The five n froze.
They turned to each other, their brows furrowing, before bursting into raucous laughter.
"This brat?" One of them scoffed, eyeing her small fra up and down. "Look at him! He hasn’t even grown his full set of teeth, and he dares challenge us?"
Another one, slightly shorter but stockier, crossed his arms over his chest and sneered, "You lost, kid? This isn’t a place for playing hero."
The burly leader, the one who had been taunting the woman monts ago, shook his head in amusent. "Listen, runt, we’re in a good mood tonight, so how about this? You walk away now, and we’ll pretend this never happened."
Hua Jing’s lips curled into a slow, deliberate smirk. "Oh?" She tilted her head, amusent flickering in her eyes. "And what happens if I stay?"
The leader’s grin darkened. "Then I can’t guarantee you’ll leave with all your limbs intact."
The other n chuckled, already convinced that this was nothing more than an overconfident boy who had no idea what he had just walked into.
One of them, a lanky man with a jagged scar running down his cheek, stepped forward. He was so confident that he barely even considered Hua Jing a threat. With a lazy smirk, he reached out and shoved her shoulder.
The impact was light, a re testing push, but it was enough to send a sharp flare of irritation through Hua Jing’s chest.
She hated being looked down on.
She hated being underestimated.
Her fingers twitched at her sides, itching to wipe that smirk off their faces.
"Annoying," she muttered under her breath.
The man chuckled. "What’s that, brat? Got sothing to say?"
His confidence only fueled her amusent. This would be easy.
Another one of the n, clearly losing patience, cracked his knuckles. "Enough of this. The boss already gave you a chance, kid. Get lost before we make you regret it."
Hua Jing’s eyes glinted in the dim moonlight as she took a single step forward.
"Oh?" Her voice was sickly sweet, teasing. "And how exactly will you make regret it?"
That was the final straw.
The tallest of the five, a brute with arms the size of tree trunks, lunged forward, throwing a heavy, forceful punch aid directly at her face.
He was strong, but slow. So, so slow.
Hua Jing sidestepped effortlessly.
The man had used his full strength, expecting his punch to connect, and because of that, his entire body lunged forward with it.
The mont he missed, his balance wavered.
Hua Jing took full advantage.
She stuck out her foot, tripping him mid-motion.
The result?
The massive man, who had been so sure of himself just a second ago, went crashing face-first into the dirt.
The remaining four n blinked, stunned.
Hua Jing dusted off her sleeves casually and sighed. "Well, that was disappointing."
The first man groaned, pushing himself up onto his elbows, dazed and humiliated.
The atmosphere shifted imdiately.
The laughter was gone.
The taunts had disappeared.
For the first ti, realization dawned on their faces.
This was no ordinary kid.
This was soone dangerous!
The mont the fallen man pushed himself up and wiped the dirt from his face, his expression twisted with rage.
"That little brat!" he spat, fury evident in his voice.
The other four, now on high alert, tightened their grips on their weapons, their previous smugness completely replaced with hostility.
"You dare humiliate us?" one of them growled.
Hua Jing, standing calmly amidst the rising tension, gave them a smirk so nacing, so wickedly sharp, that for a brief second, the temperature in the air seed to drop.
The n instinctively hesitated.
That smirk—that smirk was dangerous.
It sent a chill down their spines, an unspoken warning that they had just stepped into sothing far beyond their control.
But anger and arrogance quickly won over their instincts.
"Kill him!" the burly man roared, drawing a gleaming dagger from his belt.
The others followed suit.
One after another, they unsheathed their weapons—knives, short swords, anything they had. The tal glinted under the moonlight, sharp edges catching the glow like the eyes of predators preparing to devour their prey.
Hua Jing, unfazed, rely chuckled.
"Is that all you’ve got?" she taunted, rolling her shoulders lazily.
"Enough talking!" one of the n snapped, his patience worn thin. "Let’s see if you can withstand my knife!"
And with that, he lunged.
The fight began.
The first man aid straight for Hua Jing’s chest, his dagger gleaming ominously.
But Hua Jing was already moving.
She sidestepped, her body fluid and effortless, dodging his attack with the ease of soone who had done this a thousand tis before.
The man barely had ti to recover before Hua Jing spun on her heel, her foot striking his wrist with deadly precision.
His knife clattered to the ground as he let out a pained grunt, clutching his wrist.
Before he could react, Hua Jing struck again.
This ti, her fist connected squarely with his jaw.
The impact sent him crashing to the ground, unconscious before he even landed.
The remaining four rushed forward in unison.
One swung a sword towards her midsection.
Hua Jing ducked, the blade slicing through the air just inches above her head.
Another slashed at her from behind, but she twisted at the last mont, his blade missing its mark and embedding itself into a wooden post instead.
"Too slow," Hua Jing sneered, her movents like water, smooth, precise, untouchable.
With a single, well-placed kick, she sent the second man flying backward.
The third attempted to grab her from behind.
But Hua Jing anticipated it.
The mont his hand reached for her shoulder, she snatched his wrist, twisted it violently, and flipped him over her shoulder.
The man landed with a sickening thud.
Three down.
The last two, now visibly trembling, exchanged panicked glances.
This wasn’t a re boy.
This was a monster.
Their confidence had turned to sheer terror.
"You still want to play?" Hua Jing asked, tilting her head mockingly.
The fourth man hesitated, then, out of sheer desperation, charged with a war cry.
Hua Jing barely even blinked before she delivered a sharp kick to his knee, making it buckle beneath him.
As he collapsed, she finished him off with a swift elbow strike to the back of his head.
The final man, seeing his comrades lying in agony around him, paled.
But before he could run—
Hua Jing was already in front of him.
Her foot connected with his chest, sending him sprawling.
In re minutes, it was over.
The alley was filled with groans of pain.
Hua Jing dusted off her hands, turning towards the young woman who had been watching from the side, her fear now replaced with awe.
"You okay?" Hua Jing asked, throwing her a wink.
The woman, still stunned by what she had just witnessed, nodded dumbly.
But just as she was about to respond, her face suddenly changed.
Her eyes widened in alarm.
"Watch out!" she cried.
Hua Jing barely had ti to react.
From behind her, one of the fallen n had recovered.
With a furious snarl, he charged, knife in hand, aiming straight for Hua Jing’s back.
Then—
A sudden whooshing sound cut through the air.
Before anyone could react, a long sword flew past them with blinding speed.
The blade embedded itself deep into the wooden wall behind them, vibrating from the sheer force of its impact.
The attacking man froze mid-charge, his eyes wide with shock.
Then, he crumpled to the ground.
Silence fell.
Hua Jing turned slowly, her breath stilling as she and the woman looked towards the direction the sword had co from...
In the shadows, a man stood...
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