Woooo—
At a prison somewhere in China, alarms blared. A prisoner had escaped.
Inside the cell, there were only sheets of paper covered in children's drawings. The female prisoner herself was gone. This was a high-security prison with tight surveillance. How could a prisoner suddenly vanish? Everything looked normal, and none of the guards had seen anything suspicious. It was like she had just disappeared. The walls were scribbled with kids' doodles, making the place look nothing like a prison.
The escapee was Leopard Head Lin Long from Liangshan Outlaw. Although she was a minor, she was so dangerous they'd kept her here temporarily until a decision could be made on how to handle her.
Lin Long's meridian points were sealed, so she couldn't use her inner strength—she should've been completely incapable of escaping. But she had, and it shocked everyone.
Just a moment earlier, Lin Long had been bored, drawing in her cell. The next second, she suddenly appeared in the wilderness, surrounded by dry grass and barren hills. Crows cawed overhead. She froze, stunned.
She turned to see a little girl about her own age standing nearby. This kid had somehow pulled her out of prison. Was she another member of Liangshan Outlaw?
The delicate-looking girl gazed into the distance. She wore a light pink dress and didn't seem to feel the cold at all. The girl said, "Not everyone can handle teleporting."
"Who are you?" Lin Long asked nervously. With her meridians still sealed, she couldn't use her inner strength. She was just an ordinary kid now.
"My name is Liu Nono. Long time no see, Sister Lin Long."
"?" Lin Long was confused. She definitely didn't know this person. She didn't know anyone named Liu Nono. "You look about my age. How do you know I'm older than you? I'm only twelve. How old are you?" Her focus seemed a bit off.
"I'm eight this year. But when I met you, you were already an adult. No matter what, I should call you sister." This was Liu Nono, who had traveled back from the future. Ever since leaving the future, she had been wandering for years, still stuck in a child's body. She had finally returned to Earth recently, but the timing was wrong—there were still several years until she would be born. She had to find a way to get back to the future.
"You're from the future? Like the Terminator?" Lin Long asked.
"I'm not a robot," Liu Nono pouted. "But yes, I did come from the future. Sister, I need your help this time." She couldn't risk going to her young parents—they might decide not to have her if she upset them, or they might change her name, and then her very existence would be in danger. So she came looking for someone she'd known in the future. After thinking it over, she chose Lin Long.
In a little while, Lin Long would be adopted by Chu Yuxuan, start attending school, and learn to make friends. By college, she'd become just a normal martial arts girl.
And because of Chu Yuxuan's connection to Liu A'dou, Lin Long had watched Liu Nono grow up. Unfortunately, right now they were both just little girls.
"You're a pretty funny kid," Lin Long said with a grin. "So what do you want my help with? I owe you one for saving me."
"I need to get back to the future, but I need a key item to do it. I think you're the only one who can help me find it," Liu Nono explained.
"Finding something? That's easy!" Lin Long said eagerly. "With Liangshan Outlaw's skills, there's nothing we can't find."
That was exactly why Liu Nono had come to her—because Lin Long had Liangshan Outlaw's resources. "Alright, let's head out right away. We need to go to Japan. That's where the item is right now."
Whoosh!
Ugh! Lin Long felt dizzy and sick, like she was going to throw up.
"Not everyone can handle long-distance teleporting," Liu Nono said.
Lin Long thought that sounded familiar—hadn't Liu Nono already said that before? If she knew, why did she teleport them a second time? Was it because Lin Long hadn't embarrassed herself the first time, so she wanted to see it happen now?
"Next time, think about how other people feel," Lin Long complained. "Or are all you future people like this?"
"Don't sweat the details," Liu Nono replied. "Now go contact the Japan branch of Liangshan Outlaw. Have them mobilize everyone to find a Chinese artifact called the 'Jiulong Bagua Qixing Pagoda.' It's an eight-sided bronze pagoda about 30 centimeters tall with seven levels."
Liu Nono never wasted words. She had spent a lot of time channeling the fierce spirit of legendary heroines from other worlds, which had taught her to act fast and decisively.
…Lin Long thought, 'Are future people all this mature so young?' She protested, "First I need to figure out where exactly we are in Japan. We're in the middle of nowhere—how am I supposed to find anyone?"
"Oh, right," Liu Nono sighed, shaking her head. "I forgot that in this era, only a handful of people have superpowers. My mistake. We'll have to walk somewhere to find help." Lin Long looked like she'd rather die than teleport again.
"By the way," Liu Nono added, "I can tell you're curious about the future. I'll tell you about it while we walk."
The two little girls set off through the deserted countryside—a sight that looked incredibly dangerous.
Meanwhile, on the busy streets of Tokyo, a stunning figure with an ambiguous gender turned heads. Every passerby stopped to stare in amazement.
"What a beautiful woman," a sleazy middle-aged man said, practically drooling.
His friend disagreed. "Woman? No way. Look at those sharp features—nothing feminine about them. That's definitely a man. I swear on my collection of Blu-ray discs."
"How could a man have hair like that?" the first man shot back. "His hair is way too long for a guy. And you say his features aren't soft—don't you know what striking beauty is?"
They started arguing. "He's got a flat chest—that's a man, no doubt."
"You wouldn't understand the allure of a flat-chested beauty, you bust-loving perv. And look—no Adam's apple. That's a woman for sure."
"He's a man. A breathtakingly beautiful man verging on demonic. I'm never wrong."
"She's a woman, a total goddess," insisted the middle-aged man. But mid-sentence, he suddenly clutched his chest, his eyes rolling back as he collapsed in convulsions.
"Hey! Hey, Tanaka-san, are you okay?" his friend shouted. But Tanaka clearly wasn't okay. "Somebody, help! Call an ambulance!"
Panic spread through the crowd. By the time the paramedics arrived, the man was dead.
No one dared laugh about Zhao Gao being a woman. Zhao Gao didn't slow down, moving straight through the crowd. Anyone who dared call him a woman died on the spot.
Screams broke out across the street like the end of the world had come. How could this happen? Moments ago everyone was laughing and chatting, and now people were suddenly dropping dead. No one could make sense of it.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department launched an investigation immediately. But with no leads, there was nothing they could do. And this murder spree was only just beginning. Zhao Gao's appearance was so eye-catching that everyone who saw him couldn't help but gossip about whether he was a man or a woman. Every time he showed up, it guaranteed bloodshed—nosy passersby were literally killing themselves with curiosity.
The thing Zhao Gao hated most was being mistaken for a woman. He was a man—even if incomplete, still a man. Being called a woman was an unbearable humiliation that he could only erase with blood.