"What did you just say?" The man, whom she recognized as Ma Murong, hopped off the metal box he was sitting on. His muscles were hugged by the short-sleeved shirt he was wearing, making them seem bigger than normal.

  "What? Are you deaf?" She scoffed, crossing her arms.

  His followers decided to turn their taunting onto her instead. This woman was truly screwed today and if she provoked them more, it would go both ways.

  No one saw her rank yet. Zhao Lifei undid her hair and hid her shoulders with it. None of them knew she severely outranked everyone here.

  "Aiyah, look at this little girl. She thinks she’s so tough."

  "She thinks just because she has a pretty face, she can get away with anything." They clearly did not see her patches.

  "Hey, hey, why don’t you come and sit on big brother’s lap? If you’re good, I’ll treat you well."

  Zhao Lifei ignored their remarks and bent down to pick up a pebble, tossing it up and down in her hands. At her action, everyone laughed.

  "Oh my goodness, she’s way too cute. What are you going to do with a pebble?"

  "Aw, I think she’s playing house." One of them said, licking his lips and leering at her. He was cheered on by his fellow buddies who clapped his shoulders and laughed.

  Zhao Lifei studied the jagged rock in her hands, her fingers running over the rough edges. A smirk dangled on her lips. "On the battlefield, you have to be resourceful." She recounted the words of her drill instructor.

  "A pebble can be a bullet if you use it good enough." She raised her head. The edge of her lips quirked into a daunting smile, a glint in her eyes.

  "Who do you think you are? A philo—ARGH!" A scream sliced through the air, the cheery atmosphere instantly dying down at the sudden spill of blood. It silenced everyone.

  A soldier grabbed his eye, the very one that was slammed by the pebble. She threw the rock straight at his eye.

  "Little bitch, you’ll pay for that." Ma Murong snarled, stepping forward and pushing his second-in-command behind him.

  Zhao Lifei picked up another rock. "Try me."

  He bolted at her, but she easily sidestepped him. Before he had the time to turn his body and attack her, she grabbed his shoulder and crossed their legs, easily judo flipping him onto his back. She stole the tucked away razor from his waistline and pressed her knee on his chest, pinning him to the ground.

  "What a lovely pair of eyes you have." She let out a crazed laughter. Chills passed through his followers who have never seen their legendary boss on his back, bested and beaten by a girl half his size.

  "It’d be a shame, really. If you lose both of them at once." She played with the razor, resting it onto the side of his face.

  "You wouldn’t—"

  WHOOSH!

  The air swooshed when she suddenly flicked her wrist and seemingly cut both his eyes at once.

  Ma Murong let out a terrified shriek when he saw the knife was just a hair’s breadth away from piercing his eyes.

  "Are you crazy?!" Someone spoke up.

  "You think you’ll get away with this? Don’t you know who Ma Murong is?"

  Chimes of agreement erupted.

  "His father is a powerful politician! Once a word of this gets out, they’ll bankrupt your family and toss all of you fucks into jail!"

  "Nah, bankrupting her would be too easy. They’ll toss her into the slums and have people violate her in all positions."

  "You’ll never get away with this!"

  Suddenly, laughter filled the air. It was eerie, twisted, and filled with sickening madness. "Bankrupt? Who? Me?" Zhao Lifei tossed her head back as she wiped away a tear. She could get them all terminated from this place without lifting a finger. Insubordination to a higher-ranking officer with their threats of violence — this could result in severe punishments.

  "I’d like to see you puny fools come after me." She tilted her head, her amber eyes crazed and thirsty for blood.

  "I’ll shoot you right now—"

  "Wait."

  Someone emerged from the crowd. A pair of glasses rested on his high-bridged nose. When his eyes scanned her features, in particular, the smudge expression on her face, he felt his heart drop to his stomach.

  He pushed his friends forward. "Run."

  "Huh, Second brother, what did you say—"

  "RuN! It’s Zhao Lifei, you idiots!" He snarled, pushing all of his friends towards the escape route.

  Everyone’s eyes widened in horror. Zhao Lifei? As in THE Zhao Lifei?!

  You’d have to either live under a rock or be retarded to not know who she was. Her surname alone was powerful, but everyone knew who her true backer was. Zhao Moyao himself. Even with the forces of their family influences combined, none of them could rival Zhao Moyao’s smallest finger.

  And everyone remembered she was awarded her position as a First Lieutenant a couple of weeks ago. She could end them all.

  Instantly, the people bolted out of there, deserting their boss without a second thought. They feared Ma Murong, but not as much as they feared Zhao Moyao.

  Ma Murong’s entire body trembled. So what if his father was a politician? The Zhaos could easily toss him out of that position and force the family to become beggars on the street, digging through trash.

  Zhao Lifei noticed that the crowd had dispersed.

  "P-please, I-I d-didn’t know who you w-were." Ma Murong stammered, terrified at the thought of his father’s wrath if he discovered that the boy had offended a Zhao.

  Seeing him admit defeat so easily, Zhao Lifei let out a scoff. What a pathetic man. All bark and no bite.

  "I-I’ll stay out o-of your way, I swear!" Ma Murong added on, placing his palms together in a pleading posture. He deeply bowed, arms tucked to his side, "Ma’am, I’m really sorry."

  Zhao Lifei was disappointed by his reaction. She wanted to torment him further but decided it was too hot for that. If she wanted to safely return back to her tree, she would have to get off of him.

  "Scram."

  Ma Murong did not need to be told twice. He bolted off in the same direction as his friends with his tail tucked between his legs.