C2 Chapter 2
“Get lost! That’s mine! You’re still a kid—couldn’t you learn something useful instead of stealing?” The owner of the big hand shook her off impatiently, but she wouldn’t let go. He immediately put all his strength into it and hurled her away.
Ugh...
A muffled groan.
Pfft...
A mouthful of thick blood sprayed out.
Her tiny body slammed into the wall and crumpled to the floor. Before she could even get up, someone stomped on her a few times. Spitting bright red blood, Zimu lifted her head unwillingly and looked at those monsters. She would carve them... into her memory... and get revenge...
But her life was already at its end...
Grabbing the Heart of Flame, the man in black retreated quickly.
“Zimu! Xiaofan! What happened... what happened to you?”
After a long while, Dean Mother struggled to her feet, hands trembling as she brushed their cheeks. Cold... not a trace of warmth...
Storm clouds piled overhead, lightning flashing. A streak of light tore through the sky and plunged into Zimu’s mind.
...
Summer in City A—cicadas screaming nonstop, the heat refusing to let up. High in a sycamore tree nearly thirty-three feet tall, a hint of white dress showed between thick branches, black hair fluttering. You couldn’t even see her clearly, yet your heart was already swaying. The girl’s clear singing voice wove together with the constant cicada buzz into a sweet, beautiful summer tune.
A black van rolled up quietly beneath the sycamore. The door slid open. Several men in suits and sunglasses stepped out, black guns in hand, moving with practiced precision to take their positions in front of the vehicle.
One of them walked up and respectfully opened the door. A pair of men’s leather shoes—polished enough to use as a mirror—stepped out first, followed by a man wearing sunglasses as well.
Even with most of his face hidden, it was hard to miss how captivating he was beneath his bangs. Just the sharp, sculpted lines of his features and those perfectly shaped lips were enough to draw anyone in.
But the moment he took off his sunglasses, it felt like fall hit early—like an Arctic gust slapped across your face, like someone cracked you hard across the back of the head. In an instant, it was dead-of-winter cold. A mouthful of blood nearly came up.
Each feature on its own might’ve been kind of captivating, but put together? It was downright bizarre. Those eyes—so small they were basically slits—ruined the whole thing.
And that mouth that whistled every time he talked.
“Boss, that’s her. She stole our Heart of Flame.”
The second the man stepped out of the car, one of the guys in black pointed up at the person in the tree, baring his teeth.
Who would’ve thought the top dog in City A would get his hands on a prize—only to have it snatched by some little woman?
No way were they letting this girl go. No way were they letting her walk out of their territory alive.
Behind the sunglasses, the man’s eyes flashed with a chilling glare. He looked like he wanted to put a bullet through the woman up in the tree—still humming happily to herself.
The black-clad boss tilted his head up. He couldn’t see her face, only a corner of a white dress peeking through the leaves.
His eyes narrowed. He flicked his hand. “Surround the tree. Kill her. Then take back the Heart of Flame.”
She’d picked the wrong people to mess with. Today, he’d make that arrogant woman understand: cross them, and you’re signing your own death warrant—walking straight through the gates of hell.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—
The men in black who’d been shouting about killing her dropped one after another. Only the boss was still standing by the car, his mouth hanging open in terror. “You…”
“Y-you… who the hell are you?”
He swallowed hard, again and again, instinctively trying to back up—but the car was right behind him. Nowhere to go. He’d just started to scramble into the vehicle when a slender hand snagged him by the collar.
