Compared to Tang Qi who was truly a new student, Sally clearly knew her way around. She led Tang Qi through the complex school grounds easily and avoided the teens at the central path looking to give him trouble, allowing Tang Qi to avoid the fate of having to fight with a few kiddies with overactive hormones.
However, what made Tang Qi feel somewhat resigned was that the path they took was likely one which Sally used to avoid bullies. Thus, reaching the end of the path also meant that the two of them had left school grounds.
"Creak~"
Tang Qi looked behind him upon hearing the sound. He was just in time to see a rusty metal gate slam shut.
This was an inconspicuous side gate of Holy Thorns High School. Students rarely left the school through this gate.
Tang Qi didn't need to wonder why. The dirty mess in front of him was enough to explain it all.
The street in front of him looked very remote. There was nothing much there other than piles of rubbish giving off a terrible smell in the corner. Graffiti filled the walls, while blackened spots and even cracked tiles could be seen all over the ground. Newspapers were blown about by the breeze. An incredibly greasy billboard stood in the corner of the street.
A look of comprehension flashed across Tang Qi's face, though he was rather astonished that there was actually such a place near the Holy Thorns school grounds.
Quietly bringing up a mental map of the area, Tang Qi realized where this place was.
There were a total of five large districts in Moses City. Out of these five districts, four of them were the Bronx district, the Lopez district, the Newton district, and the Ratch district. The four large districts surrounded and protected the Midtown district in the center.
The Midtown district was naturally the biggest and wealthiest district. Many multi-millionaires and people of the upper class gathered here, enjoying the resources supplied by the entire Moses City. Holy Thorns High School was located in this district.
As for the other four districts, the Bronx district was where refugees and the poor convened. The Lopez district was the middle-class's favorite district. The Newton district boasted a long history but had an extremely weak presence, while the Ratch district was where the petty bourgeoisie and some of the wealthy with less substantial backgrounds congregated.
The original Tang Qi used to live in the Ratch district.
If his guess was right, this street where Tang Qi and Sally were right now should be in the Bronx district.
Right next to the Midtown district, the two of them must have gone through the entire Holy Thorns school grounds to have reached this place.
Tang Qi was going through all these in his mind with great interest, but his silence gave Sally the wrong idea that he despised the place instead.
This was very understandable. Although Tang Qi tried his best to act like an ordinary Asian teen, there were some details on him that hinted at his favorable family background nonetheless.
For example, the branded clothes he wore and his courteous and socially appropriate mannerisms.
Due to the events in the morning, Sally, who regularly suffered from bullying, had quite a good impression of Tang Qi. This was the reason why she was willing to bring Tang Qi with her and escape to this place at the risk of being bullied again.
Unfortunately, her long-time inferiority complex led to her not daring to even ask the teenage boy in front of her anything at all.
Her face merely fell a little. Then, she said softly to Tang Qi, "There's a public bus stop right at the corner of this street. The next bus will come in a few minutes. B-Bye~"
After speaking, Sally immediately turned around and ran off towards the other end of the street. She even almost tripped, either because she was in too much of a panic or because of her baggy trousers.
She stumbled but managed to stop herself from falling, except her complexion turned even paler, as if tears would stream from her eyes under the black-framed spectacles at any moment.
She hastily quickened her pace, almost disappearing at the end of the street in just a few moments.
This sudden change stunned Tang Qi again. This girl named Sally was honestly too sensitive. She was practically a little bunny that was constantly in a state of alarm. Even Tang Qi couldn't quite follow her train of thought.
Shaking his head, Tang Qi turned and walked towards the bus stop, intending to look for the girl tomorrow and explain to her.
As for returning to the school grounds, since he was already out, Tang Qi just so happened to have a few places he wanted to go that were outside of the school. In that case, he would take the opportunity to go around for a look instead and return to his little brick house after achieving his objectives. It was only nearing evening now anyway, so it wasn't too late yet.
Tang Qi had only taken a few steps when a couple walked out of a bakery along the street in front. The moment they came out, they hurriedly ran towards the bus stop. As they ran, the young man in front even grumbled. "Peggy, hurry up. It's all your fault for wanting to eat that so-called special blueberry pie. I can't believe we're still in the Bronx district when it's already so late. We'd better hurry and leave. If we stay any longer, all those vicious ruffians are going to emerge."
Knowing that she was in the wrong, the black-haired girl being pulled along by him didn't retort. Panting heavily, she kept up with her boyfriend even though she was wearing high heels.
Behind them, the very last shop on this street, a bakery named White Truffle also shut their doors with a loud creak.
Tang Qi stopped in his tracks. He glanced at the bus stop that was just a few steps away. Bus headlights could be seen vaguely in the distance. A look of resignation flashed past his face, and he turned around resolutely, heading in the direction where Sally had disappeared, and went after her.
Even though they had only met twice, they were classmates after all.
The most important factor here was that Tang Qi had a very good impression of this girl.
This reason was more than enough.
At the other end, Sally had indeed gotten into huge trouble.
She was cornered in a dim little alley. In front of her were three young men with terribly awful style.
One of them had his hair bleached yellow and sported a nose ring. The second one was naked at the top, showing off his muscular upper body as he fiddled with a small knife. The last one was slightly more normal, just that he clearly looked like he gave in to debauchery too much. Needle marks covered his arms, practically imprinting the words "bad person" on his forehead.
From the looks of it, the drug addict was the leader of the three. He stood at the front. His pale face tilted to the side as he licked his purplish lips with his disgusting tongue, leering at Sally.
"Look at that. We're in luck today. This is a premium-grade chick."
"Don't be taken in by how unfashionable this chick looks. That sexy and perfect figure can't escape my eyes at all. Trust me, this is premium goods. Let's bring her back and lock her up. Not only will we be able to have some proper fun for a few days, we can even get some good money if we sell her after we break her."
"Hurhurhur~"
Although the drug addict's words sounded rather dubious, Sally was so frightened upon hearing what he said that her breathing became ragged. The heaving of her chest made the eyes of the other two ruffians light up as well, a similarly disgusting look coming over their faces.
Sally neither screamed nor issued any useless empty threats. She only pressed her lips together. On the face underneath the black-framed spectacles, other than deep hopelessness and fear, there was also an almost indiscernible hint of resolution. Her hand secretly reached into her pouch and grabbed hold of something.
It was a small knife that was too short and dull. Coupled with the fact that she didn't have a lot of strength either, using it for self-defense was close to impossible. However, if she used it to commit suicide instead, she could still wield it very quickly.
Because she lived in the Bronx district, she had no choice but to go about in this dangerous place.
In the past, she had always managed to plan her route perfectly, calculated accurately the amount of time she needed to take, and successfully avoided all the dangerous corners. Thus, she rarely encountered people like the ones in front of her now.
The Bronx district was very dangerous because this was where the mafia and people not to be messed with, such as murderers, congregated.
However, to a female student like her, she actually didn't need to worry even if she did encounter them.
What truly posed a risk to her were the other kinds of people.
Such as unsavory ruffians, drug addicts wandering about, and various other dangerous homeless tramps.
In the past, she had always managed to avoid them but this time…
Because she had to bring Tang Qi who was unfamiliar with the area with her and was even down and in a panic due to misunderstanding him, not only was there a delay in the timing, she even took a couple of wrong turns. And so, she found herself in an unfortunate situation now.
Looking at the three disgusting ruffians approaching, the resolution in Sally's eyes became stronger and stronger.
Gripping the small knife tightly in her palm, she slowly held her arm out. The direction in which she aimed the knife was not towards the three men in front of her but her own abdomen.
After all, she was just a female student. Even if she had a knife in her hands, she wouldn't be able to overcome the three muscular men, especially when one of them was even a crazy drug addict.
But what she could do was let these three pieces of trash leave empty-handed, leaving behind only a dead body when she landed in their hands.
"Little girl, don't bother resisting. Be good. We promise that we'll give you an unforgettable time."
"A girl like you must be very unpopular among boys in school, right? Nobody would court you, so your first kiss and your virginity must still be intact. Relax and give yourself to us. Soon, you'll experience what seventh heaven is."
The drug addict stepped closer and closer to her. His words triggered Sally's sore spot with absolute precision.
What was originally a look of resolution turned into immense fury. The direction where her knife was aimed at also turned towards the white teen.
Obviously, Sally had been seen through.
Even though he was a drug addict, he certainly knew what he was doing when it came to young girls.
In fact, he had even gotten into a stance ready to spring forward. His legs were slightly turned to the side, waiting to swoop behind Sally and grab her the moment she moved. When that happened, everything would be over.
In the dim little alley, other than the flickering street lights, there wasn't even a hint of any other human presence.
Looking at the small gap in Sally's pouch, true to their expectations, the glint of a knife flashed. The drug addict burst into laughter. But just as he was about to dash forward and subdue Sally…
Something unexpected happened.
Whoosh!
A shadow soundlessly darted into the alley.
Appearing like a ghost behind Yellow Hair and Knife Man, a pair of pale hands took the shape of knives and landed forcefully on the back of their necks. A couple of thuds rang out, and the eyes of the two men rolled up as they collapsed to the ground.
The shadow didn't snatch the knife in Knife Man's hand. Instead, when the drug addict tried to rush over to take Sally hostage upon hearing the commotion, the shadow increased his speed suddenly and dashed over. A pair of feeble-looking arms tightened forcefully around the neck of the drug addict.
Just as a spark of joy arose in the drug addict from sensing the feebleness of the other party's arms, he felt a strong twisting force. There was no way a human's fragile neck could withstand this force. A snap then rang out. With his neck broken, his body slumped to the ground immediately.
After finishing off the three men, the shadow also stumbled. Pressing his palm against the wall to support himself, he panted heavily, his chest heaving up and down.
The dim light of the street lights shone down on the alley, illuminating Tang Qi's face that had turned red from going through strenuous physical activity within a short amount of time.
"Sally, you—"
Bam!
"Ah~"
Tang Qi let out a breath. Just as he was about to comfort the girl in front of him who was probably scared silly, what he saw when he lifted his head was instead a figure that suddenly dived into his arms.
And then, Tang Qi couldn't help but cry out.