Satisfying

She had finally landed a clean hit on Xie Xu!

Haha, she had finally punched him!

She had wanted to hit him for ages.

He had beaten her up so badly yesterday, and she had been itching to get back at him. Today, she finally had her revenge!

Happy, happy, so happy.

Tu Ran couldn't stop the smile spreading across her face; her mouth hadn't closed once since.

Xie Xu staggered to his feet, bracing himself on his knees, and glanced at her. "Don't get cocky. Keep practicing."

"Huh? More training?" Tu Ran's smile faltered as she turned to look at him. "Shouldn't you take care of your face first? I think I heard something crack."

Xie Xu reached up and touched his jaw. It hurt a little—seemed swollen too—but it wasn't a big deal.

"I'm fine. Keep going."

Tu Ran flexed her fingers a few times and muttered under her breath, "Don't blame me if you end up disfigured."

And with that, she charged at him again.

The two of them once again grappled in hand-to-hand combat, each blow landing squarely on flesh.

There's a saying that goes, "One shouldn't get too cocky."

Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, Xie Xu kicked her square in the chest.

Tu Ran's body traced a parabolic arc and crashed into the crowd outside the ring.

That's right—outside the ring.

She hadn't even landed on the soft mat inside the ring.

She hit the hard floor directly.

"Ah... damn it..." Tu Ran's pitch rose and fell with her altitude.

It ended with a solid thud.

"That hurts..." Tu Ran's body twitched as she curled up into a ball.

A ring of people surrounded her, each one wearing an expression of sympathy.

Just from the sound alone, they knew how painful that must have been.

"Couldn't you have caught me?" Tu Ran said weakly.

Everyone had dodged faster than lightning, and now they were putting on these pitying faces. What good did that do?

"What are you doing lying on the ground? Get back up here and continue." Xie Xu's voice drifted down from the ring.

Tu Ran wanted to cry but had no tears.

Couldn't she just lie down for a bit?

"If you don't come up, I'll have them throw you up here."

Tu Ran knew he was capable of doing something like that.

Struggling to sit up, she managed to stand with help from the people around her.

Then, limping and clutching her waist, she climbed the steps and returned to the ring.

She had been pretty angry a moment ago.

But when her gaze landed on Xie Xu's half-swollen face, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Forget it. She wouldn't hold a grudge against him. After all, she had created such a striking masterpiece on his face, so she could forgive his harshness.

"Are we continuing?" Tu Ran asked.

"You've pretty much mastered this exercise. We're moving on to the next one." After saying that, Xie Xu's gaze settled on the crowd below.

"Wang Baobao, bring up two knives."

Wang Baobao? That's... quite a name.

Tu Ran looked at the young man named Wang Baobao. He had a chubby, round face, plump and full of good cheer.

He quickly ran to the wall, grabbed two long blades, and tossed them up from below the ring.

Xie Xu caught one in each hand and handed one to Tu Ran.

He took two steps back, keeping some distance between them.

"In the Threshold, firearms aren't always as useful as cold weapons." Xie Xu looked at the long knife in his hand and, by chance, caught a glimpse of his swollen right cheek in its reflective blade.

Xie Xu: ...

"Why?" Tu Ran hadn't yet realized the gravity of the situation. She just didn't understand his statement and asked in confusion.

Xie Xu snapped back to attention, his gaze flickering over her face—sharp as a blade.

Tu Ran quickly covered her cheeks with both hands.

She realized why Xie Xu had made such an expression.

"What are you planning? You're allowed to hit my face, but I'm not allowed to hit yours? We're even now, so don't get any ideas about me." Tu Ran said warily.