“Your dress looks almost brand new, very clean, obviously you wore it today. What were you wearing for all those days before?” Jiaren sneered.

He said sarcastically, "Girl, if you ever lie again, remember to handle these details carefully."

"Besides, if her father were truly dead, no daughter would have the heart to draw her eyebrows or apply such bright red lipstick!"

The woman seemed to be pressed for answers, and suddenly looked up, glaring fiercely at Jiaren.

But this also allowed everyone to see her more clearly.

She had indeed drawn her eyebrows, applied lip rouge, and even put on powder, which made her face and neck appear even whiter and smoother.

Previously, Jiaren hadn't said anything, and no one else had noticed; they only felt that the woman was beautiful but pitiful.

Looking at it now, it really does seem eerie.

When a father dies, a daughter sells herself to bury him; it's not a pathetic and numb situation.

The one in front of me, all dressed up and in white, looks even more charming!

This isn't begging for charity; it's more like... seducing men!

"Could it really be a scam?"

"He's not a conman, but he's got no good intentions. All he cares about is finding himself a rich man to bury his father."

"Her father is so pitiful. He died and was still used by his unfilial daughter."

The crowd on the periphery began to whisper among themselves, excitedly speculating about the woman's purpose. They stood rooted to the spot, determined to watch the show unfold.

Seeing that the woman was exchanging glances with the man and the old man, Jiaren became even more certain that they were in cahoots.

So he said, “Young lady, now that we’ve talked things out, this matter is over. We won’t make things difficult for you, and you shouldn’t pester us anymore. You continue to wait for your destined one; we need to get going.”

After saying that, he was about to leave with Jia Xu, Lu Zong, and the others.

Suddenly, the woman became fierce, lunging forward and tearing at Jia Xu's robe, crying out, "Young master, you promised to bury my father for me, you can't go back on your word!"

So, now that he can't get what he wants, he's thinking about money again?!

Jia Xu was extremely embarrassed, fearing that his robe would be torn open, so he reached for his purse and was about to throw it away.

Lu Zong, unusually lucid for once, quickly stopped him!

These people are clearly scoundrels. If you give them money, they will only see you as easy prey and want to fleece you even more!

For some reason, he suddenly remembered what Cat Brother had said.

Don't flaunt your wealth, or you'll get ripped off!

They don't even have a child yet, and they're perfectly clear-headed.

But without paying, it's clear this situation won't end well.

Just as she was worrying, the "corpse" in the straw mat behind the woman suddenly screamed and sat up abruptly!

Everyone was so shocked that their hair stood on end.

Is this a zombie coming back to life?!

Some people wanted to run, but their legs were too weak to move.

At this moment, Li Ge'er pulled the dagger off the corpse's foot and kicked the straw mat in the process.

The straw mat was rolled away, revealing a middle-aged man inside, who was clutching his foot and howling in pain.

Fresh blood flowed down between his fingers, dripping bright red everywhere.

Li Ge'er wiped his dagger and smiled faintly at everyone, "This person can still bleed, he's clearly alive, there's no need for him to be buried!"

Everyone subconsciously swallowed, their legs inexplicably becoming even weaker.

Teenagers are still at the mischievous age of going up the mountain to steal bird eggs and going down the river to catch fish.

This young man dared to pull out a dagger and injure someone, and even after drawing blood, he remained so calm and collected...

Both Jia Xu and Lu Zong's expressions changed, and their toes instinctively gripped the soles of their shoes.

The woman in white screamed and rushed towards the injured man, crying out, "Husband, husband, how are you?"

Everyone could hear it clearly: this wasn't selling oneself into servitude to bury one's father; it was a husband-and-wife thief scheme to swindle money!

Lu Zong immediately pulled Jia Xu to stand next to Jia Ren.

The old men, women, and men turned ashen-faced and instinctively reached for their weapons, ready to avenge their comrades.

Unfortunately, Zheng Wu and his group were faster than them, drawing daggers from their waistbands and blocking them outside.

When Jiaren saw that their attempt to swindle had failed and they were about to resort to force, his face turned cold, and he shouted, "You shameless bastards! You can't even keep your eyes open when you're out in the world! You can't even tell who you shouldn't mess with? You should gouge your eyes out!"

"How could we dare to come out and about without any support? We'll just have some fun with you today and let it go. Now get lost!"

"If you dare to cross us again, we'll send a notice to the government office, and we'll make sure you're all wiped out and reunited in the underworld!"

Although he was dressed plainly, everyone could clearly see the uprightness in his eyes at that moment.

Official position?

Could it be that these young masters are all from official families?!

Otherwise, ordinary merchants and wealthy families could not cultivate such a demeanor.

The men and old men suddenly hesitated. Seeing that the middle-aged man's foot was bleeding profusely, they stomped their feet angrily, grabbed the woman, carried the middle-aged man, and ran away quickly.

After a while, everyone in the crowd started to make a fuss.

"Oh dear, they're a bunch of swindlers!"

"Of course, I noticed it just now."

"You're always bragging, I could tell, why are you only saying it now!"

"Am I stupid? These people are obviously carrying weapons, would I dare say that!"

As the crowd discussed the matter, they secretly observed Jiaren and the others.

Impatient with their hindsight, Jiaren took his younger brother, Lu Zong, and Jia Xu and hurried back to the inn.

After such a long entanglement, the sun has already set, and dusk is just around the corner.

After finally getting into the room, there were no outsiders. Everyone sat at the table, each holding a bowl of tea, and remained silent for a long time.

It was Jia Xu who spoke first, "Brother Li, thank you so much for what happened earlier. If it weren't for you brothers coming to my rescue, I'm afraid I would be in grave danger today."

Lu Zong also said, "Yes, I didn't expect these swindlers to be so rampant. Even selling oneself to bury one's father is a lie!"

Having said that, he recalled Jiaren's "heroic demeanor" just now and asked again, "Brother Li, where did you learn some Jianghu slang? Do you have someone in your family who's involved in Jianghu?"

Jiaren shook his head with a wry smile, "There are no martial arts practitioners in my family. I only learned a few phrases before leaving home. They're fine for fooling people in a critical moment, but if I say any more, I'm afraid I'll give myself away."

Cat Brother had been watching the commotion the whole time, and perhaps because his older brother was with him, he wasn't afraid at all.

At this moment, he looked at Jia Xu with a grin and said, "Brother Jia, you're really stupid. The third rule of the Jianghu Safety Manual is that selling yourself to bury your father is the way to get rich. Don't you know something so simple? And you couldn't even see the flaws all over that woman's body!"

"Cat Brother!" Jiaren scolded his younger brother, not wanting him to laugh at Jiaxu.

Unexpectedly, Jia Xu was not angry. Instead, he stood up and bowed to Cat Brother, saying, "There is no order of learning, and the accomplished are the teachers. Little brother, I have truly learned a lot today!"

"I hope you'll offer me guidance in the future, young man. But I wonder what this 'Jianghu Safety Manual' is? Is it a book? May we borrow it?"

Lu Zong quickly added, "Yes, young man, you've mentioned it several times already. I'm really curious."

He looked at Jiaren and said, "Brother Li, could you lend it to us to take a look? We can learn from this valuable experience while we're traveling. Of course, we know that it's a bit presumptuous of us to say this."

"I still have a rare calligraphy copybook in my house in Xindu. When I get back, I will definitely give it to Brother Li to copy and study. What do you think?"