The two quickly became engaged in a physical altercation. Though Su Mo possessed some degree of skill, her primary objective was to elicit the information she sought from Yu Chuxin, not to truly harm her.

Despite this, Yu Chuxin’s reckless, life-or-death charge nearly overwhelmed Su Mo.

Yu Chuxin swung her fist towards Su Mo’s face with all her might. Only after a moment’s reaction did Su Mo forcefully push back, slamming Yu Chuxin to the ground.

Those who had been standing on the sidelines took a half-second to react and finally remembered to rush in, intent on breaking up the fight.

When Ma Wenlong entered the room after finishing his call, he was greeted by utter chaos.

Fists were flying between the combatants, while others scrambled to intervene, creating a scene of complete disarray.

Ma Wenlong managed to struggle through the crowd, only to find himself squarely in the path of Su Mo’s swinging fist.

*Ah!*

“What on earth are you doing?!” Ma Wenlong howled. His nose took a solid hit, instantly painting his face with a fresh, crimson spurt.

At the sight of blood, the group of girls erupted into screams. Contrasted against their behavior, Su Mo momentarily froze, realizing with a start that she had actually struck something.

As she turned around, Su Mo saw Ma Wenlong staring at her with a despondent expression, blood still seeping between his fingers.

Su Mo opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Yu Chuxin lunged towards her again, claws extended.

Unable to comfort Ma Wenlong, Su Mo once again engaged with Yu Chuxin.

“Ah! Su Mo, I’m going to sue you! This isn’t over between us!”

Silence.

“Help! Su Mo, you’re ruining my face! I’ll fight you to the death! I’m calling the cops! I’ll kill you!”

Still no response.

The entire training ground echoed with Yu Chuxin’s screams, while Su Mo remained utterly silent throughout the ordeal.

Finally, Su Mo grabbed Yu Chuxin by the collar, hurling her across the room to land heavily on the ground. Only then did Yu Chuxin utter a single word:

“Even if I call the cops, you started it first,” she wheezed.

With that, she turned to glance at Ma Wenlong.

“Um, Old Ma, you okay?”

Ma Wenlong had already stuffed paper into both nostrils, but he still looked utterly wretched. His nose was red and swollen, and his clothes were splattered with blood.

“Is there something wrong with me, or isn’t there?” Ma Wenlong asked defensively, his hands on his hips. He looked ready to lash out at Su Mo, but before he could make a move, a stern voice came from the door.

“What’s going on here?”

Everyone turned around to see two police officers standing at the entrance.

Ma Wenlong froze, then glared at the roomful of girls and growled, “Who called the cops?”

Wei Xuan shrank back slightly before cautiously raising her hand. “Sorry, Bro Ma. I was in a panic, so I called the police.”

As soon as Wei Xuan finished speaking, a deep voice came from behind Ma Wenlong. “So what’s wrong with calling the police? Look at this mess—how could you not let the girl call for help?”

Ma Wenlong quickly plastered on a subservient smile. “Oh, is that all? Well, Officer, I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding. We’re all friends here, just horsing around. There was no fight—my nose just accidentally got injured during a dance practice.”

The cop, half a head taller than Ma Wenlong, looked down at him and said, “Oh, is that so? Then let’s hear it from this young lady.” He pointed to Yu Chuxin, who was still struggling on the ground, her face bruised and swollen.

Ma Wenlong glared at Yu Chuxin with a warning look, but Yu Chuxin clung to the sight of the police as a lifeline. Getting shoved to the ground by Su Mo had been nothing short of a traumatic experience for her, and now that she had finally caught her breath, seeing the police again gave her the courage to run up and grab one of them.

“Hey, officer! It’s that woman, she’s the one who hit me!” Yu Chuxin pointed at Su Mo.

Su Mo met the officer’s gaze. “She started it.”

The officer turned back to Yu Chuxin.

Yu Chuxin was about to continue crying and pleading when… 

“Who are you calling ‘uncle’?” The officer frowned deeply. “I was going to tell you off earlier, but do I look old enough to be your uncle? Don’t you know your own age? Stop calling everyone ‘uncle’!”

His harsh words made Yu Chuxin forget her tears entirely, leaving her stunned and wide-eyed.

Ma Wenlong let out a snort of laughter at these words, his nose red and swollen, his shirt splattered with blood. His sudden laughter only made him look more unsightly.

The officer shot him a glare, instantly shutting him up.

“Take them all away!” With this one command, Su Mo, Ma Wenlong, and Yu Chuxin were escorted to the police station.

Within the walls of the public security office…

Yu Chuxin wept as she spoke, painting Su Mo as an absolute monster. She insisted on getting a medical evaluation for her injuries.

Meanwhile, Su Mo sat on a chair, remaining silent.

Witnessing Yu Chuxin’s state, Ma Wenlong forcefully tapped his finger on her forehead.

“What exactly happened? How did you end up fighting with Yu Chuxin?”

Su Mo fiddled with her fingers. “It’s nothing, just didn’t like what I saw.”

“…Su Mo, listen to me carefully!” Ma Wenlong admonished. “If you tell the police that, you’ll be spending the New Year in jail!”

Head bowed, Su Mo remained quiet.

Feeling truly at his wit’s end, Ma Wenlong finally gave her one last stern look. “Regardless of whether you talk to me or not, when the police ask you, don’t make things up. Got it?”

Su Mo replied half-heartedly, “I know.”

Ma Wenlong was about to scold her further when he heard the police call out Su Mo’s name. He swallowed his words and hastily added a couple more reminders.

Ma Wenlong and Su Mo took turns entering the room to give their statements. Ma Wenlong had no idea what Su Mo said while she was in there, but at least it seemed like she hadn’t said anything outrageous.

“All right, considering this is your first offense and it hasn’t caused any serious consequences, we’ll classify this incident as a general conflict. Contact your families—they’ll need to come provide bail and retrieve you. As for you, since you need a medical evaluation, go straight to the hospital. We’ll cooperate where necessary.”

The police officer made a few more remarks before hurrying off to handle other matters.

Yu Chuxin shot Su Mo a fierce glare, then moved aside to cry and dial her family.

Ma Wenlong quickly followed suit, leaving Su Mo feeling somewhat anxious.

Who should she call? Keru? She couldn’t leave school right now. Lanshan? Just tried, but the phone went unanswered—probably asleep. Who else could she call?

Her finger hovered over Ye Jue’s name for two seconds before moving on. Moments later, it returned, but she never pressed the Call button.

Ma Wenlong, noticing her dazed expression as she held the phone, paused upon returning from making his own call.

“What’s wrong? Is there no one you can contact?”

Su Mo bit her lip. “There is.”

After finishing, she walked aside with her cell phone and called Lu Qingze. Her purpose wasn’t to have him pick her up, but rather to inform him that she might not be able to collect Ningning on time today.

Lu Qingze acknowledged the message, then asked, “Did something happen?”

“No…” Su Mo’s voice suddenly faltered.

Lu Qingze frowned. “Where are you?”

Su Mo bit her lip. “I’m training. Today’s exercises were quite challenging, so I can’t leave early to pick up Ningning. I’m sorry.”

Lu Qingze fell silent for a moment. Just as Su Mo thought he wouldn’t speak again and was about to hang up, he suddenly asked, “Jiangqinglu Police Station?”

Su Mo’s mind raced back, realizing that the cop behind her had just reported his location while on a call.

She hesitated, still pondering how to respond when she heard him ask, “Training at the police station?”

Silence reigned.