Chapter 16 – You’re Not Short on Money?

As the village chief’s number one hype man, A’dou immediately launched into an animated and dramatic retelling.

He vividly described how the village chief heroically fought off the bandits, how she used just one hand to toss a man straight into the sky, and how she single-handedly subdued over a dozen men with ease.

……

The villagers listened in awe and gasped repeatedly.

Xiaojiu was honestly impressed by A’dou’s storytelling skills.

What had clearly been a straightforward matter settled in just a few minutes…

Had now become some grand, earth-shattering tale thanks to A’dou’s embellishments.

Though she did enjoy being praised, hearing such a wildly exaggerated version of her story while being surrounded by a crowd enthusiastically showering her with compliments did make Xiaojiu feel just a bit embarrassed—toes curling level embarrassed.

She quickly cut them off and instructed, “Lock those guys up in the ancestral hall.”

The villagers got moving immediately.

Everyone was exhausted after the trip to town.

Hunter Tian helped carry all the goods Xiaojiu had bought back into her yard, reminded her to rest well, and then took Zhao Hu and the other kids with him as he left.

When Xiaojiu returned to her courtyard, she immediately noticed something was off between Grandpa Xu and the masked man.

Grandpa Xu saw her and instantly pulled her aside, whispering, “Xiaojiu, listen to me—this man is no good! Hurry and kick him out!”

Yan Jue pulled his sword out by an inch, glaring at Grandpa Xu.

The old man, acting as if he’d caught the masked man red-handed, pointed a finger and declared, “See? Xiaojiu, this guy’s a killer! He draws his sword at the drop of a hat. He’s dangerous!”

Xiaojiu had no idea what was going on between these two.

Yan Jue’s glare toward the old man was full of murderous intent.

She asked, “What happened between you two?”

Yan Jue coldly said to Grandpa Xu, “If you try to lift my mask again, next time I’ll cut off both your hands.”

“It’s not like I succeeded!” Grandpa Xu snapped. “Wearing a mask in broad daylight—clearly a bad guy.”

Yan Jue had never met such an unreasonable old man before. Furious, he fully unsheathed his sword.

“I’ll kill you today.”

Seeing things escalating, Xiaojiu quickly stepped in to stop them.

Then she scolded the old man, “Why are you trying to take off his mask for no reason?”

“And you,” she turned to Yan Jue, “this is my village. Don’t go around drawing swords so casually. What if you scare the villagers?”

Yan Jue stood silently to the side, face blank. It was impossible to tell whether he was actually listening.

“If you two keep fighting, both of you can get out of my yard.”

With that, Xiaojiu stormed back into her room, fuming.

Grandpa Xu gave a snort, hugged his wine jug, and staggered off.

He tossed a final line over his shoulder: “You’d better stay hidden. Parading around with that rusty sword and wearing a mask—what, afraid your pursuers won’t find you? You trying to get this whole village killed?”

Yan Jue stared at Grandpa Xu’s retreating figure, suspicion growing in his eyes.

How did this old man know about his identity?

Who exactly was he?

When Xiaojiu came back outside, she found the masked man standing in the courtyard, lost in thought as he stared toward the gate.

“Can you help me with something?” she asked.

“Sure,” Yan Jue turned around, replying when he saw her.

“You’re not even going to ask what it is?” Xiaojiu found him truly strange.

“No need. Just say it,” Yan Jue replied, his tone rather friendly toward the one who had helped detoxify him.

“Then go up the tree and bring two people down for me,” she said.

“Bring people down?” Yan Jue blinked in confusion.

“I threw two guys up there earlier. I need you to help get them down,” Xiaojiu explained in detail.

“You threw them? You know martial arts?” Yan Jue’s interest was piqued.

They hadn’t expected those kids weren’t joking—the little girl really could fight.

Xiaojiu shook her head and denied it. “I can’t.”

She just had strength, speed, and spiritual power.

But as for actual martial arts, she really didn’t know any.

Seeing that he still hadn’t moved, Xiaojiu urged him, “Let’s go, it’s getting dark. Let’s bring them back early.”

“Where?” Yan Jue asked.

“In the same forest where I saved you last time,” Xiaojiu replied.

As soon as she said that, Yan Jue grabbed her by the collar and flew out of the house.

Xiaojiu flailed her legs wildly in the air. “Aaaah! Can you not carry me like this?!”

She was the village chief! Being carried by the collar and flailing through the air—if the villagers saw this, wouldn’t her mature, composed, and dignified image as the village chief be ruined?

System: ‘Where exactly do you think you look mature, composed, and dignified?’

Seeing how much she hated being grabbed by the collar, Yan Jue simply adjusted his grip and slung her over his shoulder, head down and butt up.

Xiaojiu felt utterly defeated.

Let it all be destroyed!

Let the whole world be destroyed!

She was definitely going to learn qinggong (lightness skill) properly from now on.

She’d fly by herself.

This was way too humiliating!

Yan Jue quickly arrived at the forest from last time.

He set Xiaojiu down from his shoulder.

The moment her feet touched the ground, Xiaojiu glared furiously at the masked man.

Her brain felt like it had been shaken loose.

Yan Jue stared at the girl in confusion. She’d been fine a moment ago—why was she so angry now?

Xiaojiu asked the system, “Does the store sell wings? I want to give myself a pair. I’m so mad.”

System: ‘Nope. Even if there were, you wouldn’t be able to fly. Human flight depends on coordination, balance, precise control of every movement, and using changes in airflow to adjust position and descent spee—’

“Stop.” Xiaojiu immediately cut off the system’s long-winded explanation.

She glanced at the silent masked man nearby and pointed to the tallest tree. “Up there, in the tallest tree, there are two people. Help me bring them down.”

When Yan Jue flew up, the two people were already completely unconscious.

He brought them down one in each hand.

Yan Jue looked at the people he was carrying, then crouched down and said to Xiaojiu, “Get on my back.”

Now this was a way of flying she could accept. Xiaojiu immediately climbed on and wrapped her arms tightly around the masked man’s neck, afraid he might sling her over his shoulder again.

The two of them quickly flew back to the village.

Xiaojiu had the masked man tie the two up and throw them into the ancestral hall to keep the others company.

After taking a few steps, Xiaojiu suddenly remembered something and ran back, telling the masked man to search the two for money.

Yan Jue: Why was he doing this petty thief work?

Xiaojiu reminded him, “I gave you my only detox pill. I didn’t even use it for myself—I gave it to you. That detox pill could’ve sold for a fortune! The schoolhouse would’ve been built by now!”

Moral blackmail—Xiaojiu was getting quite skilled at it.

Yan Jue silently started searching the men.

He found 100 taels on the skinny man, 500 taels on the scar-faced man, plus some loose silver.

Xiaojiu’s eyes lit up as she held the money.

She was rich! Rich!

She hadn’t expected robbery to be so profitable.

Unwholesome thoughts began to fill Xiaojiu’s mind.

Yan Jue looked at the little girl acting like a greedy money grubber and asked, “You really that short on money?”

“You’re not?” Xiaojiu replied.

She had originally planned to give him 100 taels as a reward for his help—after all, he had contributed.

But since he claimed not to lack money, forget it—she stuffed the silver back into her pouch.

Yan Jue wanted to say he wasn’t short on money.

But honestly, right now… he kind of was.