Chapter 95: Encountering the Drunkard Again

The two of them walked and chatted, and time passed surprisingly quickly.

The road home wasn’t easy. They had to pass through a narrow alley, and after reaching the middle section, it suddenly opened up into a vast empty lot surrounded by tall blue sheet-metal fencing.

Years ago, this place had been plastered with advertisements.
The slogan said:

“In the heart of the city — embrace the future of cloud-living.”

The housing prices had been absurd, the kind of number an average person would need to work a hundred years—without eating or drinking—to afford.

Lin Yu still remembered passing by here, staring at that massive billboard, where handsome men and beautiful women toasted with champagne in an aerial garden.

And now—

The future never arrived.

After pocketing all the presale funds, the developers declared bankruptcy overnight.
The boss ran off with the money, leaving behind a rotten, half-built carcass—like an open wound on the city.

The giant concrete skeleton loomed in the darkness, rows of hollow windows staring like countless empty eyes, silently watching this sleepless city with despair.

Those who once dreamed of “embracing the future” now could only hang their tear-stained protest banners on the iron gate of this corpse-like site.

“Return our hard-earned money!”
“Shameless developers, justice will not forgive you!”

Black characters on white cloth fluttered in the bleak evening wind—like letters addressed to hell that no one would ever receive.

Wind slipped through the rusted gaps of exposed rebar, producing a low, mournful wail—like the quiet sobbing of the many families broken by this place.

Lin Yu pushed the rental shopping cart forward. The wheels rolled through a shallow puddle, kicking up a few droplets of cold, muddy water.

She instinctively pulled her thin uniform jacket tighter.
An unexplainable chill crawled up from her feet.

She didn’t know why, but it felt as if countless unseen eyes were hidden within the darkness around them, silently staring.

Just an illusion?

She swallowed.

This “girl’s body” she occupied seemed far more sensitive and fragile than she wanted to admit.

She used to walk at night without fear…

Just then, Luo Shaotian suddenly stopped.

“Ah—!”

The shabby shopping cart let out a miserable screech as she braked behind him.

“What’s wrong?”
Lin Yu jerked her head up.

Under the streetlamp ahead, several silhouettes stood waiting.
And then—

Behind them as well.

From the construction site’s shadows, from street corners and dark edges, men in cheap jackets with cigarettes dangling from their mouths emerged one by one—like zombies rising from the ground.

No—like them.

They didn’t approach immediately. They stared with mocking eyes, tightening their circle step by step.

Until the two of them and the silly shopping cart were penned tightly in the center.

What the hell?!

They’re robbers?!

Panic spiked in Lin Yu’s chest. Her hand instinctively brushed against the tactical holster strapped beneath her skirt.
The psychic-energy pistol was still there.

With that, she wasn’t worried about these scumbags.

Oh right. Acting. Acting…

She shrank behind Luo Shaotian, clutching the back of his jacket, pretending to be afraid.

Feeling her movement, Luo Shaotian reached back and squeezed her small hand gently.

“Don’t be scared.”

That strange mixture of embarrassment and relief flashed through her chest.
She had no time to sort out the feeling.

After calming her, Luo Shaotian turned forward.

“Something you want?”

His voice was calm—frozen-lake calm—revealing nothing.

He didn’t even look at their faces. He just shoved the shopping cart aside and cleared an empty area in front of him.

His nonchalance—as if he wasn’t surrounded by tens of armed thugs, but merely annoyed by ducks blocking the road—lit a fire of rage in every pair of eyes around them.

A burly man with a face full of fat stepped forward aggressively.

Lin Yu recognized him instantly.

The drunk who had harassed her at the food stall a few days ago—the one Luo Shaotian kicked into the air.

“Ohhh, looks like you do remember me, kid. You know damn well I’m here for you.”

Fatty Wang pointed a thick finger at Luo Shaotian.
Between anger and alcohol, his face was a blotchy purple, the muscles around his eyes twitching.

“What, you forget how you disrespected me at the barbeque stall?”

Luo Shaotian frowned, his eyes showing genuine confusion.

The inhibitor-suppressed memory seemed blurry.
For a moment, he truly couldn’t recall who this clown was.

“Don’t remember.”

He said the three words lightly.

They landed like water in boiling oil.

The crowd exploded.

“Hahaha!”
“This bastard’s playing dumb!”
“Wang-ge, he’s saying you’re nothing!”

Fatty Wang’s face turned from red to green—utterly humiliated.

“You little shit—still pretending?!”
Spit flew from his mouth.

“At the barbeque stall—Wang-ge bought you drinks. That was giving you FACE!
And what did you do? You dared tell me to get the hell lost?!”

He jabbed a finger at Luo Shaotian’s chest.
“Tonight I’ll show you EXACTLY how to ‘get lost.’”

Behind him, Lin Yu’s heart dropped.

It’s because of Luo Shaotian… no, because of me!
If she hadn’t dragged him to the stall that day—

She gripped the back of his jacket tighter, knuckles whitening.

Fatty Wang finally saw a flicker of recognition in Luo Shaotian’s gaze.

“Oh, you remembered?”
A cold smile tugged at Luo Shaotian’s lips.
“So what?”

The darkness in his eyes swirled—like a black vortex forming.

The pressure around him dropped sharply.

Lin Yu felt the muscles under her grip tense rapidly, turning solid like steel.

Shit—
He was losing control.

“‘So what?’”
Fatty Wang barked a laugh, oblivious to the danger.

“I know you can fight. Kicked me alone? Impressive!”

He gestured behind him at the fifteen sneering thugs.

“But today? There’re FIFTEEN of us.
Who the hell do you think you are—Ip Man? One against ten?”

The crowd burst into malicious laughter again.

But Luo Shaotian didn’t move.
The darkness in his eyes deepened.

Fatty Wang’s gaze drifted past Luo Shaotian—landing on Lin Yu.

And suddenly—

His turbid eyes lit up with a filthy spark.

“Well, well… brought your little girlfriend along?”

The invasive gaze crawled over Lin Yu’s body.
Her stomach twisted.

“Mmm… she’s pretty damn juicy.”

He licked his cracked lips and signaled to his boys.

“Look, kid—we don’t want a fight. This is a civilized society. Harmony, right?”

A thug stepped forward mockingly.

“This is easy. Just kneel to Wang-ge and bang your head three times.”

“Three kowtows? You dumb—”

Wang-ge kicked the thug aside, spat a thick blob of green phlegm on the ground—

“Ptuh—”

“Then lick it clean.”

“You finish that, and it’s over.”

Lin Yu shivered.

Not from fear of them—

But from him.

The magical-girl body was too sensitive.
She could feel Luo Shaotian’s aura—becoming dangerously volatile.

Oh no.

He can’t fight here.
If he truly lost control—

She felt sick with worry.
She wanted to rush forward, to stand in front of him.

But she couldn’t.
Not with this disguise.

Fatty Wang, oblivious to his own impending death, let his gaze slide down her pale thighs.

His eyes gleamed with revolting desire.

Then he let out a disgusting laugh and drawled:

“Of course, your lady friend here doesn’t need to kneel.
But—”

He paused deliberately, voice dripping with filth.

“…just imagining it already feels tight.”