Jiang Mingxi pushed the door open from the inside, her fingertips tightly gripping the doorframe, her gaze complicated as she looked at Pockmarked Face standing outside.
She didn’t know this man, but the way he addressed her as “Second Young Master” instantly woke her up.
She almost understood why he would take the initiative to help her.
But now wasn’t the time to say much.
So she nodded quickly and said, “Thank you.”
Before she even finished speaking, she had already dashed over the threshold, her feet not stopping as she prepared to continue her escape.
“Wait a second.” Pockmarked Face’s voice caught up to her, tinged with urgency, “It’s chaos outside right now. Second Young Master, why not hide out at my place for a few days and let the trouble blow over?”
What does he mean?
Jiang Mingxi stopped in her tracks, spun around abruptly, and looked at him with both wariness and suspicion.
She had no ties to this person, so why was he suddenly helping her?
Because of her “Second Young Master” identity?
But in this situation, anyone who wasn’t a fool could see what was going on.
She was dressed in plain commoner’s clothes and carrying a gun, yet just three ordinary Public Security Soldiers were enough to have her fleeing in such a sorry state— what kind of “Second Young Master” ends up in such misery?
Anyone with eyes could tell something was off.
And yet, despite all this, this man still covered for her, and now was even trying to shelter her…
No one offers unsolicited kindness without a motive!
Jiang Mingxi clenched her teeth, instinctively tightening her grip on the gun in her hand, the corner of her eyes lifting with a hint of ferocity, her heart brimming with murderous intent.
Maybe she should just…
Pockmarked Face glanced at the gun in her hand, but didn’t even flinch, nor did a trace of fear appear on his face.
He even shuffled a step forward, spreading his hands to show his sincerity, lowering his voice to plead, “There are too many people and too many eyes outside. Who knows when those soldiers might circle back? Let’s talk inside, alright?”
Jiang Mingxi raised her eyebrows imperceptibly.
Go inside? That was walking right into the trap.
If she really decided to kill him, he’d be a fish in a barrel, no one would hear him even if he screamed his throat raw.
Why would anyone willingly put themselves in danger?
What was he after?
Jiang Mingxi couldn’t figure it out.
But right now, she did need a temporary place to hide.
“You go in first!” She no longer hesitated, lifting her wrist and pressing the dark muzzle of the gun directly to Pockmarked Face’s chest.
Pockmarked Face obediently turned sideways into the house, with Jiang Mingxi close behind, the gun never leaving his back.
The door closed with a creak, and Laoma quickly and skillfully slid the bolt into place, then let out a long breath and used his sleeve to wipe the greasy sweat from his forehead.
Jiang Mingxi calmly observed Pockmarked Face’s home.
A two-room shack, with the kitchen and bedroom joined together.
Standing at the door, she could see a few chipped bowls and half a coarse grain bun on the kitchen stove.
The bedroom was even more cramped— a bed almost filled the whole space, and the rest was piled haphazardly with clutter, leaving barely any place to set foot.
With this rundown state, forget about setting up an ambush, it was crowded enough just for one more person to stand.
“Running around all this time, you must be exhausted. Sit down and rest for a bit…”
Pockmarked Face put on a smile, but halfway through his words, he suddenly froze.
He realized with a start that there wasn’t even a proper stool in the room.
He hurriedly bent down, rummaged through the pile of junk in the corner, pulled out a three-legged stool, and then scrambled to find a brick to steady it, vigorously wiping the seat with his greasy sleeve.
Under Jiang Mingxi’s fierce gaze and the unwavering barrel of her gun, Pockmarked Face grinned, looking both honest and simple, “You… you sit for a bit first? I’ll go make you some tea!”
Without waiting for Jiang Mingxi to reply, he turned to the corner and started rummaging noisily through a battered wooden cabinet.
“Huh? Where did I put it? I remember it was right here… Ah! Found it!”
He called out in delight, carefully cradling a palm-sized rough pottery jar as if presenting a treasure to Jiang Mingxi, “Look, this is good tea. My daughter brought it back as a gift when she came home after getting married. There’s only a little left, but it smells great, let me—”
“Enough!” Jiang Mingxi finally lost her patience, cutting off Pockmarked Face’s rambling, raising her gun to press it against his head, and demanded fiercely, “Speak! Who exactly are you? What are you after? Behave yourself! Don’t think I won’t pull the trigger!”
Laoma’s murky eyes fixed steadily on the youth before him.
Yes.
He was still just a half-grown child, barely in his teens.
The young boy gripped the gun, his eyes fierce and ruthless, like a wolf cub forced to the edge, baring its fangs.
Compared to the composed, crane-like Young Lord from yesterday’s Temple Fair, it was a world of difference.
Not only had the imported overcoat been replaced by this coarse blue tunic, even the spirit in his bones had changed.
No wonder Hu Old Dog’s blind eyes couldn’t see through it.
Even his own eyes, seasoned by decades in the jianghu, had been fooled by him.
“You won’t shoot,” Laoma suddenly grinned, the deep lines on his face squeezing into an honest yet cunning smile, and he spoke with certainty, “You’re not like Hu Old Dog. I know— you’re one of us.”
Jiang Mingxi was taken aback for once.
She’d imagined all sorts of reactions from Laoma— pleading, fear, anger, flattery……
She’d even considered that maybe this Pockmarked Face really was a fool, which would explain such absurd and unpredictable behavior.
But she had never expected to get such an answer from him.
What did he mean by not being like Hu Old Dog?
What did he mean by “you’re one of us”?
And who were “us” anyway?
For a moment, several questions crowded her mind, making her tongue freeze.
Fortunately, this time she didn’t need to keep asking— Pockmarked Face gave her the answer himself.
“You gave Hu Old Dog’s good shoes to Old Huangtou, and you even got him a nice coffin.”
Pockmarked Face’s voice sounded in the dim room, carrying a strange warmth, and there seemed to be something shining in his eyes.
“You also tied up that beast Hu Dequan like a zongzi, forced him to kneel to Old Huangtou, and in the end, you even scared him… hehe, scared him so bad he wet his pants right there!”
At this point, Laoma couldn’t help but chuckle, his shoulders shaking as he bent over with laughter, as if years of pent-up resentment were being laughed away, “Hahaha… You’re something else! To scare Hu Old Dog into that sorry state, to make him lose face like that— it’s satisfying! Damn satisfying!”
Jiang Mingxi, usually so sharp-tongued, found her own tongue refusing to cooperate at this moment.
She stared at Pockmarked Face in shock, as if seeing some kind of monster, and blurted out, “I’m not some righteous official, I’m just a con artist!”
“I know,” Pockmarked Face answered with unusual frankness, even nodding as if it was only natural, “I’m not blind.”
Jiang Mingxi was even more confused, her mind a complete mess.
She stammered, “I… I actually didn’t do anything. Old Huangtou’s shoes were Hu Dequan’s, the coffin was paid for by Hu Dequan too, I… I even let that old dog get away in the end! I didn’t get justice or take revenge for you all… I just… just cursed out Hu Dequan a few times! That’s all I did.”
There was a rush of anxiety and a trace of bewilderment in her voice.
“That’s enough.”
Pockmarked Face looked at Jiang Mingxi seriously, and those usually dull and honest eyes now shimmered with a moving brilliance.
He spoke with a hoarse voice, “Even something like that— no one has ever done it for us before.”
Jiang Mingxi opened her mouth, but no sound came out, as if a lump of cold charcoal was stuck in her throat.
Her nose stung a little, and her heart felt as if it was soaking in warm, sour water—light and swollen.
So her anger back then had meaning.
She really had helped someone else.
Jiang Mingxi looked up, eyes wide, not wanting to let her tears fall.
That’s right. How could she forget?
People like us, we’ve never asked for much.
Yet even this tiny bit, the masters never cared to give us.
Laoma took a deep breath and continued, his voice low and clear, “Everyone knows what kind of thing Hu Old Dog is! He’s more petty than the eye of a needle, holds grudges to the next life, ruthless, with plenty of blood on his hands! But in the whole of Langling County, who dares even fart in his direction?”
He looked at Jiang Mingxi with genuine admiration, “You’re different! You risked your life to speak up for us, to vent the anger we’ve been holding in for generations! That chivalrous spirit of yours— everyone in the Changchun Society saw it, and remembers it!”
Changchun Society?!
That news made Jiang Mingxi instantly swallow her unshed tears and find her voice again.
She cried out in shock, “You’re with the Changchun Society?”
Laoma nodded, a little puzzled as to why she was so surprised.
Since he was also an old hand in the jianghu, he should know that all the jianghu people at the Temple Fair were members of the Changchun Society.
The monthly Temple Fair dues in the county had always been a major income for the local Changchun Society.
“I’m with the ‘Cai’ Sect (the conjurers), and because of my pockmarked face, everyone calls me Laoma.”
Laoma introduced himself, then looked at Jiang Mingxi with unconcealed curiosity and scrutiny, “You’re… with the ‘Yan’ Sect, right? That getup yesterday, that presence— you even managed to stun Hu Old Dog. Even in the Yan Sect, you’d be a top Master of the Goose Sect, wouldn’t you?”
Jiang Mingxi had indeed joined the Yan Sect in her previous life.
To play the part of a young lord, she had even worked odd jobs at a high-class restaurant for two months.
Jiang Mingxi tacitly accepted Laoma’s guess, and quickly seized the opportunity, lowering her voice to get straight to the point, “Brother Laoma, since we’re both of the jianghu, brothers who’ve braved fire and water together, I won’t beat around the bush.”
Her gaze was sharp, “Given the current situation, I need to get out of the city as soon as possible. Do you have a way?”
Leaving the city— easy, and not so easy.
With a Road Pass and Family Register, any ordinary citizen could come and go.
But since this “Yan brat” was asking, it clearly meant she had neither Road Pass nor Family Register.
Laoma didn’t ask her name, nor what crime she was wanted for, nor why the Public Security Soldiers were after her— why bother asking?
For people of the jianghu, what matters is loyalty!
Just like in the Water Margin— royals and commoners gather for justice, and all walks of life are brothers.
“I’ve got a way!” Laoma pounded his chest with confidence, eyes shining with reliability, “I’ll go pay respects to the High President right away, and ask him to get you a clean Road Pass and Family Register! Don’t worry— leave this to me!”
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