The commotion spilled out from an inn called "Yue Lai Inn," and Yan Jiaojiao, clad in black with a black hood and a small black dog cradled in her arms, twitched the corner of her lips.
Could this Yue Lai Inn be a chain?
In television dramas of the end of days, Yue Lai Inn was also ubiquitous...
Yan Jiaojiao hadn't intended to get involved, but sometimes luck strikes when you least expect it...
As soon as she lifted her foot, before it even landed, a person suddenly flew out from the distance and, with a perfectly timed mishap, landed at Yan Jiaojiao's feet. Although Yan Jiaojiao managed to steady herself and not step on the person, the individual reacted with lightning speed, grabbing Yan Jiaojiao's calf and wailing, "Help! Someone, help! I'm in so much pain!"
Yan Jiaojiao: "..."
Brother, is this scamming people starting from the Boundless Continent?
Yan Jiaojiao rolled her eyes and was about to speak when she saw a large crowd suddenly pour out of the previously noisy Yue Lai Inn. They surrounded Yan Jiaojiao, their faces full of anger, and declared, "Hey, Black Widow, you stepped on our boss! You need to compensate us with spirit stones!"
Yan Jiaojiao couldn't help but laugh with exasperation, "Which eye of yours saw me step on him?"
The man clearly flew out just fine. Did these people think they could scam her with such a flimsy excuse?
"All of us saw it with our own eyes! You won't get away with denying it!"
These people were clearly professionals. They were fierce-looking and numerous, and their encirclement was truly intimidating.
Anyone with less courage would likely not dare to retort and would instead fork over spirit stones to resolve the issue and move on.
But Yan Jiaojiao was no pushover.
she used to have no shortage of spirit stones, but now she was desperately short!
Especially after using up more than half at Go Nan Academy, spending a considerable amount on her journey, and exhausting her last bit of savings to investigate matters and enlist help. Where would she find spirit stones to hand over for their scam?
So, Yan Jiaojiao simply sat down on the ground, "Fine, you want spirit stones, right? Let's see who can scam more, you or me!"
She reached out and covered Xiao Hei's eyes, beginning to wail dramatically, "Xiao Hei! What's wrong, Xiao Hei?"
Xiao Hei, who was groggily half-asleep: "?"
Yan Jiaojiao scooped up the sleeping Xiao Hei, covering his head and shaking him like a sack, crying out with earth-shattering grief, "Xiao Hei, Xiao Hei! Xiao Hei! You can't leave me! It's all these damned people, they're forcing me! I haven't eaten for almost five days, and you still want to extort money from me. Aren't you afraid of going to hell after death?"
If Yan Jiaojiao had even a few spirit stones on her, she wouldn't bother with this charade.
But she was truly broke, and she was too lazy to fight. So, she decided to use magic to defeat magic.
Xiao Hei, who was still groggy and didn't know what was happening, fell silent when he heard Yan Jiaojiao's later words.
He glanced at her through her fingers, and Yan Jiaojiao somehow understood the meaning of his gaze: "You spendthrift woman, it was you who told everyone I was dead?"
Yan Jiaojiao closed her fingers tightly, gently patting Xiao Hei's head, and apologized to him in her heart.
"Xiao Hei, please bear with me for a moment. I don't want to do this, but who told us to be destitute now."
A thousand-year-old ancestor had fallen to such a state. The Heavenly Dao was truly unfair!
Yan Jiaojiao remembered she hadn't cursed the dog-like Heavenly Dao for several minutes and added a few choice words in her mind.
The group clearly hadn't expected Yan Jiaojiao to be such a shameless rogue. They came to extort money, and Yan Jiaojiao sat down and started extorting them back. Many onlookers who had gathered to watch became a little flustered.
They had originally come to witness the excitement of the ground fissure, but after inquiring, they discovered that the entrance was dangerous and not for ordinary people. Despite their numbers, their cultivation was not high, and they dared not risk their lives.
However, they were unwilling to return empty-handed, so they came up with this plan.
They had previously gained some benefits using this method and found it very effective. But they hadn't expected the people of Mancheng to be so spirited. When they tried to check into an inn earlier, they were driven out by the innkeeper's son.
They thought they would be disgraced today, but the one who was driven out was surprisingly clever. They randomly grabbed an unlucky victim and unleashed their signature move – scamming.
Who would have thought that in such a short time, their scam would be countered by a scam?
"You... you mustn't go too far! We didn't touch your dog!"
They widened their eyes, having never encountered such a shameless person.
"But my dog *is* dead! You scared my dog away. My dog is timid, and all of you rushing out at once, how could my dog not be scared?"
"You... you're splitting hairs!"
Yan Jiaojiao simply threw caution to the wind, "Then tell me what you want. And let me tell you, I just came down from the mountain. Look at my shoes, they're covered in mud. Your person said I stepped on him, but his chest is spotless. Did I take off my shoes to step on him?"
"This..."
If Yan Jiaojiao had said this from the beginning, the others would have undoubtedly argued regardless and insisted Yan Jiaojiao take responsibility.
But now, seeing Yan Jiaojiao's shameless persistence, they feared being extorted by her. They quickly took out a few spirit stones and threw them at Yan Jiaojiao, "Here, compensation for your little dog!"
Yan Jiaojiao nimbly pocketed the spirit stones and began counting on her fingers, "Excluding my little dog, there's also my—"
Before she could finish her sentence, everyone scattered instantly, disappearing without a trace.
Yan Jiaojiao snorted and hummed a little tune as she got up from the ground.
"Little brats, with your meager abilities, you dare to try and scam me?"
A thousand-year-old ancestor who had returned from the end of days had seen it all. Back then, people had even devised all sorts of tricks to scam others.
Trying to outwit her was simply too amateurish.
Yan Jiaojiao brushed the dust off her pants and, just as she was thinking of finding a place to rest, a very young person rushed towards her, "Heroine, you are so amazing! You dealt with those people in just a few moves."
Yan Jiaojiao found the person's voice vaguely familiar, like the one who had repeatedly called himself "this young master" earlier. She couldn't help but size him up.
He was very young, appearing no older than seventeen or eighteen. His attire was somewhat unusual, with a touch of exotic flair. However, Mancheng was a place of mixed origins, with people from all corners of the land. Yan Jiaojiao couldn't quite discern his origin at a glance, so she didn't pay too much attention. She gave a noncommittal sound and turned to leave.
The person followed, "Heroine, are you here in Mancheng for the ground fissure? If not, why don't you stay at my inn? All the other inns are fully booked these days."
Yan Jiaojiao chuckled and asked curiously, "Then I'm curious, why are all the other inns full, but yours has empty rooms? Is your inn haunted?"