Chapter 46 (1/2)

Beating him until his head began to bleed.

Keeling over in pain, the man fell to its knees and covered his head with his free hand, trembling and screaming, “You evil monster! You are the evil monster that has come for Sheng! Sheng, run! Run quick! He’s the bad guy. Sheng, run quick!”

As his head lolled and blood trickled into his eyes, he stared at Jiang Jiusheng through his bloodied eyes, shouting at her to run away while Shi Jin just kept hitting him with the fire extinguisher every time he shouted.

Jiang Jiusheng was so stunned that she felt like her legs had turned to lead, rooting her to the ground. She watched helplessly as Shi Jin threw the fire extinguisher away, grabbed the man by his collar, slammed him up against the wall, and bludgeoned him on the head with a fist covered in blood.

It was as though the sight of this blood—or maybe even earlier, when he’d seen the blood from the wound on the back of Jiang Jiusheng’s hand—had triggered this frenzied act.

Capable of maintaining a sense of calculated calm in the face of trouble, quietly sizing up the enemy, and then waiting patiently for the opportunity to strike—nope, that was not him. At least, not in the current scenario. Jiang Jiusheng had to revise her previous understanding of Shi Jin, adding “ruthlessly vicious” to his other traits of gentle, well-bred, and gracious.

The man’s howls of despair became weaker.

“That’s enough!” Jiang Jiusheng commanded.

Shi Jin paused for a few seconds but did not stop hitting the man’s head, stomach, and the hand that wielded the knife, with rage and speed.

“Stop! You’ll kill him at this rate!” shouted Jiang Jiusheng.

“Then just let him die.”

That tone—so spine-chillingly cold.

Jiang Jiusheng had practiced mixed martial arts, and, based on what she had learned from the workshops she had attended on controlled violence, Shi Jin’s action would have been defined as beyond control with fatal consequences.

She raised her hand and caught Shi Jin’s arm.

“Shi Jin.”

Shi Jin looked at her, eyes blazing wild and red.

Keeping her trembling voice low, she asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

Shaken out of his trance, Shi Jin immediately unclenched his fist while his eyes slowly regained normalcy. Noticing his bloodied hands, he hid them behind his back, looking alarmed and confused.

“Sheng.”

He said her name carefully in a choked voice, sounding contrite, alternately stealing glances at her and looking down, like a child who had misbehaved.

This was a part of Shi Jin that was totally new to Jiang Jiusheng—alien, mysterious, and difficult to grasp. And yet, for some strange reason, she found it familiar. It was surreal. Like a childhood dream in which she was wandering endlessly and fearlessly in a long, quiet alley, trying unsuccessfully to find the endpoint or the way out of a seemingly familiar setting. Shi Jin was like that dream.

Surprisingly calm, she asked, “Did you follow me to the awards ceremony?”

Shi Jin’s reply of “yes” could hardly be heard above the howling and pleading of the prone man whose face had been beaten to a pulp.

“That car with my birthdate as a registration license—was it yours?” she asked, not appearing antagonistic, although her eyes had turned a tad cold.

Shi Jin did not respond immediately, waiting a long while before nodding. Unlike his usual suave and elegant self, he seemed desperate and unsure. He explained hurriedly, “I was concerned about you. Worried that the secret fans would harm you.”

To this, Jiang Jiusheng instantly replied, “You are also a secret fan.”

She regretted it the moment those words came out of her mouth. She had spoken out of turn and had no hidden agenda. She couldn’t understand the utter confusion that she had felt and just could not find the words to explain.

Shi Jin looked at her quietly, not saying a word.

“I—”