Chapter 28: Now You Know Who's the Prey, Right?!

"Ms. An? Ms. An?"

Manager Liu called out to her twice.

"Ahem!"

An Luo came back to her senses.

"What is it?"

Manager Liu glanced at the pendant around her neck.

"Here's the thing — there's an auction next week. Would you like to attend, Ms. An?"

Noticing his gaze, An Luo touched the jade pendant, and everything clicked.

So that's why he's being so polite — he spotted the pendant.

"An auction? Perfect timing, actually. I still have a jade bracelet on hand."

Manager Liu felt a twinge of disappointment — that meant she had no intention of selling the pendant. What a pity.

He smiled again and handed her a business card.

"Sure. If you're interested, feel free to contact me anytime."

An Luo took the card and casually added a question.

"Oh, and I also have a batch of gold — quite a lot of it. Do you offer on-site buyback service?"

"Hiss!"

At her words, Manager Liu sucked in a sharp breath.

Quite a lot?!

The piece she'd just brought in weighed a full eight jin, so how heavy must that whole batch be!

But he quickly caught himself and nodded rapidly.

"Of course, of course! Absolutely. Whenever you need us, just give us a call.

Afterwards, An Luo was escorted to the door by several people, all very respectful.

"You're Xiao Ye, right?"

Xiao Ye nodded quickly.

"Yes, Manager Liu."

"I remember you joined last month. You did well today — keep up the good work."

Xiao Ye nodded vigorously, thrilled.

"Got it! Thank you, Manager Liu! I'll keep working hard!"

Then Manager Liu turned to Zhu Lin, his expression turning unfriendly.

"As for you — playing on your phone during work hours, being rude to a client, nearly causing losses for the pawnshop. I'm docking two months of your salary and bonus!"

"If there's a next time, you're out the door immediately!"

Zhu Lin promised over and over.

"There absolutely won't be a next time!"

She could have kicked herself — how had she misjudged so badly?

Zhu Lin slumped heavily into her chair, glanced over at Xiao Ye, who was fired up like she'd been pumped full of adrenaline, and the resentment in her heart couldn't be contained; the jealousy in her eyes was barely hidden.

How did she get so lucky!

Just casually picking up a client, and it's a rich lady!

If Xiao Ye knew what she was thinking, she'd surely say:

"Nothing I can do about it — when luck comes, you can't stop it. And besides, you were the one who insisted on pushing her my way."

……

An Luo had no idea what was happening back at the pawnshop. At this moment, she was browsing the Shop in the background.

Now that she had the money and the means, she had to arm Zaituan to the teeth!

Too bad not many items were unlocked yet.

Space Fragment, five per week limit?

Buy!

Peace Talisman, seven per week limit?

Buy!

Luxury Horse Carriage?

Buy three of them!

Hmm? Not allowed?

Fine, two-carriage limit.

……

Spending in-game wasn't enough — An Luo headed straight to the mall, ready for a big shopping spree!

She was going to set up a full food, drink, and entertainment package for Zaituan — the works!

In the basement parking lot of the mall, An Luo was about to get out of the car when her phone suddenly buzzed with a notification.

Buzz!

Zaituan has arrived at Qiling Mountain!

Dayin Dynasty — the Cheng Family had already reached the foot of Qiling Mountain.

On the mountain road, two Horse Carriages moved one ahead of the other, driven by two Jiedai.

The assassins hiding in the shadows, seeing the Jiedai's uniforms, could confirm the people in the carriages were from the Cheng Family, and all loosed their arrows at once.

Bang bang bang rang out all around, and the Horse Carriage was shot full of arrows like a hedgehog.

The two Horses were startled and began to bolt wildly forward.

In the process, they even knocked over quite a few of the assassins who had rushed out.

The killers chased after them from behind. By the time the assassins had the two Horse Carriages completely surrounded, they also saw clearly the true face of the coachmen.

Where were the Jiedai driving the carriage?

They were clearly scarecrows dressed in Jiedai clothes!

"Damn it! We've been tricked by them!"

The killer leader waved his hand heavily and ordered.

"Since the Horse Carriage is here, they can't have gotten far. Search!"

Having said that, he furiously hacked the scarecrow into two pieces.

A 'clack' was heard.

That man's ears twitched, and his hawk-like sharp eyes swept over the Horse Carriage.

"What was that sound just now?"

A chill ran through his heart for no reason; his instincts told him there was danger.

"Run!"

But it was already too late.

The next moment, the lower half of the scarecrow fell to the ground, and a green Iron Lump rolled out.

Two 'boom's of tremendous explosions rang out, and none of the killers surrounding the Horse Carriage escaped — they were all blasted into the air.

"Ah—"

Those close by were blown to pieces on the spot; those farther away were sent flying into the air by the blast wave and slammed heavily onto the ground.

For a time, wails and screams never ceased.

The killer leader shook his dizzy head and climbed up from the ground.

Before they could even react, a rain of arrows descended from the sky, and the killers dropped as soon as they were struck.

"Run!"

The killer leader wiped the blood from his face, shot a dark, sinister glare up at the slope, and beckoned to the rest of his men.

He hadn't expected the Cheng Family to still have a backup plan!

"Quick, hide in the woods!"

On the hillside, Feng Shan gave Cheng Qiuruo a thumbs-up, sincerely impressed.

"How did Second Miss guess that the killer would chop the scarecrow?"

And she had even set up a little clasp mechanism in advance — as soon as the scarecrow broke, the raft would be pulled down.

Cheng Qiuruo shrugged.

"I just guessed blindly."

Feng Shan: "……"

"And what if the scarecrow hadn't been chopped?"

Cheng Qiuruo smiled as she looked down at the foot of the Mountain, but that smile sent a chill through everyone who felt it.

"Then we'd save two big killing weapons — wouldn't that be even better?"

"It's just a shame about those two Horses."

Feng Shan: Alright then.

I'm convinced!

In their panic, the killers fled into the woods, and one of them tripped over a grass rope in the chaos.

Seeing this, the killer leader's eye twitched violently.

"Damn it!"

As if some mechanism had been triggered, the next moment, dozens of sharp branches shot toward them with a swish-swish-swish.

The killer leader raised his blade to slash at the branches, resisting with great difficulty. He looked around and shouted loudly.

"I never thought the famous Cheng Old Madam of the realm would now be no different from a rat that hides its head and tail — truly disappointing!"

What answered him were one or two thick logs, a zhang long, suspended in mid-air, swinging sideways toward them one after the other.

Several killers couldn't dodge in time; some were caught in a heavy pincer and had their ribs snapped clean, coughing up blood and dying.

Others who narrowly dodged one log were sent flying several meters by the other, slamming hard into a tree and knocked unconscious.

After the killer leader threw himself aside to dodge, before he could even get up, a sword wind came at him head-on.

He was greatly shocked and hurriedly rolled on the spot, dodging in a sorry state.

But someone still came up behind him and pressed a sword against his neck.

"Don't move!"

Cheng Qiuyun and Cheng Qiuluo, the two sisters, exchanged a glance.

"Dealing with people like you, you have to fight fire with fire!"

"Are we not allowed to fight back just because you're the only ones allowed to use underhanded ambushes and disguised assassinations — the ways of petty men?"

Cheng Qiuyun held her sword behind her back and looked down at them from above.

"Even if the Cheng Family has fallen from power, we will absolutely not become prey to be slaughtered at will!"

The killer leader lowered his head and bit through the poison hidden in his teeth.

At the moment he lost consciousness, he was still thinking.

Yes, they had assumed the Cheng Family was already at the end of its rope, reduced to fish and meat on the chopping block.

Who would have thought that in the end, they were the prey beneath the arrows.

The Cheng Family — terrifying to such a degree!