Chapter 391 : Chapter 391

Chapter 391: The Girl in the Dream State Walks into Reality

In the deep black of night, the moments before dawn are the darkest hours, a time when most people are enjoying their dreams.

But in a dark alley, a figure was carefully walking, feeling the walls.

Occasionally, the tip of her foot would kick a stone or she would trip over something, producing an incongruous sound in the quiet night.

The girl struggling to walk in the night was named Qiu Ruxin.

Logically, she should also be lying in her own bed, having sweet dreams, but that was a memory from a while ago.

It did not belong to the current her.

She had to maintain constant vigilance to avoid being discovered by those who wished her harm.

Even at this hour, she dared not make a rash move.

This world had changed.

Society was gradually collapsing, and the night was still the time when criminals ran rampant.

She needed to find a place that could take her in.

It didn't matter if it was dilapidated or crude.

However, she didn't have much money, so she couldn't stay in a hotel or inn.

She could only try her luck finding a place to settle down.

She dared not even postpone this until daylight, because the daytime could be even more chaotic.

Under the cover of darkness, Qiu Ruxin walked to an abandoned factory.

Theoretically, this should have been an excellent place to stay, but she hesitated after seeing it clearly.

It wasn't because the place was gloomy, dark, or terrifying, nor was it because she was afraid of ghosts.

People were a thousand times more terrifying than ghosts in this era!

Such a conspicuous abandoned factory would likely have already been occupied.

If she foolishly walked in, it would be like a lamb entering the tiger's den—she would be serving herself up.

After confirming this, she did not linger or hesitate, but just as she was about to leave, a metallic, grating screech sounded.

Qiu Ruxin subconsciously turned her head and saw the large iron gate slowly moving...

No, not moving... it was collapsing!

By the time Qiu Ruxin reacted, the heavy iron gate was already falling toward her.

"Ugh..."

Qiu Ruxin, who was crushed by the sudden iron gate, only let out a slight groan.

She did not scream like an ordinary girl, nor did she immediately shout for help.

She knew very well that doing so would only lead to her dying faster or suffering a fate worse than death.

But even so, the heavy metal gate falling made a grating sound in the night.

"Damn it... I should have known..."

Qiu Ruxin instinctively cursed under her breath.

She used her slender arms to push away the gate pressing down on her.

Without even pausing to check the pain in her body, she turned and ran.

The dark night was her best cover.

Then, she heard a flurry of noise from inside the abandoned factory.

Just as she had guessed, someone was already inside.

But clearly, they didn't intend to let her go.

Urgent footsteps and curses echoed behind her.

She quickly turned into several consecutive alleys, trying to shake off those people.

They didn't know she was a girl; they just thought she had broken their gate and was trying to chase her down to teach the reckless person a lesson.

So, as long as she put some distance between them, she could escape.

Just as she found a quiet corner and thought she could rest, a figure suddenly stood up behind her and choked her neck.

"Heh... a little wench delivered herself right into my bed!"

"Ugh! Ugh..."

Qiu Ruxin was immediately choked.

The other person's hand covered her mouth.

The sudden turn of events made her realize she had relaxed too soon!

Who would have thought there was a tramp sleeping here?

In this emergency, driven by the instinct for survival, she desperately pulled at the person's hand with both of hers to buy herself time from suffocating.

She stomped her foot backward several times, making several crisp noises on the ground, until the fourth stomp didn't make a crisp noise.

Instead, the tramp let out a scream.

The hard, though not very high, heel had landed directly on his toes.

The force must have crushed his toes.

Even the arm choking her neck loosened.

So, she immediately bit down hard on the hand covering her mouth.

Traces of blood seeped out from between her teeth, showing how hard she was biting.

A faint metallic taste of rust bloomed in her mouth.

She ignored it.

She had to get out of here quickly!

The guy's painful yell could attract the others.

If that happened, she wouldn't be facing one or two people, and they wouldn't be comparable to this tramp.

But just as she ran away, a sound of something cutting through the air suddenly struck her.

She didn't need to guess to know it was a thrown object.

The next moment, before she could even turn to dodge, a sharp pain shot through her back.

A solid metal rod struck her back hard.

Fortunately, it wasn't the tip that hit her.

Otherwise, it might have pierced her body, causing a severe injury.

"You little bitch... you dare to bite me! See if I don't..."

The tramp limped and cursed.

Immediately following the blow, the vile curses from behind quickly followed.

Qiu Ruxin, struck by the heavy blow, felt completely powerless.

The intense pain constantly stimulated her consciousness, making her body start to lose control.

With a clank of metal, the rod fell at her feet.

Qiu Ruxin, who had fallen to the ground, turned around, picked up the rod, stood up, and faced the man.

"Don't come any closer!"

Qiu Ruxin deliberately kept her voice low, even hoarse, with a hint of madness, like a rabid dog.

But the man didn't back down.

Throwing the rod was just an instinctive reaction.

Even facing a young girl, he picked up a brick from the side, completely unafraid.

This situation immediately made her realize her misjudgment.

She hadn't expected him to be crazier than her.

But a sudden commotion from a group of people nearby instantly made Qiu Ruxin and the tramp nervous.

"Sh*t... Dammit... bad luck!"

The tramp was crazy enough, but not stupid.

Facing people who were still roaming outside at this hour, he didn't think they were good news, so he turned and ran, not looking back.

"Hey! Brothers, she really is here!"

A malicious voice rang out.

In the dark night, only the sound of footsteps was utterly oppressive.

The sheer number of people made Qiu Ruxin realize that tonight might not end well.

At this moment, only the iron rod in her hand gave her a faint, false sense of security.

"Yo Unexpected surprise. It's a woman!"

"Feast time, brothers!"

The group of men grinned evilly, letting out malicious laughter as they closed in on Qiu Ruxin, completely ignoring the iron rod in her hand.

After all, these men were chasing the person who had demolished their large gate.

They naturally had weapons in their hands.

Iron rods and steel bars were plentiful.

Anything that was handy became a weapon.

How could a few burly men be afraid of the young girl in front of them?

"Don't come any closer... if you come any closer, I don't mind dying to take one of you with me."

The girl threatened.

But the hooligans didn't believe her and continued to walk forward until Qiu Ruxin had nowhere left to retreat.

Suddenly, Qiu Ruxin exploded with the iron rod, striking out directly to injure.

She aimed a blow straight at the guy in the lead.

The man hadn't expected the girl to be so decisive and ruthless.

At this distance, he couldn't even defend himself and could only instinctively raise his arm to block.

He took the full force of the blow, but fortunately, his arm deflected it.

Otherwise, if it had hit his carotid artery or neck, there's no saying if he'd still be standing.

Crack...

A sound of bone breaking and a scream immediately horrified the group.

"Ahhh... my arm... You! You're an Enhancer!"

The hoodlum whose forearm was fractured flashed a look of terror, but it was quickly replaced by rage.

"Kill her! She's not even a ranked Enhancer, and she dared to break my arm!"

The men on either side of him also felt like retreating upon hearing she was an Enhancer, but hearing she wasn't ranked, they lost their fear again.

They perfectly demonstrated the principle of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

At this moment, Qiu Ruxin's heart sank completely.

She knew she had no choice left.

As for the man calling her an Enhancer, she didn't deny it.

She had indeed used Enhancement Essence or similar items, but just as he said, she wasn't a ranked Enhancer.

Coupled with her natural disadvantage as a girl, she simply couldn't fight against so many people.

If it were just the tramp, she might have thought she could fight.

But now... she was out of options.

Facing their verbal harassment and humiliation, a hint of despair grew in her heart.

Her angry eyes now carried a trace of fear and helplessness.

At this moment, how she wished someone would help her, but there was no one.

If there were, they would only be malicious criminals preying on others.

As the men aggressively approached, Qiu Ruxin fought back desperately, but even with a physique slightly stronger than an ordinary person, she couldn't fight several hooligans.

She was subdued after only a few exchanges.

"Stop! Let me handle her!"

The man with the broken forearm stood up, still wailing, his inner rage uncontrollable!

He wanted blood for his injury!

"You piece of trash, your arm is broken. Why are you still yelling?"

Seeing the man wanting to come over and kill the girl, a man next to him glared at him.

They didn't want this guy to ruin the plaything they had caught.

"You! Do you know who I follow!"

"I don't care who you follow. If your arm is broken, you're trash! And it's your right arm. I'm warning you to stay back. This girl isn't yours."

"You! Just you wait..."

The man with the broken arm immediately saw the situation clearly and ran away with a pale face.

They were hooligans.

If a man broke his arm, no one would look after him.

It would be a miracle if they didn't kick him while he was down.

As for treatment, ha ha... that would cost a lot of money, which a hooligan couldn't afford.

He could only pray that his hand wouldn't be crippled after the bone was set and that his enemies wouldn't come looking for him.

But these were not things Qiu Ruxin needed to think about.

She only hoped they would fight among themselves, but clearly, things would not go her way.

"Let go! Let me go!"

Even at this moment, Qiu Ruxin still didn't give up struggling.

Facing this damned life, maybe death would be a good destination.

But before that, she still had a desire to survive that she wasn't even aware of.

Slap—!

A crisp sound echoed in the night.

Instantly, Qiu Ruxin felt her head spin from the slap.

The force of the blow must have been tremendous.

"Still struggling? Did you want to bite someone just now? Here's a slap to see if you get more energetic!"

The hooligan said with disdain.

But Qiu Ruxin could no longer hear what he was saying.

She just felt her vision blur, with ringing in her ears.

She was unwilling to accept her fate, but at this moment... unless a miracle happened... but how could that be possible?

But the next moment, in her blurred vision, she seemed to see a golden butterfly flash before her eyes, then dissolve into specks of starlight.

It happened so fast that she thought she was seeing things.

She waited for a long time, even resigning herself to her fate, but the humiliation she expected didn't begin.

She strained to open her eyes and saw a pattern glowing on the ground.

The light formed a strange circle of lines.

This anomaly immediately scared the hooligans into freezing.

Faced with the unknown, everyone instinctively feels fear.

No one dared to risk their life testing the unknown, especially in this damned era.

As the pattern, which looked like a magic circle, shone brightly, a hand suddenly reached out from the ritual circle.

Following it, a figure slowly rose from the ground.

Faced with facts beyond their comprehension and the fear of unknown power, they chose to... run.

"Gh... Ghost!"

"Run! It's a monster!"

Just like that, the group of men fled, even faster than the one with the broken forearm.

The hooligans knew very well that even if the figure wasn't a ghost or a monster, it was someone they couldn't afford to provoke—someone they had to avoid!

At this moment, Qiu Ruxin watched the figure.

She was also frightened by the commotion.

A person... appeared out of nowhere right in front of her!

Qiu Ruxin was not naive enough to think that the person who suddenly appeared would be kind to her.

Faced with this unknown, her despair intensified.

But even if she were to die, she wanted to know who this person who suddenly appeared was.

Taking advantage of the light from the ritual before it dissipated, Qiu Ruxin looked at the figure in front of her.

For some reason, she felt... a sense of familiarity, especially the silver-white long hair and the familiar physique...

When the figure turned around, the familiar face and those deep red eyes that were seared into her memory... That was it!

It was the person who appeared in her dream!

The person from the dream... appeared in reality?!

No matter how much she couldn't believe it, the fact remained.

As the spell ritual dissipated, the surrounding area became pitch black.

But the next moment, a light source illuminated this corner.

Qiu Ruxin looked at the white-haired girl in front of her in surprise.

A light source inexplicably appeared on her fingertip, slowly adjusting its brightness from a momentary glare to a comfortable level.

Qiu Ruxin was about to ask something, but she suddenly recalled the incident in the dream and realized the other person... seemed not to understand her language...

However, the next moment, a clear girl's voice echoed in her mind.

"I have no ill will. Looking at you, are you okay?"

Qiu Ruxin's eyes widened in disbelief.

This was... Telepathic Communication?!

In just this brief contact, the other person had given her too many surprises, but the tension in her heart... seemed to finally be able to ease.

Yes, the girl who appeared like a hero at this moment was me!

As for why I appeared at such a critical juncture... I couldn't say for sure.

Maybe... it was the thread of Destiny.

I adjusted the alchemy glasses I hadn't taken off during the research, looking at the familiar girl in front of me.

This time, it was a face-to-face meeting in person, wasn't it?

The girl in front of me was truly... in a miserable state.