This Doesn't Follow the Script

But because Young Master Shen's mouth was gagged with cloth, he couldn't shout—only muffled whimpers came out. The other party couldn't make out what he was saying at all and paid him no mind.

So Young Master Shen fixed his gaze on that leader.

The man was around thirty, with two scars on his face, a cold expression, cruel eyes, and wore a soft leather armor.

Young Master Shen remembered this brutal man; he had seen him several times before.

His name was Tian Heng, the infamous leader of the Black Clothes Gang for a hundred miles around, commanding over a hundred desperadoes. He ran gambling dens, slave markets, and cart businesses—ruthless and vicious enough to silence crying children. Countless innocent souls were on his hands.

He also held an official title: the Militia Leader of Xuanwu City.

Those men shoved Young Master Shen into the pit and began shoveling dirt over him.

An ordinary person would have been wailing in terror, their soul scattered. But Young Master Shen remained quiet, first staring at Tian Heng's face, then scanning his entire body up and down with a very strange look.

He was using X-ray vision to see through him, and that gaze sent a chill down anyone's spine.

Tian Heng finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and raised a hand. His four subordinates stopped shoveling.

Tian Heng walked up to Young Master Shen, tore the cloth from his mouth, and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Young Master Shen said, "There's a needle inside you. If it's not taken out, your life will be in danger."

He wasn't lying. There really was a needle inside Tian Heng—an extremely fine Silver Needle, currently lodged in his Lungs. If not for his X-ray vision, he never would have spotted it.

Hearing this, Tian Heng was stunned.

Young Master Shen continued, "That needle is now in a major vessel of your Lungs, moving with your blood. If it isn't removed and reaches your brain, you'll die."

Tian Heng was even more shocked. "How do you know?" he asked in disbelief.

This was a secret—not even his wife knew. How could this brain-dead pretty boy know? It was too eerie!

Young Master Shen said, "I can help you take it out."

Tian Heng stared at Young Master Shen for a long time. "They say you're an idiot. Doesn't seem like it."

Young Master Shen said, "That fine needle has to come out, or you'll definitely die. Only I can help you remove it."

"But the condition is that I spare your life, right?" Tian Heng said. "Don't you want to know who hired me to kill you?"

Young Master Shen shook his head. "I don't need to ask. I already know."

Tian Heng narrowed his eyes. "You're definitely not stupid."

Then he shook his head. "But I'm sorry. I can't agree to that."

Young Master Shen's eyes tightened. He had thought this deal was foolproof. Even if someone paid Tian Heng to kill him, money couldn't be more important than life. Young Master Shen could save Tian Heng's life—there was no reason for him to refuse, no reason not to let Young Master Shen go.

That left only one explanation.

Tian Heng couldn't remove that Silver Needle from his body because the person who planted it there was someone he couldn't defy.

There was a story behind this.

But that made things troublesome. Since the needle couldn't be removed, Young Master Shen's miraculous medical skill was useless, and the deal was off.

Tian Heng said, "Your younger brother owes us money."

Owed money?! "Three months ago, your father was injured. To save him, your brother borrowed five Gold Coins from my shop to hire a doctor. Now, with interest, it's a hundred Gold Coins."

That was brutal usury—just three months, and the principal plus interest had multiplied twenty times.

But what concerned Young Master Shen wasn't the interest—it was his father's injury!

Three months ago, that was when he had married into the Xu family. His father had come to the Xu house to make a scene, trying to take Young Master Shen home. He was driven out by the Xu family's servants and must have been badly beaten. The old Young Master Shen was a fool and naturally knew nothing about it.

The original Young Master Shen was truly beyond redemption. He had fallen for a woman like Xu Qianqian and abandoned even his parents. Such a stupid waste wasn't worth his parents' love.

"Because your family can't pay the debt, I'm burying you alive. It has nothing to do with anyone else, understand?" Tian Heng said. "Of course, to make it convincing, we'll tear down your house and deal with your younger brother and your parents too."

Young Master Shen understood the implication. Someone had already paid Tian Heng to do all this, but they needed a legitimate excuse. The "debt collection, or else your whole family suffers" pretext worked well enough.

"You and I have no grudge, and you're not as stupid as the rumors say," Tian Heng said. "But I still have to kill you. Sorry."

Then he stood up and said, "Make it quick for him. Kill him first, then bury him."

"Yes." A warrior stepped forward, drew his blade, and swung it down at Young Master Shen's neck to end his life.

"Wait!" Young Master Shen shouted loudly. "How much did someone pay you to kill me? I'll give you ten times that. I'll give you a thousand Gold Coins."

At these words, the warrior's blade stopped three inches above Young Master Shen's neck.

Tian Heng was taken aback. This Young Master Shen wasn't just not stupid—he was extremely sharp. From that brief exchange, he had actually figured out that the price paid was a hundred Gold Coins.

"I'm very tempted," Tian Heng said. "Really, very tempted. But... your family is so poor they can't even keep the pot boiling. Your father is still bedridden, your younger brother's legs were broken, and you can't scrape together a single Gold Coin, let alone a thousand."

All of this was the mess the old Young Master Shen had made. Because of his stupidity and the Xu family's cruelty, his father and brother were both gravely injured, even at death's door.

In this world, how much was a thousand Gold Coins worth?

An ordinary family toiling all year couldn't save even two Gold Coins. By the roughest estimate, a thousand Gold Coins was roughly equivalent to three million RMB on modern Earth.

"That's a fortune. There's no way you can come up with it," Tian Heng continued.

Young Master Shen said, "But you can gamble. If you win, you'll make a huge sum. Even if you lose, you're only delaying my death by a few days. That won't cost you the hundred Gold Coins from the Xu family."

Tian Heng hesitated for a moment. It seemed utterly impossible for Young Master Shen to come up with a thousand Gold Coins within ten days. But the fact that the other party had just been able to tell there was a Silver Needle inside his body—and in his lungs, no less—was rather remarkable.

Young Master Shen said, "Ten days, a thousand Gold Coins."

Tian Heng stared at Young Master Shen's handsome face, wavering for a long while before finally speaking. "Three days. I can only give you three days."

Young Master Shen understood. Tian Heng had also agreed to a three-day deadline with the other party—kill Young Master Shen within three days and earn a hundred Gold Coins.

"Fine, it's a deal," Young Master Shen said.

Tian Heng said, "Dig him out."

Four warriors set to work, digging Young Master Shen out of the pit. But none of these men had paper or a brush on them.

Young Master Shen directly tore off a strip of his white silk robe, bit his own finger, and wrote a promissory note in blood—an IOU for a thousand Gold Coins owed to Tian Heng—then signed his name.

As he wrote, he grumbled inwardly: What a useless golden finger. Nothing beats cold, hard cash. In the end, it's Gold Coins that save your life.

Tian Heng took the Blood Letter IOU and studied Young Master Shen for another moment.

This was the legendary dim-witted Young Master Shen? How absurd.

"Hand over a thousand Gold Coins within three days, or I'll kill your entire family," Tian Heng said. "Thirteen, Fourteen—you two will escort Young Master Young Master Shen home and stay with him for these three days."

"Yes!" the two warriors replied.

Then Tian Heng left directly with the other three warriors.

"Remember, Young Master Shen—three days, a thousand Gold Coins, or your whole family dies."

His figure had already vanished, but his cold voice still rode the wind and drilled into Young Master Shen's ears.

"No problem." Young Master Shen's mind raced.

Soon he came up with a plan—one that would not only earn him a large sum of money but also protect his family, and most importantly, let him take revenge on the Xu family!

Three birds with one stone!...

Note: Big Shots, I'm desperately begging for recommendation tickets, please, please!