Urban Ace Bodyguard

Rambling incessantly, like a decrepit old woman, the babble never seemed to end.

"Where does all this talk come from?" Lin Hai ridiculed himself as he slowly picked up the wooden plaque, carefully wrapping every part of it with cloth, meticulous and focused as if the plaque mattered more than his life itself.

The Er Guo Tou liquor had already been drunk dry; Lin Hai felt somewhat unsatisfied. Sometimes alcohol is the best friend, allowing you to briefly forget the past, but it is also the deadliest of things. It forces you to relive memories in vivid detail once sober, memories so deeply etched that they cause an involuntary, intense obsession that's hard to escape.

Shaking his head vigorously, Lin Hai left the place with a sense of despondency, taking with him two other items from the small cloth bundle—one being Little Scorpion's butterfly hairpin, and the other, one of his past honors.

Unknowingly, he had rambled for over two hours, yet without a hint of impatience, as if time had slipped away in an unguarded moment.

Fate is sometimes like a book—flip through it too quickly, and you may miss something inadvertently; read too slowly and too seriously, and you are likely to be moved to tears and feel the pain imprinted in your bones.

At this moment, the night in Huadu is ablaze with lights and bustling with life, as the nightlife is just beginning.

This place, which was once just a village's wildlands when he passed by many years ago, had now developed into a suburban area, an urban-rural fringe. A city, sometimes, also grows with an unmeasurable speed.

And in such growth, some prosper while others grieve. No one knows what ambitions or people used to be buried under the dirt upon which they now tread.

He stopped in front of a small convenience store.

"Boss, get me two bottles of Er Guo Tou, the 58-degree kind." Lin Hai tossed over a red banknote.

The shopkeeper chuckled as he handed over the liquor, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes. This brawny man seemed to have a good capacity for alcohol—downing two bottles of Er Guo Tou solo. The owner was tempted to ask if he wanted some peanuts to go with the drink.

Lin Hai then lifted the bottles to his mouth, downing one in a single go. The middle-aged shopkeeper watched, astonished, yet Lin Hai seemed to be drinking plain water, showing no sign of intoxication.

Sometimes having a strong body can be a burden, like now, wanting to drown his sorrows in a hearty drink, yet never able to get drunk.

"Young man, it's not safe these days, be careful on your way," the middle-aged shopkeeper advised softly, feeling that Lin Hai was a decent person.

Lin Hai smiled gratefully and nodded nonchalantly. In this world, very few could kill him head-on.

At the entrance of the convenience store, a TV broadcast a news segment advising citizens to look after their children's safety. It was said that a gang of human traffickers from outside the area had infiltrated the city, and the police were investigating further.

Glancing at the news, Lin Hai's heart stirred slightly—a deep hatred for such trafficking rings lay ingrained in his bones.

Back in the day, he, his dear younger brother, and a little sister, all without relatives, were left to drift through the streets, often 'treasure hunting' in dumpsters. He always kept the cleanest food for the little sister.

But one day, the little sister who went out to gather trash never came back. Some older vagrants said she might have been abducted by human traffickers, but pondered that maybe she had been taken into a prosperous family.

Initially, Lin Hai thought the little sister was lucky, but as he encountered more and saw many children maimed and exploited for money, the chilling horror for his sister's situation never faded.

Ever since, Lin Hai had a particular loathing for traffickers, especially since the organization responsible for Little Scorpion's death was also involved in a widespread global human trafficking trade.

Carrying a bottle of Er Guo Tou, Lin Hai wandered aimlessly down the street, without purpose or destination.

Then, he caught a faint sound—a little girl's voice coming from deep within an alley over two hundred meters away.

That tender and helpless voice, under the dim light, seemed to bring before Lin Hai's blurry eyes the long missed and cherished image of the cute little sister with her mushroom haircut, wearing a pink dress, her face dirty yet as adorable as a porcelain doll.

Rubbing his eyes hard, Lin Hai shook his head. All that was in front of him now was the profound darkness, the hope that had flickered in his eyes dimming once again.

Life always had its damn discomforts, even now as he stood at one of the world's pinnacles—what could he do? He was still helpless against the cruelty of Fate and fate's mockery!

Suddenly, Lin Hai felt an urge to smash his fist through the world; he laughed it off as a foolish dream.

Soon after, the cries of the little girl reached Lin Hai's ears again.

His hearing was exceptional, so even from a distance, he could clearly hear the cries, along with the venomous scolding of a woman and the subtle sound of a stick hitting flesh.

Discarding the bottle of Er Guo Tou, Lin Hai took a swift stride, dashed into the alley, leapt onto the balcony of a second-floor building, and after several bounds covered the two hundred meters, silent and unnoticed—a regular person could never fathom it.

Like a Lone Wolf in the night, Lin Hai silently melded into the darkness, not even a whisper of breath escaping, his gaze emotionless and vigilant, quietly watching from above.

A little girl, about five years old, stood helplessly on the ground with swollen hands, already crying into a literal tear figure, her hair styled into a little mushroom cut, dressed in cute pink clothes. She desperately puckered her mouth, holding back any hint of crying.

Lin Hai could clearly see in the dim light and occasional moonlight that the girl's legs were covered in red welts.

"The bitch spent thirty thousand to buy you, and it's a total loss! You little mongrel, daring to steal food? Looking for death!" The woman's fierce face was incredibly loathsome to Lin Hai.

The woman swung her bamboo stick furiously, lashing the little girl's legs over a dozen times with a very fast rhythm. The little girl cried out, "Don't hit me anymore, please, I beg you, don't hit me, wooo..."

The woman jabbed the girl's forehead harshly, banging the back of her head heavily against the wall behind her. Perhaps out of deep fear or an inherent stubbornness, she strained to control her tears.

"Losing-money goods, why the hell did I buy you? What use is there in keeping a losing-money goods like you?"

"Bastard, I give you only one bun a day, and you dare to eat more. Are you the reincarnation of a starving ghost?"

"Wait till you grow up, you *beep*ing thing, I'll drag you out to sell your body and make money!" Text acquired from M|V|LEMP&YR.

"Little bitch, I'll beat you to death today!"

The woman's scolding was grating to the ears, and she beat the little girl's tiny body mercilessly with her bamboo stick, without any hint of pity or compassion.

Hidden in the shadows, Lin Hai's gaze had no trace of emotion, as if they were not the eyes of a human, only his Iron Fists clenched tightly, veins bulging on his fists.

Such heartless madness, such brutality and venom, it was unfathomable how a woman could treat a little girl so cruelly. Couldn't she see the girl's cute face and tear-glistening eyes?!

The woman continued to viciously lash the little girl, occasionally slapping her as well, and ordered her to stand away from the wall.

The little girl fell from the beating, struggled to get up, and was beaten down again as soon as she made a peep. She suppressed her breath, even fearful to breathe, lest crying lead to more punishment.

"The orphaned little sister from my past, she looked very similar to the little girl in front of me, the same mushroom cut, cute pink clothes, even the crying sounded so heart-wrenchingly familiar!"

Lin Hai also saw that on the second floor across the street, someone was sneakily recording this scene with their phone. Probably a moralist preparing to post it online to draw public attention and police involvement.

However, why do you only know how to record? Why can't you step in to stop it! Are you afraid? Or lacking the awareness? Lin Hai didn't know, nor did he want to think deeply about it.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and gulped down the bottle of Erguotou in his hand.

When he opened his eyes again, there was only raging fury in them, and his whole being radiated an icy, suffocating aura of anger!

His legs thrust forward violently, and like an unsheathed sword, Lin Hai landed heavily on the ground under the hazy moonlight and dim lighting, the ground beneath him cracked like a spider web.

The little girl being hit on her tender hand looked up at Lin Hai, seeing a figure descending from the sky, stunned, momentarily forgetting her pain and tears.

She saw the towering figure shrouded in darkness, his eyes filled with the utmost tenderness of the human world, as if she could feel a spiritual baptism, enough to heal the shadows and scars of the beating.

The woman didn't notice Lin Hai's arrival, immersed in her rage, and once more raised her bamboo stick, bringing it down viciously toward the little girl's head.

If that stick landed, the little girl would undoubtedly incur severe brain damage, and possibly lifelong impairment.

"Stop!" Like a thunderous roar, Lin Hai's furious shout exploded, as he, like a cannonball, in this moment, heedless of the consequences, summoned all his Gang Qi, ignoring the horrific injuries within his body, and rushed forward with red eyes and a terrifying roar...

A fit of anger could be fatal, and this one demanded vengeance!

PS: Phew, the fifth update is complete. I'd also like to thank "Little Little Little Bin" for the support. Thanks also to "Thoughts in Time and Space = Love," "Maybe, I'm Tired," "Ambrogino丶krz," "ˇ?ˇ," and others for their votes and those who favorited this book. It's really hard to type out your names, so I won't list them all, but thanks also to those who left messages on various platforms and websites. Well, dear readers, I'll continue to write, but my shoulder was injured during military exercises back in the day, and it left some lingering pain, which gets very painful if I type too long and lasts until I fall asleep, so I might be slower than those who update 20-30 thousand words a day. I hope for your understanding.

I've created a QQ group: 383787281, welcome to join. Thank you for supporting me; I will try even harder and perfect this book. It's written with heart, and every word and phrase is carefully considered. Ah, I feel utterly drained. Please rest early after reading, health is most important. I'm going to wash up, feed my cat a midnight snack, and if I'm not too sleepy, I'll keep writing. In any case, don't wait for the next chapter; it's probably tomorrow's task.