Unless he had gone underground, he must be hiding behind a tree.

She wasn’t skilled at this kind of skulking combat. She preferred the kind where the arena was brightly lit, not avoiding people or fearing light.

There seemed to be movement behind her. Mu Dai’s body trembled as she quickly turned around. On that side, the tree shadows were swaying unusually.

Mu Dai held her breath and walked in that direction. After just a couple of steps, a hand suddenly rested on her shoulder from behind.

This was the moment!

Mu Dai clenched her teeth, her shoulder tilting sideways, grabbing Luo Ren’s wrist and pulling forward. If it were an ordinary person, they would have been flipped over her head. Unfortunately, Luo Ren’s stance was too stable, and his strength exceeded hers. Midway through the pull, Mu Dai realized something was wrong. Her thoughts quickly adapted, and she planted one foot against a nearby tree trunk. Using Luo Ren’s force, her body inverted and rose upward, head down and feet up, ascending nearly two meters high.

With this momentum, if she could flip in mid-air, she would be up in the tree. Where could he catch her then? But Luo Ren moved with lightning speed, shouting “Come down!” as his hands grabbed both her shoulders and forcefully pulled her down.

Mu Dai was practically slammed to the ground. Her lightness technique was truly good; she rose as soon as she touched the ground. Just as she stood up, Luo Ren’s hand again rested on her shoulder. Mu Dai made a bold decision. With her right elbow slightly bent, she rammed her body backward, her elbow root slamming hard into Luo Ren’s ribs.

This move was risky, as she had to crash into the opponent’s embrace first, but if the impact was hard enough, the opponent would be in too much pain to counter, and she could immediately turn the tide.

Hearing Luo Ren’s painful groan, Mu Dai was delighted. To her surprise, in the next moment, he suddenly reached forward and pinned her arms and body together, while his other hand raised a cold blade to her neck.

Mu Dai’s mind went blank. She suddenly remembered something her master often said.

Between masters, life and death are decided in an instant.

Her master said, when masters face off, all that talk about fighting for three days and three nights with hundreds of moves is nonsense. One weakness, and victory is decided—in serious cases, life and death are determined.

The time was very short. Ten seconds? Fifteen seconds? Only two or three exchanges, and she was already utterly defeated.

The fight had been intense, but now it was terrifyingly quiet. The scent of trees filled her nostrils, but all her sensory nerves were focused on that cold line against her neck.

Luo Ren asked her, “Do you know what mistake you made?”

She didn’t know. Perhaps she shouldn’t have given chase? Everything happened too quickly. Was she going to die now?

A great fear suddenly rose from the depths of Mu Dai’s heart.

The knife seemed to press a bit tighter. Luo Ren leaned close to her ear and asked, “Any last words?”

Last words? Mu Dai’s body trembled slightly. Heroes and brave men would usually lift their heads at this point and say something like “Kill me if you want, I’m at your mercy,” or gnash their teeth, saying “I’ll never forgive you even as a ghost.”

She seemed incapable of either.

This morning, she had even applied a face mask. Moments ago, she was still despising Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua for their collusion. How could she be facing death now?

Her nose stung, and without realizing it, tears were already streaming down her face, dropping onto Luo Ren’s knife-holding hand.

For quite a while, Luo Ren didn’t speak. After some time, he said rather helplessly, “How can you be so easily frightened?”

Mu Dai truly started crying.

Since she was going to die anyway, since she had already lost face, couldn’t she cry? Mu Dai reached up to wipe her tears, not even noticing that Luo Ren’s restraint had already loosened considerably.

“Mu Dai, I’ll let you go now, but you must listen to three things I say. Go back and think carefully about these three things.”

Mu Dai only heard the words “let you go,” froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

“First, did you see me harm Huo Zihong?

“Second, there was a person named Huo Zihong in Luoma Lake, living at 12 Chen Qian Lane. Her parents were vegetable vendors. Her family was poor, and she dropped out after second grade of elementary school to help her parents at their stall. Go back and observe your Aunt Hong—does she match this description?”

“Third…”

Upon saying “third,” he paused: “I’m letting you go now, but don’t look back. If you do, don’t blame me for changing my mind.”

After speaking, he gave Mu Dai a gentle push on her back.

Mu Dai walked forward mechanically, her steps uneven, her mind buzzing with disbelief, but she truly didn’t look back.

Watching Mu Dai walk away, Luo Ren clutched his side and crouched down.

Mu Dai returned to the bar in a daze. The place had already been cleared out, and Yi Wansan and the others were gathered around Huo Zihong, asking detailed questions. Mu Dai walked straight over and called out, “Aunt Hong.”

There was a faint red mark around Huo Zihong’s neck, likely from being strangled by Luo Ren. She looked up and noticed Mu Dai’s slightly swollen eyelids, her heart skipping a beat. Just as she was about to say something, Mu Dai spoke first: “I didn’t catch him.”

Then she added, “I’m going back to my room.”

Huo Zihong had already noticed she was covered in dirt and knew that even though she hadn’t caught him, she had been in a fight. Not wanting to follow her directly, she gave Yi Wansan a meaningful look. Yi Wansan quickly ran after her, and Cao Yanhua, unable to stay put, followed step by step.

Mu Dai climbed the stairs with heavy steps. As she pushed open her door, she was suddenly overcome with grief. Her legs weakened, and she fell to her knees, then collapsed face-down on the floor.

Under normal circumstances, Yi Wansan might have thought she was practicing some “ground-crawling gecko” technique, but this time, he knew it was different and hurried over: “Young Boss, Young Boss, the floor is dirty.”

As he spoke, he was at a loss for what to do, wanting to help her up but not daring to. It was Cao Yanhua who was thoughtful, quickly bringing over a pillow from her bed: “Here, Sister Mu Dai, let’s put this under you.”

Mu Dai lifted her head, tucked the pillow under her face, and said chokingly, “I’m so pathetic.”

Yi Wansan comforted her: “Just because you didn’t catch him doesn’t mean you’re pathetic, Young Boss.”

Mu Dai let out a moan-like whimper, her face buried in the pillow, her voice muffled: “He said he would kill me, and I cried out of fear.”

Cao Yanhua became excited: “It’s perfectly normal to cry from fear, Sister Mu Dai! Who isn’t afraid of death? Crying from fear shows that you love life and cherish it. Those who don’t fear death are being extremely irresponsible toward their families and society…”

He rambled on for a long time. Mu Dai, with little energy, said, “You should go. I need some time alone.”

Cao Yanhua had no choice but to leave with a sigh. At the door, he couldn’t help looking back at her and asked Yi Wansan, “What’s wrong with her?”

Yi Wansan said: “It seems our Young Boss has experienced a complete… domination.”

As he said the word “domination,” he made a forceful pressing-down gesture with one hand, mentally uttering a single word.

Delightful!

After the lights were turned off, Huo Zihong and Zhang Shu, still worried, came to check on Mu Dai. There was no one on the bed, and both the quilt and pillow were missing. Huo Zihong walked to the closet and slid the door open a crack.

Mu Dai was hugging her quilt, face buried in the pillow, already asleep.

Huo Zihong sighed, closed the closet door again, and spoke softly to Zhang Shu as they walked out.

“This is exactly what I worry about with her. Mu Dai’s character is too rigid, without any flexibility. She’s either haughty or dejected, never anything in between.”

“Boss, about today’s incident, should we call the police?”

“It’s better to have fewer problems than more. Let it go. When running a business away from home, some people will inevitably cause trouble.”

…

In the closet, Mu Dai slowly opened her eyes.

“Her family was poor, and she dropped out after second grade of elementary school to help her parents at their stall. Go back and observe your Aunt Hong—does she match this description?”

Luo Ren exhaled sharply as he took off his shirt.

In the mirror was a man with a tall, solid physique, bronze-colored muscles with a subtle sheen, and a large bruise on his ribs.

Luo Ren wrung a cold towel and folded it to place on the injury. As soon as he applied it, he sharply inhaled from the sting.

He gritted his teeth in frustration: “I should have given her a cut.”

From a speakerphone nearby, Uncle Zheng’s concerned voice inquired: “Are you badly hurt? If necessary, you should go to the hospital.”

“It’s nothing. I’m not that fragile.” Luo Ren pressed the towel, turned off the speaker, and held the phone to his ear: “How is Pin Ting?”

Uncle Zheng sighed on the other end: “The same as always.”

He continued: “Luo Ren, you should come back to see her.”

Luo Ren’s posture stiffened. After a moment of silence, he deliberately changed the subject: “I met Huo Zihong. I feel that she knows something. These three similar cases must have some connection between them.”

Uncle Zheng laughed bitterly: “You’re just too obsessive. You’ve been investigating for so long, have you found any results? There are so many people in the world who have had their left foot cut off—do they all have connections to each other? I searched online; cutting off feet isn’t rare. In ancient times, it was called ‘yue zu’ and was one of the five major punishments.”

The corner of Luo Ren’s lips curved slightly: “If things progress smoothly with Huo Zihong, we’ll have results soon.”

Uncle Zheng was somewhat worried: “It can’t be that simple, right? Didn’t you almost get injured by her… adopted daughter?”

“Her?” Luo Ren laughed, “She’s like a cat with its fur standing on end—poke her, and she’ll bare her teeth and claws, jumping high. But tonight, I’ve declawed her.”

Uncle Zheng reproached him: “It’s better to resolve enmity than to deepen it. Don’t go too far.”

Luo Ren lazily replied: “Different positions, each relying on their abilities. What’s too far or not…”

His gaze suddenly fell on the straight-bladed, cold steel combat knife lying on the table.

After finishing the call, he tossed the towel aside and lay flat on the bed.

The ceiling was also made to look aged, with a European-style four-leaf fan on top, purely decorative, with antique bronze openwork patterns.

Luo Ren stared at it for a while, then suddenly sighed and said softly: “Why did you have to cry?”