That pitch-black muzzle made Ye Tianxie’s eyes narrow at once, yet the smile on his face grew all the brighter. He took a step forward and said idly, “You’d best put the gun down nice and obediently. I’m not very fond of people pointing guns at me — otherwise, the consequences might be more than you can bear.”
“Hmph, idiot.” The man in black holding the gun let out a cold snort, as if he’d heard some laughable joke. The leader said coldly, “Cut the nonsense. Deal with him.”
Bang!
By the 23rd century, the silencing on handguns had trended ever closer to flawless perfection; when a bullet left the barrel, all it stirred up was the faintest possible clap of sound.
Ten paces — Ye Tianxie was no more than ten paces from them, and the instant the shot rang out, the bullet had already struck him square between the brows. His steps came to a halt along with it.
“Mmph, mmph… mmph, mmph…” The girl squeezed her eyes shut in despair, not daring to watch the scene of this suddenly-appeared man toppling with blood spraying from his head — but at once, a faint “ding” reached her ears, seemingly the sound of some piece of metal dropping onto hard ground.
All around, it suddenly went quiet — quiet as a ghost realm. A faint breeze blew past, and on this high-summer night, this wind that should have carried a soothing coolness instead set all four men in black shuddering head to toe, as if it were a hellish, sinister gust invading their very marrow and hearts.
The bullet hadn’t stirred up a single drop of blood; in the four men’s shrinking pupils, that bullet simply dropped from Ye Tianxie’s forehead, dropped to the ground, and let out a sound that all but stopped their hearts.
What… had they just seen?!
An illusion? Or had something gone wrong with their eyes…
The girl finally worked up the courage to open her eyes, and looking at Ye Tianxie — unharmed, without a single wound anywhere on him — she could scarcely believe them.
Ye Tianxie reached up and lightly pressed the spot where the bullet had just struck him, the corner of his mouth slowly splitting into a smile that, in the eyes of the four men in black, was like a fiendish demon straight out of hell… Though the bullet hadn’t wounded him, there was still at least a little pain. Thinking back, he could no longer remember when the last person who’d dared point a gun at him had died.
With a thud, the silver handgun dropped to the ground. The man in black’s hands shook violently as if in the throes of a fit — at such close range, the person before him had actually blocked the bullet with his body, and with his head no less. The visual shock of that moment and the enormous, ghost-seeing terror shattered his psychological defenses outright.
“An esper!” The leader’s face went pale, and his feet took an involuntary step back. The world of espers — that was another stratum his kind of mortal had no right even to touch… No sooner had his retreating foot touched the ground than a black shadow rushed up before him on a cold, sinister gust of wind, and then a searing pain came from the region of his heart. In the instant before his consciousness winked out, that terrible man’s voice faintly reached his ears: “I’m sorry — I’m not.”
The four men in black fell almost at the same moment; even the accumulated time-lag between first and last wouldn’t have exceeded a second. Even without the cover of night, no one could have made out just why they’d toppled straight to the ground. Ye Tianxie clapped his hands and said, full of pity, “I’d only meant to turn you into four idiots — but since you’re all so eager to die, I’ll spare myself the effort and grant your wish.”
Waggling his eyebrows, Ye Tianxie walked up before the girl under her dazed gaze, propped up her body, snapped the ropes binding her hands, then peeled the tape off her mouth. By the faint light, a beautiful face wearing a distinct daze appeared before him, smooth long hair somewhat disheveled draped down her back, her elegant, graceful features carrying an allure that could rob a man of his very soul. And her pale complexion couldn’t conceal the seemingly inborn noble air about her… This was surely no girl from an ordinary household.
“All right, you can go home now.” Ye Tianxie said, supporting her body, but a good while passed without any answer from her. The girl leaned half against his chest, tears glimmering in her eyes like starry diamonds touched with dew, her lips slightly parted, fine pearly teeth biting a lip drained of all color, the wings of her nose trembling faintly, even her breaths coming faint and weak. She still hadn’t fully recovered from one shock after another.
The girl was slender and willowy, tall enough to be less than half a head shorter than Ye Tianxie. Leaning close, a strong masculine scent drilled into her nose, and in her daze she forgot the situation she was in, not even noticing that she was leaning in a man’s arms, just gazing dazedly at him like this… A vast dark night, a despairing beautiful girl, a few utterly vicious villains, a man descending from the heavens with sky-high Charm and combat power alike… who then beats down the villains and rescues the helpless maiden…
Oh, for crying out loud — why is this plotline so damn familiar?!
But cliché and hackneyed as this plotline was, it was also the beautiful dream of nearly every young girl. Looking at the Prince Charming right before her eyes, the girl felt a beautiful, fantastical sense of being within a dream.
A heavier, more brazen sensation came from her waist — a scorching-hot big hand was making “intimate” contact with her through her clothing. The girl’s lovely face flushed faintly, her jade-white neck a wash of pink, and then she came to with a start, jerking her body away as if electrocuted, looking at him in flustered alarm.
Ye Tianxie turned away and said coolly, “Farewell, beautiful young lady. Mind your safety from now on — best not to go out alone this late.”
I was almost kidnapped, and then he suddenly appeared… then blocked the bullet with his body like some superman… and then those four men all collapsed… The scenes from moments ago played out in the girl’s mind, and by the time she’d finally untangled the chaos in her head, Ye Tianxie had already walked a good distance off.
“Wait a moment… what’s your name?!” The girl, somewhat drained of strength from the fright, propped herself against the car and shouted loudly.
Ye Tianxie’s steps didn’t pause, and he replied mildly, “Lei Feng.”
“Lei Feng? Lei Feng, your… lollipop dropped.” The girl picked up the lollipop that had fallen from Ye Tianxie’s body off the ground and called out in an extraordinarily strange tone.
Ye Tianxie’s feet stumbled… If there’d been a manhole cover beside him right then, he’d have lifted it and crawled in without a moment’s hesitation. He quickened his pace and bolted off in a puff of smoke… What a magnificent hero-saves-the-beauty scene, what a towering, larger-than-life heroic image… all ruined by a single lollipop.
“Hey! Don’t go yet…” the girl shouted loudly, but got no response from Ye Tianxie. Watching his rapidly retreating back, the girl’s gaze went faintly hazy — she had the dim feeling she’d seen this back somewhere before.
(End of Chapter 27)