“Does that have anything to do with you?”
Su Yu’s brow tightened. He completely ignored the blade Shangguan Jianli held and turned to leave.
“How does it not have anything to do with me?”
Shangguan Jianli felt he was being unreasonable and blocked his path again.
Su Yu looked at her. She was more beautiful than he had ever seen her before—so beautiful she seemed to belong to a different world from the village girls around here. Even Lin Qiaoqiao and Shangguan Jianli couldn’t compare. Her aura had completely changed; she was no longer the plain girl he once knew. Now she was cold, ethereal, and arrogant. But… so what?
After all, he was just someone who “could never learn martial arts.”
He bit his lip, wanting to say something. He had plenty of grievances after not seeing her for so long, but in the end, he said nothing. There was no point.
“Get out of my way.”
Su Yu reached out and pushed Shangguan Jianli aside. Her hand suddenly felt weak, and he pushed her away easily.
For a moment, she stood frozen, feeling a strange unfamiliarity emanating from him.
She reached out to stop him again, her red lips slightly parting as if to explain something, but by the time Su Yu’s back had completely disappeared from her sight, she only silently lowered her outstretched hand. She couldn’t say a word.
Perhaps to him, she should be even more of a stranger.
Shangguan Jianli sighed softly. But she didn’t stay still. Instead, she leaped lightly, her feet touching the wall, and effortlessly crossed several rooftops. Before long, she had found Su Yu again, tracking him invisibly, and silently followed behind him.
—
—
“Finally got something to eat.”
After being harassed all morning, Su Yu splurged three copper coins on a meat bun and ate it with relish. As he chewed, he headed toward Qian Ergou’s house.
From Lin’s Martial Hall to his own home was a full five li, but from the martial hall to Qian Ergou’s house was less than two li. Even with that homewrecker Shangguan Jianli wasting a few minutes, he still had more than twenty minutes left—enough for a round trip.
Soon, after a short jog, Su Yu arrived at Qian Ergou’s door.
“Er Gou? Are you home, Er Gou?”
He knocked, but no one answered.
“Er Gou!!”
He knocked harder this time.
“Who’s there, making all that noise!”
This time, someone finally answered, but it wasn’t Ergou. It sounded like a hearty middle-aged woman.
The door opened, revealing a middle-aged woman with graying hair, wearing a patched cloth dress. When she saw Su Yu’s face, her expression turned fierce, and she shouted:
“Oh, it’s you, you little rascal! Get lost, get lost!”
Su Yu was used to it. Not many people in the village liked street loafers like him, and even fewer liked loafers who dragged their own kids along.
He grinned apologetically. “Auntie, is Ergou home?”
“No, he’s not!” The woman waved her hand, shooing him away.
Seeing Qian’s mother so full of energy, Su Yu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. ‘With that kind of shoving strength, how could she possibly be gravely ill?’
“Auntie, are you feeling well lately?” Just in case, Su Yu asked.
“What’s it to you? Are you hoping I’ll get sick? I’m perfectly fine! Shoo, shoo!” Qian’s mother made as if to close the door.
Su Yu quickly stopped her. “Uh, Auntie, can you tell me where Ergou went?”
“And you ask me where that brat went? Don’t you already know?”
Su Yu had no idea what he said to provoke her, but she suddenly exploded, glaring at him:
“I’m telling you, don’t ever drag my Ergou out to fool around again! Especially if I catch you taking him to a tavern! If you go again, I’ll break your legs and the legs of every other little scoundrel with you!”
Bang!
The Qian family door slammed shut.
Su Yu’s brow furrowed deeply.
A tavern?
That wasn’t a good place. Gambling, drinking, women—this small town had them all.
‘Ergou borrowed money and went to a tavern… Damn, did he get hooked on gambling? Lost all his money, couldn’t pay up, and lied about his mother being sick to get money from us?’
Su Yu had a bad feeling. Without hesitation, he headed toward Xibian Tavern, which wasn’t far from the Qian house.
If Ergou had fallen that far, there was nothing Su Yu could do to help. But the key thing was that Ye Liang and Qi Qi’s money was also in Ergou’s hands. He had to get it back before Ergou wasted it all.
If Ergou really was gambling, that money was probably already gone for good.
—
—
Soon, Su Yu arrived not far from the entrance of Xibian Tavern.
But before he could step inside, a scream rang out from within.
“Master Li! Master Li, have mercy!! I really don’t have any more silver!”
“Please, Master, don’t—Ahhh!!!”
“…”
Inside the tavern, many people were watching a particular table with amused grins.
Beneath the table, a battered and bruised Qian Ergou was curled up on the ground, clutching his leg and sobbing hoarsely. Beside him, a burly strongman held a spiked wooden club and laughed as he watched.
Another man, short and wiry like a monkey, toyed with a few pieces of silver in his hand, squinting at Ergou on the ground.
“I told you, noon today was the deadline. Five taels of protection money, not one copper less. I gave you a whole seven days to scrape it together. You couldn’t do it… is that my fault?”
“Master, I stole all my mom’s money! I could only scrape together four and a half taels! Can you give me a few more days for the rest?” Ergou begged, his eyes full of fear.
“Afraid not. If you can’t hand over the remaining half tael now, next time there’ll be interest. You’ll have to pay another five taels. I can give you until the end of the month, but you’ll have to guarantee you can bring five taels next time…” The short man chuckled lightly.
“Let me tell you, this protection money isn’t a scam. You pay it, and your mother and your little friends stay safe. If you can’t pay… well, who knows if some demon might sneak in at night and eat your mother.” The burly strongman also laughed.
“After all,” the short man said with a grin, “if you don’t pay protection, your family’s not under the Xisha Gang’s protection anymore.”
Qian Ergou looked at their sinister smiles and felt only despair.
He had scraped together those four and a half taels by cheating Old Ye and Qi Qi. Next time, he had to bring five taels?
Where was he supposed to get that kind of money?!
But if he couldn’t… those bastards would go after his mother and Old Su and the others!
Demons eat people and leave bones behind, but the Xisha Gang wouldn’t even leave you your bones!
“I-I’ll go home right now and get the remaining half tael! Master Li, Master Chai, can you wait for me?”
Qian Ergou could only beg like this.
“See? You’re not being honest. I knew your family still had money… Old Chai, go collect the money from our brother Ergou for us. Look at him, he can barely walk—we should take care of him, since he paid protection.” The short man’s tone was light.
“No, no, no! Don’t! Master Li, I can walk! I’ll go home and get it myself!”
Qian Ergou’s eyes went wide, and he scrambled to stand on shaky legs.
Seeing this, the short man smiled, snatched the spiked club from the burly strongman, and aimed at Qian Ergou’s thigh, ready to swing again.
“Wait. I’ll pay the remaining half tael for him.”
Just then, a voice rang out from the tavern entrance, making the short man pause mid-swing. He turned his head and saw a strange figure wrapped in a linen cloth, holding a small money pouch, walking toward them.