Chapter Four: Kill

After all, this wasn’t her own home, so Xia Ling was at a loss for what to do. Meanwhile, Ye Feng turned his head away, too embarrassed to look back. The atmosphere was painfully awkward.

“Um…” Xia Ling, blushing, was the first to break the silence, “Could you… go buy… something for me?” Her voice became barely audible as she spoke the last few words.

“What?” Ye Feng asked deliberately.

“You know… what I mean.”

“I don’t know!”

“Forget it if you won’t go!”

“I’ll go!”

“Still pretending not to know!”

“Hehe…”

“Hurry up!”

After Ye Feng left, Xia Ling glanced at her white clothes—they were already stained. Resigned, she took one of Ye Feng’s jackets from the wardrobe, tied it around her slender waist, and disappeared from the spot.

“Though I’ve only recovered a tenth of my strength, killing someone shouldn’t be a problem.”

…

“The vast horizon is my love…” The melody of “The Most Dazzling Ethnic Style” floated across BD Square.

A dozen middle-aged women swayed their full bodies in dance. Most conspicuous was an old man at the end of the line, energetically following the lead dancer, though his effort seemed out of place. On a row of benches beside them, people watched the dancers; among them, a young couple occasionally pointed at the old man and laughed. Of course, the young man’s attention was more on the girl beside him than the old man.

This old man was the same one from the bus who tried to start a fight with Xia Ling. Now, he followed the group of elderly women in dance, full of vigor, showing none of the frailty he’d displayed when demanding someone give up their seat. These elderly folk were always like this: in supermarkets during sales, one could outpace ten young men, but on a bus, they suddenly couldn’t stand.

The song soon ended, and it was time for a break. The old man scanned the area and spotted the young couple seated comfortably, then walked over to them.

“Hey, young man, give me your seat!”

“Didn’t you see we’re sitting? Weren’t you just dancing with plenty of energy?” The young man was not pleased; after a day of shopping with his girlfriend, he was exhausted. Finally seated, he could flirt a bit—only for this old man to come over.

“Can’t you see I’m elderly?” the old man retorted with righteous indignation.

“So I should give you my seat just because you’re old? You old folks are always exploiting your age!” The young man was angry. If the old man had asked politely, he wouldn’t mind giving up his seat. But the tone was so commanding, as if everyone owed him.

“What’s wrong with you young people nowadays, so rude!” With that, the old man grabbed the girl’s hair and pulled her aside.

The girl, likely never having been treated so roughly, squatted on the ground and began to cry.

Hearing the commotion, a group of gossip-loving aunties gathered around.

Seeing his girlfriend’s hair yanked by the old man, the young man snapped. Even if the old man hit him, he wouldn’t be so furious, but to assault his girlfriend right in front of him—how could he stand for that?

“You bastard!”

He swung his fist, intending to hit.

The old man stood his ground, puffing up his chest. “Go ahead, hit me! I want to see how uncivilized this younger generation is, attacking the elderly! You’ll get your retribution one day!”

He spoke with utter conviction.

At this moment, the girl stopped crying, pulled the young man back. “Let it go. If you hurt him, we’ll be blamed. Don’t bother with people like him.”

“But…” The young man glared at the old man, eyes blazing.

“No buts. I know you’d protect me if someone bullied me. But we can’t let this old man ruin our happiness! Let’s go!” The girl dragged him away from the crowd.

“That old man always uses his age to do these things!”

“This girl is really sensible!”

…

Nearby, people began whispering about the old man.

As the girl passed through the crowd, some praised and comforted her.

“Don’t mind that old fellow; he’s used to it! Everyone knows what’s going on.”

“Hey young man, your girlfriend is great—very mature. Treat her well, or we’ll hold you accountable!”

…

Men care about their pride; he feared being mocked for not defending his girlfriend. But now, by not fighting, people respected him even more. If he’d hit the old man, he’d have lost the moral high ground. Regardless, now others envied him for having a good girlfriend, and he held the advantage—this incident ended perfectly.

Seeing everyone start to criticize him, the old man left, disgruntled, and returned home. All the while, he cursed, “What’s wrong with young people these days!”

Back home, he angrily slammed a few pieces of furniture, swearing loudly. He lived alone, which explained his inability to understand young people. Perhaps that’s why he never found a companion—maybe this was fate’s punishment for him.

As he vented, he suddenly noticed a woman in white standing by the window.

The old man had been a Green Guard in his youth, a staunch materialist, never believing in ghosts or gods. He’d charge forward at the cry of “Long live the Party!”

“Who are you?”

The woman’s face was expressionless.

The old man squinted, finally recognizing her. “You’re that brat from the bus, aren’t you? Have you come to admit you were wrong?”

“Obstinate fool! You dared to lay a hand on me, you wretched old man!”

With a wave of her slender hand, blood spurted from the old man’s neck.

“You…”

Before he could finish, the woman vanished.

…

In a hotel suite, two women lay naked atop a thin and a heavyset man, moving rhythmically. Both men had arms in plaster casts—impressive, playing group sex with broken arms.

“Damn, such a beautiful woman, and that brat had to rescue her. Otherwise, she would’ve been under me now. Because of him, I had to come here to vent!” The thin man recalled the woman’s appearance from earlier, then looked at the prostitute writhing atop him—worlds apart in beauty.

“Big brother, I think this one’s pretty good too,” the heavyset man said, thoroughly enjoying himself.

“That’s all you aspire to! You don’t know how gorgeous that woman was earlier! Talking to you is pointless. If I hadn’t brought you to enjoy life, you’d still be a virgin, wasting government-issued tissues in front of your screen!” The thin man sneered.

“Yes, yes…” The heavyset man panted, “You’re like a second father to me. Without you, I wouldn’t have such happiness.”

The thin man gazed at the woman on him, thinking of that earlier beauty, and was filled with rage.

“Hey, are you even trying? Harder! If my hand wasn’t broken, I’d have finished you already.” He vented all his anger on the woman; after all, women of the world existed to satisfy men’s anger and lust.

The woman, hearing his outburst, could only pick up the pace. As she moved faster, the sensation intensified, and a flood of fluids followed. The man finally felt somewhat satisfied, breathing heavily.

Suddenly, the thin man felt a presence lock onto him. With a jolt, he looked at the window, where a woman had appeared unnoticed.

He broke out in cold sweat, but on closer inspection, recognized her face—it was the woman he’d been fantasizing about. Blood raced downward. The woman on top cried out.

“Oh my, getting so hard—are you trying to kill me?” she said coyly, moving even faster, driven by her own needs.

“I warned you—if you touch me, your death will be ugly!” The icy words reached the two men’s ears, though the women didn’t hear, continuing their motions. The two men broke out in cold sweat at the sound.

As the pace quickened, the woman closed her eyes, body going soft, and with a scream, a hot liquid sprayed over her face and body.

Satisfied, she crawled off, only to realize the man wasn’t inside her—so what had sprayed on her?

She opened her eyes to find herself covered in blood.

“Murder!” Her scream shattered the hotel’s tranquility.

The two women, still confused, found the men beneath them already dead, their throats slit.

…

Not far from Ye Feng’s home was a large supermarket, bustling at this hour.

Ye Feng glanced around, and when no one was nearby, hurried to the aisle for women’s sanitary products. Whenever someone approached, he quickly turned his head, pretending to be just passing by.

Everything around him was pink.

Two girls, hand in hand, noticed Ye Feng’s furtive demeanor and hurried away, leaving behind, “Pervert!”

“Ah, my reputation ruined just like that! I’m supposed to be a suave, elegant man—how did I end up being called a pervert?”

“Uncle!” A sweet voice sounded by Ye Feng’s ear. Who else could it be but Han Shanshan?

“Shan… Shan? What are you doing here?” Ye Feng asked awkwardly.

“That’s what I should be asking you,” Han Shanshan stared at him.

“Sorry about today,” Han Shanshan apologized again.

“It’s fine!” Truthfully, he wasn’t bothered; without her, Ling wouldn’t have admitted he was her boyfriend.

“Are you buying pads?”

“Um… no…”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? Not sure which to buy? There are so many brands. Let me recommend some.” Han Shanshan spoke enthusiastically, not at all shy discussing the topic with a boy. This should have been obvious from her earlier paper-ball incident.

Ye Feng thought that was a relief—he really had no idea which to choose with so many types.

“Let’s pick a brand first. I always use Sophie—it’s good and always advertised on TV.”

“That’s the one where after buying it, you can climb mountains and run?” Ye Feng recalled those ads. “Such misleading commercials for young people like me. Well, let’s get that brand.”

“You’re still a teenager?” Han Shanshan rolled her eyes.

“Now, what model do we need?”

“There are so many options?”

“Of course. Is your girlfriend at the beginning, middle, or end of her period? If it’s the beginning, the flow is heavier—buy the longer ones. If it’s the middle, normal ones are fine. If it’s the end, just buy some liners.” Han Shanshan explained patiently.

“Um…”

“You don’t even know that? You should pay more attention to her. She’s so beautiful—being with you is your good fortune. Especially these days, women need extra care!” Han Shanshan said seriously.

“Yes, yes, yes. I’ll just buy a whole set.” Ye Feng had no idea what she needed, so he decided to buy everything.

Under Han Shanshan’s guidance, Ye Feng bought a huge pile. If she were a sales assistant, she’d definitely top the performance charts. Han Shanshan herself took a pack of liners, clearly done with her period.

“Want to buy her some panties, too?” Han Shanshan leaned in, cheerfully. She felt guilty about today and wanted to help him as much as possible.

Ye Feng figured Ling probably needed a few pairs as well, so he agreed.

His gaze landed on a black lace pair.

“Uncle, you’re so naughty!”

Ye Feng’s face flushed bright red.

“I think the pretty big sister would suit this one,” Han Shanshan said, picking up a pink pair with a cartoon rabbit eating a carrot.

“Your taste is pretty bold, too!”

“Is it?” Han Shanshan looked again at the design, her face reddening. “Uncle, you’re so bad~”

“I’ll take these—pink, blue, and white, one each.” Ye Feng put them in the cart.

“I want to wear the same as big sister. When you take her panties off, you’ll think of me. Hehe!” Han Shanshan grinned mischievously, grabbing three of the same.

“What are you thinking, kid?”

“You keep saying I’m a kid! I’m not a kid anymore!” She puffed out her chest.

Han Shanshan had changed out of her jeans into shorts, with a thin layer of nude stockings and a white off-shoulder T-shirt. Her figure stretched the shirt high.

“Not so small after all!”

“Looks good?”

“Not bad.”

“Better than big sister’s?”

“Each has her own charm.”

“I knew you were a pervert, uncle. With big sister you still look at me, so unfaithful.”

“You don’t understand—I’m appreciating nature’s art! Nature truly is miraculous…”

“Pervert!”

“Right, I need to buy Ling an outfit, too.” Although he’d turned his gaze quickly earlier, the white dress stained red was obvious.

“Buying clothes? North Kingdom’s First Under Heaven has beautiful clothes! I’ll take you.” Han Shanshan was bored shopping alone, so finally grabbed someone to accompany her. If Ye Feng knew Han Shanshan was just seeking company, who knows what he’d think.

Soon, the two finished checking out and left.

Suddenly, Han Shanshan called out, “Wait a minute!”

“If big sister’s on her period, what about those paper balls on the floor? Uncle, you really are shameless, claiming to be so strong! Look at your skinny frame. At first, I really thought you’d gone fifteen times. I’m disappointed in you!” With that, Han Shanshan headed toward North Kingdom’s First Under Heaven.

“….” Ye Feng followed behind, feeling rather dejected.