Pfft! When the girl heard this, she burst into laughter, her whole body swaying with delight: “Iron Sand Palm! That’s some impressive martial arts. I didn’t expect you to be a martial arts master—my apologies, my apologies!”

James Carter knew the girl was teasing him, but he didn’t mind and replied honestly, “I suppose you could say that.” The girl laughed even harder at this.

“We’ve just been standing at the door chatting. Since you’re my senior, why don’t you come in and have a seat?” James Carter shifted his body to the side, making way.

The girl hesitated for a moment, her eyes quickly scanning the furnishings inside the room, then waved her hand: “I just got up, haven’t washed my face or brushed my teeth, and I have an early class to catch. I can’t be late. I’ll chat with you next time.”

James Carter chuckled twice, watching the girl go downstairs. Suddenly, he realized he hadn’t even asked for her name. But then he thought, since they lived on the same floor, they were neighbors and would have plenty of chances to meet. It was just a casual encounter anyway. Although James Carter was a second-generation rich kid, he wasn’t a lovesick fool.

After this little interruption, the sky was already bright. James Carter took a shower, removed his lead weights, and changed his clothes. He also finished off a whole can of chicken. It was past seven o’clock by the time he leisurely headed out and got on the bus.

In the morning rush hour, the bus was packed with people. James Carter didn’t get a seat and had to stand. It wasn’t far to his college—just four stops, and he’d be there.

“Big brother, big brother! You can have this seat.”

James Carter had just found his footing when he felt someone tugging at him. Looking down, he saw a little girl about seven or eight years old, wearing white socks and little red shoes, with a round face, sparkling eyes, and two pigtails. She looked absolutely adorable.

“Don’t run around, sweetie!” A woman sitting nearby quickly pulled the cute little girl back.

“The teacher told us to give up our seats!” The little girl pouted in protest, then tugged at James Carter: “Big brother, you take this seat. Mommy can just hold me.”

A warm feeling welled up in James Carter’s heart, and he smiled: “What a cute little girl! I won’t sit, but you shouldn’t make your mom hold you. It’s better if you sit yourself.” The other passengers were all smiling at the little girl’s innocence and cuteness.

As the bus started moving, everyone leaned back. The little girl settled into her seat, but kept twisting around, her big eyes darting around at the people.

“I’ve been in school for almost a month, and I still don’t know everyone in my class. That’s a bit of a failure,” James Carter was thinking, when suddenly the little girl called out, pointing at the row in front: “Uncle, why are you putting your hand in someone else’s pocket?”

The passengers immediately became alert and looked in the direction the little girl was pointing. They saw a young man in a plaid shirt with curly hair, reaching his hand into the pocket of a middle-aged man carrying a briefcase.

Hearing the little girl’s shout, the middle-aged man quickly covered his pocket with his hand and shot a wary glance at the curly-haired youth, but said nothing, just moved his body back to put some distance between them.

The curly-haired youth simply withdrew his hand, acting as if nothing had happened, and looked out the window, whistling.

“Sweetie, don’t meddle in other people’s business!” The woman quickly gave the little girl a light smack. The little girl looked aggrieved and pouted again.

James Carter saw this and secretly laughed: “That guy’s not very slick.”

A moment later, the bus stopped at a station. The curly-haired youth seemed to be getting off. As he walked out, he suddenly turned and said to the little girl, “This little lady is really cute!” As he spoke, he reached out and touched the little girl’s face, then quickly got off the bus.

The bus had just started moving again when the little girl suddenly burst into tears: “Mommy, my face hurts.”

James Carter quickly looked over and saw a deep gash on the little girl’s face, blood oozing out and covering her round cheeks in a gruesome, terrifying sight, even splattering onto her floral dress. It was truly shocking.

“Ah!” The woman let out a heart-wrenching scream, startling all the passengers. She frantically tried to cover the little girl’s wound with her clothes. The little girl just kept crying, her voice hoarse. “I told you not to meddle, but you wouldn’t listen! I told you not to meddle, but you wouldn’t listen!”

Some of the passengers nearby sighed repeatedly: “Wait until the next stop and take her to the hospital.”

“That beast!” James Carter’s face flushed with anger, his heart twisting in pain. He rushed to the window and saw the curly-haired youth about to slip into an alley in the distance.

“Stop the bus, stop the bus!” James Carter shouted to the driver.

“We can’t stop here, only at the station!” The driver, clearly a veteran, didn’t seem to care at all. After driving buses for over ten years, he’d seen it all and nothing surprised him anymore.

“Fuck you!” James Carter cursed loudly. Seeing that the window was open but too small to jump through, he swung his palm and, with a loud crash, smashed the glass and metal frame of the window.

With a violent crash, the entire window flew out. James Carter leapt through the opening and landed on the road. He could hear the passengers inside the bus screaming, but he didn’t care: “If I don’t kill that beast, I’m not human.”