A Scammer

The man leading the group in the alley grabbed the girl by the throat and glared at her, demanding viciously.

"Tell me, why did you do this!"

The enormous pressure on the girl's neck made it terribly hard for her to breathe.

Tears glimmered at the corners of her eyes as she spoke, word by word.

"I really was wrong. Please forgive me."

After hearing her words, the man grew even angrier. He tightened his grip until the girl's face turned green.

"I spent a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins! Tell me, how am I supposed to forgive you!"

As he spoke, he pulled out a small knife, intending to teach the girl a lesson.

"Stop!"

A golden-haired girl shouted from outside the alley.

At her words, everyone turned around, puzzled by the newcomer.

She looked unfamiliar—not like someone from Suotuo City.

"Who are you? What business is it of yours what we do?"

Qian Renxue showed no fear. She straightened up and walked into the alley.

Chen Qi silently followed behind her, making no effort to draw attention.

Chen Qi had seen countless contrived scenes like this. What was the point?

It was always the same: both sides exchanged insults, then the protagonist waited until the other guy was at his most arrogant before beating him in one fell swoop.

"My name is Qian Ren... Qian Xue! I'm here to punish evil and uphold justice. What crime have you committed by bullying an innocent young woman?"

Hearing Qian Renxue's words, the man was even more bewildered.

What did she mean, punish evil and uphold justice?

Did they look evil to her?

The man hurriedly took off his hood and gestured as he tried to explain.

"Um, Qian Xue, right? Have you got something wrong? We..."

"There's no way I'm mistaken! I, Qian Ren... Qian Xue, saw it all clearly. You're bullying an innocent woman!"

Wait, what?

Who was bullying whom?

And who was going to pay me back my hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins?

"Who's bullying an innocent woman?"

"My eyes aren't blind. Stop making excuses!"

Chen Qi watched the scene, confused.

Why wasn't the plot following the script?

Wasn't this supposed to be where they traded insults and then started fighting?

Why did the villain seem so wronged?

He grabbed the confrontational Qian Renxue and stepped in front of her.

"Tell me what happened."

At his words, the man sighed. Remembering what he had gone through, he felt like bashing his head against a wall.

"When I was little, my family..."

"Get to the point!"

"I went to a Soul Tool shop. This girl worked there as a saleswoman. She promised the Soul Tool was excellent quality and brand new. I thought she was telling the truth, so I paid a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins for it. But as soon as I got it home, one part broke. That's why I brought my brothers here to demand an explanation. That's it."

The man rattled off his story at five times speed, and the girl hurriedly explained too.

"I'm innocent. I was only working part-time at that shop. I said exactly what the boss told me to say. Besides, I've already been fired."

Suotuo City?

Soul Tools?

Why did the combination of the two sound so familiar to Chen Qi?

It was like that genius who'd opened an identical shop, buying all kinds of useless junk at low prices, then turning around and selling it at sky-high prices.

"Was the owner of that shop called Flender?"

A trace of confusion flashed in the girl's eyes. Could he be a victim too?

"How did you know?"

Now Chen Qi was sure. It was Flender, that old swindler, who'd cheated them out of their money. He'd actually dared to charge a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins for a piece of junk. He was so obsessed with money he could see nothing else.

Qian Renxue had listened to their conversation, puzzled. How had Chen Qi known the shop owner's name?

"Chen Qi, how did you know the shop owner's name?"

"Don't worry about the details. You don't read the papers, so of course you don't know about the news."

Chen Qi brushed her off as usual. Qian Renxue felt something was off after hearing that. She'd never seen Chen Qi read the papers, either.

But Qian Renxue couldn't be bothered to press him. Chen Qi was always hiding something, and she'd gotten used to it.

"So I was wrong about you. Damn swindler! You made me, Qian Xue, suspect the wrong person. If I don't tear your hideout apart, I'll stop being a Qian! Tell me where that shop is!"

"I'll take you there!"

The man and the girl spoke at the same time. They both hated Flender to the bone.

One had been cheated out of his money.

The other had become the scapegoat. If she hadn't run into Chen Qi today, she wouldn't have been so lucky.

"Great, then let's waste no time. We'll head straight to the swindler!"

Up on the roof, Pufferfish Douluo and Snake Lance Douluo wisely hid themselves.

They didn't dare steal the limelight from Qian Renxue. If Qian Daoliu blamed them, who knew what sort of punishment they'd get?

The group arrived in a grand procession at a shop called the Treasure Room.

Through the doorway, they could see a middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses, lounging in a recliner and napping.

The girl pointed at him and said, "That's him!"

Qian Renxue nodded and charged toward him with the three others. She kicked the freshly installed door clean off its hinges.

Crash!

The deafening noise jolted Flender awake. When he opened his eyes, he saw the door he'd just installed to save a little money smashed on the floor like garbage.

The junk on the shelves had also been crushed into actual garbage by the door's impact.

"Who are you? You broke my shop, and none of you are leaving!"

The man put his hands on his hips and spoke righteously.

"Hmph! You cheated me out of a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. So what if I wrecked your shop?"

Only then did Flender recognize the man—the same one who'd come to demand compensation yesterday.

Fortunately, he'd claimed not to know the man and sent him to find the girl who'd sold him the goods. Looking at her now, she was here too.

"Everything we sell is the finest of the finest. Why didn't it break while it was in my shop? You must have used it wrong."

"Bullshit! I never even used it. It broke as soon as I got home!"

The furious man took out the pile of scrap metal and slammed it onto the counter.

"Then that girl who sold it to you must have broken it."

The girl wasn't having it. She pointed at Flender's head and snapped, "Bullshit! I never even touched it. You said the thing was precious and I couldn't afford to pay for it if it broke. In the end, he took it from the cabinet himself."

"Then you must have broken it. All right, all right, no more arguing, or I'll have to ask you to leave!"

As he spoke, the aura of a Soul Saint rose from his body.

The man and the girl both paled when they sensed it.

They hadn't expected the middle-aged man before them to be a Soul Saint—someone they couldn't afford to provoke!

"Step aside. I'll handle this."

Qian Renxue suddenly spoke.

She moved to the front of the group, wholly unfazed by Flender's Soul Saint pressure.

With Flender's paltry strength, he wouldn't even qualify to serve as one of her guards in Spirit Hall.

"Hey, old man. Are you refunding the money or not?"

Flender pushed up his glasses and glanced at the frail-looking young girl before him with disdain.

"I already told you, there's nothing wrong with my goods, so I won't give you a refund!"

Qian Renxue nodded and looked at the man and the girl.

"You two go outside. Leave this to me."