First, then, love.

This is her last trump card.

The man wasn't afraid at all; instead, he excitedly licked the blood off his lips.

"Police? Police are great, I've never slept with a SWAT officer's wife in my life."

He gripped Shu Yao's hands tightly with one hand, and roughly pulled the zipper of her down jacket with the other.

Pull hard.

With a "rip," the zipper was violently torn apart.

A cold wind rushed in instantly.

The man stared at her white turtleneck sweater underneath, his gaze becoming increasingly lewd.

"Yaoyao, when you were playing the violin on stage, your legs were spread so wide. Is it because the police's salary isn't enough for you? Come with me, I'll show you what real fun is."

The man swore at her as he grabbed her arm and tried to throw her into the carriage.

The man's strength was too great; she was like prey caught in a trap, and all her struggles seemed futile.

The hood of her down jacket was ripped off, and her long hair fell loose, flying wildly in the wind and snow.

The icy snowflakes fell on her swollen cheeks, chilling her to the bone.

"Help... Someone please help me..."

Her voice was hoarse and cracked.

The surroundings remained deathly silent, with only the wind howling.

The man's expression became increasingly distorted as he listened to her cries.

He leaned closer, greedily inhaling the tuberose perfume emanating from her neck.

"It smells so good, Yao Yao. Do you know that I dream about this smell every night?"

The man's hands were restlessly scratching at her back.

"Does your policeman husband touch you like this all the time? Does he understand you as well as I do?"

"Shut up! You beast!"

Shu Yao trembled with rage, her eyes burning with desperate fury.

She cannot admit defeat; she absolutely cannot be taken away.

She opened her mouth and, without hesitation, bit down hard on the back of the man's outstretched hand.

The teeth pierced the man's skin and bit into his flesh.

"Ah—you bitch! You're asking for it!"

The man screamed in pain and jerked his hand back.

A deep ring of teeth marks, oozing blood, appeared on the back of his hand.

This completely enraged the desperado.

He stopped talking nonsense and flirting.

He used his thick arms to strangle Shu Yao's neck, locking her throat.

They forcibly dragged her into the carriage.

Breathing was cut off, the brain instantly lacked oxygen, and vision began to go black.

In dire straits, Shu Yao gritted her teeth and unleashed an unprecedented will to survive.

Using the force of the man's pull, her body suddenly leaned forward.

Lift your right leg.

The heel, imbued with all its strength and anger, slammed into the man's fragile shinbone.

"ah--!"

The man let out a bloodcurdling scream, his face contorted in agony.

The excruciating pain made him instinctively bend over, and the iron clamp in his hand loosened its grip for half a second.

Just this half-second.

Shu Yao seized the opportunity and, with all her might, struggled backward.

Her fingers were finally pulled out of the man's palm.

However, the force was too strong, and the snow was slippery and icy.

Her feet slipped, she lost her balance, and she fell backward uncontrollably.

The violin case handle, which he had been gripping tightly in his left hand, finally slipped from his grasp amidst the violent struggle and the momentum of the fall.

The cello case crashed heavily onto the snow.

A muffled "bang" was heard.

The carbon fiber shell left a glaring white mark on the hard ice surface.

Shu Yao also fell down.

My back slammed into the asphalt road, which was covered with snow and ice, without warning.

"hiss--"

She curled up in pain, her vision going black for a moment.

But she couldn't care less about any of that.

Panic gripped her throat like a giant hand.

The madwoman was kicked in the shin by a high heel, and in pain, she hopped on one leg twice, letting out a pig-like scream.

But he did not fall.

The bone pain stimulated the most violent part of his nerves.

He steadied himself, lowered his head, and looked at Shu Yao, who was lying in the snow, shivering.

His face was completely distorted, and blood beads seeped from three scratches made by his fingernails. Coupled with his yellowed and rotten teeth, he looked exactly like a demon crawling out of hell.

"You bitch, you won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences."

He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and limped over.

His eyes were filled with a frenzied lust and a vengeful thrill.

"Your policeman husband isn't here, is he? It's New Year's Eve, he's probably busy catching thieves, he doesn't have time to worry about you."

He spewed out nauseating profanities as he pulled a folding switchblade from his filthy pocket.

The blade popped out, gleaming with a cold, piercing light in the dim headlights.

"Go ahead and run, try taking one more step and I'll slash your face until you're all bruised and battered. Then we'll see how you'll seduce men on stage after that."

The man, brandishing a knife, approached step by step.

Shu Yao tried her best to shrink back.

He grabbed at the snow haphazardly with both hands, trying to find an excuse to stand up.

But the ice was too slippery, and she couldn't get any leverage.

They could only watch helplessly as the dark figure pressed down on them bit by bit.

despair.

An overwhelming despair, like the heavy snow, completely buried her.

Tears streamed down my face, blurring my vision.

He Zheng, He Zheng, where are you?

She cried out in despair in her heart.

The man bent down, reaching out his rough, dirty hand to grab her long hair that was scattered on the snow.

*

A sudden change occurred.

"boom--!"

A loud engine roar suddenly erupted from the road outside the parking lot.

Immediately following was a piercing screech of brakes.

A black SUV, like a crazed steel beast, crashed directly into the wooden barrier at the entrance of the parking lot.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

The car didn't slow down at all.

On the snow-covered field, with a wild tail drift, it charged straight toward this dark corner.

Two bright, blinding headlights instantly pierced through the thick darkness and snow.

It struck the man with the knife squarely in the back.

The man was blinded by the bright light and instinctively raised his arm to shield his eyes, but then suddenly stopped.

The driver's side door was kicked open from the inside.

A tall, pure black figure, exuding a fierce killing intent that seemed to be swirling with wind and snow, leaped directly from the moving carriage.

too fast.

The figure used the snow for leverage, moving so fast that it became a blur.

The man hadn't even realized what was happening, and hadn't even had time to turn his head.

The dark figure was already upon them.