Chapter 26

Ji Kailan had just swiped his card when the clerk bent over to wrap the jade necklace. The shop's lighting was soft, and the air carried a faint scent of sandalwood. Everything was quiet, refined, and serene.

Boom!

The glass door was slammed open.

Nine masked men stormed in, the knives in their hands glinting coldly under the lights.

"Nobody move!"

The leader barked the order. Two robbers immediately split off to corner the clerk and the only two customers, while the other seven began smashing the display cases in a frenzy, sweeping jewelry into bags.

Su Louzhi's mind went blank. She stared at the knives, at the vicious eyes, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

Ji Kailan stood beside her and, without a sound, shifted half a step in front of her.

The store fell into a strange silence.

The robbers were busy looting the jewelry. The clerks, pale with terror, huddled in corners, not daring to move. The two robbers assigned to watch the hostages held their knives aloft and surveyed the trembling crowd with bored, wandering gazes.

This silence lasted about three minutes. Then, the watching robbers seemed to grow tired. One of them, stockier than the other, swept his gaze across the corners and finally landed on Su Louzhi. His eyes lit up instantly.

"Hey," he nudged his partner with his elbow, "take a look at that."

His partner followed his gaze and perked up just as quickly.

"Oh, not bad," he licked his lips. "Being with some rich young master like that, of course she'd be a looker. Look at that face, that figure, and with that scared-little-rabbit expression on top of it—"

He clicked his tongue twice. "Damn."

Su Louzhi's trembling worsened.

A vein twitched on Ji Kailan's brow. He stepped forward, completely shielding her behind him.

The robber who had spoken blinked, then grinned.

"Oh? Playing bodyguard now?" He tilted his head, twirling the tip of his knife in the light. "Think carefully, little master. Is your life worth more than this woman's?"

Ji Kailan didn't answer. He simply stood there, blocking Su Louzhi from view, staring coldly at the two robbers with no intention of backing down.

The larger robber looked at Ji Kailan's aloof, disdainful expression and suddenly grew furious.

"Pah!" He spat hard on the ground. "I hate rich bastards like you more than anything in this fucking world! Acting all high and mighty! Wake up and smell the situation! There are nine of us, nine knives! What the hell can you do against us?"

As he spoke, he started walking toward Su Louzhi, knife in hand.

Su Louzhi was so scared tears streamed down her face. She shook her head desperately, her cheeks soaked, and reached out to pull Ji Kailan back. But how could she budge him?

If she couldn't pull him back, then she would stand in front of him.

Just as she tried to step forward, Ji Kailan's long arm shot out and pressed her firmly behind him.

The robber had reached them. He patted his knife in his palm, a cruel grin spreading across his face.

"Ooh, little beauty, that expression, that reaction... tsk tsk. No wonder this young master's protecting you. If it were me, I'd protect you too."

He tilted his head, his eyes wandering over Su Louzhi's face before returning to Ji Kailan.

"Honestly, I was just going to have a bit of fun. But you two had to go and cross me." His smile turned more vicious. "Today, I'm going to have some real fun with the both of you."

The moment he finished speaking, he raised his knife—

Ji Kailan lifted his hand.

Slap.

The knife flew out of the robber's hand.

Then came a kick. The burly robber flew backward like a rag doll, crashing heavily to the ground, curling up and unable to get back up.

The other, smaller robber was stunned.

"You—you dare fight back?!"

He cursed and charged forward with his knife.

At the same time, the seven robbers who had been looting the jewelry stopped what they were doing. Seeing their companion kicked flying and Ji Kailan's neat, decisive movements, they instantly realized they were dealing with a tough one.

"Get him! All together!"

The seven of them pulled out their knives and surrounded Ji Kailan.

Su Louzhi stood behind him, shaking all over.

Eight people. Eight knives.

She didn't know what to do.

Just then, Ji Kailan turned his head slightly and spoke in a low voice: "It's alright, Zhizhi. Just stay behind me and don't be scared."

Su Louzhi's tears flowed even harder.

But she knew she couldn't move. She couldn't help; the only thing she could do was not cause him trouble. She bit her lip hard and watched as he kicked them one by one.

Those robbers were no match for him at all. One came at him, got kicked flying; two came at him, both got knocked down.

But the robbers weren't stupid either. After losing two more of their brothers, they finally figured out the problem—they couldn't get anywhere near Ji Kailan.

If they couldn't get to him, then they'd change targets.

They started circling around toward Su Louzhi.

When you're fighting while protecting someone, you can't cover everything. They knew that principle all too well.

Sure enough, once they started trying to attack Su Louzhi, Ji Kailan's movements were noticeably constrained. Still, he kept her tightly shielded, and before long, he had kicked four more flying. Seven robbers lay sprawled in a mess on the floor, groaning and unable to get up.

Only two remained.

But as Su Louzhi looked at those two, an intense sense of unease surged in her chest.

Their features... they looked far too similar.

Even with their faces masked, the sliver of brow and eye exposed looked almost identical.

The two exchanged a glance, then attacked Ji Kailan simultaneously.

Ji Kailan frowned and lifted his foot to kick one of them. The man suddenly retreated, and the kick missed. At that same moment, the other one seized the opening and charged straight at Su Louzhi.

Ji Kailan whirled around at once, shielding Su Louzhi and preparing to counter.

But just then, from the corner of her eye, Su Louzhi noticed that the robber who had retreated hadn't really retreated—it had just been a feint.

At that very moment, he was gripping his knife, putting all his strength into a thrust aimed directly at Ji Kailan's back.

Su Louzhi's heart nearly shattered. Without a second thought, she pushed Ji Kailan with all her might.

Ji Kailan, focused entirely on the robber in front of him, was caught off guard and swayed—but his stance was solid, and he steadied himself almost instantly.

But that brief sway was all the opening Su Louzhi needed. She darted forward and squeezed in front of him.

Ji Kailan's pupils contracted sharply.

He whipped his head around.

That robber's knife was arcing straight toward Su Louzhi.