Everyone present, including Dr. Zhao and Lin Qin, froze on the spot.
The situation had already been resolved, yet Xiao Xiao suddenly lashed out and hit someone… How on earth were they supposed to handle this now?
“Ha… haha, it’s really freaking hot…” Xiao Xiao said, her voice dripping with irritation. “Blathering on about who-knows-what… Blocking the way for so long?”
“You… you damn—”
The man in shorts beside her immediately reacted to the situation, raising an iron pipe and charging at her. He swung it hard at Xiao Xiao’s back, the impact sounding dull, as if he’d struck a sandbag.
The force of the blow sent a painful shock through the man’s hands, while Xiao Xiao’s burly figure barely budged.
“Ha…” Xiao Xiao grinned, her lips curling. “Forgot to activate the ‘Echo’… That really hurt…”
With that, she turned around, grabbed the man by the throat with one hand, and swept his legs out from under him, slamming him to the ground.
“Come on!!” Xiao Xiao roared. “All this useless blabbering… Don’t you realize we’re in a hurry?!”
Dr. Zhao, observing Xiao Xiao’s state, hesitated for a split second. He recalled the last time he’d seen her—that man named Lao Sun had mentioned she had manic tendencies.
Was she having an episode right now?
But this wasn’t just about an episode… After all, in the “Land of the End,” it was nearly impossible to find the right medication. Anyone with psychological or psychiatric disorders who ended up here would likely face withdrawal.
“Xiao Xiao… are you okay?” Lin Qin called out from the side.
“I’m fantastic!!” Xiao Xiao bellowed. “I feel invincible right now!”
“You crazy bitch!” The remaining men surged forward, surrounding her. Yet Xiao Xiao’s eyes burned with unmistakable excitement.
“Bring it on!!” she shouted. “Go ahead, try to kill me!”
The two men she’d knocked down earlier got back on their feet, completing the encirclement.
“Ganging up on her! This is too much!!” Han Yimo growled. “Be careful, miss! I’ll activate my ability to help you!”
“Don’t!” Dr. Zhao and Lin Qin blurted out simultaneously.
“Huh?” Han Yimo blinked. “Don’t what?”
“What ability are you even talking about?” Dr. Zhao demanded.
But the moment he asked, he regretted it. What ability did Han Yimo have besides “Disaster Magnet”?
“I’ll summon the ‘Seven Black Swords’!” Han Yimo declared. “The ‘Seven Black Swords’ are meant to slay evil—aren’t these guys evil enough?!”
“Hold on…” Dr. Zhao waved his hands frantically. “Forget about your questionable morality judgments for a second… but I’m pretty sure we’re the ones who threw the first punch here…”
“Uh…” Han Yimo paused. “You might have a point…”
“If you summon the ‘Seven Black Swords,’ half the people in this square are gonna die—except for Bai Hu,” Dr. Zhao added. “Just stay put. Don’t overthink it, and for heaven’s sake, don’t say anything reckless.”
“I—”
Xiao Xiao let out another burst of wild laughter and lunged at one of the men like a beast. But the entire circle stepped back in unison, dodging her attack.
“Bro, she’s… a woman, right?” one man muttered cautiously.
“And that makes her less scary?” another retorted. “She’s just like Xuanwu—a total psycho!”
Seeing that she couldn’t break through their formation, Xiao Xiao suddenly straightened up and taunted, “What’s the matter? Six against one, and you’re still too scared to fight?”
The men eyed her muscular frame warily. A direct confrontation was out of the question—their only chance was to gang up and whittle her down.
“If you won’t come at me… then I’ll come at you,” Xiao Xiao sneered.
The men tensed, bracing themselves. If she really was a trained fighter, she might unleash a deadly strike. But even experts left openings—if they dodged her attack, they could turn the tables.
What happened next, however, caught them completely off guard.
Slowly, Xiao Xiao raised her fist—then drove it straight into her own face.
The punch looked devastating, veins bulging in her neck as her head snapped to the side.
Yet, strangely, no one heard the impact of flesh hitting flesh.
“Huh…?” Xiao Xiao blinked at the men in confusion. Her “Scapegoat” ability had clearly activated, so why were they unharmed? Where had her redirected attack gone?
“Owww…!” Han Yimo clutched his face and crumpled to the ground. “That hurts like hell…!”
“Uh…” Realization dawned on Dr. Zhao, and he quickly crouched beside him. “Han Yimo! Don’t imagine things! It’s just a toothache, right?! Definitely a toothache!”
“It feels like a toothache, but also… not…” Han Yimo slurred. “Old Zhao… I think someone hit me… but I didn’t see anyone… I knew I might get beaten today, but this is just confusing…”
He probed his teeth with a finger, then pulled it away—dripping with blood.
“Holy—!” Han Yimo gasped. “Old Zhao! I really did get hit! I’m done for… I’m gonna die—”
“No, you’re not!” Dr. Zhao clapped a hand over Han Yimo’s mouth, cutting him off. “I’ve seen this before! It’s just acute gingivitis!”
He held Han Yimo’s gaze until the fear in his eyes faded, then slowly released him.
“Gingivitis…?” Han Yimo frowned. “Since when does gingivitis hurt this much?”
“W-well… maybe it’s an aggressive case?” Dr. Zhao forced a laugh. “Yeah, acute gingivitis. Trust me, I’m a doctor.”
“But you’re a neurologist…?”
“Same difference!” Dr. Zhao insisted. “Just don’t overthink it, and don’t say anything reckless, okay?”
Han Yimo spat out a mouthful of blood, looking utterly wronged. “Fine… If it hurts this much, I don’t even wanna talk…”
Xiao Xiao stared at her fist, baffled, while the men around her exchanged equally confused glances at her unmarked face.
“Haha…” Xiao Xiao chuckled awkwardly. “No big deal. ‘Echo’ abilities are like that—they get more accurate with practice.”
Without warning, she bent down, picked up a rock, and before Dr. Zhao or Lin Qin could stop her, smashed it against her own forehead.
A dull thud echoed as the rock connected—yet when she pulled it away, her skin was barely scuffed.
“Ahh—!”
The tank top-clad man in front of her suddenly flew backward as if struck by an invisible force, clutching his head and writhing on the ground in agony.
“If you won’t hit me… then I’ll just kill you myself. Ha…” Xiao Xiao grinned.
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