Chapter 109: An Acquaintance
Before Qiao Jiajing could react, the rock-solid man slammed hard into his abdomen, then wrapped his arms around him and pushed him backward relentlessly.
Qiao Jiajing finally snapped back to his senses. He thrust one leg backward, planting it firmly against the wall to steady himself.
Then he raised both fists and, without a second thought, pounded them onto the opponent's back.
After a few blows, Qiao Jiajing suddenly realized that this big man seemed to have been specially trained—the muscles on his back were extremely tough.
He quickly changed tactics and drove his elbow downward instead.
The sound of heavy impacts echoed repeatedly.
Seeing that the big man still showed no reaction, Qiao Jiajing swung his knee up, slamming it viciously toward the man's face.
The big man immediately raised his right leg to block the attack.
At this point, the big man was also a bit puzzled. He had thought this guy looked scrawny and would go down in two or three moves, but every move Qiao Jiajing made was clearly not that of an ordinary person—he had definitely trained before.
His own back was throbbing with pain; a few more hits and he might end up bleeding.
"Fuck! What are you idiots staring at?! Get over here and hold him down!" the big man roared.
The people around finally snapped out of it and rushed over.
Qi Xia cursed under his breath and quickly assessed the surroundings. In this situation, he could at most take down two people, but what about the rest?
And even if all of them were dealt with, what about Zhang Shan?
Why had he suddenly attacked Qiao Jiajing?
Seeing someone running toward Qiao Jiajing, Qi Xia immediately dashed to the nearest desks and chairs. He shoved them haphazardly into the corridor to form a barrier, then grabbed another chair from the floor.
The school desks and chairs were almost all iron—getting hit by one would make it hard to get back up.
The two men in front of Qi Xia were blocked, but others were still moving from different directions. He gritted his teeth and hurled the chair in another direction, stopping two more people in their tracks.
"Damn it... Is this Qi Xia guy a problem too?" one man shouted angrily.
"Never mind him! Just grab that tattooed-arm guy first!"
Several people bypassed Qi Xia and ran toward Qiao Jiajing and Zhang Shan.
Qi Xia frowned, finding this very strange.
Was their target only Qiao Jiajing?
"Let him go!" Qi Xia charged at the group, kicking over one man along the way.
But two fists can't fight four hands. Qi Xia had never undergone combat training, and facing such a situation where he was outnumbered, it was nearly impossible to rely on his wits to resolve it.
"I'll hold Qi Xia off, you guys go get him!" A man suddenly grabbed Qi Xia from behind and shouted to the others.
Qi Xia gritted his teeth, grabbed the man's ear, and twisted it viciously.
"Ow ow ow ow!!" The man yelped in pain. "Let go! Let go!"
Seeing that he had the man under control, Qi Xia swung his arm and slammed his elbow hard into the man's throat. The man immediately choked, collapsed to the ground, and kept retching.
"Do you really want to provoke me..." Qi Xia gritted his teeth, glaring fiercely at the people around him. "Are you trying to kill my teammate right in front of me again? This time, I'll go all out to make sure you don't succeed."
Qi Xia had truly gone mad. He smashed the window beside him with his elbow, then picked up a long, thin shard of glass.
His eyes burned with fury, as if he really wanted to kill someone.
Seeing the man before them transformed into a demon incarnate, the others backed away, none daring to step forward.
Qi Xia ignored the underlings and turned to walk straight toward Zhang Shan.
By now, Zhang Shan and Qiao Jiajing were locked together, neither able to let go.
Just as Qi Xia was about to strike at Zhang Shan, a stout figure emerged from somewhere and suddenly wrapped his arms around Qi Xia's waist.
"What the hell are you doing with that piece of glass?! Trying to kill someone?!" the stout figure shouted. "Zhang Shan! Run!"
Qi Xia's face turned icy cold. He reversed his grip on the long shard and was about to stab the figure.
But just three centimeters away from the target, Qi Xia clearly saw the man's face. He froze, stunned on the spot.
It was Old Lü.
The spot where he was about to stab was exactly the same spot where the bald man had stabbed Old Lü to death before.
Back then, Old Lü had recklessly grabbed the killer to save Qi Xia, just like this. But this time, it seemed Qi Xia had become the villain.
How was this situation any different from the corridor in that hotel?
The only difference was that the murderer had changed from the bald man to Qi Xia.
Was Qi Xia really going to kill Old Lü?
Perhaps he could unconditionally kill anyone here, but not Old Lü.
He finally understood why Little Glasses had stubbornly tried to save Old Lü back then, even when facing a black bear that killed without blinking.
Back then, Little Glasses had said confidently, "Old Lü saved my life. I can't just abandon him."
Yes, that's just the kind of person Old Lü was.
Now, faced with Old Lü gritting his teeth and holding him, Qi Xia had no way out.
All his strength was useless. He stood dumbfounded for a moment, and the glass in his hand slowly fell to the ground.
Taking advantage of the moment, the others swarmed in, pulling out a rope to tie Qiao Jiajing up tightly.
"Bloody hell..." Qiao Jiajing had never seen anything like this. "What the hell are you trying to do? If you've got the guts, keep fighting! Finding some brute to just hug me—what kind of move is that?"
Zhang Shan, seeing Qiao Jiajing finally subdued, twisted his waist painfully and said, "Chu Tianqiu was right—if we don't go for the kill, there's no way to hold this kid down without seven or eight men."
"Hey! Big guy! You can fight pretty well, but you're ganging up on me?" Qiao Jiajing squirmed, cursing loudly. "Using tricks, sneak attacks, and surround tactics—are you even a man? If you've got the balls, let me go and fight me one-on-one! Life or death, we take our chances!"
"I..." A trace of embarrassment crept onto Zhang Shan's face. "It's not like I came here to have a martial arts contest with you! Who the hell is fighting one-on-one?! Chu Tianqiu said to tie you up, so I tie you up—it's that simple!"
"Then let Chu Tianqiu fight me one-on-one!" Qiao Jiajing was clearly enraged.
It was as if six words were written on his face—"A man would rather die than be disgraced." He would rather be beaten to the ground than be tied up with a rope.
Seeing that mad dog of a man finally bound, Old Lü slowly let go. He glanced fearfully at the broken glass on the floor, then patted Qi Xia.
Qi Xia turned his head to look at him, confused.
"Kid... just now... did you stop?" Old Lü asked.
"I..." Qi Xia had no idea how to answer. He was at a loss for words.
"That was really scary... You could have killed me..." Only now did cold sweat break out on Old Lü's forehead, belatedly.
"I was just repaying a favor." Qi Xia shook his head. "Uncle, don't grab people like that anymore. You left yourself wide open. Next time, could you pick a safer move?"