Chapter 111: This woman is so cruel

"Aaaahhh! Oh my god!!" A blood-curdling scream shattered the stillness.

Gu Lili felt the world spin violently—her body collapsed to the ground, pain searing through her limbs.

"What the hell are you screaming for?"

"B-Bro… she—she stabbed me…" The man lay on the floor, blood gushing from his waist. With a groan, he shut his eyes.

Another man rushed over, drawing a gun in haste—more for intimidation than harm. But before he could even aim, Gu Lili's leg shot out, kicking the weapon away with stunning precision. In the blink of an eye, she had pinned him to the floor with effortless strength.

"Who sent you?"

The man, clearly shocked by her agility, fell into stunned silence.

Seeing this, Gu Lili raised the knife in her hand. "Speak, or I'll carve your heart out right here."

"Murder's illegal—"

"This is self-defense," her voice was like ice. "The surveillance will show you two dragging me here. Now I'll ask one more time—who gave the order? Tell me, and I'll let you walk away unharmed."

"You swear?"

"On my life."

"We got the job online. Said we'd get half a million if we took some nudes of you. That's all. Just some dirty photos. We're nobodies—petty thugs. That gun's a fake. We wouldn't dare kill anyone."

Gu Lili reached down, picked up the gun, examined it—plastic. A toy.

"What's the employer's name?"

"How would we know? The job was posted on XXX website. The username was something like 'Home flowers can't beat wild blossoms 666666'."

The man hesitated, then added, "You'd better leave quick. That guy didn't just hire us—he mentioned backups. Just in case."

Without waiting to confirm the truth of his warning, Gu Lili rose and ran.

The moment she disappeared, the man on the ground groaned, kicking the other. "Quit playing dead, jackass. Get up."

The wounded one stirred, clutching his side. "Damn, that woman's savage."

"You're lucky she didn't stab your kidney. We were this close to succeeding—and you had to screw it up with that weak-ass knockout spray."

"Bro, we should bail. Now."

"Obviously. What if she realizes I lied and comes back for us?"

"But she said she wouldn't."

"You actually believe that? Did you see the look in her eyes?"

…

Gu Lili had no idea where she was. She just ran.

At every fork in the road, she picked a path blindly, never once looking back.

It was deep into the night, and the heavens offered no mercy—a cold rain began to fall.

The village was pitch black, not a single streetlamp in sight.

She dashed through a wooded grove, and suddenly—agony seared through her leg. She had collided with something. Her trousers tore. Blood trickled down.

She clutched the wound tightly and kept going, stumbling until she reached a riverbank.

The river was wide—too wide. She stood, frozen, unsure whether to go left or right. The road simply ended there.

Turning back was not an option.

As she hesitated, a gunshot rang out from the woods behind.

The crack shattered the air.

Heart pounding, Gu Lili bolted left, no time to think, only the certainty that someone else—perhaps one of the backup assailants—was now in pursuit.

She had barely gone a few steps when an arm wrapped firmly around her waist.

Startled, she twisted around.

In the darkness, she made out the outline of a man.

"Gu Xichen?"