The fat man screamed, instantly losing his balance and falling to the ground at an angle. He slid rapidly along the ground until he crashed into the corner of the wall and came to a stop, the iron rod in his hand clattering to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, two more men in black attacked from both sides simultaneously.

Huai'an remained calm and composed in the face of danger, responding to each move with skill and strategy.

She flashed forward, her punches moving with unimaginable speed, like a bolt of lightning slicing through the sky, leaving a trail of afterimages.

The fist swung rapidly through the air, creating a series of whistling sounds that seemed to tear the surrounding air apart, while also stirring up a violent gust of wind that sent chills down one's spine.

At this moment, the skinny man and the fat man picked up the iron bar again and attacked. They never expected that this seemingly weak girl would unleash such great energy, and the several big men gradually lost ground.

After knocking down another man's iron bar in Huai'an, he suddenly exerted force with both feet, leaped high into the air, and performed a beautiful single-leg sweep in mid-air.

In an instant, two crisp "crack" sounds were heard, and the two men in black flew out like kites with broken strings, crashing heavily into the wall.

They then curled up in the dark corner in pain, groaning incessantly, and spitting out mouthfuls of blood from time to time, clearly suffering serious injuries.

Just at this critical moment, another man, like a wounded wild animal, struggled to his feet from the dusty ground.

His eyes revealed endless ferocity and determination. Having lost the iron bar, he suddenly pulled out a small knife hidden at his waist with his right hand and stabbed it fiercely at Huai'an with lightning speed!

Before these people could even catch their breath, Huai'an continued his actions, delivering a swift and accurate kick to the hand holding the knife. With a crisp sound, the knife flew straight into the distance like a kite with a broken string.

Immediately afterwards, Huai'an flicked his wrist and pulled out a miniature pistol from his sleeve.

She originally didn't want to take weapons, lest the police find out later and she would have trouble explaining herself, but now the situation was critical, so she decided to take down these men in black and rescue Lin Shaoyi as soon as possible.

So without hesitation, she turned around and fired a shot at the fat man who was lunging at her from the side.

The gun was loaded with an anesthetic needle. With a "hiss" sound, the fat man felt a sharp, needle-like pain in his legs. His legs suddenly went numb and weak, and he involuntarily slumped down and fell heavily to the ground.

He couldn't help but let out a shrill cry, "Ouch—she has a gun! My leg is ruined! Brother Ma, I've been shot in the leg! Help me! I don't want to be crippled..."

Upon hearing this, the others instinctively stepped back and looked at each other in bewilderment.

At this moment, Ma Jianqiang, who had been observing the situation from the sidelines, saw that the situation was unfavorable to his side and secretly thought that things were not going well.

He acted decisively, grabbing Lin Shaoyi beside him and dragging her in front of him, while he hid behind Lin Shaoyi.

At the same time, a sharp longsword appeared in his hand without him noticing, its cold light gleaming as it was held against Lin Shaoyi's fair and slender neck.

"Put down your gun now! Otherwise, I'll make her bleed to death right here!" Ma Jianqiang shrank back and issued a cold and ruthless order from behind Lin Shaoyi, as if it came from the deepest hell, sending chills down one's spine.

Faced with such a threat, Huai'an dared not act rashly.

She slowly crouched down, first carefully raising one hand high to indicate that she meant no harm; then she gently loosened her grip on the pistol with her other hand, letting it fall to the ground.

She gave the command in her mind to remove the anesthetic needle, which disappeared into her space without anyone noticing, leaving only an empty gun.

"Kick the pistol over here," Ma Jianqiang said again. "Otherwise, I'll kill her."

"Okay, look carefully, the gun is here." Huai'an had no choice but to do as he was told and kick the gun into the stone chamber.

But who could have imagined that just as Huai'an kicked away the pistol and lowered his head, a man who had been lying on the ground in front of him suddenly attacked.

Suddenly, he pulled out another gleaming blade from somewhere and recklessly stabbed it towards Huai'an...

In the blink of an eye, Huai'an flicked her wrist, and as if by magic, a gleaming, incredibly sharp knife appeared in her hand.

Immediately afterwards, she swung her arm, and the small knife flew out of her hand like lightning, drawing a dazzling streak of light in the air as it flew straight toward the man!

With a muffled "thud," the knife struck the man's thigh accurately.

The man let out a piercing scream, and his body involuntarily tilted backward.

Huai'an rushed towards the stone chamber and ran to Lin Shaoyi.

Ma Jianqiang was prepared. He suddenly released Lin Shaoyi, quickly stepped back, covered his mouth and nose, and seized the opportunity to throw a bag of lime at Huai'an.

In an instant, a cloud of white, misty lime powder scattered before Huai'an's eyes like a celestial maiden scattering flowers.

Huai'an was caught off guard and had no time to react.

In the critical moment, she instinctively raised her hands to protect her eyes.

However, at that moment, the quicklime emitted a strange and pleasant fragrance.

Huai'an felt a sense of foreboding and tried to cover his mouth and nose, but it was too late.

As Huai An inhaled the strange fragrance, he suddenly felt dizzy and weak in the limbs.

She gradually lost control of her body, became unsteady on her feet, and finally fell heavily to the ground with a thud.

To make matters worse, her head struck the edge of a stone coffin right next to her, causing her to bleed profusely.

Huai'an fainted instantly and collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this, Ma Jianqiang was overjoyed. After observing for a while, he excitedly jumped out, bent down to pick up the pocket pistol, and shouted with a loud laugh: "Haha, this woman is really hard to deal with! Luckily I had a backup plan. This pistol is really good."

Just then, a series of rapid footsteps, like a sudden storm, came from afar, growing clearer and clearer, as if they were approaching at an alarming speed.

The sudden sound startled Ma Jianqiang, and an ominous premonition instantly welled up in his heart.

The fat man said urgently, "Brother Ma, someone's here. Quite a few people."

He dared not delay for a moment, put away his gun, and shouted, "Let's go!"

"What should I do? Brother Ma, I can't move, come and help me..." the fat man said anxiously.

Ma Jianqiang glanced instinctively at the ground, and his heart sank to the bottom. His four companions lay sprawled on the ground, each covered in wounds, clearly seriously injured.

Faced with this situation, Ma Jianqiang knew he could no longer escape the scene with the wounded.

Left with no other choice, he gritted his teeth, hardened his heart, and ignored everyone else, turning around and running away, fleeing at top speed in the opposite direction of the passage without looking back.

The other three got up and limped away, leaving only the fat man, whose leg was numb from the gunshot wound, lying motionless on the ground, yelling, "Hey, Brother Ma, don't leave me behind, you damn bastard..."

Just as he was spewing profanities, a dozen figures came rushing towards him like arrows released from a bow.

Leading the pack was Zhong Hanzhe, who waved his arms and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Over here! Over here! We've found them! Police officers, come quick!"

“Huai’an, Huai’an, what’s wrong with you? Wake up…” Zhong Hanzhe ran to Shi Huai’an’s side and shook her.

The police officers looked at her, and the leader said, "Take her to the hospital quickly. The rest of you search carefully and don't let any suspects escape..."

When Shi Huai'an slowly woke up, she found herself surrounded by silence, with only the thick, ink-like night outside the window and the crescent moon hanging high in the sky for company.

She blinked, adjusting to the dim light around her, before realizing that she was in a hospital bed with a bandage on her head.

On the other side of the hospital bed, her adoptive mother, Wang Xiuzhi, was sleeping on a simple folding chair, watching over her.

Huai'an felt a pang of guilt for causing his parents worry.

She lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. She glanced at her watch; it was past three in the morning.

Not wanting to disturb her sleeping mother, she quietly lay in bed recalling the events that had occurred before, and a complex mix of emotions welled up in Shi Huai'an's heart.

Images of her past and present lives flashed and intertwined before her eyes, as clear and real as if they were replaying yesterday.

Those fragments of memory that were once buried deep in my heart and had gradually become blurred are slowly being pieced together.

The memory she had been missing, especially her past life with Gu Jingxing, surged back like a flood, instantly filling her entire mind.

Shi Huai'an and Gu Jingxing grew up together. Although they were five years apart, Shi Huai'an was always a tomboy, playing with the boys in the alley. He also learned to play ping-pong and swim from Gu Jingxing.

Gu Jingxing protected her at school until he joined the army. However, after Gu Jingxing joined the army and participated in confidential training, the two did not communicate for two or three years. Later, after Gu Jingxing wrote to her, by a twist of fate, Shi Huai'an went to the countryside with her adoptive mother.

After his adoptive mother passed away, his stepmother secretly sabotaged him by intercepting and burning all of Huai'an's letters.

The two had been friends since childhood, but after losing contact for several years, Huai'an gradually let go of their friendship.

Her thoughts drifted back to that special day—her wedding day.

The bride's family did not hold a grand wedding ceremony; they simply invited a few close relatives and friends to gather together and distribute some wedding candy to celebrate this special moment.

Just as Chung Han-che was about to ride his old bicycle to pick up his seventeen-year-old bride, Shih Huai-an, an accident occurred.

Two familiar figures suddenly appeared at the door; they were Gu Jingxing and Xiao Yi, who had come looking for Huai'an.

When he learned that Huai'an had married, he was thunderstruck, his face showing extreme shock, as if he could not believe what was happening before his eyes.

However, his rationality and military discipline were extremely strong, and he quickly suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, using all his strength to restrain his surprise and deep disappointment.

Gu Jingxing insisted on stopping the two people who were about to leave, wanting to add to the bride's dowry.

Without hesitation, he instructed his friend Xiao Yi, who had come with him, to quickly purchase a pair of exquisite thermos flasks and a gorgeous silk quilt as wedding gifts for the newlyweds.

Not only that, he also generously handed over a thick red envelope.

As the atmosphere at the banquet gradually warmed up, Gu Jingxing unknowingly drank a lot of wine and eventually became completely drunk.

This was his first time ever being drunk!

He held Zhong Hanzhe's hand tightly, his once clear and bright eyes now appearing blurry with drunkenness.

He said, his words mumbled but with utmost seriousness, "Huai'an is like my own sister, you must treat her well!"

If one day you dare to mistreat her, then as her brother from her maternal family, I will absolutely not let you off easily... She is truly an outstanding young woman, and I hope you will not betray her deep affection for you..."

Such words kept coming out of his mouth.

Hearing these words, Huai'an felt an indescribable surge of emotion. A mix of complex feelings overwhelmed her, leaving her unable to articulate exactly what she was feeling.

She even wondered if things would have turned out differently if Gu Jingxing had returned earlier, if she had heard from him sooner, or if he hadn't joined the army.

At least Huai'an knows that if Jingxing had always been by her side, she would never have been forced to marry someone because of helplessness in life.

While Wallace Chung is a good man, she probably wouldn't have chosen to get married at the tender age of seventeen if she hadn't been forced into it...

However, things have already developed to this point, and no one can change anything anymore.

Therefore, although everyone may have some helplessness and embarrassment hidden in their hearts, they still have to put on a cheerful and smiling face on the surface and try their best to maintain the festive atmosphere that the wedding should have.

She remembered:

Not long after marrying Wallace Chung, she responded to the national call to go to the countryside as an educated youth.

Out of jealousy, Chung Han-che would always take the opportunity to make accusations, saying extremely harsh things. He would also make baseless claims that Huai-an was promiscuous and had already found a new lover and a "next partner".

He often suspected Shi Huai'an of harboring ulterior motives, and this distrust exhausted Huai'an.

Shi Huai'an has a deep interest and love for literature, and she is always immersed in the wonderful world depicted in books.

Therefore, she often borrowed all kinds of books to satisfy her thirst and pursuit of knowledge.

Among them, works full of passion and power, such as "The Spark," stories that are gripping and rich in historical weight, such as "Wildfire and Spring Breeze Fight the Ancient City," as well as "Song of Youth" which showcases youthful vitality and the pursuit of ideals, and classic works that have inspired countless people, such as "How the Steel Was Tempered," have all become frequent guests on Shi Huai'an's reading list.

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