Don't Hit the Face

Xie Xu didn't respond to her answer.

"The others are no match for you anymore. Today, you fight me directly," Xie Xu said.

Tu Ran grew serious, rolling her wrists a few times. "Then here I go."

Xie Xu gave a slight nod, and Tu Ran charged forward.

Every move was fierce, all her skills on full display.

As far as Tu Ran could tell, she hadn't found Xie Xu's weak spot yet.

He seemed to excel in every aspect—impenetrable on defense, with no blind spots on offense.

The methods she'd used against Lu Huaiwei were completely useless against him.

The people below the ring watched Tu Ran hold her own against Xie Xu for so many exchanges without falling behind, and their jaws dropped in shock.

Just yesterday, this woman had been hit within ten moves under Xie Ge's hand, but today she'd improved to a level where the two were evenly matched.

Her learning ability was downright monstrous.

Tu Ran only wanted to say—was there any chance that the reason she'd been beaten down so easily yesterday was that, before fighting Xie Xu, she'd already gotten into a group brawl with them and burned through some of her stamina?

By the end, her face was swollen into a pig's head, her eyes reduced to slits, and she couldn't see a thing, so of course she'd been crushed and beaten without mercy.

But although she looked perfectly composed right now, only Tu Ran herself knew how hard it was to maintain this state.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last. Xie Xu threw an unexpected hook punch that Tu Ran barely dodged.

She immediately crossed her hands to cover her face and shouted, "Don't hit the face!"

Xie Xu's fist stopped just one centimeter short of her face.

"I went to the Medical Department yesterday and already raised Xu Bingli's suspicions. If my face swells up again today, it'll be hard to explain," Tu Ran said quickly. "You can hit anywhere else—just not the face."

Xie Xu nodded slightly. "Fine. Continue."

The two clashed again. Tu Ran truly concentrated with all her might, terrified that any slight carelessness would let Xie Xu find an opening.

She bent her knee and drove it toward Xie Xu's abdomen.

Xie Xu reacted swiftly, grabbing her leg and stepping back at the same time.

Tu Ran was forced to topple forward.

Seeing that her face was about to hit the ground, with no other choice, Tu Ran risked using Xie Xu's arm as a fulcrum, leaping up with her other leg and kicking sideways at his face.

At that exact moment, Xie Xu let go.

Tu Ran's heart lurched. Sure enough, the next second, she slammed hard onto the ground on her face.

Tu Ran sucked in a sharp breath of pain, feeling like every bone in her body had been jarred loose.

Xie Xu bent down to pull her up. "Are you okay?"

Tu Ran sat up with a sudden lurch, and without warning, wrapped her arms around his head and delivered a solid rear throw.

A gasp rose from below the ring.

Before Xie Xu could get up, Tu Ran charged at him again, and the two tumbled together.

They rolled around on the ring—you kicked me, I kicked you back; you grabbed my neck, I clawed at your nose.

It was the most unseemly fight imaginable.

The crowd below was mortified.

They never thought they'd live to see the day Xie Ge was entangled by some nobody, rolling around on the ring and unable to even get back on his feet.

Another long, drawn-out scuffle.

It ended with an unexpected punch.

The crowd below fell silent, no one daring to speak.

Tu Ran's fist slammed heavily into Xie Xu's chin.

Through a haze, she heard the sound of bone cracking.

Her knuckles ached terribly too.

Knocked flat by the sudden blow, Xie Xu lay on the ground, staring up at the lights overhead. His head spun, his vision blurred, and the lights appeared double.

Tu Ran was thrilled beyond words. Ignoring the searing pain in her finger joints, she jumped up, spread her arms wide, and ran a triumphant lap around the ring.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"