Volume 1 Chapter 44: Chatting to Win Greed, Anger, and Ignorance, and Playing Chess
Lu Man said, "Didn't you hear that there are two male and one female fugitives? We have already implicated my brother, but you still suspect him! Now we should think about how to deal with it." After walking around the room for a few times, she suddenly said happily, "I remembered it!" After that, she packed up her things, hurriedly took Lin Jianlan's hand and quietly pushed open the door, squatted down, and the three of walked a few steps and came to another room, which was more luxurious than Lin Jianlan's room. There was a dressing table by the window with some hairpins, cosmetics and the like on it. There was also a window on the back wall. Lu Man pushed open the back window and saw a small lake outside. She said, "I remember it right. I noticed it when I passed through this room just now. Let's jump down from here and run forward for the time being before making any plans."
Lin Jianlan looked down and said, "Sister Man, I can't swim. You guys can run away with the things. I guess they won't recognize me."
Lu Man said anxiously: "Look outside before you say that!"
Lin Jianlan was puzzled and opened the front window a little, only to see a man standing in front of Ding Lei and Ding Shui, bowing and nodding. Ding Lei and Ding Shui did not pay much attention to him and just stood with their elbows folded. When he saw the man's face clearly, Lin Jianlan couldn't help but get furious. It was the waiter who had tried to harm him and Lu Man that night. He had spared his life out of mercy, but he had not expected that he would tip off the gang for a few taels of reward.
Seeing his expression, Lu Man said slowly: "Second brother, take the things and go first, I will take him to swim over." Bai Zongping nodded, took the wooden box, tied it in his arms, and climbed through the window.
There was no other way at this point, so Lin Jianlan had to follow Lu Man through the window and into the lake. Lu Man whispered, "Don't be afraid, brother. Don't struggle and flap. I'll take you over." Lin Jianlan nodded, and the lake water immediately covered his head. He only felt Lu Man pulling his arm and swimming forward gently. Every once in a while, she would pull him out of the water to breathe, and the sound of water was very faint.
After getting on the shore, Lu Man just kept gasping for breath, her clothes were soaked, highlighting her exquisite curves, but she didn't bother to stay for long. After a moment, the three of them ran forward again. They all knew that the pursuers were coming and they were afraid that they could not escape. It seemed that the noise was not far behind them, and their hearts became heavier.
After running for more than an hour, the three men's clothes had long been dried by the night wind, and they were sweating and exhausted. Seeing the dense woods on the side of the road, they looked at each other and jumped into the forest, went deep into the forest for a while, and found a secluded place to stop.
Lu Man was about to sit down leaning against a tree when Bai Zongping said, "Junior sister, come with me , I have something to tell you." Although Lu Man was very tired, she still walked with Bai Zongping into the dense forest nearby and whispered.
Lin Jianlan didn't care what they said. His martial arts were still shallow, and this run was really tiring. After half an incense stick of time, the two of them turned back and sat on the ground to rest. He saw Lu Man frowning slightly under the moonlight, looking very unhappy. He didn't know why he was very worried about this sister he met by chance. After thinking for a while, he said seriously: "Sister Man, you and Brother Bai should take the things and leave quickly. My martial arts skills are low, and I am afraid that I will be a burden to you."
Lu Man raised her head and said, "If we leave you behind, won't you be dead?"
Lin Jianlan gritted her teeth and said, "Sister Man, my uncle still has some power. If I am captured by the people of Yukousi, I will ask someone to find my uncle, and maybe he will not embarrass me."
Lu Man stared at him and asked, "Is what my brother said true?" There was a look of contemplation in her eyes. Lin Jianlan forced a smile and said, "Sister Man, don't you believe it? Look at me. I don't understand anything. It's all because of my uncle who is an official."
Lu Man did not comment, but nodded and said, "It will probably take a while for the people from the Yukou Division to catch up, there's no rush." After saying that, she turned to look at Bai Zongping, who looked reluctant.
Lin Jianlan thought in his heart, "How could I be so reckless? I just left Uncle Qing and I got into this big trouble. I even volunteered to take the blame. If I am really caught by the Yukou Division and killed by someone I don't know, it would be fine. But if someone recognizes me and uses me to threaten Uncle Qing, what should I do?"
He was full of youthful vigor, but when he thought about it carefully, he was worried that he would not be able to see his grandmother and would not be able to find his biological parents, and he could not help but feel very upset.
Lu Man had been watching his expression quietly, and saw that his face was sometimes anxious and sometimes sad. Later, his eyes were full of light under the moonlight. She sighed, stood up, walked to Lin Jianlan and said, "Brother, why did you lie to me? Don't worry, this disaster was caused by my sister, and it has nothing to do with you . If they chase us, we will bear it all."
Lin Jianlan looked up and saw Lu Man looking concerned and guilty. He was about to speak when he heard Lu Man hum "hush" and looked nervous. He quickly stood up and looked back, and saw a flash of fire not far away, fan-shaped and searching inside.
Lin Jianlan thought for a moment and said, "Sister Man, from what we saw in the courtyard just now, there must be five or six people from the Yukou Division. We can't resist them at all. Do you still remember the two old men in the courtyard? The two holding the carved-head stick and the weighing rod?"
Lu Man chuckled and said, "How could I not remember? My second brother and I had seen them in Yangzhou seeking revenge on an old hero, but they were tricked. When we ran into them a few days ago, they had no impression of us at all. I tricked them into giving me that clam when they were drunk. What a pair of old perverts!"
She was standing behind Lin Jianlan at this moment, looking across through his shoulder. When she spoke, Lin Jianlan only felt bursts of gentle warm air blowing on his neck. Her voice was so gentle at the end that he wanted to turn around and explain his plan, but now he didn't dare to move. He stiffened his neck and whispered, "Sister Man, if you can lure them both here separately, I have a way." After that, she whispered some instructions.
Lu Man nodded and said, "Okay, Second Senior Brother, listen to me and wait here for a moment. I want to see which direction they are going." After saying that, he flashed into the dense forest, but heard Bai Zongping say behind him, "You better be careful. If Junior Sister gets into trouble, hmph!"
Lin Jianlan turned around and knew that Bai Zongping was quite prejudiced against him, so he did not argue with him and whispered, "Brother Bai, I have to inconvenience you a little now. I have to pretend to be seriously injured and fall to the ground." Bai Zongping had no idea at this time, so he had to lie on the ground with a gloomy face. The moonlight shone on his face, which was pale and blue, as if he was seriously injured. Lin Jianlan also covered his chest with his hands and lay on the ground, but he endured the pain and secretly bit his lip. A trickle of blood flowed down the corner of his mouth, and he waited silently.
After a while, there was a gust of wind. It turned out that Lu Man ran back. She was not surprised to see the two men like this. After a while, the branches on the right side made a slight sound. When she turned around, she had changed to a panicked look. Seeing Ding Lei and Ding Shui standing not far away with a sinister smile, Ding Lei said, "We found them. You watch them. I'll go inform others!" Just as he was about to turn around, he was pulled by Ding Shui and said, "Brother, speak softly. This is our credit. How can we let others take it away?" After saying that, Ding Lei winked and looked at the ground. He saw two men lying on the ground. One of the young men had blood on the corner of his mouth, and it was obvious that he was seriously injured. He showed a happy expression on his face and whispered, "You are really thoughtful!"
Ding Shui saw Lu Man's panicked expression. Although she looked pitiful, she couldn't hide her beautiful face. She was the woman who had swindled tribute from him and his elder brother that day. He said proudly, "We were drunk that day, and you succeeded. What else do you have to say now?"
Lu Man just slowly backed away until she leaned against a tree. With no way to retreat, she looked even more frightened.
Seeing that she seemed to be in a desperate situation, Ding Shui changed his mind and whispered to Ding Lei, "Brother, if it's a little later, I'm afraid that others will find this place. Then how can we get any credit? I'll watch this woman here, you go back and tell the others that this jungle is very small, it's enough for the two of us to search, and we should send more people to guard each entrance. You can come back then, and we will deal with this girl slowly." After that, he glanced at Lu Man and smiled obscenely, "I'm afraid that the two men in the underground will fight for you and get bloody, but it will be a good thing for us brothers."
Ding Lei obeyed Ding Shui's orders very much. He turned around and left as soon as he finished speaking. Ding Shui had already regarded Lu Man as something in his pocket and did not move forward. He just stood a few feet away and watched. After a while, Ding Lei turned back and said angrily: "Finally we withdrew, but Shan Cha mocked us again. He also said that if there is any mistake, we will be held accountable!" Ding Shui said: "Don't bother with him. If we have made a contribution this time, why would we care about that thing with a nickname of neither man nor woman?"
Seeing that the others had left as they wished, the two of them showed joy on their faces and slowly approached Lu Man, only to see Lu Man smile: "Two old heroes, can I have a discussion with you?"
Ding Shui smiled and said, "Now the lives of the three of you are in our hands. Why should I discuss anything with you?"
Lu Man shook her head and said, "I know that you are still angry about the theft of the clams that day. I am really scared that my playfulness caused such a commotion. If you can let it go, I will return the item to you."
Ding Lei and Ding Shui were drunk that day and were bewitched by Lu Man's beauty and her family's soul transfer technique. They lost the tribute they were escorting and were severely punished. Therefore, they have been obsessed with Lu Man and have been holding a grudge against her. Now that they see the two people lying on the ground and have not moved, Lu Man has lost her protection, and evil thoughts suddenly arise in their hearts. Ding Lei laughed a few times and said, "How can we brothers repay the humiliation we suffered in Yukou Division by returning the original things?"
Just as he was about to step forward, he saw Lu Man nodded and said, "I understand. I guess the other members of Yukou Division haven't left yet. If I shout loudly, I'm afraid the credit won't be so simple to share among a few people, right?"
Ding Shui said hurriedly, "We brothers were just talking in anger just now, don't shout, girl. If that's the case, just put the things on the ground and walk away. We will not chase you."
Lu Man frowned and said, "But the two people on the ground, one is my brother, and the other is my senior brother. If I leave them here, my mother will scold me, and my master will punish me. What should I do?"
Ding Shui's expression turned stern and he said, "Miss, aren't you going too far? If we want to recover the tribute, we have to give someone away, right?"
Lu Man sighed, "There's nothing I can do. I can only shout. I won't survive if I go back alone anyway."
Ding Lei estimated that everyone had gone far away, so he took a step forward and said, "It's useless for you to shout, girl. I'm afraid you'll hurt your tender voice. If you wanted to leave just now, you could have gotten away. Now, don't even think about escaping!"
Lu Man smiled and took out something from her arms and said, "If you dare to come forward, I will crush this thing. Anyway, no one can get away with it!" The object shone with golden light under the moonlight, and it was the golden crown clam.
Ding Shui cursed Lu Man several times in his heart, but he couldn't do anything about her, so he could only say: "We promised the young lady that we will take this thing and leave, and we will never make things difficult for the young lady!"
Lu Man tilted her head and thought for a while before saying, "You are all seniors, you will surely not break your promise. I will throw this thing over to you, and you can take it and go as far as possible!"
Ding Shui smiled and said, "Of course. We are so old, how could we lie to you?"
Lu Manfang threw the thing over and Ding Shui flew over to catch it. He was delighted to see the golden light shining on the small clam shell. The other people who were searching had already gone far away, so he had no more scruples and gave Lu Man a lewd smile before flying over. Ding Lei was also ecstatic and decided to catch Lu Man and have some fun.
Lu Man twisted her body and said, "Why don't you keep your word, old senior?"
Ding Shui said, "We have always been like this. You haven't heard of it. You can't blame us if you suffer a loss!"
Lu Man sighed, stopped dodging, and said, "In fact, I have known that you two are of such character for a long time. Well, I will tell you the truth. The golden crown clam is a rare treasure. What's more rare is that it is a living creature. It can't survive for more than an hour out of water. It has been more than an hour since we left the inn. If you don't give it some clean water, I'm afraid you will give the emperor a stinking dead clam!"
Ding Shui's face changed, he glared at Lu Man hatefully and said: "Young girl, you have some tricks, see you later!" After that he stomped his feet and ran out of the forest, and Ding Lei hurriedly followed him.
Seeing the two running away and disappearing, Lu Man sighed and hurriedly walked up to them and said, "They're gone. No need to pretend anymore. Get up quickly."
Bai Zongping and Lin Jianlan just got up from the ground. Seeing the blood on Lin Jianlan's mouth, Lu Man said with concern: "Brother is too cruel to himself. He has lost a lot of blood."
Lin Jianlan wiped it and said, "If not, I'm afraid they would get suspicious. It wouldn't be a big deal for us to lie on the ground, but it would be really dangerous for Sister Man to lure the enemy with her own body."
When Bai Zongping was lying on the ground just now, he saw Lu Man throwing the golden clam back to Ding Lei and Ding Shui. He was already very anxious. He stood up and said hurriedly: "Could it be that the thing you put in the box was fake? If we give that thing to them, not only will we get nothing, but we will also get ourselves into trouble!"
Lu Man's face turned cold and she said, "It seems that in Second Senior Brother's heart, the whereabouts of the Golden Crowned Clam is much more important than my safety!"
