As the saying goes, a guilty conscience makes a coward of anyone. Zhou Bing was an old hand in the underworld, but after all, he was engaged in shady business and couldn't keep a straight spine.
His mind didn't think Jian Jing was a problem, but his gut was churning with fear. Hearing her speak to him, he didn't respond at all, just turned around and ran off.
Jian Jing spurred her horse on and immediately caught up: "Old man, why are you running?"
Zhou Bing stopped in his tracks, changed his mind, and pretended to be hard of hearing: "Ah, are you calling me?" He mumbled, "I've still got things to do. Go ask someone else for directions."
"Have you seen my companion?" Jian Jing persisted, not too close or too far. "I can't find him anymore."
Zhou Bing randomly pointed ahead: "Someone went that way, don't know if it's who you're looking for."
"What does he look like?" Jian Jing continued stalling for time.
"What did you say?" Zhou Bing furrowed his brows, reluctantly moved closer as if to hear more clearly, "My hearing's not good. Say it again."
As he spoke, he naturally walked over, now only a step away from Jian Jing.
"I said," Jian Jing cooperatively turned her horse around, pretending to yell loudly, "Have you..."
In the split second she said the second "have", they both made their moves at the same time.
Zhou Bing swiftly raised his arm, trying to grab her leg and pull her down from the horse so he could ride away. And almost at the same time he moved, the dormant status card was triggered.
[System: Status Card - Intuition triggered]
[Countdown: 10, 9...]
It was as if an electric current ran down her spine. Her body produced a strange intuition, requiring no signals from her brain. Jian Jing instinctively responded appropriately.
She pulled up on the reins with both hands, leaned back, and controlled the horse to lift up its front legs and fiercely kick towards him.
The two moved almost simultaneously, but unfortunately, the park horse and Jian Jing were not in sync, responding a beat slower. She felt enormous pressure on her ankles, and her whole body was leaning back without stable footing, causing her to fall sideways.
At that time, the horse's front legs also kicked Zhou Bing in the side. He tumbled and got back up again, the stolidness on his face now replaced by viciousness.
Lured by the gold and freedom, Zhou Bing attacked mercilessly, taking out a folding military knife from his pocket and stabbing down at Jian Jing.
Guided purely by instinct, she rolled out of the way, took out the wolf repellent spray from her prop card, and crossed both hands in front of her chest to block Zhou Bing's stabbing motion while pressing the spray nozzle.
She felt tremendous pressure on her wrists. Although elderly, the physiological differences between men and women couldn't be ignored. Plus, Zhou Bing had the advantage of weight and was at an absolute advantage.
3 seconds, 2 seconds shorter than in the emergency room.
But the distance was also closer than before.
If she did nothing, it was hard to say who would take the other down first. Under Intuition + Composure mode, Jian Jing calmly yet instinctively followed the cues of the combat card, fiercely kneeing upwards.
Zhou Bing had long been wary of this move and raised his calf to forcefully pin down her leg. Jian Jing didn't panic and immediately lifted her other leg to destabilize his foothold.
The muscles were stretched to their limits, adrenaline surging wildly, she couldn't feel any pain.
1 second passed.
Fibula against radius, tibia against tibia, it had become a battle of bones and muscles.
But Zhou Bing still had energy to spare. He opened his mouth, lowering his head to bite her windpipe. It didn't matter if he couldn't get a good bite, a delicate young girl would surely be afraid of him taking advantage.
If she let up, he would win.
However, in her intuitive state, it was as if Jian Jing could predict his actions, proactively tilting her head back.
Forehead met forehead with a muffled thud. The hardness of their skulls was no different between genders, and both became slightly dizzy.
The stalemate continued and the 2nd second passed.
Zhou Bing's eyes reddened, exerting even more force, pushed to his survival instinct.
A man driven to the edge would erupt with tremendous power. Jian Jing had a flash of inspiration, whistling towards the distant horse as if summoning it to join the battlefield.
Zhou Bing took the bait, hesitating between escaping and taking her down, his willpower slightly weakened.
Going all out then declining.
Once primal survival instincts were overcome by reason, it became hard to surpass human limits again.
The remaining 1 second slowly trickled by.
Brain dizzy, muscles uncontrollably relaxing, strength quickly fading from the body.
A kick landed on his abdomen and he collapsed sideways, falling into deep unconsciousness.
No more awareness.
Jian Jing painfully crawled up, gasping heavily. Just a few seconds of deadlock had completely drained all her energy, her lungs extremely oxygen deprived.
She clutched her chest to catch her breath, looking at the passed out Zhou Bing in disbelief, still not quite comprehending what happened.
"Jian Jing?" Ji Feng rushed over and seeing she was unharmed, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Noticing who was lying on the ground, he was overjoyed, "You took care of him? Good job!"
Out of habit, he heartily slapped her on the shoulder, causing Jian Jing to stumble.
"Ow, sorry about that." Only then did he realize his mistake, grabbing her steady, "You alright?"
"I'm fine." Jian Jing was slapped back to awareness. Looking at the fainted Zhou Bing, she still couldn't believe it, "Take a look, he really went down?"
Ji Feng laughed. Crouching down to cuff the man, he asked, "What's wrong with you? Of course he's down. You used that spray again right? It really is quite potent."
Jian Jing took a small breath.
She had actually taken someone down?
Yes, the scene she personally experienced felt unbelievable.
But upon further thought, it wasn't hard to understand.
Females acutely lack a sense of security, fearing walking at night, riding alone, and even opening the door for delivery. Surrounded by constant fear.
As an ordinary woman, Jian Jing never believed she could independently take down an adult male - when she caught up to Zhou Bing earlier, she only planned to ambush him with the spray, not go head to head.
But the truth was, although she had the potent spray, she did manage to subdue an adult male in solo combat.
Even if he was an old man, even if he had already exhausted some energy, even if she had the double status cards...regardless, she accomplished something she never imagined herself capable of.
It would be no exaggeration to say Jian Jing was a changed person.
She couldn't help but tell Ji Feng, "I'm so awesome."
Ji Feng praised her, "Awesome, of course you're awesome. You did great today." If not for her seizing the opportunity to tail the fugitive, they wouldn't have intercepted the suspect so accurately.
He was extremely satisfied, "I'm treating you to a meal, I must, can't refuse."
Jian Jing naturally wouldn't refuse. She fanned herself, still immersed in the surreal sense of achievement, "I didn't even think I could do it. His knife almost stabbed me."
The moment she chased after him alone, it was as if the spirit of Zhao Yun possessed her, courageously riding solo, blood burning with excitement. But looking back now, cold sweat broke out wave after wave, frightened beyond belief.
"I'm so brave too." She sighed, "What if something happened?"
Ji Feng: "..." He understood, his first time catching a crook he acted just as silly.
"Caught the guy." He notified his colleagues to come collect the man.
"Then I'm going first, my classmates are waiting for me." The thrill still hadn't worn off Jian Jing. She mounted her horse, flicked the reins, "Clip clop clip clop" and rode away.
At this moment, the western sun had set, evening winds gently caressing her face. In the exquisite soft lighting environment, the park horse no longer seemed so ordinary, and the person riding it showed no hint of trembling hands.
Having accomplished her mission, the female hero rode away alone.
Cool, but as everyone knew, it wouldn't last more than three seconds.
Jian Jing returned the horse and was cursed out by the staff, refusing to return her wallet unless she paid a 200 yuan fine. By the time she arrived at the meetup spot with Zuo Xin and the others, the hot blood from defeating the robber one-on-one had completely dissipated.
"What happened to you?" Zuo Xin saw her disheveled hair covered in grass clippings and her brain uncontrollably imagined a crime scene.
Jian Jing: "Chivalry."
Zuo Xin: =口=
"Can I have a cold cola?" She panted, "I need caffeine and sugar!"
Zuo Xin quickly handed her a can of cold cola: "You were playing hero rescuing beauty? How did you get so messy?"
Jian Jing downed two gulps of cola, revived to half health, regaining her spirit: "Want to know where the robber's gold is hidden?"
Zuo Xin: "You know?"
“Tell me and I'll give you some grilled meat skewers,” she tried to bait him.
Zuo Xin was a sucker for this sort of thing. She immediately snatched a skewer of beef that Cheng Jia You had grilled and urged impatiently, “Go on, tell me. I just overheard someone saying the police are chasing an escaped convict on the lake. Is it true they're in the water?”
Jian Jing slowly and methodically nibbled on her skewer. “It's a distraction. The gold is hidden somewhere very safe.”
Zhao Xuan had wanted to probe about her love rival but was sucked into the story. “Where else could be considered safe?”
Jian Jing said, “A safe.”
Zuo Xin: “??”
“The safe in the office,” she shrugged. “Safe enough?”
Zuo Xin suddenly understood. “So you disappeared earlier to look for the gold?”
“What gold?” Liu Kai picked up on the key word like a bloodhound catching a whiff of meat and immediately inserted himself. “What are you talking about? And Jian Jing, did you just get in a fight? You look pretty roughed up.”
His tone contained surprise and exaggeration but was noticeably devoid of concern, which made people very uncomfortable.
Even Zhao Xuan spoke up, “What's it to you?”
“Just concerned about a classmate,” Liu Kai said.
Jian Jing tossed away her skewer stick and smiled. “Sorry, didn't feel any concern from you. Our conversation doesn't welcome you either. Please.”
She made a gesture that said “please help yourself” but meant “get lost”.
Liu Kai's face alternated between green and white, extremely ugly. “Who cares, tsk.” He turned and walked away, going over to pat Cheng Jia You on the shoulder and say something to him.
Zuo Xin couldn't help asking, “Are Cheng Jia You and him close?”
“They were high school classmates, relationship's decent. Mainly Liu Kai's a sycophant.” Zhao Xuan frowned.
As someone doing public relations she often had to meet bosses, and Liu Kai was always backhanded and sarcastic. They maintained a superficial friendliness only because they were both in student council and Cheng Jia You's relationship.
But just now, his malice was so obvious any girl would feel disgusted.
She said to Jian Jing, “Go clean up in the bathroom. Some guys have filthy mouths.”
“To tell the truth, I just fought with a man and he almost stabbed me. My legs are too weak to stand up now.” Jian Jing told the blunt truth. Her whole body ached down to the bone, her muscles sore and stiff. Her arms in particular could barely grip anything.
Zuo Xin was shocked. “Did you get mugged?”
Jian Jing blinked. “How else would I know where the gold was?”
Zhao Xuan froze and looked at her incredulously. Her? Getting into a scuffle with a robber?
Zuo Xin was fully convinced. “Badass, girl!”
Jian Jing smiled, also thinking she was pretty badass, so Liu Kai's attitude didn't faze her at all. She undid her messy bun and used her fingers to pick out the bits of grass in her hair.
Zhao Xuan took out a hair comb from her bag for her.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Zhao Xuan finally couldn't resist asking, “What exactly happened?”
“They were conspiring to escape together. I figured out their secret code and intercepted them.” Jian Jing was succinct. “I blocked them for a bit, we got physical.”
Zhao Xuan stared at her blankly, completely unable to believe her words.
Wasn't she a writer?
Weren't writers supposed to be pale, frail, often bald, subhealthy people?
How did a simple orienteering game lead to her actually finding gold and brawling with bandits?
Was something wrong with the world?