Forced into a Contract Flash Marriage with the Ice-Cold Beauty - Chapter 2

The outskirts of Xuancheng were a desolate corner forgotten by the world.

Weeds ran wild around the abandoned building, while inside, a bonfire cast flickering crimson light.

“Place your bets and step back no dawdling,” snapped the man with a twisted gecko tattoo on his face, clearly the boss here.

A crowd of underlings huddled around the gambling table, where stacks of bright red banknotes formed a small mountain.

Just as everyone was lost in their gambling frenzy.

A pitch-black motorcycle roared to life, its engine screaming as it kicked up thick clouds of dust in a menacing entrance.

Ji Nanchan, clad in form-fitting leather and wearing a shark-fin helmet, cut a mysterious figure like a knight of the night.

With practiced skill, she drifted through the space like a phantom, chasing down anyone in her path without an ounce of mercy.

“What are you staring at? Cut her down!” the tattooed man cursed, sensing danger and turning to flee.

Ji Nanchan weaved left and right, evading the wild slashes of cleavers.

Drawing a short blade from her lower back, she moved with such decisive speed that her hands became a blur.

The knife, sharp and lethal, plunged deep into the back of a man’s neck.

As he crumpled in agony, the heavy motorcycle ruthlessly crushed his legs, cleanly severing any chance of escape.

A piercing scream tore through the air. By targeting the leader first, a tried-and-true tactic the motley crew armed with cleavers scattered in panic.

In an instant, only two figures remained in the derelict building.

The roar of the engine finally died down, and a pair of enviably long legs swung out in a sharp arc, landing steadily on the ground.

Ji Nanchan picked up a torch and walked over to the man, tilting her head to admire her handiwork.

To her, this mission was just another thrilling ride at the amusement park her bones hummed with a fearless ease.

“Damn it, do you even know who you’re messing with?” the man snarled, his temper flaring despite his predicament.

He had completely forgotten that, at this moment, he was nothing but a lamb awaiting slaughter.

“So noisy,” Ji Nanchan sighed, then yanked the blade from his neck without warning. Blood splattered across her helmet.

Before the man could react, the knife flashed past his fleshy face, carving a gruesome gash.

“Ah!” Clutching his face in agony, he finally glimpsed the bloody despair closing in.

Wiping the bothersome stain from her helmet, Ji Nanchan stated her purpose: “Just tell me the exact location of the gambling den, and I guarantee you’ll live to see tomorrow.”

The man stayed silent, knowing that even if he survived today, his boss would skin him alive for betraying their hideout.

Ji Nanchan thrust the torch close to his face, her tone icy with threat: “My patience is thin.”

The flames licked at his skin, searing his already mangled wounds. The double agony finally broke him. “I’ll talk, I’ll talk.” he begged between sobs.

After noting down the address he provided, Ji Nanchan kicked him over and clicked her tongue. “You could’ve spoken up sooner and spared yourself the pain. Was it really worth it?”

Truly, she was the type to destroy both body and spirit.

Returning to her motorcycle, Ji Nanchan didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she retrieved a large backpack from a portable case.

The tattooed man, immobilized, watched as she ambled over to the gambling table, assuming she meant to pocket the cash.

To his astonishment, she completely ignored the illicit money and instead.

“Twelve beers to a case. With such a big group of men, you’ve barely finished three cases? How do you expect to survive in this world with such weak tolerance?”

Ji Nanchan counted the scattered beer cans on the ground, clearly dissatisfied with the meager haul of recyclables, and couldn’t help but slip into complaint mode.

She cheerfully gathered bottles and cans until her backpack was stuffed to the brim, then casually stomped flat the cardboard boxes that had held the beer. Not a single recyclable item was left behind.

Baffled by her bizarre actions, the tattooed man, gritting his teeth against the pain, managed to ask, “Who are you?”

Ji Nanchan didn’t hold back with her words. Hoisting the bulging backpack onto her shoulders, she nimbly swung a leg over her motorcycle and tossed back a reply, “Midnight cleaner.” With that, she sped off in a cloud of cool confidence.

Under the eerie glow of a waning moon, the damp stone walls seemed to hum with an unsettling energy. A flickering streetlamp buzzed with erratic currents, and in the shifting light and shadow, a dark, fleeting silhouette darted past.

From the depths of the alley echoed an intermittent, rhythmic sound.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

It sounded unnervingly like the snapping of a neck, as if confirming the supernatural rumors swirling through the old urban renewal district.

The eerie atmosphere suddenly took a turn for the absurd.

“On a pitch-black night, Ji Nanchan’s shadow darts about, she’s got her eyes on state property catch the thief, catch the thief, catch the manhole cover thief.”

Ji Nanchan, tone-deaf but ever enthusiastic, sang with a gusto that made the residential area feel haunted.

Having perfectly completed her bounty mission, she kept her motorcycle helmet on and shook out the collected recyclables onto the ground. Her long legs stomped on the beer cans in time with her singing, the crack-crack sounds as addictive as a game of whack-a-mole.

A German Shepherd emerged from a hidden corner, a plastic bottle in its mouth, wagging its tail proudly as if seeking praise.

“Fugui, come here!” At the command, the dog trotted over happily.

Stuffing the flattened bottles into the saddlebags Fugui carried, Ji Nanchan dusted off her hands and prepared to head home.

As they passed a garbage heap, Fugui sniffed out something unusual and let out a sharp “Woof!”

Thinking the dog was just indulging its scavenging instincts, Ji Nanchan scolded, “How many times have I told you? Our family isn’t so hard up that we need to dig through trash.”

Fugui whined a few times, persistently nudging something on the ground with its head.

Sensing something odd, Ji Nanchan peered closer under the moonlight, and her eyes instantly lit up with the gleam of profit.

What rare treasure had her clever dog discovered? It was a mannequin, complete with a wig and dressed in a stylish outfit.

She enthusiastically ruffled Fugui’s head, heaping on the praise. “Not bad! If we take this home and fix it up a bit, we could sell it for at least a few dozen, maybe even a hundred bucks.”

But the moment she tried to grab the mannequin, Ji Nanchan’s hand jerked back abruptly. Her excited expression shifted to one of serious astonishment.

The mannequin’s limbs were unnaturally soft, and it radiated a warmth that only a living being could possess.

This was clearly a real person!

As a former mercenary, Ji Nanchan was no stranger to life-and-death situations and bloody scenes. But stumbling upon an unconscious or possibly dead person in the dead of night still gave her a moment of pause.

Brushing aside the woman’s disheveled hair, even in the dim moonlight, Ji Nanchan could make out the delicate contours of her face, beautiful despite the shadows.

A familiar scent of perfume wafted into her nostrils.

She reached out to check for a breath, and the tension in her shoulders instantly eased.

Now came the dilemma: should she call the police, take the woman to the hospital, or simply walk away and pretend she’d seen nothing?

Calling the police would land her in a world of trouble. Taking the woman to the hospital would drain her wallet. But walking away well, her conscience wouldn’t let her.

As her thoughts churned, anger welled up uncontrollably. Ji Nanchan turned sideways and vented at Fugui, “I told you, in this household, we don’t go rummaging through trash! What are we supposed to do now?”

Fugui, scolded, obediently lay on the floor and whimpered innocently.

After a brief struggle with her conscience, a sudden idea flashed in her mind. Ji Nanchan narrowed her eyes with a hint of mischief.

The woman didn’t seem to have any visible injuries most likely, she had just fainted. Why not take her home and settle her in?

Once she woke up, Ji Nanchan could spin some tall tales. Maybe the woman would be so grateful she’d even offer her some money.

Ji Nanchan was obsessed with money; anything related to it could drive her mad.

A woman of action, she slung her backpack across her chest, hoisted the woman onto her back, and carried her with practiced ease.

“You’re lucky you ran into me. What if you’d met some creepy old pervert?” Ji Nanchan grumbled under her breath.

The journey home was dark and bumpy, stumbling along the way.

After laying the woman down on the floor, Ji Nanchan was completely exhausted. Panting heavily, she removed her helmet.

She crouched down and brushed aside the woman’s thick, wavy hair, like strands of seaweed, intending to check for injuries.

But when she got a clear look at the woman’s face, Ji Nanchan stumbled backward and sat on the floor, covering her mouth to stifle a gasp. “Oh my god, it’s like seeing a ghost.”

‘Don’t let me run into you again, what rotten luck!’ The harsh words she had spoken earlier echoed in her mind.

Was fate really this cruel? Wasn’t this the arrogant “white swan” from the café this afternoon?

Ji Nanchan sat cross-legged and flicked the woman’s forehead with her finger. “Hmph, weren’t you all high and mighty? How did you end up as trash?”

Resting her chin on her hand, she fell into deep thought. The woman was elegant and clearly came from a well-off family, how could she end up on the streets? Could it be related to the argument they had that afternoon?

Though she didn’t know the specifics of what had happened, taking advantage of someone in distress wasn’t Ji Nanchan’s style.

Despite all her grumbling, her heart was inherently kind. She couldn’t just carry the woman back to the trash heap, could she?

She stood up, went to the bathroom to wet a towel with warm water, and found a clean long-sleeved T-shirt from the closet.

Returning to the woman, she carefully helped remove her makeup. Her fingers unintentionally traced the woman’s delicate brows, followed the line of her straight nose, and lingered on her lips, which felt soft and supple.

Ji Nanchan studied the woman’s face closely. From a distance during the day, she had merely seemed pretty, but up close, her features were exquisitely refined.

Even without makeup, she was breathtakingly beautiful, just a bit too foul-tempered.

Though the woman was covered in filth, Ji Nanchan didn’t mind. As she helped remove the woman’s inner clothing, she found herself swallowing nervously. (Seems like a pure-hearted warrior.)

“She has what you have, so why be shy?” Ji Nanchan muttered, her face flushing, but she still glanced down at her own less-than-impressive flat chest.

The comparison made her feel inadequate. Covering her chest with her hands, she protested indignantly, “What’s so great about big breasts? Nowadays, modest ones are in that’s what’s considered classy.”

The woman’s toned and smooth waist glimmered with a pale, cool light under the energy-saving bulb, a testament to her disciplined lifestyle and skincare routine.

While wiping her body, Ji Nanchan noticed a small cloud-shaped tattoo on the woman’s lower back. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a tiny lamb.

After dressing the woman in her own clothes, Ji Nanchan lifted her onto the bed. Biting her lower lip, she wondered, “If she’s taking the bed, where am I supposed to sleep?”

“I’m not some benevolent bodhisattva either. You take the sofa.” As she spoke, she moved the small sofa next to the bed and pushed the woman onto it.

Surveying the chaotic mess on the floor, Ji Nanchan collapsed onto the bed, groaning in agony: “I’m exhausted! Fugui, why can’t you help me clean up?”

Fugui’s internal monologue: Honey, what kind of species miracle are you fantasizing about?