Chapter 68 Greed Knows No Bounds

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To escape the rain, Jiang Chen led the two young women more than two miles further before finally discovering a dilapidated temple shrouded in mist. Though half of the structure had already collapsed, the northeast corner still offered a small space where they could barely shelter from the wind and rain.

Through conversation, he learned that the young woman in the red floral dress was named Mu Chang, from a small village twenty miles from Long River. Their father’s gambling habit had left them with a mountain of debt and nearly made them prisoners of a scoundrel.

Sitting beside Mu Chang was her younger sister, Mu Jin, five years her junior. Both had grown into graceful, elegant young women of striking beauty. Mu Chang confided to Jiang Chen that the black-faced fiend who had been marching them along was a notorious local thug named Liu Kui, whose wickedness was feared in every surrounding village. When Liu Kui came to collect on her father’s debts the previous night, the worthless man had slipped away, enraging Liu Kui so much he set fire to their house. Now the two sisters had only each other left in the world.

Jiang Chen, having heard too many such stories, silently kindled a small fire and then got up to walk away.

Alarmed, both Mu Chang and Mu Jin quickly rose, afraid he might abandon them.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Wherever you go, sir, we will follow. The two of us now belong to you,” they replied.

Jiang Chen scratched his head and said calmly, “I bought you from Liu Kui not to keep you as servants. Please don’t say such things. Everyone is born free. No one has the right to dictate your fate.”

Despite his words, Mu Chang’s eyes filled with tears. “Sir!” she cried. “My sister and I are alone in this chaotic world; we only ask to stay by your side. Take us as humble concubines, as maids, even if we must toil like beasts, we will have no complaints! Please let us stay.”

Both sisters knelt before Jiang Chen, their luminous eyes brimming with tears. For them, life had reached its darkest hour; only by clinging to Jiang Chen did they have any hope of survival.

“Please stand up,” Jiang Chen said. “It’s not that I don’t wish to help you, but I am in danger myself. I can’t explain everything, but if you stay with me too long, you’ll be dragged into my troubles. However, I can promise to escort you safely to Long River and give you some silver. From there, you must make your own way.”

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The three of them sat around the fire, slowly drying their rain-soaked clothes. When the rain finally stopped, they rose to continue their journey.

Mu Jin hopped over puddles to the temple gate, turning back to wave. “Sir, Sister, it’s really stopped raining! The air is so fresh now. Come quickly!”

Her playfulness was endearing—she was only fifteen, and despite the ordeal she had just endured, her innocent smile had returned, a rare and beautiful thing.

But the moment was short-lived. Suddenly, a cold hand reached from behind and seized her throat.

“Well, well, what a coincidence meeting again!” The black-faced man who appeared behind Mu Jin was none other than the villain Liu Kui.

Mu Chang gasped, watching her sister fall into Liu Kui’s hands. The sudden turn nearly made her faint.

Jiang Chen was quick to steady Mu Chang by the waist, his voice calm and reassuring: “Don’t worry. Your sister will be all right.”

Liu Kui bared his teeth in a wild laugh. “You pampered scholar! Don’t think a little money makes you so great! Now I’ve got men, knives, and this little brat in my hands. What can you do against me?”

As he spoke, two more men slipped into the temple, grinning, their drawn blades gleaming coldly.

The situation was clear. If Jiang Chen refused to comply, he would surely face a deadly end.

“Sister... sir...” Mu Jin’s eyes filled with tears, though she tried hard not to cry. She even felt guilty for being so easily captured, now putting her sister and Jiang Chen in danger as well.

Yet even in this dire moment, Jiang Chen’s expression remained calm, untroubled.

“You saw me hand over one hundred and fifty taels of silver so easily,” Jiang Chen said, “and assumed I must have much more worth stealing. So you brought two accomplices to follow me, hoping to rob me of everything and drag the sisters off again. That way, you’d profit on all fronts—a perfect scheme, isn’t it?”

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Liu Kui replied coldly, “That’s right. At least you’re clever enough to see through me. If you know what’s good for you, hand over the silver now and spare me the trouble.”

But Jiang Chen answered simply, “I have plenty of silver—but none for you.”

“Ha! Courting death! Go, finish him!” Liu Kui barked.

At his command, the two henchmen advanced on Jiang Chen with drawn blades. But before they could even get close, their feet were suddenly swept out from under them by something on the ground, and both tumbled.

The unexpected mishap left Liu Kui stunned. His men had been taken out in an instant, giving Jiang Chen the opening he needed.

A stone, long prepared, flew from Jiang Chen’s hand and struck Liu Kui square in the face. With a scream, Liu Kui fell backward. Just moments earlier Jiang Chen had seemed utterly at their mercy, yet now he had turned the tables with ease.

Quick and agile, Jiang Chen brought Mu Jin back to Mu Chang’s side, grabbed one of the fallen blades, and told the sisters to head outside.

A few swift, decisive blows later, Liu Kui’s two accomplices lay dead. Dizzy from the stone’s blow, Liu Kui tried desperately to crawl away. Only then did he realize the “pampered scholar” he’d scorned was in fact a cold-blooded killer. But at this point, all his cries were useless. Jiang Chen’s blade descended—

Moments later, silence returned to the ruined temple.

Jiang Chen emerged as if nothing had happened and said calmly to the sisters, “Let’s go.”

On the road, neither Mu Chang nor Mu Jin felt any fear of Jiang Chen for what had happened. Instead, Mu Chang curiously asked him a question.

“Sir, I never expected you to be so skilled. Why did you pay silver to someone like Liu Kui in the first place?”

Jiang Chen replied, “Everything must be done by a certain code. This world is in chaos precisely because no one respects the rules.”