Beauty and the Bodyguard

“I’ll be your hostage- don’t pick on the girl.” Lin Yi stood up, speaking dully.

Mengyao couldn’t believe her ears! Was the man so unscared of death that he’d stand up for her in a situation like this?

Sure, he was paid, Mengyao understood that- but what worth did money have when put against your life? There wasn’t a single person who didn’t care about their life; it was human nature! As such, Mengyao acknowledged that Lin Yi wasn’t acting on the basis of her father’s money, that there was more to it than that.

In that instant, Mengyao didn’t find Lin Yi to be such an irritating presence anymore. At the very least, the guy was a true man! Mengyao knew with clear certainty that Zhong Pinliang would never be able to take her place the way Lin Yi did right now, too- the guy would probably be more terrified than she was!

_Eh?_ Why was she comparing Zhong Pinliang with Lin Yi? Mengyao pushed the thoughts away- it wasn’t the time to be thinking of useless topics like that.

“Fucking hell!” Lin Yi’s offer took Baldy by surprise. Everyone else had their heads lowered, dreading that they’d be the ones to get picked! What the hell was this guy doing, jumping out and volunteering??

“Who the fuck are you? I didn’t pick you, kid!!” Baldy frowned as he glared at Lin Yi. “Get out of the way if you don’t wanna die!!”

“You just need a hostage, don’t you? Isn’t it the same?” Lin Yi shrugged. “I’ll be cooperative, so don’t worry.”

“Go fuck yourself!” The baldy was raging at that point. How could Lin Yi just ruin his pace without a care in the world? With that, he lifted his gun and shot at him.

A mere bullet, however, was not fast enough to hit someone of Lin Yi’s calibre, even if fired at point blank range. The Art of Dragon Mastery had heightened Lin Yi’s reflexes to abnormal levels, and all it took was a slight twist to the side for Lin Yi to dodge the attack.

Yet a sudden thought crossed Lin Yi’s mind as he turned- There was a girl right behind him! The bullet would undoubtedly hit her judging by the angle Baldy fired his gun at, and it’d injure the girl fatally should it connect!

Gritting his teeth, Lin Yi used the remainder of his time and reflex to turn his body back before the bullet reached him, planning to take the bullet himself! The bullet penetrated into Lin Yi’s thigh, putting a frown on Lin Yi’s face. Pain of this degree weren’t too much for him, but it hurt nevertheless.

Fortunately, his positioning allowed him to receive the bullet properly. It only hit him in the flesh, not hitting anything vital.

“Ahh!!!” The crowd let out a cry of surprise simultaneously, and both Mengyao and Yushu covered their mouths with their hands. Lin Yi had been shot!

Yet the two saw everything. Lin Yi could’ve completely avoided the bullet if he hadn’t turned his body back for the girl behind him.

At that thought, Mengyao turned her gaze onto the girl Lin Yi protected, a slight anger reflecting in her eyes.

“Jesus fucking christ, this guy!!” Baldy stared at the man before him. The guy was insane!

“Boss, more cops on the way….” One of the robbers said as he ran over, panting.

“Fuck!” Baldy cursed before point the gun at Lin Yi again. “We’ll use you, since you wanna be the hostage so much! Ma Liu, you take care of him!”

“Yes boss!” It was then Ma Liu’s turn to point his gun at Lin Yi’s head. “Let’s go, kid, this is what happens when you try to act the hero!!”

Lin Yi remained silent as he considered his options. The robbers were too far apart from each other- it’d be hard for him to take them down smoothly. There were also innocent civilians involved, and a state of chaos from the crowd would complicate the fight even further.

“You, little missy! Get up!” Baldy pointed his gun at Mengyao, still unwilling to let her go.

For some reason, Mengyao found herself less terrified than before. Yushu was about to stand up along with her as well, when Mengyao stopped her with a look.

Yushu had planned to go with Mengyao, but her gaze told her not to act on impulse- they’d be better off if Yushu stayed behind to rescue them later.

“Let’s go!” Baldy barked as he pointed the gun at Mengyao.

Lin Yi, on the other hand, was feeling troubled. Why was the baldy so fixated on Mengyao, did he simply like her goods? It was the only explanation- there weren’t any other reasons for the guy to be so insistent.

After all, only one hostage was enough to negotiate with the police. It didn’t matter how many hostages you had, all you needed was one for the police to keep their guns at bay.

“Listen up you coppers!” Baldy yelled from the door the other robber was at. “Retreat back a hundred meters, and don’t send anyone after us! I’ll kill these hostages if you do!”

Song Lingshan frowned, unwilling to retreat under orders from a criminal. The robbers, however, had hostages with them, and Lingshan found herself with no other choice. She sighed. “Retreat!”

The vice-captain, in actuality, preferred not to have surrounded the bank head-on, acknowledging the stress it would build onto the robbers. Stress like that manifested in many forms, and was prone to cause unpredictable actions from the side of the surrounded. A subtle, hidden encirclement, on the other hand, would have been the wiser move, considering the likelihood that there wouldn’t have been hostages in the first place!

Yet the director rejected the suggestion, claiming that her heroism was impractical.

Baldy then pushed the doors open and marched out with Lin Yi and Mengyao as hostages, pleased with the compliance coming from the police.

“Yao Yao!” Li Fu, who was standing next to Song Lingshan, exclaimed in shock.

“Mister Li, you know the hostage?” Lingshan asked, uneasy.

“That’s Chu Mengyao, Mister Chu’s daughter……” Li Fu was panicking. The chairman was out on a business trip, and it was his responsibility to look after Mengyao… He’d be in huge trouble should something happen to her.

“What…!” Lingshan froze, panicking as well. How did it make sense for Chu Pengzhan’s daughter to be picked, out of all the civilians in there?! The thing she dreaded most had come true, and she wasted no time in contacting the director. “Reporting, sir! One of the hostages has been identified as Chu Pengzhan’s daughter, Chu Mengyao….!”

The director of the police department started sweating upon hearing the words. “Play it safe and tread with care! We cannot afford to lose Chu Mengyao!!”

*[advantage]: by having their erection in contact with her

*[ cent bills]: China has cents in bills called jiao

*[Guoshu]: Guo here means country and shu means technique

*[ 190 centimeters]: Over 6ft tall

*[Lake Cui]: Cui Hu, also means Green Lake

*[hundred dyuan bills]: 100yuan is their biggest bill

*[Daoist Fierce Tiger]: The author of this novel

*[Noodles]: made of wheat

*[Rice Noodles]: made of rice

*[Zhang Tian Tian]: Tian means sweet

*[Bajiquan]: Also known as Eight Extremities Fist, but Bajiquan sounds nicer to me

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap