Fox, I'm going to wash it off!

Lin Xun's home was even more dilapidated than he described, with the door locks practically useless.

Yu Fuli spent almost no time finding, according to the description, a small amount of paper money wrapped in layers of tattered cloth in that musty and dusty corner, which clearly carried all of Lin Xun's hopes.

He slipped the money into a hidden pocket close to his body and quickly made his escape.

However, just as he was quickly navigating the maze-like alleyways, following the route he remembered, and was about to return to the place he had arranged to meet Lin Xun—

At the fork in the road ahead, several dark figures suddenly darted out, blocking his path.

It was the same group of tattooed men who had returned, and there seemed to be two more of them. Each of them was carrying weapons—iron pipes and wooden sticks—that gleamed ominously in the dim light.

They wore sinister grins, clearly anticipating that someone might return, or perhaps they were simply lying in wait.

"Yo! You're really back?" The tattooed man, a cigarette dangling from his lips, sized Yu Fuli up. "I knew it. That kid wouldn't just abandon his life-saving money. So, you got the money? Buddy, you went through all that trouble, shouldn't you give me a little something?"

Yu Fuli stopped in his tracks, his eyes under the brim of his hat instantly turning cold. He estimated the distance and the other person's position, his mind racing.

A direct confrontation is not the best strategy, as the enemy has more people and is well-prepared.

"The money belongs to Lin Xun." Yu Fuli tried to keep her voice calm and composed as she attempted to negotiate. "He's only in debt temporarily. You've gone too far by injuring him. If you step aside now, I can pretend tonight's events never happened."

"Hahaha!" The tattooed man and his henchmen burst into laughter. "Pretty boy, do you think this is a TV drama? Still pretending nothing happened? Hand over the money, kowtow to your brothers, and maybe we can save you a few broken bones!"

Before he could finish speaking, one of the blond-haired men closest to Yu Fuli couldn't hold back any longer and swung his stick at him!

Yu Fuli reacted extremely quickly, dodging to the side while simultaneously exerting force with his feet, delivering a low sweeping kick to the opponent's shinbone. The blond-haired man screamed and fell to the ground.

This was like lighting a powder keg, and the others immediately roared and pounced on him!

The narrow alleyways limited the advantage of numbers, but also made maneuvering difficult.

With her superhuman agility and skill, Yu Fuli weaved through the sticks, fists, and feet, each strike hitting the joints or vital points with precision, and soon two more people fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

But his goal was to escape, not to engage in a prolonged fight.

"Damn it! You're asking for it!" The tattooed man who had been holding the line at the rear flashed a fierce light in his eyes, seemingly enraged by Yu Fuli's skills, or perhaps feeling that he had lost face.

He suddenly pulled something from his lower back; in the dim light, the metal casing reflected a cold gleam.

It's not an iron pipe, and it's not a stick.

It was a homemade, old-fashioned pistol, crude, but deadly enough.

Yu Fuli's pupils suddenly contracted!

He had no idea the other side had a gun!

Although the thugs in the lower city are fierce, using guns is another matter; this goes beyond the scope of ordinary violent debt collection!

"Bang--!!"

A sudden, deafening gunshot rang out!

Yu Fuli instinctively lunged to the side the moment the other party drew his gun, but the distance was too close and the alley was too narrow!

He felt as if his left shoulder had been struck hard by a red-hot iron hammer, the force of which caused him to stumble forward and crash into the damp brick wall.

Scalding liquid gushed from the wound instantly, soaking through the clothes on his back.

"Damn! They really fired?!" Even the tattooed man's own henchmen were a little scared.

Yu Fuli leaned against the wall, panting heavily. The sharp pain in his left shoulder and the rapid loss of strength made his vision blur. He could feel warm blood flowing down his arm and back.

Gunshot wounds must be treated immediately, otherwise excessive blood loss will cause serious problems.

The instinct for survival overcame the pain at that moment.

He caught a glimpse of a corner piled with junk in the corner of his eye. Before the tattooed man could fire a second shot, he rolled to the side with all his might. At the same time, he grabbed a half-brick that someone had dropped on the ground and smashed it hard into the face of the thug closest to him!

"Ah!" A scream rang out.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Yu Fuli covered her wound and burst forth with astonishing speed. Instead of following the original path, she turned onto a darker and more complicated side road, her figure disappearing into the darkness like a ghost.

"Chase him! He's been shot, he can't have gone far!" The tattooed man snapped out of his daze and roared furiously.

The sounds of hurried footsteps and shouts rose from behind, but Yu Fuli had already turned several corners, using the terrain and darkness as cover to temporarily create some distance between them.

He dared not linger, ignoring his wounds, and after discerning the general direction, he staggered toward the exit on the opposite side from the agreed location with Lin Xun.

We must not bring danger to Linxun.

Blood dripped continuously, leaving traces on the ground.

My left arm is almost impossible to use, and every breath pulls on the injury, bringing a tearing pain.

His vision began to blur, but he gritted his teeth and persevered with his willpower. When the tattooed man and his gang caught up, he slipped into a pile of debris nearby.

"Boss! The bloodstains stop here...!"

A henchman squatted in front of the messy pile of waste, rubbed a few drops of dark red liquid on the ground with his fingers, looked up at the tattooed man, and said in a voice full of resentment and confusion.

The tattooed man's face turned ashen. He kicked an empty can at his feet, sending it flying with a loud clanging sound.

"Damn it! How could he get away?!" He looked around; there were several forks in the road.

The faint sound of police sirens drifted from afar, which made the tattooed man's eyes even more sinister.

"...Go!" He gritted his teeth, forcing the order out of his throat, and tossed his head in the direction that seemed most likely to lead to the main road. "He's been shot, he's lost so much blood, he can't have gone far! Split up and search, call for help immediately if you see anything suspicious!"

The henchmen echoed, then dispersed, their footsteps sounding particularly hurried in the quiet alleyway.

They all knew that tonight's incident had blown up.

They didn't get the money, and they even fired a shot. What if the person really escaped...?

The tattooed man glared fiercely at the broken pool of blood one last time, as if trying to pierce through this unlucky place, before quickly disappearing into the darkness of a side road.

Yu Fuli held his breath until the chaotic footsteps and shouts completely disappeared into the depths of the alley. He listened intently for a while, making sure there was no more sound, before daring to slowly move out from the deepest part of the pile of rotten junk that reeked of decay.

Just now, at the critical moment, if the tattooed man had taken just a couple more steps forward, or crouched down and casually touched something, he would have seen him curled up in the gaps between old furniture and rotten cardboard boxes, covered in blood.

Cold sweat mixed with blood soaked almost completely through his back. He slid down against the cold brick wall, too weak to stand up.

The wound on my left shoulder was still bleeding profusely, and every breath brought excruciating pain. My vision blurred, and shimmering gray spots began to appear at the edges of my field of vision.

A strong metallic taste rose in his throat. He gritted his teeth and swallowed back the metallic sweetness that was about to come to his mouth, but a few drops of blood still trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Consciousness is like a candle flickering in the wind, its light uncertain.

Could it be... that I'm really going to die here today?

The thought surfaced, bringing with it a sense of resentment.

Although he knew that dying in this small world wouldn't actually cause his fox spirit to be completely destroyed, the mission failure meant that his grand plan to take the civil service exam, obtain legal status, and work for the government would be completely ruined.

I'm so damn unwilling to accept this.

He struggled to open his eyes wide, trying to see his surroundings and find a glimmer of hope, but blood loss and excruciating pain were rapidly consuming his strength and sanity.

His fingers twitched weakly; he couldn't even manage to pull his phone out of his pocket to call for help.

In a daze, the blood loss and excruciating pain caused his consciousness to dissipate like smoke, and the scene before him began to distort and overlap.

He was surprised to see Lin Xun standing in front of him.