Lin Wuming's wardmate, Tiger Peak Toumi, shattered the window and burst inside. The instant she took in the scene, she lunged straight at Lin Wuming with killing intent!
Her assault was so ferocious that, if not for the "bullet time" triggered by Lin Wuming's near-death experience, he probably wouldn't have realized what was happening until the blade pierced him.
That said, bullet time was not omnipotent.
Strictly speaking, it didn't actually slow down the world around him. It was closer to accelerating Lin Wuming's own thought processes, allowing him to react to sudden dangers.
But reacting mentally didn't mean his body could keep up.
At its core, this kind of bullet time usually existed only to replay one's life, offering a final moment of repentance, and then force one to watch helplessly as death arrived—commonly known as a life-flashing-before-your-eyes.
—If he didn't have telekinesis, that would indeed have been Lin Wuming's fate.
But now, he was a Level 3 telekinetic.
It might not have been an overwhelmingly powerful ability, but it was enough to give him a chance to change this disastrous future.
Esper powers didn't rely on the body—they were controlled directly by the brain. In theory, as long as his mind could react in time, Lin Wuming could respond with telekinesis!
Just like now—
He hastily formed a telekinetic barrier in front of himself, trying to block the sword thrusting toward him.
At the same time, he cursed himself inwardly. He'd been careless—so focused on saving someone that he'd neglected his own guard. The murderer hadn't fled at all, but instead lay in wait, planning to ambush whoever came to help.
Although he hadn't known Tiger Peak Toumi for long, recalling her interactions with Doctor Sakurai made it hard to believe she would harm the doctor. The two of them had clearly been close.
If that was the case, then the reason for this girl's attack became obvious.
She thinks I'm the killer?
Lin Wuming sensed trouble, but under bullet time his thoughts were racing faster than his mouth could move. He simply didn't have time to explain.
The girl was already right in front of him.
Her beautiful face was twisted with rage, the scars on the right side of her face flushed red and strikingly vivid—like mottled patterns on the hide of a true, ferocious tigress.
Until now, Lin Wuming had never imagined that a girl of around ten years old could display such savage, terrifying fury.
What frightened him even more was this—
The telekinetic barrier he'd pinned his hopes on did absolutely nothing.
It was as if it truly were nothing but air. The slender rapier in her hand pierced straight through it and plunged deeply into his chest.
Under bullet time, pain seemed delayed—or perhaps completely numbed. With no pain to distract him, Lin Wuming forced himself to stay calm and take action to save his own life.
He followed the most instinctive human response—
Push the threat away.
Telekinesis erupted in a powerful burst. No matter how fierce Tiger Peak Toumi was, she was still just a ten-year-old girl weighing under thirty kilograms. Sending her flying with psychic force was effortless.
As expected, she was blasted backward.
But her agility was terrifying. She twisted midair, kicked off the wall to borrow momentum, and lunged right back at him!
Lin Wuming hurriedly drove his wheelchair backward while dragging a hospital bed in front of him as a shield.
Unfortunately, even a physical barrier was useless at this point.
Without slowing in the slightest, her rapier pierced straight through the bed frame and bedding, once again stabbing deep into Lin Wuming's chest.
She withdrew the blade and struck again, blood spraying.
Lin Wuming didn't even know whether to laugh or cry. How could this girl be so absurdly strong? Even under bullet time, she struck like lightning—five rapid thrusts in succession, every single one hitting its mark.
There was no way to block her attacks.
The only small mercy was that—whether intentionally or not—she avoided vital points. The wounds were gruesome and bloody, but not immediately fatal.
—Maybe she wants to keep me alive for interrogation?
The thought surfaced inexplicably in Lin Wuming's mind. It wasn't something you'd expect from a ten-year-old girl—but on Tiger Peak Toumi, it somehow fit perfectly.
With bullet time granting him enough mental breathing room, Lin Wuming finally calmed down. After analyzing the situation and his injuries, he made a decision—and chose his counterattack.
Defense was useless. The fact that he'd been stabbed seven times proved her attacks couldn't be blocked.
Running or dodging was even more unrealistic. In a cramped indoor space, crippled limbs, stuck in a wheelchair—how was he supposed to play tag with a lightning-fast swordswoman?
That left only one option.
Attack—to stop the fight.
There weren't many things in the ward that could serve as weapons, but to a telekinetic, it was more than enough.
Lin Wuming lifted beds, stools, and cabinets with telekinesis and hurled them at the girl as projectiles.
Tiger Peak Toumi seemed to shift into overdrive. Her rapier blurred into afterimages as she unleashed countless thrusts in an instant, shredding a flying stool into Swiss cheese before finishing it off with a kick that smashed it to pieces.
After forcing open a path, she lowered her head and charged forward again.
But this time—
That brief delay was enough.
Lin Wuming's telekinesis finally managed to seize hold of her body.
An invisible giant hand formed, gripping the girl and flinging her toward the window.
This time, she couldn't break free!
"I'll kill you!" she screamed—the first words she'd spoken since the fight began.
Before Lin Wuming could even breathe a sigh of relief, he saw her flip the sword in her hand and stab downward—directly into the telekinetic force restraining her!
This girl's bizarre attacks could damage telekinesis itself!
Unless he was willing to go all out and violently incapacitate her, there was no clean way to stop her.
But that was always the very last resort of last resorts. Drawing blades at the slightest disagreement—
This wasn't a wuxia world.
And even in a wuxia world, someone who thought of killing at every turn wouldn't survive more than three episodes before dying at the hands of a true hero—or a real villain.
More importantly, this fight was very likely just a misunderstanding.
One idiot who hurt others because of a misunderstanding was already more than enough.
Seizing a brief opening, Lin Wuming shouted at the top of his lungs:
"The doctor is still alive! Do you really want to kill her before you stop?!"
The raging beast instantly fell silent.
Tiger Peak Toumi forgot to struggle. She turned her head at once, staring at Doctor Sakurai lying in the pool of blood.
The two of them had fought so violently that the ward was in ruins—yet not a single piece of debris had fallen near where the doctor lay.
It didn't take much thought to realize why.
Lin Wuming had protected that spot with telekinesis.
The boiling fury drained away like a receding tide.
The girl lowered her head, rapidly regaining her composure.
(End of Chapter)