Coming to Myself

Then Yin Feng smiled at her, revealing his white teeth, his eyes full of light.

You Mingxu, carrying her backpack, walked up to him and asked, "How long have you been waiting?"

"An hour."

"Don't wait next time."

He didn't speak, nor did he agree.

The two walked side by side toward home, their long shadows stretching across the ground. Yin Feng said, "A Xu, my shadow is longer than yours." You Mingxu smiled. He reached out, placed his hand on top of her head, then measured it against his shoulder, chuckling softly before taking her backpack. You Mingxu said, "I can carry it myself."

"Let me do it, or you'll never grow taller," he said.

You Mingxu: "Hey, I'm 166 cm."

"I'm 186 cm."

As they approached the entrance to the residential complex, You Mingxu stopped. Yin Feng followed her gaze to a business vehicle parked by the roadside. A tall, refined man in a suit leaned against the car, with four or five expressionless men standing behind him.

The man in the suit stared at You Mingxu with a faint, mocking smile, glancing briefly at Yin Feng. Yin Feng disliked the way the man looked at You Mingxu; his smile vanished instantly, and his lips tightened.

You Mingxu acted as if she hadn't seen Luo Yu, leading Yin Feng toward the complex entrance. Just then, Luo Yu spoke: "Mingxu, it's only been a few days since I went on a business trip, and you already have someone by your side?"

Yin Feng abruptly halted, but You Mingxu had no intention of engaging with this madman. She urged softly, "Ignore him, let's go."

"I heard he's an idiot. I never expected you to have such a taste. Or is it just because he has a pretty face? You Mingxu, do you think I'm dead? Keeping a man at home?"

You Mingxu took a deep breath. Ever since Luo Yu had revealed his dark side to her, his behavior had grown increasingly erratic. Did he really think of himself as her man? Was this how the minds of societal scum worked?

Suddenly, she felt she couldn't tolerate it any longer.

She turned around, about to explode, when she was abruptly pulled back. Yin Feng's tall figure shielded her. You Mingxu was stunned, staring at the back of his dark head, feeling strangely novel—was she being protected by him?

Yin Feng said, "What does it matter to you if A Xu keeps me?"

You Mingxu: "..."

Even Luo Yu was taken aback by Yin Feng's response, then burst into loud laughter. The lackeys behind him doubled over with laughter. From You Mingxu's perspective, she could see Yin Feng's ears turning red, his hands clenched tightly into fists at his sides.

"Enough," You Mingxu said.

Luo Yu stopped laughing, his eyes dark and intense. He gave his subordinates a signal, and they immediately surrounded Yin Feng.

"Mingxu, step aside," Luo Yu said calmly.

"Yin Feng, step aside," You Mingxu replied in an equally calm tone.

A flicker of irritation crossed Luo Yu's face as he stared at You Mingxu and raised a hand.

"You know what?" You Mingxu suddenly said. "Luo Yu, I still haven't figured you out. You're not as fond of me as you claim. What do you really want from me?"

Luo Yu remained silent.

One of the lackeys made the first move, throwing a punch at Yin Feng. Yin Feng, who had once been a fitness enthusiast and had trained in sanda for a while, had a lean and toned physique—otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to hold his own against You Mingxu before. His lips pressed tightly together, he was about to lunge forward and fight back when, unexpectedly, You Mingxu stepped in from the side, neither dodging nor avoiding. With a "thud," the punch landed squarely on her face.The thug who had thrown the punch froze, and the surrounding enforcers fell into a tense silence. Luo Yu lifted his eyes, dark and unreadable, watching as You Mingxu’s cheek swelled and reddened visibly.

Yin Feng’s mind buzzed as if struck—the sound of that slap seemed to echo right beside his ear. He felt completely unhinged. You Mingxu had been hit. In his eyes, she had always been invincible. Suddenly, his mind went blank, consumed by a single thought: he had to fight them to the death! Just as he was about to roar and charge forward, someone lightly grabbed his collar and pushed him aside.

“Ah, assaulting an officer,” a calm, almost detached voice sounded beside him, tinged with the faint scent of blood. Yin Feng looked up and saw the woman, her face swollen, yet the corner of her mouth curled into a scornful smile. Then she moved.

Swift as a fleeing hare, graceful as a soaring dragon—that was her.

In one fluid motion, she stepped forward, seized the arm of the man who had struck her before he could retract it, and spun around. The man let out a panicked cry as he was slammed heavily to the ground. A sharp crack echoed, followed by his agonized wails of “It hurts, it hurts…”—his joint had been dislocated by You Mingxu.

The others exchanged uneasy glances and rushed at her together. Yin Feng, like a young black panther, suddenly lunged at the tallest and fiercest-looking one among them. The two tangled in a fierce brawl. The man had initially dismissed Yin Feng as a pretty-faced weakling with apparent mental issues, thinking he could easily subdue him and help capture the woman. But he hadn’t expected the young man to fight with such ferocity—even when struck, Yin Feng kept charging back, as if he had no regard for his own life. The man began to feel a flicker of fear, and Yin Feng sensed it immediately, pressing his advantage with even more vicious blows. In the end, the burly man was overpowered, thrown to the ground, and Yin Feng pinned him down, landing several brutal punches until the man grew dazed and begged for mercy.

Meanwhile, in stark contrast to their raw, close-quarters combat, You Mingxu moved with ethereal agility. With a quick sidestep, she slipped out of the encirclement, wrapping her arms around one man’s waist from behind. The man, unaccustomed to such skillful grappling in a fight, froze in surprise. You Mingxu retreated two steps, breaking free from the circle, and executed a whirlwind-like hip throw, slamming him hard onto the pavement. He howled in pain. Springing up from her spot, she dodged two incoming punches and charged forward, knocking another man flat. She drove her knee into his chest and abdomen, making him groan in agony. Without even rising, she delivered a sharp elbow strike to another attacker’s stomach—a classic combat technique. The man grunted in pain and tried to retaliate, but You Mingxu rolled swiftly aside, evading his strike and reappearing behind him. She stood up and let out a derisive laugh. A chill ran down the man’s spine; before he could even turn around, he felt his body lifted into the air, as if pulled by an incredibly soft yet resilient force. Losing his balance, he didn’t even know how his feet left the ground before he crashed face-first onto the pavement. Two faint cracking sounds followed—two of his teeth had shattered, filling his mouth with blood.In just a minute or two, all five men Luo Yu had brought with him were taken down. Even Luo Yu himself could hardly believe his eyes. Before pursuing You Mingxu, he had heard of her reputation—knew she was a formidable policewoman—but he had never seen her in action. That was why he had brought plenty of men today. Little did he expect that she would finish them off with a mere clap of her hands, barely even exerting herself.

Luo Yu then turned his gaze to Yin Feng, who was getting up from the ground. One of his subordinates lay there, knocked out by Yin Feng. Luo Yu’s expression darkened further. No matter what tricks he had tried before, You Mingxu had always ignored him, never falling into his traps, never losing her cool no matter how provoked. But now, for the sake of this fool, she had deliberately taken a punch just to use the charge of "assaulting an officer" as an excuse to beat up all his men! This woman was cunning enough as it was—could she actually be serious about a fool?

Luo Yu sneered coldly. You Mingxu stood where she was, and the two locked eyes. Yin Feng ran to her side, and as he watched their intense exchange, that uncomfortable feeling crept up on him again.

Luo Yu barked, "Let's go!" His lackeys staggered into the car, and it sped away.

You Mingxu knew full well that she had thoroughly provoked this madman and that there would be consequences. But the deed was done—she had held back long enough and felt a sense of relief. Whatever came next, she would handle it. She just needed to be more careful from now on.

She stretched her limbs, feeling relaxed, and moved around comfortably a couple more times, though her face still stung with pain. Just as she was about to raise a hand to cover it, another hand reached out from beside her, gently cupping her cheek.

You Mingxu looked up at him.

Yin Feng’s fair complexion was still flushed from the fight. His lips were pressed tightly together as he stared at her.

"Don’t ever let yourself get hit again. Not even for me," he said. "You could’ve let me take the hit and still had a reason to step in, right?"

You Mingxu thought to herself, So he actually figured out that I took that punch on purpose. He’s improving. But what was with that tone? "Don’t"? Since when did this kid think he could boss her around?

She chuckled and asked, "Since when do you get to tell me what to do?"

She took a few steps forward before he caught up, his voice muffled and stubborn: "I’ll tell you what to do, and I mean it. I’m not backing down."