The incident happened so suddenly that Yun Manman didn't even have time to dodge.
Jin Luo, standing slightly behind Yun Manman, was terrified. He rushed forward to try and stop the attacker, but couldn't match the speed of the fruit knife in the assailant's hand.
His eyes widened in horror: "Manman!"
Just as the fruit knife was about to stab Yun Manman in that critical moment, a white jade-like figure shot out from nowhere.
It collided with the attacker's chest at a speed the eye could barely follow, its slender tail wrapping around the assailant's hand.
The impact was unbelievably powerful. Standing very close, Yun Manman even heard a muffled "thud".
The attacker fell to the ground, wailing and rolling around. The fruit knife clattered to the floor, and there was a blood-red mark on his wrist where it had been constricted.
Listening to his cries of pain, Yun Manman suspected his ribs had been shattered.
Jin Luo rushed over the instant the attacker fell, pulling out handcuffs and restraining the man's hands behind his back.
Only then did he stand up and grasp Yun Manman's shoulders, bending down to ask anxiously, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
The whole incident, from the attacker's charge to his capture, took less than thirty seconds. Yun Manman was still in shock.
She was still a bit dazed, her face pale.
Hearing Jin Luo ask if she was okay, she patted her chest in relief: "I'm fine."
That was terrifying!
She almost had to start over again!
She turned slightly to look at the attacker still groaning on the ground, and the small snake coiled nearby, rearing up and eyeing the assailant eagerly.
So it was Qiqi who saved her just now?
How brave!
If it weren't for him, she would have been sent to meet her maker! No, sent to the Beast God's embrace.
No, wait, where would her foreign soul go...
In her shock, Yun Manman's thoughts ran wild, forcibly distracting herself.
Under Jin Luo's protection, Yun Manman slowly approached the attacker, reaching out from a distance towards the small snake: "Qiqi, it's dangerous, come back."
At this moment, Lu Qi was contemplating whether to give the beast-man in front of him a bite.
With his potent venom, he could end the man's life in minutes.
But would that be letting him off too easily?
Maybe he should constrict him instead? That didn't sound bad either.
How audacious! To attempt to murder the empire's hope right in front of him!
He angrily lashed his tail, making sharp cracking sounds against the ground. His crimson eyes held a fear he hadn't even noticed himself.
Lu Qi heard Yun Manman's call and was about to pretend he hadn't when he noticed the tremor in her voice.
The small snake's swaying tail paused, and he finally turned to slither towards Yun Manman.
Fine, considering you almost kicked the bucket.
Yun Manman stroked the white snake coiled in her palm, its cool, jade-like texture slowly calming her heart.
Lu Qi squirmed uncomfortably, then looked up to see her pale little face and bloodless lips. He flicked his forked tongue.
In the end, he compromised and lay still in Yun Manman's hand, allowing her to pet him haphazardly. He even wrapped his tail around her wrist to prevent himself from falling.
Alright, alright, I'll let you have this.
Yun Manman pursed her lips and tilted her body, trying to get a clear look at the attacker's face.
By now, due to his struggles, the hat he had been wearing had fallen off, revealing familiar brown cat ears and a ferocious countenance.
"Han Chao?!" Yun Manman exclaimed in disbelief.
By this time, Yin Qian, who had heard the commotion, had also come out and was standing with Jin Luo in front of Yun Manman, guarding against any sudden moves from the attacker.
Now, hearing Yun Manman's cry, his face tensed: "You know him? Why did he attack you, Manman?"
He looked at the sharp fruit knife on the ground and Han Chao's gloves and hat.
This was a premeditated murder attempt.
Realizing this, he became even more vigilant in protecting Yun Manman.
Han Chao had been rolling on the ground in pain from his broken ribs. His face was unshaven, his eyes bloodshot, and the fur on his tail behind him was unkempt, as if it hadn't been properly groomed in a long time.
Now, hearing the question, he stopped rolling and curled up.
He took a deep breath due to the pain, then laughed maniacally: "Hahahahaha, we know each other, of course we do!"
"The dessert shop owner! Yuan Qing! Hahahaha I was looking for you all..."
"I'll kill you all! Yuan Qing, I'm going to kill her..."
Ever since that day when he went to find Yuan Qing hoping to withdraw the lawsuit but failed, not long after, the account he ran with Bai Cha not only lost most of its following, but the comments under their videos were also filled with hate.
They were all cursing them for being money-grubbers and harming consumers' interests.
The famous food critic Xiuneng even directly stated in an interview that some new media beast-people lacked moral character, implicitly pointing to the beauty community.
This put both of them on thin ice.
A couple of days ago, Bai Cha had even heartlessly broken up with him and packed up to leave.
Worse still, yesterday someone reported Han Chao for tax evasion.
Han Chao lost everything overnight and was almost publicly shamed across the entire network as a warning to others.
In just a few short days, he had fallen from heaven into the mud. Feeling that his cat life was hopeless, he developed a grudge and murderous intent towards Yuan Qing.
So he disguised himself, wanting Yuan Qing to "taste the pain" too, but he couldn't find her anywhere.
He then went to the dessert shop, and as soon as he saw Yun Manman inside, the murderous intent in his mind became uncontrollable, and he burst in with a knife.
"I'm going to kill Yuan Qing... kill her!"
The more Han Chao spoke, the more frenzied he became, spitting saliva, his face inexplicably flushing red, looking increasingly terrifying.
Yun Manman's face changed, growing even paler.
Yin Qian's expression, unchanged for decades, almost faltered, his pupils trembling.
Yun Manman hurriedly took out her communication device, quickly found Yuan Qing's contact, and dialed.
The background music Yuan Qing had set was a cheerful song from a famous comedy.
This song, which would normally make people chuckle, now brought no laughter to those present.
"Hello? Is that you, Manman?" Yuan Qing's voice, tinged with laughter, came through the communicator. If one listened carefully, the mewing of a kitten could be heard in the background.
She sounded normal, completely unaware of Han Chao's actions.
Yun Manman and Yin Qian both let out a sigh of relief.
She spoke into the communicator: "Sister Qing, are you alright?"
Yuan Qing seemed to move to a quieter place: "Hm? I'm fine, I'm at home right now."
"It's my nephew's birthday, we're throwing him a party. Do you want to come over and join us?"
Hearing Yuan Qing's voice, Han Chao became even more agitated, struggling frantically to lunge at Yun Manman.
"Yuan Qing, you damned female! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in this situation!"
"I'm going to kill you, kill you! Mmph!"
Yin Qian, expressionless, walked over and stepped on Han Chao's mouth, forcefully silencing him: "Shut your foul mouth."
Yuan Qing had naturally heard Han Chao's shouts, and her voice grew serious.
"Han Chao? Why are you at Manman's place?"
Then her voice became anxious: "Manman, he didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"Han Chao, I'm warning you, calm down! Don't do anything rash!"
Yun Manman quickly reassured her: "It's good that you're safe. We've caught Han Chao. You should be careful when you go out recently."
"I'll tell you the details later."
Yun Manman spoke a few more words with Yuan Qing before hanging up.