The youth, having lost many past memories, couldn't distinguish between teasing and malice in others' words. He would simply take many things as factual references.
Although he retained much common knowledge from the past, he couldn't be sure about his appearance, because the face he remembered from his past self didn't seem to match his current one.
Perhaps his current appearance was indeed somewhat unlikable.
The youth wandered bewildered through the bustling city. Although he could barely find his way using the phone's navigation, his phone soon shut down due to lack of battery.
So, this teaches us a lesson: always ensure your phone has sufficient charge when going out, and if necessary, carry a power bank. Otherwise, a dead phone can cause significant trouble in modern life.
Xin Yu looked at the hurried passersby around him. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask for help, but seeing everyone rushing past, seemingly busy, his desire to communicate was self-suppressed. He could only helplessly start looking for street signs or similar markers to figure out his direction.
As Xin Yu walked on, he realized he was completely lost. The number of pedestrians dwindled, and he seemed to have wandered into a street rarely frequented.
Xin Yu looked up at the sun high in the sky, feeling he had walked a long way and was somewhat tired. He decided to find a slightly cooler spot to rest for a while.
He glanced at a relatively dark alley nearby. It was dark inside, shielded from the sun. He could rest there for a bit without disturbing anyone.
Carrying his backpack, Xin Yu walked into the alley. However, just as he was about to find a place to sit, he saw several strangers ahead cornering a young girl.
There seemed to be some arguing and struggling between the two groups. One man had grabbed the girl's arm tightly and wouldn't let go. Not far away, one or two women were holding phones, filming the scene with malicious smiles.
These people were engrossed in their actions, completely unaware of Xin Yu, who had entered quietly from outside.
"Let go of me!"
The captured girl struggled violently, her face filled with panic and fear, trying hard to break free from the hand gripping her. But how could a teenage girl possibly overpower an adult man?
"You bitch! Serves you right for trying to hook up with my boyfriend at school, acting all innocent and pitiful! Today, I'll see if you, you bitch, are really so virtuous! I'll even film your pathetic state and post it online, let everyone know what kind of person you are!"
The filming woman spoke with venom, her smile twisted.
The men surrounding the long, black-haired girl all wore expressions filled with desire and craving, their eyes brimming with primal lust.
Despair was written all over the black-haired girl's face. She didn't understand; she hadn't tried to hook up with anyone! It was that guy who inexplicably confessed to her out of the blue, and she had simply rejected him. Why was she being accused of seducing him?!
Why! Why did I have to encounter something like this? I didn't do anything wrong, why!
The black-haired girl's clothes were already torn. The pained and desperate look on her face didn't make the men preparing to assault her pause; instead, it further incited their beastly nature.
"Someone... save me..."
The black-haired girl could only let out a desperate, unwilling cry for help. It was the only thing she could do.
"Someone is asking for help..."
Xin Yu's common sense memories presented two different options. One was to ignore it—other people's problems had nothing to do with him; don't meddle.
Accompanying this choice were memories he knew from his past, instances where helping others resulted in harm to oneself.
The other option was to save the person. The memories accompanying that choice...
There was a man clad in fiery red armor.
There was an anthropomorphic pig in a red bodysuit.
There was a man wearing glasses and a yellow martial arts uniform.
There was a cat, a boy, fruit, light...
Those varied figures, some human, some not, all fixed their gazes upon him.
Those gazes didn't seem to be looking at him, but rather through him, searching for someone similar yet different.
Until finally, he saw a monkey draped in a fiery red cloak, carrying a staff on its shoulder.
Who was that monkey? Xin Yu didn't know. He had forgotten too much—too many memories, too much of his past had shattered into fragments. He could only recall vague, partial images.
But when the image of that monkey's back appeared in his mind, an inexplicable feeling surged within him.
A feeling of pure, youthful spirit.
Bang!
Xin Yu, having somehow crept up behind one of the men, kicked swiftly and viciously upwards with his right foot, precisely striking a man's greatest weakness.
Accompanied by a phantom sound like an egg cracking, the man's eyes bulged, his mouth gaped open. He didn't immediately let out a horrific scream but seemed to freeze before slowly collapsing to the ground, twitching intermittently and letting out low groans.
The sound of this man falling finally attracted the others' attention. They momentarily paused their impending assault and turned their heads. But their reaction time was already sluggish.
After taking down one enemy with a groin kick, Xin Yu seized the moment while the others were turning. Without hesitation, he swung the backpack he was carrying, using the hard, angular part filled with books to viciously smash the forehead of a man turning towards him, knocking him directly to the ground.
"Ah!"
Seeing another companion swiftly downed, the remaining two men who turned to witness this froze again for a moment. This fleeting opening was seized once more. Xin Yu channeled all his strength into his elbow, pressed forward, and slammed it hard into the chest area, near the heart, of one man, causing his vision to blacken as he collapsed.
The last man snapped back to reality. Seeing his three downed companions, panic seized him. He wanted to turn and run, but as everyone knows, turning your back in a fight means completely losing any ability to resist.
Xin Yu reached out and grabbed the corner of the man's clothes, halting his escape attempt. Then, with his other hand, he grabbed the hood on the man's back, pulling forcefully. The collar instantly constricted the man's throat.
Xin Yu turned his back slightly, gripping the hood tightly with both hands, pulling back with all his might. The intense suffocation made the man desperately try to pull his collar away, but he couldn't resist and was eventually choked unconscious.
Xin Yu released his grip, letting the man slump to the ground. He then looked at the two girls who had been filming not far away. Their faces were now filled with panic and terror as they sat collapsed on the ground, their phones having slipped aside.
Without any hesitation, Xin Yu rushed forward, giving the two no chance to beg or flee. He punched fiercely, knocking both women down.
He turned back to the guy he had elbowed, who was now slowly trying to get up, and delivered a swift, hard kick to his head, knocking him out cold again.
And so, in just a few short minutes, Xin Yu accomplished the feat of defeating six opponents single-handedly.
Xin Yu briefly straightened his somewhat messy clothes, picked up his backpack from the ground, now slightly dusty, and also collected the phones dropped by the two girls, deleting the videos they were recording.
Then, he walked over to the black-haired girl, who was sitting slumped on the ground, staring blankly at him. He looked at her torn clothes.
Xin Yu took off the white jacket he was wearing and draped it over the girl's shoulders.
"Call the police. I'm leaving first."
After saying this, Xin Yu quickly turned and ran. Acting heroically was a good deed, but he had hit them quite hard just now, and even delivered follow-up blows. If caught, he would probably have to pay compensation.
He didn't have much money to spare.
Besides, he didn't save her to gain the girl's favor.
He was merely trying to reclaim that somewhat familiar figure buried within his past memories.
Seeing Xin Yu about to flee, the black-haired girl finally reacted and quickly asked, "Wait! Can you tell me your name?!"
Is she trying to scam me?!
For some reason, despite this being a classic damsel-in-distress-saved-by-hero scenario ripe for showing gratitude, the first thought that flashed through Xin Yu's mind was that she wanted to extort him.
"I am Super Wei Blue Cat!"
"...Huh?"