Just as Yan Qi was comforting Hu Mengqing, telling her not to worry too much about the group of people outside their private room, the door was suddenly forced open with a heavy shove.
Immediately, seven or eight troublemakers, their skin haphazardly covered in tattoos that clearly marked them as local hoodlums, swaggered into the room.
Seeing these thugs intrude into their private room, Hu Mengqing, who was experiencing such a situation for the first time, couldn’t help but feel a wave of panic.
But the moment she remembered Yan Qi, several years her junior, standing beside her, Hu Mengqing quickly forced herself to calm down. She stepped forward, shielding Yan Qi behind her, and addressed the intruders.
“Who are you people? What do you want?”
The moment they entered and saw Yan Qi and the others, the gang’s leader, a man seasoned by years on the streets, instantly pegged them as students. Knowing students were unlikely to pose much resistance, he ignored Hu Mengqing’s question entirely.
Instead, he turned to the lackey beside him, whose face was bruised a motley of purples and blues. “Is the person who did this to you in here?”
Hearing his boss’s question, the thug—who’d earlier been caught using his supernatural ability to steal and subsequently beaten up for it—hurriedly scanned the room. His eyes landed on Zhao Jing, and recognizing him as his assailant, he immediately pointed a finger. “Boss! He’s the one who did this to me!”
Following the pointed finger, the gang leader fixed his gaze on Zhao Jing. “So, you’re the one who beat my man to a pulp?”
Noticing the gang leader’s intense focus on his friend Zhao Jing, Liu Sheng, sensing these men were likely here because of his best friend, leaned over and whispered, “Jing, what’s going on? I’ve got a feeling these guys are here for you.”
Hearing his friend’s words and knowing some explanations were inevitable, Zhao Jing replied, “No ‘feeling’ about it. They’re definitely here for me.”
“Why are you so sure?”
Instead of showing worry, Zhao Jing simply nudged his chin towards the thug. “You see that lackey next to the boss, the one with the messed-up face? Know why he looks like that?”
“I don’t know. Do you?”
“Of course I do,” Zhao Jing said matter-of-factly. “Because I’m the one who put those bruises there.”
“What? You did that? But why would you hit him?”
“What do you mean why? I caught him stealing. Was I just supposed to let it slide? Someone needed to teach him a lesson.”
“Stealing? This is the thief you mentioned before?” Liu Sheng asked, recalling their earlier conversation.
“Yeah,” Zhao Jing confirmed. “Otherwise, you think I’d go that hard on someone?”
“Jing, if you caught a thief, why didn’t you just hand him over to the police? Then he wouldn’t have been able to bring all these guys back to cause trouble.” Finally understanding the gang leader’s focus and the question, but confused by Zhao Jing’s choice, Liu Sheng couldn’t help but say it.
Hearing this, Zhao Jing took a moment to gather his thoughts about the earlier incident. “Old Liu, I did consider calling the cops initially. But the guy I caught… he’s special. I was worried the police wouldn’t be able to hold him, that he’d find a way to slip out. So, I didn’t call them. I figured a good beating would serve as a better reminder.”
“That’s your reason? For not turning a thief over to the police? Good grief, what were you thinking? However ‘special’ a thief is, he’s still just a person. There’s no way the police would let someone escape from their custody.”
“No, Old Liu, you don’t understand just how unusual this thief is. If you knew, you’d get why I made that call.”
“What?!”
“Hey! Hey! I’m talking to you!” the gang leader, Feng Wu, roared, his anger flaring as he watched Zhao Jing ignore him and whisper to his friend. “You whispering over there, ignoring me? You think I won’t shove your head in a toilet and make you eat shit?”
Zhao Jing, unaware of Feng Wu’s true strength and still riding the high of his newly acquired supernatural powers—feeling somewhat invincible—broke off his conversation with Liu Sheng. He looked up, meeting Feng Wu’s gaze without a trace of fear, a hint of a swagger in his tone. “What are you yelling for? Can’t you see I’m talking to my friend?”
Hearing the cockiness in Zhao Jing’s voice, the anger already simmering inside Feng Wu boiled over. Yet, he didn’t let rage consume him. Instead, he quickly reined it in. He gestured around the room at the other students, his voice dropping into a low threat. “I’ll yell if I want to. Now answer my question. Fast. Otherwise, you and all your little friends here are in for a world of hurt today.”
Hearing Feng Wu’s words and seeing his gesture, Zhao Jing understood the implicit threat against his classmates. He cursed the man inwardly. The casual ease vanished from his demeanor as he looked directly at Feng Wu and openly admitted, “Fine. Since you put it that way. Yes. I’m the one who beat your lackey.”
“Good. You’ve got guts, kid,” Feng Wu said with a cold sneer. “So, you dare to step outside and settle this with me, one-on-one?”