The moment the words were spoken.
Crazy Diamond couldn't hold back and burst forth from within Ho Fei-yu.
"Attack! This kid is alone. No matter how good he is, two fists can't fight four hands!" Hayato, seeing that Ho Fei-yu was completely unyielding, gritted his teeth and ordered the thugs around him.
But there was no movement.
"Whoever can knock him out, I'll pay for everyone's expenses at the nightclub tonight!" Hayato glanced sideways, seeing their hesitation. He seemed to make a difficult decision and loudly offered a strong incentive.
After saying this, Hayato regretted it. Although he had money from extortion, a night at the nightclub wasn't cheap, especially treating this group of animals. He would probably bleed money that night.
'Heh heh, doesn't this kid have a sister? I'll just spend some time and effort to get my hands on her, and when I'm tired of her, I'll force her into prostitution. That way, money will keep pouring in~' Hayato let out a long sigh of relief in his mind as he remembered something, his dark, sinister eyes sizing up Ryoto.
Hearing Hayato's promise, the five remaining thugs, excluding him, exchanged glances. They all saw the greed in each other's eyes. They nodded in unison and rushed towards Ho Fei-yu together.
In a flash of lightning.
Something happened that Hayato would never forget in his life.
Before he could pull his gaze away from Ryoto, five miserable, heartbreaking screams rang out, followed by the sound of bodies uniformly hitting the wooden stall doors.
Hearing the noise.
"Hiss—"
Hayato immediately looked up, then gasped, staring incredulously at Ho Fei-yu, who was walking toward him calmly. The five thugs were gone, and instead, there were pained cries coming from the open stalls beside him.
Ryoto, held captive in Hayato's arms, was in a better position to witness the terror of the boy in front of him. He had been watching the whole time.
The five thugs hadn't even gotten within half a meter of the boy before they were suddenly blasted away, with each one precisely occupying a stall.
If Hayato wasn't holding him, he would have rubbed his eyes to check if he was seeing things.
"Don't come any closer!!!"
Hayato, belatedly realizing what was happening, roared in fear because Ho Fei-yu was getting closer and closer.
But Ho Fei-yu acted as if he hadn't heard anything, steadily approaching him.
"You! If you come any closer, I'll hurt him!"
Hayato held Ryoto hostage and slowly retreated to the wall. It wasn't until his back felt the cold concrete that he realized he had nowhere left to go. But seeing Ho Fei-yu's aggressive persistence, he was seized by desperation. He quickly pulled out a utility knife from his pocket, opened it, placed it against Ryoto's neck, and threatened Ho Fei-yu with a sinister expression.
"Ryoto-kun, don't blame me for this. Blame him!"
He thought this action would deter Ho Fei-yu, but the boy acted like a startled novice—not only was he not scared, but a smile even appeared on his lips. This contempt from Ho Fei-yu deeply provoked Hayato. Gritting his teeth, he was about to slice the knife resting on Ryoto's neck.
'This is fine too. This is also okay. At least I won't be bullied anymore.'
Ryoto accepted his fate and closed his eyes.
"Ah!!!"
"Why? My neck..."
But the next moment, a wail sounded.
'Huh!? What happened? I didn't say anything???' Ryoto heard the voice and instinctively touched his neck. It wasn't wet, meaning he wasn't injured.
Ryoto opened his eyes in disbelief, trying to see what had happened. To his surprise, he found himself standing next to Ho Fei-yu. Hayato was squatting on the ground in front of them, looking pained. He was clutching his neck with one hand, and blood was clearly running down his neck and the knife.
'This...'
Ryoto had too many questions. He completely failed to understand what had just happened. Everything, from the moment Ho Fei-yu entered the restroom, felt like a dream—ethereal and unreal, yet happening right before his eyes.
"I don't know why Crazy Diamond is angry at you, but giving you a beating is certain. It won't be fatal, but it's enough to teach you a lesson."
"Wuu~ Forgive me."
"DORA DORA DORA DORA DORA DORA DORA DORA DORA DORA" x 30
Hayato was bewildered. Although he didn't understand what Ho Fei-yu was saying, his eyes were full of terror. Before he could finish begging for mercy, he felt a flurry of fists bombarding every inch of his body. He faintly heard the sound of breaking bones echoing in his ears.
From the painful whimpers at the beginning to the subsequent numb silence, during these brutal ten minutes, Hayato felt like he was rubber clay, repeatedly crushed and repeatedly restored. The pain was like an endless flood, surging wave after wave, towering into the clouds, washing over his body again and again.
"..."
Ho Fei-yu walked out of the restroom, smelling the clean air outside. He couldn't help but take a deep breath. Staying in the restroom for almost twenty minutes had made him feel a little uncomfortable.
"Excuse me, but the restroom is currently full, student."
Just then, he saw a boy walking by, clutching his stomach with both hands. He was staggering with every step, his expression strained. Ho Fei-yu was in a good mood after venting, so he kindly warned the student so he wouldn't waste time.
"Pffft."
Ryoto, standing behind Ho Fei-yu, seemed to remember something and couldn't help but laugh.
The boy looked at them strangely. Just as he was about to speak, he felt something about to erupt. He immediately clamped his legs together, quickly maneuvered around them, and rushed into the restroom.
"H-hello, my name is Ryoto Tsubakino. Thank you for helping me. If possible, please tell me your name and class. I'll find a time to repay you!"
As Ho Fei-yu was about to head to the auditorium, the soft, almost feminine voice of the boy he had helped came from behind him.
"It was nothing. Besides, I just happened to run into it. Why should they stop me from using the restroom?"
Ho Fei-yu turned around and smiled calmly at Ryoto Tsubakino.
In truth, that wasn't the case. Ho Fei-yu had sensed that Ryoto Tsubakino was being dragged out of the crowd by Hayato, which was why he followed them. But he wasn't interested in any so-called repayment. He did this purely out of a sense of justice. No matter if Hayato had brought a man or a woman, an old person or a child, or any other creature, Ho Fei-yu would have chosen to intervene.
Since he possessed this power, he couldn't concern himself with the evil happening in places he didn't know about. But if it happened nearby and he saw it, he wouldn't stand idly by. After all, Ho Fei-yu had once been a boy who grew up under the red flag and bathed in the spring breeze.
Meanwhile, the boy who had just entered the restroom was dumbfounded. Everywhere he looked, every stall was occupied by people. As for why he said "occupied," it was because six people were hanging upside down in the six stalls, their heads in the toilets, while their bodies lay scattered in various poses.
The most bizarre of them all was the one person whose head rested on the urinal, allowing water to flush over his head, while his body was limp on the foul-smelling floor like a boneless creature.
"It really... is full..."