Once they were sure every route was blocked,
a burly man with a scar across his face and a shaved head stepped forward. Despite the chilly weather, he wore his jacket open, deliberately flexing his bulging muscles.
They looked intimidating.
He clasped his hands and said,
“First off, sorry to trouble everyone. We brothers aren’t collecting tolls—we just need to take up a little of your time and see whether the person we’re looking for is among you.”
At that, the people nearby breathed a sigh of relief.
“You scared me half to death. I thought things had gotten so bad that people were stopping travelers in broad daylight to extort money, right next to the city gate.”
“I know this boss. He’s Chu Laosi from West Street. He’s got connections everywhere and can even speak with the officials. He’s a man of his word. We probably won’t have to pay to get out of this.”
“But who are they looking for?”
“With this many people…”
As the crowd discussed the matter, Huo Xiang’s heart began to race. He had a bad feeling.
Could they be looking for him?
But that didn’t make sense either.
Men who lived by the sword never did anything without profit. Even if the higher-ups in the Northeast Army had ordered them to cooperate, they would probably obey only in name and put on a half-hearted show.
No one would work for free.
But there was money involved!
Chu Laosi’s heart burned with excitement. The mere “tea money” they had already been given was enough to leave them dazed. If they actually found the man…
At the thought, his heart pounded. He swallowed hard and called out to everyone,
“The man we’re looking for is surnamed Huo—the same Mr. Huo who’s been handing out porridge. Anyone who knows where he is and reports it, well…”
He raised one finger.
“One hundred! One hundred silver dollars! I, Chu Laosi, give you my word: you’ll be able to take the money home in peace. Anyone who dares lay a hand on it—I’ll chop that hand off!”
“Whoa—”
The scene erupted like boiling water.
“One hundred silver dollars?”
“For real? This Mr. Huo sounds like a good man, handing out porridge. Why would they…”
Anyone with half a brain could tell that, with this kind of show of force, they certainly weren’t looking for him to invite him to dinner. The crowd fell silent for a moment.
Then they began discussing Mr. Huo’s appearance with even greater enthusiasm.
They craned their necks and looked in every direction,
trying to find someone who matched the description.
It was hard to blame them.
That was one hundred silver dollars!
With that much money, a family of five could eat well for ten years. In the countryside, it could buy a large brick house or two strong oxen capable of working the fields. Many people went their entire lives without ever seeing so much money.
Huo Xiang heard the people beside him swallow nervously.
His face turned black with fury.
By now, what else could he fail to understand? Other than Su Ning, who else could have done this?
Suppressing the urge to kill her, he spent some of his luck points, finally calming the people around him.
The inspection proceeded quickly.
Soon, it was their turn. Huo Xiang immediately spotted the photographs in the gangsters’ hands. They showed him serving porridge, his features captured with perfect clarity…
It was her.
For some reason,
a dull ache spread through Huo Xiang’s chest, as if someone had just struck him hard.
He knew perfectly well that she worked for Su Ning.
And yet he was unwilling to accept it.
How could she? How could she help Su Ning come after him?
He was still lost in his misery when someone suddenly yanked the hat from his head. A shout rang in his ears:
“Didn’t we tell you to cooperate? Take off your hats, headscarves, and everything else. Anyone hiding their face could be that Huo fellow, couldn’t they?”
The sound drew a great many eyes.
Chu Laosi came over as well.
Comparing him with the photograph, he studied him excitedly. At first glance, the eyebrows, nose, and mouth seemed to match—but at second glance, they looked completely different.
He rubbed his eyes hard.
The others also craned their necks over curiously.
On the surface, Huo Xiang remained calm.
Inside, however, his heart was bleeding. Every second, every minute, he was spending the luck points he had painstakingly saved up. Why wasn’t this guy leaving yet?
That was only natural.
If anyone suddenly spotted a stack of money by the roadside, even after discovering that it seemed fake, they wouldn’t be willing to give up right away. They would still check it over and over.
What if there happened to be a real bill in there?
“Something’s not right.”
Huo Xiang’s heart skipped a beat.
“Why does this kid look not the least bit scared?”
Chu Laosi asked suspiciously.
“No, no,” the cart driver cut in, forcing a smile. “It’s a misunderstanding. He’s my nephew. We didn’t take good care of him when he was little, and he ended up with brain damage. He looks like a normal person, but in reality… well…”
With that sigh, everything was left unsaid.
Everyone suddenly understood. So he was an idiot.
“Is he really an idiot?”
Chu Laosi frowned. “Why doesn’t he look like one to me? What idiot has skin as fine and tender as his, without even half a callus on his hands? His face doesn’t really match the picture, either. But I’ve heard there’s a martial-arts trick called a human-skin mask.”
As he spoke, he reached out to touch Huo Xiang’s face.
Huo Xiang wanted to dodge, but forced himself to endure it. The man’s rough hands rubbed back and forth with considerable force, leaving red marks across his skin.
“Looks like real skin.”
“What human-skin mask? Those are just stories made up by storytellers.”
One of the thugs even teased Chu Laosi:
“Boss, you’re still touching him? Want us to step aside and let you have your fill?”
“Get lost.”
Chu Laosi snatched his hand back as if he had been shocked by electricity. He moved so quickly that—smack!—he slapped Huo Xiang across the face.
The cart driver seized the opportunity to explain that Huo Xiang was the only son born after his older brother and sister-in-law had five daughters. He had been carefully raised ever since childhood, and had come out to work with him to save money for a wife and continue the family line.
“…The boy is good-looking, that’s true, but in reality he can’t even speak. His family was hoping that if some girl took a liking to him, they could somehow fool her into marrying him. So they drilled it into him not to show any signs of being different when he was outside.”
After saying this, the cart driver looked toward Huo Xiang.
“Come on, nephew. Your uncle wants to hear you speak.”
“Ah-ba, ah-ba ah-ba ah-ba.”
He said it with a straight face.
“Hahahahahaha! Look, he really is an idiot!”
“What a shameless family. An idiot pretending to be normal—everyone should spread the word. Those with daughters at home, keep your eyes open so your girls don’t get tricked by an idiot.”
“Exactly. Absolutely shameless.”
By then, the men who had gone to inspect the cart loaded with chickens and ducks had returned. They had found nothing unusual, so Chu Laosi clicked his tongue and waved for them to leave.
As he turned around, Huo Xiang’s eyes grew dark and sinister.
The humiliation he had suffered today…
“Wait. Stop right there.”
One of the thugs walked over and vigorously wiped his hands several times on Huo Xiang’s clothes, leaving behind yellow-black stains of unknown origin. As he rubbed, he complained disdainfully, “How can you be so filthy? You don’t even know enough to clean off the chicken and duck droppings. There are feathers stuck all over you.”
He had originally wanted to grab a couple of birds to take home for a snack.
But now he was too disgusted to take any.
Huo Xiang: “…”
…………
Huo Xiang still managed to escape.
Though perhaps “managed” was putting it a little too generously.
His face was deathly pale, and his whole body trembled. The moment he reached somewhere safe, he stripped off all his clothes, grabbed onto a tree, and vomited violently. When he was done, he snarled:
“Su Ning, I’m going to tear you limb from limb!”
Meanwhile.
The person being cursed had already fallen asleep. After everything she’d been through that day, she was exhausted. The instant the system’s reward notifications began chiming—
The system deftly turned the volume down to its lowest setting.
It happened to glance over as well.
Her balance was suddenly decreasing…
After thinking it over, it understood. It nodded in satisfaction. It was fine for its host to become a little more despicable. Just look at how much people hated her! Even after everything Huo Xiang had been through, he still hadn’t forgotten to use his luck points to curse her.
Mm. She and its Rich-and-Ruthless System were a perfect match.
“What’s wrong?”
As if she had heard something, Su Ning asked from beneath the covers, her eyes still closed and her voice muffled.
“Go back to sleep.”
It was a good thing anyway. She’d find out after she woke up tomorrow.
“Mm.”
Her breathing gradually became steady.
The system also went back to enjoy its own entertainment.
