Shen Yelan slowly turned around to face them.
Another one, younger with badly dyed blond hair, grinned, showing stained teeth."Maybe we can help you, sweetheart?"
The way he said "help" made it very clear what kind of help he had in mind. His eyes ran up and down her body, staring longer on her bare legs. They lived in one of the most rundown parts of city, and there were rarely any young girls seen here. Even though the girl before them was damaged and her face was beyond recognition, they didn't care. It didn't matter what her age was either. A girl was a girl.
Shen Yelan's only healthy eye slightly narrowed. "Thanks, but I'm good."
"Don't be so quick to say no," another one said with arrogance. "Brother Kang doesn't offer his help to just anyone. You should feel lucky."
Shen Yelan chuckled. The sound was melodious, yet somehow, it sent shivers crawling down the spines of all four men. The state of her face made her look even more horrifying. They felt something was deeply wrong, but they shook that thought off quickly. After all, this girl could barely stand straight.
"What are you laughing at?" someone asked angrily.
"Nothing. Just thinking about how it's always idiots like you who don't know how to mind their own business," Shen Yelan shook her head, like she was genuinely disappointed in them.
"Watch your mouth!" The one they called Brother Kang stepped forward, his face red with anger. "Since you don't know what's good for you, don't blame us for what happens next. Grab her."
One of the men, bigger and more muscular than the others, stepped forward. It was obvious none of them saw her as a threat. They weren't worried about her running. They definitely weren't worried about her fighting.
In her previous life, Shen Yelan wouldn't have even blinked at seeing a dozen men his size, let alone one. But the current state of her body made everything more complicated. But that didn't mean she couldn't fight. It would just be harder and more painful.
She sighed. It hadn't even been a full day since she'd woken up in this broken body, and people were already lining up to get themselves killed. Well, who was she to deprive them of what they so desperately needed?
Her eyes slightly narrowed and a creepy smile appeared on her face, making her already horrifying appearance even more terrifying.
The big man stopped in front of her. She barely reached halfway up his torso. Behind him, the others were already laughing, already imagining how this was going to end.
Shen Yelan stood perfectly still, watching as his hand inched near her. Just as it almost touched her shoulder, she moved.
Bang!
The iron rod in her hand shot forward, hitting the man square in the chest. It wasn't a particularly hard hit, but the moment the rod made contact, the man froze completely. His eyes went wide with shock. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. He was paralyzed, unable to move a single muscle.
Shen Yelan twirled the rod in her hand. Coincidentally, one end of the rusted iron rod was pointed and broken off at a sharp angle. Shen Yelan shifted her grip and drove the pointed end straight into his neck. It went through flesh and cartilage with a wet, meaty sound, coming out the other side in a spray of hot blood.
Blood splattered across her face and chest, painting her already dirty shirt with fresh red. But Shen Yelan's expression didn't change at all.
The other three men stood frozen, their laughter dead in their throats. They stared at the body on the ground, then at the girl standing over it, covered in blood, holding a dripping iron rod.
For the first time, they realized they'd made a terrible mistake.
Shen Yelan tilted her head slightly, her one good eye locked on them.
"So," she said softly, her voice almost pleasant. "Who's next?"
For a few seconds, nobody moved. The body on the ground was still twitching. Blood pooled around it, spreading slowly across the concrete.
Then their leader snapped out of his shock.
"Kill her!" he screamed. "Kill that bitch right now!"
Shen Yelan sneered, the expression making her swollen face twist grotesquely. "Come on then."
The other two stepped forward, trying to look brave, but their hands were shaking. They were all ordinary people who had learned to fight in the streets to survive. They were nothing compared to someone like the girl before them, who had just killed their strongest companion and did not even blink.
Five minutes later, two bodies were lying dead on the ground with bloody holes in their body. Shen Yelan stood over them. She was breathing hard and had sweat mixed with the blood on her face. In front of her, their leader was on the ground, scrambling backward, his eyes wide with terror.
What kind of monster had they messed with?
"Please..." His voice was shaking. "Please, let me go. I won't...I swear I won't do it again. Please, I'll-"
Suddenly, his voice stopped in his throat, and he looked down at his chest, where an old rusted metal rod was sticking out.
"You talk too much," Shen Yelan muttered, pulling the rod free.
The man made a gurgling sound and collapsed.
"May you bleed to death," she whispered, then turned away.
Shen Yelan walked out of the alley, barely able to keep herself standing with the help of that rod. In her hand, she clutched a car key that she'd fished out from one of the dead men's pockets. She made her way back to where she'd first spotted those men. The old car was still there, looking like it had seen better days about twenty years ago.
She got in the car and pulled out onto the street. She drove away from the rundown neighborhood, heading toward the nicer parts of the city.
The pain in her body was getting unbearable. Her hands were shaking on the wheel, and her vision kept going fuzzy around the edges. She could feel her body was hitting its limit. The fact that she was still conscious at all was some kind of miracle. But she couldn't stop.
"Hold on just a little longer," she muttered, pressing harder on the accelerator.
Cars started honking as she cut through traffic and ignored the red lights, but she barely registered them.
Then she heard the sirens.
She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the police car.
The corner of her lips curved upward. "Finally."
She eased off the gas and tapped the brake. The car slowed, but her body had reached its limit, and she could no longer control the car. The steering wheel blurred. She tried to keep her eyes open, but they were already closing.
The car lurched forward, the world tilted sideways, and then...
CRASH.
The impact sent her body forward into the steering wheel. Pain exploded through her chest and for a second, she forgot how to breathe. Her head dropped against the steering wheel. Warm blood trickled down her forehead
The last thing she felt was someone yanking the car door open. A man's voice saying something she couldn't quite hear.
Then everything went black.