Chapter 213 - 156: Back Door
’Hm? Why aren’t they back yet? Those two idiots... Don’t tell me their old habits are flaring up again. Are they going to torment that little wench?’
Listening to the commotion inside the guest room, the old coachman took a drag from his pipe. His face looked grim under the dim lamplight.
The noises soon stopped, and the dead of night fell completely silent.
’Why’d they finish so quickly today? Don’t tell me they tormented her to death?’
’That little wench,’ the old coachman thought, ’you could tell at a glance she’d never worked a day in her life. A pampered young lady from a wealthy family. Maybe she really couldn’t handle it.’
After waiting a while longer, the old coachman frowned slightly.
’They’re already done, so why aren’t they back yet?’
He immediately realized something was wrong.
’Those two blockheads... don’t tell me they’ve taken the valuables and are planning to sneak off again.’
It had happened a few times before. The two blockheads would finish the job, kill the person, and snatch the silver. Then they’d take the silver and head straight for the pleasure dens in the county town to blow it all.
By the time he found them, they would have already squandered every last bit of silver.
It made him furious.
’It’s not easy to lure a few fat sheep over these days. How many children from wealthy families travel without guards and bodyguards?’
’In his line of work, he knew better than to provoke people like that.’
’As for those mud-legged peasants, their pockets are cleaner than their faces. Kidnapping them just meant selling them as... ingredients... for a few buns. You couldn’t earn much silver from that in a whole year.’
’How was he ever going to build a family fortune for those two fools?’
The old coachman shook his head, then got up and walked toward the guest room. He still had to clean up the mess.
However, just as he reached the guest room and was about to open the door...
The door creaked open. A hand shot out from within. Before the old coachman could react, he felt an immense force and was yanked straight inside.
~~~~~~
「The next day, at the crack of dawn.」
Fang Yue had already washed up and made his way to the inn’s main hall.
He immediately spotted the young man and woman from yesterday eating breakfast.
The two were eating quietly, occasionally murmuring a few words to each other. Everything seemed perfectly peaceful.
The woman still had the complete appearance of a young lady from a wealthy family who had eloped.
And the young man was still attentively looking after her.
"Strange, it’s so early, but where’s the innkeeper? I don’t see anyone around," Fang Yue murmured to himself.
"Perhaps he stepped out on business. Who knows? I’ve been up since dawn and haven’t seen him."
The young man turned and gave Fang Yue a slight smile. "If you leave the inn and turn left, there’s a breakfast stall. Their griddle cakes are quite good."
Hearing this, Fang Yue nodded, then turned and left the inn.
"Qing, why were you so polite to him? If it weren’t for us, he wouldn’t have lived to see the sun today."
Seeing Fang Yue walk out the door and into the distance, the woman, who just a moment ago had the air of a delicate maiden, pouted and said with displeasure.
Chen Qing shook his head, looking at her with a doting expression. "Yue’e, it was a small effort. Helping others when we can might just help ourselves in the future."
"He’s just an ordinary person. What help could he be? Don’t forget, we came back this time to deal with the Wang Family. We need to be careful."
Lin Yue’e scoffed, clearly looking down on Fang Yue. As Martial Artists, their strength was considerable, and they had returned this time for revenge.
When it came to dealing with the Wang Family of Wenxi County, not only were ordinary people useless, but even common Martial Artists would be of no help to them.
Meanwhile, Fang Yue, who had just stepped out of the inn, felt the corners of his mouth lift into a slight smile.
’Interesting, very interesting. Those two are quite something. They killed everyone in this black-hearted inn last night. They’re clearly skilled in Martial Arts, yet they’re pretending to be a frail scholar and a runaway maiden. I wonder what their story is.’
But on second thought, Fang Yue couldn’t help but shake his head.
’Whatever their identities are, it has nothing to do with me. As long as they don’t cause me any trouble, it’s not my business.’
~~~~~~
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Fang Yue was once again on the road to Wenxi County Town.
He was still in a horse-drawn carriage, only this time, he was the one driving. According to the pair, the coachman had sold them the carriage.
Since they didn’t know how to drive it, they had asked Fang Yue to help.
The rest of the journey was smooth, and they encountered no further incidents.
On the afternoon of the third day, Fang Yue arrived once again in Wenxi County Town.
He parted ways with the young man and woman at the town gate.
It was already late, and the Government Office would be empty by this hour, so it was clearly not the right time to handle his affairs.
He simply found an inn in the county town to stay the night. The next day, Fang Yue headed to the County Magistrate’s Office.
However, what he had expected to be a smooth process hit an unexpected snag.
"This appointment letter of yours doesn’t seem to be a forgery, but someone who placed fifth in the Prefecture Examination would hardly be appointed as a mere Garrison Training Instructor."
The County Magistrate of Wenxi County, Wang Cheng, reviewed the appointment letter Fang Yue provided, then said with a smile, "Therefore, I’ll have to dispatch someone to the Government Office to verify this."
Fang Yue hadn’t expected this to happen. Besides, he didn’t actually know the official appointment procedures.
So, he had no choice but to leave.
However, just as he stepped out of the County Magistrate’s Office, he overheard a plump, wealthy-looking merchant speaking to the person beside him.
"My goodness, our Lord County Magistrate truly won’t lift a finger without seeing some silver. Even for a task assigned by the Government Office—something that’s already been decided—you still have to bribe him before you can get anything done."
"This is just outrageous!"