茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

The man followed Old Xia leisurely. With such composure, it was clear that this was not his first time tailing someone.

Xiang Kun trailed the man at a leisurely pace too, simultaneously using his extraordinary sensory abilities to gather various information about the man.

Based on his appearance, skin condition, and the state of his cardiopulmonary functions, Xiang Kun estimated the man’s age to be between 24 and 27.

Judging from his foot, leg, and hip movements while walking and how he exerted force, he didn’t seem to have undergone professional training; he was neither an athlete nor a martial artist.

Why was he braving the cold wind and harsh winter, stalking Old Xia outdoors?

Xiang Kun surmised that this seemingly wasn’t due to lust. He might be following Old Xia due to other reasons.

Earlier, when Xiang Kun and Xia Li Bing left the coffee shop, this man was obviously using his mobile phone to send messages to someone else. Was he setting up an ambush on Old Xia’s way home?

Could he be after the wealth in Old Xia’s house?

Considering his previous visit to Old Xia’s house, her family seemed to be financially well-off, and being the only child, could it be that someone desired to kidnap Old Xia and ransom her parents?

Or, was it due to Old Xia’s abnormal insight and observational abilities, as she might have discovered someone’s secrets, and they, unlike Xiang Kun, weren’t willing to negotiate and intended harm towards Old Xia?

Or maybe, was it related to the secrets Old Xia held? Her emotionless demeanor, high IQ, and peculiar behaviors, could she have crossed paths with someone’s vested interests?

These thoughts made Xiang Kun somewhat anticipatory, as he was growing increasingly confident in his abilities, and his sensory abilities superseded anyone else’s by many fold. Even if an irresistible threat were to occur, he could at least detect it in advance and escape with Old Xia.

Xiang Kun initially planned to plant a “Super Sensory Contact” bead on that man for tracking purposes, making it easier to locate him later.

But when Xia Li Bing, further upfront, suddenly got into a conflict with someone, it disrupted their covert equilibrium.

Although Xiang Kun kept a part of his attention on Xia Li Bing at all times, and his senses, through the “super sensory contact” coin, could precisely locate and gather more accurate sensory information, he knew exactly what was happening with Xia Li Bing.

A minute before, Xia Li Bing suddenly said to a tall man who walked out from the residential area, “Xiang Kun, what are you doing here?”

The man, wearing a black mask, lowered his head and walked forward without answering her.

Xia Li Bing directly blocked his path and said again, “Xiang Kun, it’s me!”

“You’ve got the wrong person.” The man in the mask gave her a glance and continued to walk around her.

Undeterred, Xia Li Bing insisted, “Xiang Kun, don’t think I won’t recognize you because you’re wearing a mask.” She then grabbed the man’s clothing.

The man in the mask violently shook off Xia Li Bing’s hand, turned back to her, and threatened fiercely, “Are you looking for trouble?”

Xia Li Bing still remained calm, unperturbed by his threats. Unbeknownst to the man, she had clenched her keys into her fist, with one key discreetly poking out through her knuckles, ready for a fight.

Then Xia Li Bing suddenly looked with surprise to the man’s left. While he instinctively looked in the direction of her gaze, she quickly removed his mask and quickly retreated several steps.

The man was startled momentarily, but quickly recovered, raising his arms to protect his face before starting to sprint away.

Xia Li Bing glanced in Xiang Kun’s direction then also started to sprint after him. Her long legs moved at a steady pace, and she wasn’t left behind by the tall man who seemed to be in excellent physical condition.

The man who had been following Xia Li Bing from afar cursed under his breath and started running after them too.

Xiang Kun quickly surveyed the situation and calculated the tall man’s running direction and trend. He didn’t immediately tail him but chose a shortcut instead.

After running for about ten minutes, the tall man turned into a dark alley, panting. After making a few turns, he stopped in front of a dead-end wall, hid himself in a shadow where the moonlight or lights from afar couldn’t reach him, and watched Xia Li Bing, who was also panting and had followed him into the alley.

“You bitch! We didn’t want to mess with you, but you’ve brought this onto yourself! If you’re seeking death, we’ll grant you that!” he said in an ominous tone.

Xia Li Bing slightly lowered her center of gravity, her arms slightly open, ready to pounce. Her left palm was open, her right hand clenched into a fist with a key sticking out between her fingers—she was ready to fight.

The next moment, footsteps echoed from within the alley. A young and sweaty man appeared—it was the man who had been watching Xia Li Bing outside the coffee shop.

Now, he too wore a black mask, concealing his face.

He blocked Xia Li Bing’s escape route, glanced at the tall man, sighed, pocketed his phone, and drew a tactical folding knife. With a flick, the blade shot out and locked into place.

Xia Li Bing slowly stood straight and retreated until her back touched the alley wall, ensuring she wouldn’t get attacked from behind.

If it were a mere contest of strength, she was at a disadvantage compared to the tall man. But she had her own strategies. Her years as a doctor weren’t in vain; her understanding of the human body allowed her to challenge the man’s resistance, while her calm mind, quick reflexes, and agile movements gave her an edge.

But this was all under the assumption that she had encountered the tall man outside her residential area. Even though it was late, there were still some pedestrians around. The security booth at the entrance to her residential area wasn’t too far away. In the event of a confrontation, she had the advantage of retreating.

Under normal circumstances, Xia Li Bing wouldn’t have chased the tall man, let alone follow him into this dark, quiet, and unfamiliar alley.

Who knows if the tall man had any weapons on him? Unless she had the element of surprise, she didn’t think she could take down an armed thug with just a key, even if he had only basic fighting experience.

Moreover, there were now two of them.

But since Xia Li Bing had decided to chase after them, she must have had a trump card.

Before the man with the tactical folding knife could speak or act, he was suddenly grabbed by the hair and yanked backward before being forcefully pushed forward. He was thrown face-first into the ground, even sliding a small distance forward, and naturally, the knife rolled away.

The owner of the hand was naturally Xiang Kun who, at some point, had silently appeared behind the knife-wielding man.

Compared to the other three people in the alley, Xiang Kun’s breathing was very steady, looking as if he had just strolled over and happened to run into them.

“Old Xia, come over,” Xiang Kun beckoned to Xia Libing.

With the knife-wielding man on the ground, no one was standing behind her anymore, so Xia Libing walked over and stood behind Xiang Kun as instructed.

“Call the police,” Xiang Kun said.

Xia Libing took out her phone and started dialing 110.

Hearing this, the tall man and the man who was scrambling to pick up his knife from the ground jumped a little, their ferocious gazes focusing on Xiang Kun.

“Damn it, this is not worth it! We need to charge more later! Kill them!” The tall man pulled out a slender object from his bosom, using it as a weapon, and charged at Xiang Kun.

“Step back, move away a bit.” Xiang Kun didn’t turn back; he just told Xia Libing to move, and then he moved to confront the two men.

Meanwhile, Xia Libing calmly reported the situation to the 110 operator on her phone while taking five or six steps back, her gaze intently watching Xiang Kun, who was dealing with the two thugs in the dimly lit alley.

Before coming to Citong City, Xia Libing had already concluded that Xiang Kun’s physical fitness was much better than that of the average person. According to her observations over the past few months, his fitness was still constantly changing and improving.

Whether it was his performance when faced with human traffickers or when she found a video online of Xiang Kun kicking a knife-wielding thug, and saving people at the scene of a car accident, all of it corroborated her assumptions about Xiang Kun’s physical fitness.

Not only was he physically strong, Xiang Kun was also extremely calm and composed when facing danger, likely derailing from a wealth of practical experience.

So she trusted Xiang Kun to handle these two men, even if they were armed.

In the worst-case scenario, she believed that she and Xiang Kun together could handle the two thugs and that there shouldn’t be any risk of losing their lives.

Of course, there was still a certain amount of danger for both her and Xiang Kun.

However, the moment she saw Xiang Kun appear, she realized that the danger was almost nonexistent. She wouldn’t need to intervene and could properly observe from the side.

As he was confronting the two thugs, Xiang Kun could feel Xia Libing’s watchful gaze. He knew Old Xia would seize this opportunity to observe him, to study him. This amused him, so he deliberately did not finish off the two thugs quickly.

From the moment he stepped into the alley, Xiang Kun already had dozens of plans to deal with these two men. In more than half of these plans, he didn’t even need to lift a finger.

Whether using mental deterrence or the hypnosis effect achieved through his combined techniques, he could easily subdue the two of them. He could also give them a “profound” mental impact like he did to Qi Haoguo.

However, considering that this incident would need the police to handle, and Old Xia was witnessing everything, Xiang Kun chose to physically tackle the two men.

With Xiang Kun’s current physical fitness, and his dynamic vision, reaction ability, resistance to physical impact, muscle strength, movement speed, explosive power, and so on, dealing with these two was like dealing with two rabbits. Even if they were armed with knives, there was no difference.

However, the fact that they showed their knives and what the tall man had said to Old Xia earlier determined how Xiang Kun would deal with them.

Xiang Kun didn’t finish off the two assailants quickly. Instead, he was recollecting the martial arts movies he watched as a child. He deliberately controlled his movements, darting and shifting amongst the two men in the narrow alley. He hovered in the air off the narrow alley wall, performing a two-stage kick, then a whirlwind kick, tiger-style boxing, crane-style boxing, Black Tiger Heart Dig, and even a White Crane Spreading Wings.

If the observers and witnesses were not Xia Libing but Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er, they would undoubtedly be filming everything with their phones by now.

Xiang Kun’s fighting style was indeed very pleasing to the eye, even more so than an action movie.

The two men were beaten up badly by Xiang Kun, but he skillfully controlled his strength to ensure they did not lose their fighting ability all at once.

At first, they were trying to fight desperately, but after getting beaten for a while, they realized that they were being toyed with by Xiang Kun and there was no chance of winning.

So they tried to run, but Xiang Kun wouldn’t allow it, chasing them back and continuing the beating.

They tried to attack Old Xia, who was calling the police, but again, they were dragged back and beaten.

With her eyes locked on Xiang Kun, Old Xia was simultaneously observing him and giving the 110 operator the detailed address and situation:

“…Yes, it’s near the Third Courtyard, about forty to fifty meters south of the Third Courtyard Station. Turn left into the houses there, and take the fourth alley on the left. Keep walking straight to the end. There are two of them, holding regulated knives, currently attacking my friend. Yes, knives. The situation? They’re still fighting, just hurry up and come. Oh, someone just got stabbed…”

A scream rang out, and the operator on the other end sounded very nervous. “The police are already on their way, you should get out of there and make sure you’re safe…”

In the alley, the tall man was screaming and swearing, clutching his buttocks. However, he wasn’t cursing at Xiang Kun, but his knife-wielding accomplice- because the one who stabbed his buttocks, the whole blade didn’t go in, wasn’t Xiang Kun, but his partner.

“I didn’t mean to…” The knife-wielding man reflexively pulled out the folding knife, causing another round of screaming and swearing from the tall man.

Xiang Kun kicked the knife-wielding man over to the crouching tall man. The knife in his hand almost stabbed the tall man’s face, frightening him. As a result, he angrily pinned his accomplice down and began beating him, and the two began to wrestle with each other.

Soon after, several police officers found their way over with the help of Xia Libing’s phone call. Upon seeing the two men, bloody and tangled in a fight, they couldn’t help but gape.

The two men were taken to the hospital by the police, and Xiang Kun and Xia Libing naturally had to accompany them to the police station.

Old Xia called his third uncle and aunt on the way, and after hearing about the situation, the couple rushed to the police station. Xiang Kun briefly told his family about the situation but didn’t tell his parents about the details to prevent them from worrying.

Although the two thugs were badly injured, their injuries were not severe. After a simple treatment, they were interrogated separately by the investigating officer. With a mix of threats and intimidations, they quickly confessed to their crimes.

So, with further evidence in hand, police cars whirred out to arrest more suspects.

Xia Libing’s third uncle and aunt were not from Citong, but they had been living in Citong City for over twenty years and had a deep network and influence there. Especially third uncle, who was also part of the system.

So very soon, they also figured out the situation and learned who the two thugs were and why they had attacked Xia Libing and Xiang Kun.