After marrying the fierce god, her handsome young husband was pampered to the extreme.

"Give me the money pouch of that scholar you just swindled."

Jiang Xiao continued to play dumb, her tone becoming even more cloying, "I don't understand what you're saying."

"I'll say it one last time, give it to me."

This person is really stubborn. Jiang Xiao stopped smiling, took two steps back, and said, "A-Yi, little dog, go."

Wang Yi and Wu Xiaogou immediately rubbed their hands together and stepped forward, eager to get started.

Jiang Xiao snorted coldly, "It's not too late for you to beg for mercy now—"

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Yi and Wu Xiaogou were kicked away and landed in a very awkward position in the haystack, crying out "Ouch, ouch!"

I was careless! This guy's a trained fighter!

Jiang Xiao was extremely shrewd; she immediately pulled the scholar's money pouch from the straw and tossed it to him, saying hastily, "Here you go."

When Lin Siheng caught the money bag, he felt that it contained at most some loose silver and a few copper coins.

Although he had lived atop Guishan Mountain year-round, Young Master Lin, who had never experienced hardship, asked suspiciously, "You'd really cheat me out of this little bit of money?"

Jiang Xiao ignored him and helped Wang Yi and Wu Xiaogou up. "Are you alright?"

The two men covered their sore spots and shook their heads.

Jiang Xiao looked up at Lin Siheng and asked, "I've already given you the purse, why aren't you leaving?"

Lin Siheng tilted her head. "Let's go now."

Although he said that, he didn't move his feet, standing still and sizing up Jiang Xiao.

Jiang Xiao felt a chill run down her spine from his gaze. "You... what else do you want to do?"

Lin Siheng asked, "Are you short of money?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xiao couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Who in this world isn't short of money?"

Lin Siheng nodded, puzzled, and tossed him a silver ingot, which looked to be about two taels of silver.

Although Jiang Xiao was puzzled, he naturally accepted the money offered to him by someone.

After Lin Siheng left, Jiang Xiao and his two underlings looked at each other in bewilderment.

Wang Yi said, "Boss, what do you think that kid means? Is he trying to bribe us?"

Wu Xiaogou said, "Who cares what it means? The important thing is to get the money into the bag."

Jiang Xiao was slightly lost in thought. The silver ingot in her hand was ice-cold and didn't carry any of the boy's body heat.

"That's two taels of silver. We won't have to worry about food for the next few months," Wang Yi exclaimed. "Sure enough, those江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world) people like to help the poor. Maybe we should try a different approach and just swindle some rich江湖 people."

Wu Xiaogou was shocked. "Are you out of your mind?"

When that boy was beating them up, his movements were so fast that it was impossible to see them.

Besides, most of the martial artists in the martial arts world are full of a sense of justice; they'd probably be beaten to death before they even had a chance to extort money...

Wang Yi also realized this at this moment, and could only reluctantly give up the idea.

"Boss?" Wu Xiaogou tugged at Jiang Xiao, "What are you spacing out for?"

Jiang Xiao snapped out of her daze, shook her head, and said, "It's nothing."

Wang asked, "How much money do we have now? Is it enough to redeem Yuanyuan?"

"We're still far from the ransom the madam is demanding," Jiang said with a smile. "It's getting dark, I'll go hide the silver first, you all go to work."

The two nodded, changed their clothes, and left one after the other.

The two of them worked as the lowest-ranking servants at the Yihong Brothel, and with the tips from the VIPs, they were able to save one or two taels of silver each month.

Jiang Xiao, being a male, roamed the inner courtyards of the mansion, buying up obscure and secret medicines for the prominent husbands and earning a profit from the price difference.

Although the three of them each had their own jobs, the money they had was far from enough to redeem someone from the brothel, so they started thinking of crooked ways.

The ill-gotten gains from swindling and cheating during the day, plus their wages, have left the three of them with only a dozen or so taels of silver.

They have no fixed place to live; this shed was built from discarded items, and it's unclear how long they can stay there peacefully.

The money couldn't be kept in the shantytown, nor could it be carried on one's person, so one had to find a place to hide it.

However, when Jiang Xiao arrived at the local temple, he searched the place where the money was hidden dozens of times, but he still couldn't find it.

They chose the local earth god temple as a secret hiding place because it was dilapidated enough, with tall grass and trees covering the area in front of it, and it was a secluded place where no one would come to spy on them.

A cunning rabbit has three burrows; Jiang Xiao had specifically hidden his money in several different places, but now... all their money has disappeared.

The three of them would never betray each other; the only possibility is that someone else took it.

He searched the area and found clues.

It was an old, yellowed die.

There was only one gambling den in the town.

He was both angry and anxious, and disregarding the fact that it was completely dark, he ran towards the town, stumbling along, using only the faint moonlight.

The Yihong Pavilion was brightly lit, and given his status, he wouldn't be allowed into the main hall.

But now Wang Yi and Wu Xiaogou are both serving in the main hall, so he can't get in and can only wait anxiously at the back door of Yihonglou.

When they saw Wang Yi and Wu Xiaogou again, it was already dawn.

Jiang Xiao stammered as she told them that the money was missing, and then handed the dice she had found to Wu Xiaogou.

Wu Xiaogou was the only literate person. He carefully examined the inscription on the dice and said, "These are Ma Laizi's dice. His name is on them!"

After recalling for a moment, Wu Xiaogou said with certainty, "It's probably because he saw us hiding money at the local temple last time."

Wang Yi angrily said, "Then let's hurry up and rob the money back! If that scoundrel loses all the money and it ends up in the gambling den's pocket, then we'll really never get it back."

Jiang Xiao had been standing outside the door for most of the night, and by now her head was throbbing from the wind.

However, he was still relatively lucid. "Ma Laizi will definitely not admit it, and besides, the gambling den has thugs... It will definitely be very difficult for the three of us to ask for the money."

Wu Xiaogou asked worriedly, "What should we do?"

Jiang Xiao suddenly remembered someone.

"We need to find some help," Jiang said with a smile.

Wang Yi had some doubts. "Given our bad reputation in town, who would help us?"

Jiang smiled and said, "You guys go home and wait for me."

Wang Yi and Wu Xiaogou looked at each other, only to see that Jiang Xiao had already walked away.

He was dressed very thinly, though not exactly skin and bones. But his small frame looked so frail that he seemed like he would fall over in a gust of wind.

The morning breeze blew by, ruffling his hair, but his thin figure walked with unwavering determination.

The beggars in town were well-informed, and Lin Siheng was too easy to spot: a black and red headband, a heavy sword with a human skull carved on the hilt, and clothes worth a hundred taels.

Anyone who has seen it will definitely remember it.

Therefore, Jiang Xiao found out Lin Siheng's whereabouts very quickly and effortlessly.

Lin Siheng was staying at an inn when Jiang Xiao knocked on his door.

The boy was a head taller than him, so he had to look up at him.

Lin Siheng was somewhat surprised. He had thought it was a waiter coming up to deliver something, but he didn't expect to see a little liar when he opened the door.