Courting Death

With willow-leaf brows, autumn-water eyes, a slightly upturned nose, and rosy lips, her skin was fair and she had long, black hair tied into a ponytail. She wore tight-fitting leather clothes, giving off a valiant and heroic air.

But Kaguya's eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape, as if she were witnessing something unbelievable.

Is this really the girl she remembered? This completely overturned Kaguya's image of her.

The girl approached, and when her gaze fell on Kaguya's face, she froze. She had never seen such a beautiful loli, so incredible and dreamlike, as if she had walked straight out of a manga.

"Hello, I'm Qiao Xiaoqing. What's your name, little sister?" The girl snapped out of her astonishment, looking Kaguya up and down with increasing affection. She raised her fair arm, wanting to touch Kaguya's head, but after hesitating, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

The loli in front of her was too exquisite, so much so that it made her feel self-conscious, as if anything might spoil her beauty.

Hearing Qiao Xiaoqing's voice, Kaguya snapped back to reality from her memories.

Kaguya's expression, in Qiao Xiaoqing's eyes, naturally seemed like she was scared. Seeing her slightly dazed face, Qiao Xiaoqing felt a surge of relief, imagining what might have happened if she'd arrived later and the thugs had caught her.

Thinking of this, she became furious, her eyebrows raising as she strode over to the thug still groaning on the ground, and delivered a flying kick to the thug leader's abdomen.

"Ahhh!"

The thug leader's voice suddenly rose, letting out a scream like a slaughtered pig, clutching his lower body and rolling on the ground, tears and snot streaming down.

Kaguya's mouth twitched; it even hurt to watch. Qiao Xiaoqing wore a pair of pointy leather shoes, and after taking that kick, the leader was likely done for life.

Just then, a thug behind her got up from the ground, pulled out a butterfly knife, and yelled, charging at Qiao Xiaoqing's back with a vicious stab—

"Bang!" A deafening sound echoed through the sky.

Blood splattered everywhere.

"Ahhh!"

The thug let out an earth-shattering scream, writhing on the ground in pain, his butterfly knife clattering to the ground. In the palm of his hand was a bloody hole, oozing bright red blood.

"I knew you scumbags wouldn't give up," Qiao Xiaoqing snorted coldly, holding a gun.

Qiao Xiaoqing blew the smoke from the gun barrel, twirled it deftly around her finger, and smoothly holstered it at her waist. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, slightly worn pink phone.

Seeing this phone, Kaguya's eyes narrowed. If she remembered correctly, it was the one she had given her as a birthday gift. She didn't expect her to still be using it after all this time.

"Come to Wangfujing and handle this."

After hanging up the phone, Qiao Xiaoqing carefully placed the phone back in her pocket, breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to find Kaguya's bright eyes staring at her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Qiao Xiaoqing apologized, "I hope I didn't scare you."

Kaguya's mouth twitched. She hadn't expected such a huge difference from the last time she saw her. If not for the name being the same and the phone she had given her, she would hardly have recognized her. Back then, she was so gentle and demure, like a proper young lady, even shy when speaking with her.

Besides, is it really okay to fire a gun in the middle of a city?

The capital city is the heart of the nation, home to high-ranking officials, and such a serious incident as a shooting is not something the police can ignore. Within minutes, police cars arrived with sirens blaring, and several officers emerged, pointing their guns at the two of them.

Kaguya could also sense several other vehicles positioned in hidden corners and silhouettes atop high-rise buildings, likely snipers.

"Put down your weapons and place your hands behind your head," one officer commanded through a megaphone.

Before the police could even give instructions, the thugs on the ground had already clasped their heads in surrender, knowing exactly what to do from years of experience in the capital.

"I'm performing a secret mission. Here is my identification," Qiao Xiaoqing said, handing over her ID to one of the officers, who then passed it to the lead officer.

The lead officer glanced at the ID and immediately trembled, almost dropping it. His face changed as if flipping a page; where he had been stern moments before, he now smiled broadly, prompting curiosity among the surrounding officers about what the ID said that made their chief so welcoming.

"My apologies," the chief quickly approached and personally returned the ID to Qiao Xiaoqing, smiling, "I'm sorry to interrupt your mission."

"It's nothing," Qiao Xiaoqing replied with a smile, "We should have informed you earlier, which is our oversight."

"No, no," the chief waved his hands, "I understand the nature of your work, and not informing us beforehand is understandable."

"Thank you," Qiao Xiaoqing said with a smile as pleasant as a spring breeze.

"What about these people?" the chief asked, glancing at the thugs squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands.

"These individuals are suspected of trafficking women, rape, and attempted murder," Qiao Xiaoqing said, casting a glance at the now miserable thugs, a smile playing on her lips. "Of course, the details are up to you to investigate. I'm merely offering a suggestion."

"No, no, we didn't…" The thugs' heads buzzed at her words, instinctively wanting to protest, but before they could stand, a policeman struck them with the butt of his gun, eliciting cries of pain.

Even the dumbest of thugs realized they had hit a brick wall this time. Their hearts filled with regret; how could they have been so blinded by lust? That stunning girl couldn't have been from an ordinary family, and her aura was something ordinary children couldn't possess.

They had resigned themselves to their fate, knowing they were outmatched and these two were not to be trifled with. But hearing about trafficking, rape, and attempted murder made their hearts sink, unable to sit still. Each of these charges carried heavy penalties. If convicted, they faced decades in prison, if not life sentences.