Before Qiao Jiajin could react, the man as solid as a mountain slammed into his abdomen, wrapping his arms around him and shoving him backward relentlessly.
Qiao Jiajin finally snapped back to reality. He planted a leg behind him, bracing against the wall to steady himself.
Without hesitation, he threw punches wildly at the man’s back.
A few strikes in, Qiao Jiajin realized this brute had clearly trained—his back muscles were rock-hard.
Changing tactics on the fly, he drove his elbow downward with full force.
The sound of heavy impacts echoed repeatedly.
Seeing the man still unfazed, he launched his knee upward, aiming straight for the brute’s face.
The man swiftly lifted his right leg, blocking the attack.
By now, the brute was puzzled. He had assumed this lean guy would be easy to take down, but the precision in his moves was anything but amateur—he had clearly trained too.
His back was aching from the blows, and a few more might leave him bleeding.
“Damn it! What the hell are you all standing around for?! Get over here and pin him down!” the brute roared.
The surrounding men immediately rushed forward.
Qi Xia gasped in alarm, quickly scanning the surroundings. At best, he could take down two men in this situation—but what about the rest?
Even if they were all subdued, what about Zhang Shan?
Why had he suddenly attacked Qiao Jiajin?
Seeing some men charging at Qiao Jiajin, Qi Xia dashed toward the nearest set of desks and chairs. He shoved them into the hallway, forming a makeshift barricade, then grabbed another chair from the floor.
The school furniture was mostly metal—getting hit by it would make standing back up difficult.
Two men in front of Qi Xia were blocked, but others were still moving from different directions. Gritting his teeth, he hurled the chair with all his might toward another group, stopping two more.
“Damn it… is this Qi Xia also a problem?!” one man bellowed.
“Forget him! Grab the guy with the tattooed arms first!”
Several men bypassed Qi Xia, sprinting toward Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan.
Qi Xia frowned, sensing something odd.
Was Qiao Jiajin their only target?
“Let him go!” Qi Xia charged at the crowd, knocking one man down along the way.
But fists were no match for numbers. Qi Xia had no combat training—there was no way he could outthink overwhelming odds.
“I’ll hold Qi Xia—you all get the other one!” a man suddenly wrapped his arms around Qi Xia and shouted to the others.
Clenching his jaw, Qi Xia grabbed the man’s ear and twisted hard.
“Ahhh! Ow ow ow!” The man howled in pain. “Let go, let go, let go!”
Seizing the moment, Qi Xia swung his arm and smashed his elbow into the man’s throat. The man choked, collapsing to the ground, gagging uncontrollably.
“Are you really trying to piss me off…?” Qi Xia growled through gritted teeth, glaring at the men around him. “Trying to kill my teammate in front of me again? This time, I’ll die before I let you succeed.”
Qi Xia truly lost it. He shattered a nearby window with his elbow and grabbed a long, jagged shard of glass.
His eyes burned with fury—he looked ready to kill.
The men recoiled at the sight of this demonic figure, none daring to approach.
Ignoring the underlings, Qi Xia turned and strode toward Zhang Shan.
Right now, Zhang Shan and Qiao Jiajin were locked in a grapple, neither able to break free.
Just as Qi Xia was about to strike Zhang Shan, a burly figure suddenly lunged from nowhere, wrapping his arms around Qi Xia’s waist.
“What the hell are you doing with that glass?! Trying to kill someone?!” the fat man yelled. “Zhang Shan! Run!”
Qi Xia’s face darkened with cold rage. Gripping the glass shard, he twisted and raised it, poised to stab—
But three centimeters away, Qi Xia finally recognized the man’s face.
His entire body froze.
It was Old Lü.
The spot he was about to stab was exactly where the bald man had killed Old Lü before.
Back then, Old Lü had recklessly tackled the killer to save him—but now, Qi Xia had become the villain.
How was this any different from that hotel hallway?
The only change was that the killer was no longer the bald man—it was Qi Xia.
Could Qi Xia really kill Old Lü?
Maybe he could kill anyone here without hesitation—but not Old Lü.
Now he finally understood why the bespectacled man had stubbornly tried to save Old Lü, even when facing a bloodthirsty black bear.
Back then, the man had sworn: *”Old Lü saved my life. I can’t abandon him.”*
Yes, that was just the kind of man Old Lü was.
And now, the same was true for Qi Xia. Old Lü had saved his life—he couldn’t kill him.
As Old Lü clung to him, teeth gritted, Qi Xia was at a loss.
All his strength was useless now. After a dazed pause, the glass slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground.
Seizing the opportunity, the men swarmed in and bound Qiao Jiajin tightly with rope.
“Dang it!” Qiao Jiajin had never seen anything like this. “What the hell do you want? If you’ve got the guts, fight me properly! What kind of coward just grabs and holds someone?!”
Zhang Shan, finally relieved from the struggle, winced as he stretched his back. “Chu Tianqiu wasn’t wrong—without killing intent, it takes at least seven or eight men to pin you down.”
“Hey, big guy! You act all tough, but you need numbers to win?” Qiao Jiajin writhed, yelling furiously. “Cheating, ambushing, ganging up—what kind of man are you?! Let me go and fight me one-on-one! Let fate decide!”
“I—” Zhang Shan’s face flashed with embarrassment. “I’m not here to spar with you, idiot! Chu Tianqiu said to tie you up, so I tied you up. That’s it.”
“Then let Chu Tianqiu fight me!” Qiao Jiajin was clearly enraged.
His face practically screamed: *”I’d rather die than be humiliated.”* He’d rather be beaten to the ground than bound like this.
Seeing the madman finally restrained, Old Lü slowly released Qi Xia. He glanced nervously at the glass on the floor, then patted Qi Xia’s shoulder.
Qi Xia turned to him, confused.
“Young man… did you just… stop yourself?” Old Lü asked.
“I—” Qi Xia had no answer. He fell silent.
“That was terrifying… you really could’ve killed me just now…” Only now did cold sweat break out on Old Lü’s forehead.
“I was just repaying a debt,” Qi Xia said, shaking his head. “Uncle, don’t tackle people like that again. You leave yourself wide open—next time, pick a safer move, okay?”
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