Lu Chen sighed, "It's not good for a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl to say things like that. ( ) Be good, go back to sleep!" He wanted to persuade Lingling, but didn't know what to say.
After all, her aloofness was deeply ingrained; it couldn't be resolved with a few words, and might even make her angrier.
She had suffered such great harm, and it seemed she hadn't received effective treatment; it was deeply rooted.
Lu Chen had previously used his medical divine ability to test her, to see if he could prescribe the right remedy.
However, the medical divine ability only returned four words: care and warmth.
Damn! This left Lu Chen speechless. What kind of treatment plan was this? Was this medicine? He didn't understand.
Lingling suddenly stood up, went down a few steps of stairs, and opened his half-closed door. She suddenly turned her head and said, "Come in!" Then, she went inside.
Lu Chen was stunned. What was going on? "You want me to come in? No way?"
With any other girl, this would be understandable, but this withdrawn, strange, and silent girl, in this dark stairwell, is you expecting him to enter her home where she's alone?
To her, he's still a stranger!
Lu Chen felt a chill run down his spine. He said, "If you have something to say, just say it here. Uh, I... I don't think it's convenient for me to come in."
Lingling fell silent again, this time for a long time.
Lu Chen scratched his head and cleared his throat. "Um, it's nothing, I'll go back now." He started to walk down the stairs.
Lingling suddenly blurted out, "Someone's bullying me!"
Those five short words revealed fear, unease, anger, and a deep sense of helplessness.
Instantly, Lu Chen stopped, his anger rising.
Damn it, this girl is already pitiful enough, and someone's bullying her? "Who's asking for a beating?"
Lu Chen turned around and said in a deep voice, "Who bullied you? Tell me, and I'll beat them to a pulp!"
Lingling weakly replied, "You'll find out when you come in."
This left Lu Chen completely bewildered. Find out when you go in? Could the person who bullied her be inside? Impossible, right? Lu Chen wondered if there might be a trap, but out of concern for Lingling, he went in anyway.
A girl like her wouldn't do anything to him, would she?
The door closed.
This apartment had a similar layout to Tian Sijing's, a small three-bedroom unit. The living room was somewhat messy, the lighting very dim, no more than twenty watts, giving it an eerie feel.
Lingling led Lu Chen into a room.
This room was even messier, with leftover instant noodle containers piled on the table, emitting a sour smell. Women's clothes, including underwear, were scattered on the bed and floor.
Clearly, this was Lingling's room.
Lu Chen felt awkward and even more confused. Wasn't someone supposed to be bullying her? How did she bring him to her bedroom? Uh, what was going on?
Lu Chen suddenly thought of some mentally unstable girls who were also psychologically disturbed.
Could this Lingling be one of them?
Lu Chen was startled and had an urge to run away.
Then, he saw Lingling point out the window, then silently jump onto the bed, shrink into the corner, curl up, and tightly hug her doll.
Her face showed increasing terror.
Outside the window?
The curtains were drawn, but light shone faintly from outside, and the sound of rock music made it quite noisy.
Lu Chen walked over and stood by the window. He slightly lifted the curtain and looked outside, and immediately felt a surge of rage. Damn it, what a bastard!
About three or four meters away was a window, and the walls around it were covered with A4 sheets of paper.
Some of these A4 sheets had words on them, some had drawings.
The words were all obscene phrases, like "Lingling, shall we do it?", "I guarantee you'll feel great," and "I can do it for two hours straight, no problem."
The drawings were simply various sexually explicit images. Even the woman in the drawings, with her limbs spread wide, had her name written next to her: Du Haoling.
And at that moment, the window was wide open, and inside, a young man was completely naked, holding what was clearly a secretly taken photo of Lingling, kissing her, and even placing the photo between his legs.
Then, he thrust in and out, still yelling, "Lingling, are you enjoying it? Are you enjoying it…"
Even with the window tightly shut, his voice could be faintly heard.
Lu Chen opened the window a crack, and the sound rushed in like waves.
Suddenly, Lingling screamed from behind, and a pillow flew over, hitting Lu Chen hard on the head.
She yelled, "I don't want to hear it!"
Lu Chen quickly closed the window.
Lu Chen's face was now completely black with anger. He asked, "Lingling, how long has that kid been harassing you? Besides this, has he intercepted you outside or anything?"
Lingling shook her head: "I'm not going out. Please, help me… or, just let me die!"
Lu Chen sighed. He didn't understand why Lingling wouldn't tell her sister. Such a big thing, didn't Du Haoqi know? But it was clear that Lingling knew he had saved Tian Sijing, which was why she felt she could ask for his help.
He exhaled and smiled, "It's a small matter, I'll teach him a lesson! But, Lingling, do you have any suggestions? How do you want to teach him a lesson?"
It was best to consult the person involved.
Lingling's voice was slightly distorted: "I...I don't want to see him, I want him to leave!"
Lu Chen frowned slightly. This request sounded simple and reasonable, but it wasn't easy to implement. The other person might be a family living across the street; making them leave would be equivalent to telling their whole family to quit living there.
Lu Chen still nodded and said, "Okay, I'll try my best. But, Lingling, I might not be able to do it. If I can't, at least I'll make sure he never does such a thing again, and also, he can't live in that room anymore."
As he spoke, he turned and left, a hint of murderous intent in his eyes.
Lingling had already suffered enough; what she'd experienced was a devastating blow to her life. Now, she'd encountered such a twisted villain! Lu Chen was already sharpening his knives, ready to strike like a pig or a dog.
Just as he was about to leave, Lingling suddenly threw aside the doll she was holding, jumped off the bed, pounced on him, and grabbed Lu Chen's wrist.
In an instant, as if struck by lightning, she jerked her grip, but gritted her teeth and grabbed again.
Her hand was soft and cold, carrying a sense of dependence that made Lu Chen feel a pang of heartache. He asked, "Do you want to come along too?"
Lingling nodded.
"How about we stay here? I'll come back after I've dealt with this?" It was a pleading tone.
Lingling stubbornly shook her head.
"Then let's go."
It didn't matter if he took her along; Lu Chen was confident he could protect this strange girl.
Lingling nodded again and followed Lu Chen out of the room. Suddenly, she abruptly turned and darted back, grabbing her doll from the bed before turning back out and grabbing Lu Chen's wrist again.
Lu Chen couldn't help but chuckle. Lingling remained expressionless: "Not funny."
After going downstairs, Lu Chen didn't go directly to the apartment to confront the perverted man. Instead, he observed the buildings.
This dilapidated and old-fashioned neighborhood had over twenty buildings, all five or six stories high. Clearly, they weren't built according to national regulations regarding building spacing; the distance between buildings was generally only three or four meters. Therefore, even people in two buildings, if the angle and direction were right, would essentially be able to see each other from the same living room.
The perverted man lived in the building closest to Lingling's, on the fourth floor.
Based on the location, that should be apartment 401, building A3, apartment 401.
Lu Chen said in a low voice, "Let's find someone to settle things first."
With that, he looked around and walked towards the security guard at the entrance of the residential complex.
Lingling held his hand tightly, following him closely, as if she had entrusted her life to him. Her trust was evident; clearly, Tian Sijing's description of Lu Chen as a great hero had deeply resonated with her.
After Lingling grabbed his wrist, Lu Chen faintly felt his internal healing abilities fluctuate, automatically absorbing his inner energy and then emitting a warm, vibrant energy that flowed slowly from his wrist into Lingling's palm.
This seemed to make Lingling feel very comfortable. Initially, she was only holding Lu Chen's wrist and trying to keep her body away from him, but after going downstairs, she lingered and even pressed her body against his, occasionally leaning against his shoulder.
At the entrance of the residential compound, two security guards were playing Go while smoking cigarettes. They were smoking the kind that cost seven or eight yuan a pack. Lu Chen thought for a moment, then went to the nearby convenience store and bought four packs of Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes, each costing a little over twenty yuan, and returned.
"Sirs, do you know who lives in apartment 401 of building A3?" Lu Chen asked politely.
The two security guards looked up and saw Lingling. They clearly recognized her as a resident, and Lu Chen's question made them wary. One of them coldly retorted, "Why are you asking this?"
Lu Chen smiled faintly, pointed to Lingling, and said, "To be honest, gentlemen, this is my cousin. She lives here, as you should know. There's a misunderstanding between my cousin and the family in apartment 401 of building A3, and I wanted to go explain."
As he spoke, he slipped two packs of Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes into each of the two guards' hands.
"So, I just wanted to find out," he continued. "Don't worry, I won't say I asked from here."
The two security guards looked at the Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes in their hands, their expressions brightening.
They exchanged glances, then looked at Lingling, a hint of pity in their eyes, as if they had noticed something. The guard who hadn't spoken sighed and said, "Young man, we can tell you, but I advise you not to act rashly. That family isn't easy to mess with!"
"That's right!" the first security guard exclaimed indignantly. "That family's son is such a scoundrel! He just takes advantage of his father being a policeman. One time he didn't park properly, and when I said something to him, he slapped me!"
He rubbed his face as if the slap had still hurt.
A policeman's son? Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat. "Master," he asked, "what's his rank as a policeman?"
The security guard, who had just been slapped by his policeman son, said resentfully, "He's the instructor at the local police station. Not a high-ranking officer, but he's incredibly domineering. His son is an only child, completely spoiled. Several pretty girls in our neighborhood have been harassed by him, and I heard... he even raped one, but nobody dares to call the police!"
"What's the instructor's name?" Lu Chen asked.