Exposed

Several strangers stood outside the house.

Lu Ming stopped in his tracks and quietly reached into his bag.

There were some stones inside.

He never forgot to practice on the road, so he naturally carried plenty of stones.

Lu Ming quietly walked over to Lu Chen and placed a few stones in his eldest brother's hand. Then he led his little sister Lu Tang back a few steps, watching the fat man and the burly men behind him warily.

The man at their head was none other than Qian Gui.

Lu Chen waved a hand behind him. "Ming, Tang, go talk to Second Grandfather first."

At that, Lu Ming and Lu Tang turned and ran.

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave, kids!"

Qian Gui sneered and gestured to the men behind him.

Two of them immediately ran out and blocked Lu Ming and Lu Tang, their faces twisted in sinister grins.

Lu Tang was frightened, her eyes full of fear, but she was also extremely stubborn. Without making a sound, she stood beside Lu Ming and turned her head this way and that, wondering if she could find some villagers to call out to for help.

Lu Ming clenched his fists, the stones in his hand already damp with sweat.

Lu Chen turned and glanced at the two burly men. Seeing that they hadn't used force, he smiled gently at Lu Ming and Lu Tang. "It's all right. Just wait here for me a bit!"

With that, he stepped up to Qian Gui. "Who are you looking for? What do you want?"

Qian Gui looked at the young man holding a book and put on a false smile. "Little brother, we're from the Green Bamboo Gang."

"I already paid back the money. Didn't you all agree back then that you wouldn't come looking for us again once I paid?" Lu Chen said, plainly displeased.

Qian Gui's expression turned cold. He held back several men behind him who seemed unhappy, then smiled at Lu Chen again. "Little brother, we're here to ask about something."

He continued, "A few days ago, Huang Chao of our Green Bamboo Gang brought back the bodies of Lu San and the others. He had another task at the time: collecting your debt. You say you've already paid it, so do you know where Huang Chao went?"

"Where did he go? How would I know?"

Lu Chen tightened his grip on the book and softened his tone. "After I got back that afternoon, he came to collect the money and even threatened me... I had to borrow money from someone to pay him back. He left afterward, and I don't know where he went! It was so late, I figured he went back."

Qian Gui frowned.

He had just asked around the village and learned only that after Huang Chao brought the bodies back, he had wandered around outside Lu Chen's door and lain down to sleep at the village entrance. People said they hadn't seen him again after nightfall.

"You say you paid the money back. Where's the IOU, then?" Qian Gui suddenly asked.

"It's at home. You're not going to snatch it back, are you?" Lu Chen was extremely wary.

Qian Gui's face twitched.

Damn it, why would I snatch your IOU?

Would I really make a special trip here to snatch your IOU over ten taels of silver?

"What are you talking about? Who the fuck wants to snatch your stuff? If we wanted to rob you, would we need to waste our breath? Boss, why don't we stop asking and just beat this kid up? His little brother and sister are still here. Would he dare keep quiet then?"

One of the men shouted angrily.

"Little brother, we're just checking. Don't misunderstand!"

Qian Gui waved a hand and gave Lu Chen a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"All right, then wait here a moment!"

Without a change in expression, Lu Chen went inside and found the original IOU.

Luckily, he hadn't thrown it away.

He glanced at it and saw no other marks on it, then brought it out and showed it to Qian Gui.

Qian Gui looked it over. The IOU was clean, with nothing on it. The corner of his eye twitched, but he quickly returned to normal and smiled as he handed it back to Lu Chen.

"Since there's no problem with the IOU, it looks like Huang Chao must have been held up by something else. Sorry to have bothered you!"

Qian Gui turned and called for his men to leave.

His expression was somewhat ugly.

"Brother Gui, aren't we going to investigate anymore? Why are we leaving?"

One of the men asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Shut up!" After walking several dozen meters, Qian Gui lowered his voice. "Hurry! No, walk normally. Don't let anyone see that something's wrong! Don't look back! Don't say anything, just walk normally!"

He felt a little cold.

Yet his forehead was covered in beads of sweat, and he didn't dare wipe them away.

Lu Chen was still standing at the door, watching Qian Gui walk away.

He frowned down at the IOU.

What's going on?

Why did that man seem a little off after looking at the IOU?

Is something wrong with it?

There's no blood on it, either.

What Lu Chen didn't know was that when a debt was paid in full, a notation would be made on the IOU.

Different people used different marks, perhaps just a simple cross or a circle.

The Green Bamboo Gang had its own distinctive mark: crossed bamboo stalks drawn on the IOU.

But Lu Chen's IOU had nothing on it.

And yet the IOU was in Lu Chen's hands.

What that meant went without saying.

Qian Gui had always been rather timid. Even when doing bad things, he liked to stay in the back and offer suggestions.

Lu Chen looked harmless, holding a book like a student, but Qian Gui never dared underestimate anyone.

After noticing something amiss, Qian Gui had pretended nothing was wrong.

Once they were several hundred meters from Qingshan Village and had rounded a bend, with both the village and the people behind them completely out of sight, he took to his heels.

"Run! There's something wrong with that man. We have to hurry back and report to the Gang Leader!"

The men behind him exchanged looks, then hurriedly ran after him.

"Brother Gui, what's going on? Why do we suddenly have to go back? What did you find?"

Someone asked in confusion.

"The IOU that kid gave me didn't have our Green Bamboo Gang's mark on it! He said he paid the debt, but he never paid it at all. He most likely snatched that IOU from Huang Chao!"

"Huh? But we don't have to run, do we, Brother Gui? There are five of us, and you're a Copper Skin Realm Martial Artist. Even if there's something wrong with that kid, what are we afraid of?"

Another man asked as he ran.

"What the hell do you know? Huang Chao had barely come here to collect the debt when Cheng Datou died in his bed. Who would believe there's no connection? How could it be such a coincidence? And with so much happening in the gang these past few days, who's to say this man didn't do it? If you're not afraid, why don't you go deal with him?"

Qian Gui was out of breath. He looked back and saw that no one was pursuing them, so he stopped to take a rest.

"No, I can't go on. Let's rest a bit!" He was panting with exhaustion.

Although he was a Copper Skin Realm Martial Artist, he was rather fat and didn't fight much. He preferred to use dirty tricks from behind the scenes, and running left him panting.

"Hiss! Brother Gui, do you think he was behind what happened to the ones who fell into the cesspit too? It seems Lu San and his men came to collect the debt first, and then they came back dead. Later Huang Chao went to collect the debt, and he disappeared too. Then Cheng Datou also..."

One of the men suddenly spoke up.

A chill instantly ran down everyone else's spine.

"No, we can't stay here. We have to get moving!"

Qian Gui wiped away his sweat, his head greasy, and lifted a foot to leave.

It was the middle of the day, and there was hardly anyone on the road.

But they still felt chilled all over.

They kept feeling as though someone were watching them from behind, sending an icy shiver through them.