Volume 1: Winds Rising From the Mountains and Swamps Chapter 70: Chance
The people who live in the city are rich or well-off. The people who live in the shantytowns outside the city are relatively poor.
Compared with the bright lights in the city, the shantytowns are dark.
Hong Banxian's home is not far ahead, and he is familiar with the road. Who knew that as soon as he entered the darkness, something happened suddenly...
"Oh! Damn thieves! Someone is robbing my silver..." Hong Banxian's terrified and angry shouts rang out in the darkness.
Following the shouts, Hong Banxian turned his head and rushed back, his hands open, crying and shouting.
Two of the three people who followed him just now were gone.
Occasionally, passers-by saw this scene and walked even more hurriedly.
Hong Banxian was angry in his heart. It would not be too late to tell his fortune before closing the stall! Who would have thought that he would suffer a sudden disaster just after making a fortune.
Hong Banxian was still stamping his feet. When he was in great grief, a figure came in front of him. Sensing the movement around him, he looked up and saw a thin young man smiling at him.
When Lin Yi was at the street corner, he saw Hong Banxian removing fish bones for people, so he stood aside quietly to watch the fun.
Hong Banxian was muttering something, but it was not nonsense, but a spell that Lin Yi was familiar with. Speaking of which, he had been able to recite it since he was a child. This spell is called "Going to the Sea Spell", which is indeed a small spell to remove fish bones. This spell is included in the "Xuanyuan Talisman" collected by Xuanyuan Patriarch. This so-called "Going to the Sea Spell" has been performed countless times by Master Qingyun Taoist Priest, sometimes working and sometimes not.
When leaving Xianren Peak, Lin Yi had copied all these spells and talismans used in the secular world to Wu Daozi. But he didn't expect that Hong Banxian would also know these.
Seeing that Hong Banxian's spell was effective and he earned ten taels of silver, Lin Yi felt that this person was quite capable.
The city gates at night could not hold people. People were either leaving the city or going to the lively places in the city, so there were few onlookers. However, when Hong Banxian left excitedly, two people followed him stealthily. Seeing this, Lin Yi knew something was wrong and followed him out of the city gate.
Sure enough, just as they walked to the dark place in the shantytown, one of them rushed up impatiently and snatched the purse from Hong Banxian's arms. The other person quietly hid aside, and seeing that no one paid attention to this matter, he also sneaked away. Lin Yi saw it clearly from behind, and wanted to help Hong Banxian, so he walked forward.
"This little brother...?" Hong Banxian wiped his nose and looked at the boy in front of him. In the night, the boy's eyebrows were like two knives, his face was friendly, and he smiled and said, "Mr. Hong, go home and wait, I will go to get your purse back for you."
Lin Yi nodded at Hong Banxian and walked away. Before Hong Banxian understood, the boy in front of him had disappeared.
Hong Banxian hesitated for a while. Could this boy really help him get the silver back? How could the boy find him after he left? He felt uneasy, but helpless. He could only believe it with a fluke and go back to wait.
Lin Yi stepped into the darkness of the shantytown and pinched his fingers to hide his figure. After unfolding his spiritual sense, he locked a direction for a moment, and he soared into the air, stuck to the roof, and flew away.
In a blink of an eye, Lin Yi passed through the shantytown and came to the river bank.
There were many straw huts on the river bank.
Lin Yi landed gently and walked to a straw hut.
In the straw hut, under an oil lamp, two people sat on a straw mat.
One was short and fat, and the other was thin. The two of them had just sat down after running all the way, panting, and couldn't wait to open their purses to check tonight's harvest.
At this moment, the door of the straw hut creaked open, startling the two men. The thin man stretched out his hand to cover the things on the straw mat. The short and fat man looked up and was about to get angry, but saw a calm young man appear in the straw hut, and he was startled.
"You two have made a lot of gains!" Lin Yi said with a teasing tone as he walked in.
"Brother, I know the rules of the rivers and lakes. I have a share. You have 30% of the ten taels of silver." The short and fat man patted his chest and pretended to be knowledgeable.
The thin man was distressed and held the silver tightly and was unwilling to let go. He had robbed the silver himself, so he was not willing to share it easily.
Lin Yi's eyes fell on the short and fat man, and he smiled playfully and said, "Brother, you came all the way from Siping to do this?"
The short and fat man's face changed suddenly, and he said in a lost voice, "How do you know I'm from Siping...?"
The thin man next to him, his eyes rolling around, didn't know what the two were talking about, but he also interrupted and said, "Brother, which way are you from? Please tell me your name so that we can meet in the future!"
Lin Yi saw that the other party even used the jargon in the underworld, and he couldn't help but grin. He patted the waist badge on his waist and said, "I am a horse breeder from the Tianlong Sect. This person hasn't answered my question yet?"
When they heard the Tianlong Sect, the two were shocked and looked at each other.
No one cared whether the other party was a horse breeder, but the Tianlong Sect was too famous. The thin man slowly loosened his hands covering his money bag, but his eyes twitched with heartache. The short and fat man said in a flattering manner with a bitter face: "I didn't know you were from the Tianlong Sect. I'm sorry. Take all the silver!"
Lin Yi stretched out his hand, and the purse flew into his hand.
The strange change in front of him made the thin man want to reach out again, but when his hand was in the air, he suddenly realized it, his face turned pale, and he stared at the newcomer in a daze, not daring to speak.
The short and fat man also stayed on the straw mat, wondering why the purse flew up all of a sudden?
"If you answer my questions honestly, maybe I will spare you." Lin Yi put the money bag in his arms and his tone turned cold.
The thin man was frightened by Lin Yi's method just now and did not dare to say a word, looking at the two of them with fear in his eyes. How could this Tianlong sect have a grudge against his partner? Will it implicate myself?
"In Siping County, you colluded with water thieves and robbed and killed the escort team on the way. For this alone, I will kill you!" Lin Yi put away his smile and said coldly.
Hearing this, the short and fat man panicked and hurriedly got up and knelt down on the straw mat. He kept kowtowing and begged for mercy: "Little Cha Si, please forgive me for your life! I was also forced to live in Siping since I was a child." When I grew up, I accidentally encountered this group of thieves and was forced to inform them. If I didn't do it, they would kill me!"
This short and fat man was one of the two people who spied on the entrance of the Taiping Escort Bureau when they were in Siping County. The other person was a water thief who had been killed by Lin Yi on the Qin River.
The short and fat man named Cha Si, who was used to eating and being lazy, somehow hooked up with the water thief and actually became the water thief's eyes and ears.
Every time the water thief would pay Cha Si a lot of money. Cha Si was so happy because whether these thieves killed people or robbed goods, it had nothing to do with him.
Unexpectedly, when he later heard that the entire army of water thieves had been wiped out, Cha Si lost his way of making money. When Yuan Fengming and Che Hai returned, Lin Yi also informed them that there were people spying around the escort agency. After the two of them returned, they naturally had to be on strict guard against the entrance to the Siping County Hall.
Cha Si felt bad and was afraid of getting into trouble, so he ran to Qincheng. After all, Qincheng is a state city, much larger than Siping County, and should have many opportunities to make a fortune. Who would have thought that it would be even harder to make a living in the city if there were gangs on the pier? He met Ning Er, a thin man who was also idle, and they had a similar odor, so they started to engage in sneaky things.
The two of them were wandering around the city gate and saw that Hong Banxian had collected ten taels of silver. How could they not be tempted, so they asked Zha Si to look for the wind. Ning Er, who was light-bodied, took action and robbed Hong Banxian of his silver.
But before the two of them had time to be happy, they met Lin Yi, a disciple of the Tianlong Sect. The two knew that they couldn't afford to offend him, but the other party still pretended to kill someone.
Ning Er secretly called out bad luck. Cha Si was even more frightened. He didn't know the young man in front of him, but how could he know his origin? Survival was important, so he hurriedly told everything he knew.
Thinking of the ferocity of those arrogant water thieves above Qin Shui, Lin Yi really wanted to kill Cha Si in front of him.
But human life is at stake, and even if a person dies, he cannot be resurrected. They were both born and raised by their parents, and life was difficult for everyone. In addition, the two of them were just robbers and thieves. After much hesitation, he still couldn't commit the murder.
"I'll let you go today so you can take care of yourself!" After Lin said this, he ignored the two of them and turned around to leave the hut.
…
Hong Banxian returned home in despair, and was greeted by a girl of thirteen or fourteen years old.
"Thank you for your hard work, Dad!"
The girl has a fair face, handsome eyebrows, and is neatly dressed in plain clothes and plain skirts.
Hong Banxian came back to his senses only after seeing his daughter. He forced a smile and said in a loving tone: "Quan'er! Dad isn't working hard. Is your mother okay?"
Quan'er brought a basin of water and said obediently: "Mom is lying on the bed! I saw the doctor today, don't worry dad!"
Hong Banxian wiped his face randomly and took out a damaged oil paper bag from his arms.
"Hey - it smells so good!" Quan'er twitched her nose, her big eyes full of surprise.
Hong Banxian secretly smiled bitterly, the money was gone, but the dog meat was still there.
"It fell to the ground on the way. Quan'er took it and washed it with hot water. After eating it with your mother, it also replenished the body."
Quan'er happily agreed, then took the oil paper bag and packed it away.
Suddenly there was a low cough in the back room, and Hong Banxian showed a trace of worry on his face and hurriedly ran over.
There was a woman leaning on the couch in the back room. She was Hong Banxian's wife.
Seeing that his wife's sallow cheeks were flushed with redness, and she was hugging the corners of the quilt and trying to block her mouth, Hong Banxian stepped forward and leaned against the bed, gently supported her back, and said distressedly: "My wife will cough when she wants to, why do you have to endure it so hard?" , and don’t make your husband even more anxious!”
After a while, the woman stopped coughing, the redness faded, and a fine layer of sweat oozed from her cheeks. She said apologetically: "I have made my husband worried, but I am fine with you!"
"What did the doctor say when he came today?" Hong Banxian helped his wife sit up on the bed and asked with concern.
"The doctor said that my concubine's illness only needs to be rested." Hong Banxian's wife was panicking. The doctor said this, but he also said that only expensive and tonic medicine should be used for rest to be effective. However, now that the family is in dire straits, they can only suffer by themselves.
"Alas! It's all useless as a husband!" Hong Banxian also knew his wife's illness well. Thinking that if today's money is still there, it will no longer be difficult to see a doctor and get medicine. Presumably, there is hope that my wife's serious illness will be cured.
"Mom, this is the dog meat that daddy bought. If mom eats it, her illness will get better faster!" Daughter Quan'er walked in with the dog meat.
His wife stared at Hong Banxian with doubt in her eyes. Dog meat was not cheap and most people couldn't afford it.
Hong Banxian smiled sarcastically and said, "Yes, Madam, please try it. This dog meat is good."
I was puzzled, but I couldn't open my mouth to ask. I knew that my husband's daily life was not easy, and the family's original savings had been depleted by his illness. Feeling sad, her eyes turned red.
Seeing his wife like this, Hong Banxian was heartbroken, but he heard a voice coming from outside the house.
"Is Mr. Hong at home?"
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