Chapter Seventeen: Inviting the Foolish Guest into the Trap

As the saying goes, money can move people's hearts. When the Li family's daughter was being prepared for her burial, almost everyone's eyes flashed with regret.

Regardless of the monetary value of these gold threads, the sheer skill in weaving them into clothing is priceless.

Hensheng's expression nearly shattered upon hearing this. "Grave robbing? That's just too despicable!"

"Shameless?" Su Zhenzhen scoffed. "Can morality feed you or buy you money? In this day and age, you never know when you might be destitute. Perhaps the diners initially meant well in helping Mr. and Mrs. Li, but that gold-embroidered robe was simply too valuable. 'A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.' Some might even be thinking, 'The Li family has such a valuable possession, and they've only lost a daughter, yet they're making such a fuss, wasting all the money they donated.'"

Hensheng remained silent for a long time; this was truly beyond his comprehension.

Books teach self-cultivation, family harmony, national governance, and world peace; they teach benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness.

But the world is not a book; civilization can only be born amidst the hustle and bustle of a prosperous era. When even the most basic necessities become luxuries, the most primal greed of human nature will surface.

Old Man Bai, however, saw through the ruse. "Don't the Li couple know that those clothes will attract attention? Why do they still openly dress their daughter in them?"

Su Zhenzhen gradually formed a guess after her initial doubts. "Either she loves her daughter so much that she can't bear to let her leave in such a shabby way, or she's trying to lure her into a trap. Let's wait and see, we'll find out when it gets dark."

At noon, Old Man Bai and Hensheng ate dry food, and Su Zhenzhen went to buy some coarse grains.

After all, we are still in the border region, and we don't know what will happen next. I can endure hunger, but it's hard to say what will happen to the old and the weak.

Especially those who hate Sheng; if they do anything bad to him, the comments section will bombard them with criticism.

As the sun began to set, Su Zhenzhen led the two of them toward the east of the city.

Thanks to the power of genetic optimization, Su Zhenzhen could see from a great distance that there was no one in front of the grave, while at the same time two men with patched clothes were heading east.

Su Zhenzhen stopped, and Old Man Bai and Hensheng also dared not move forward.

The two men got closer and closer to the grave, and eventually they even started running.

They stopped in front of the grave and looked around.

Seeing that there was no one else around, the two began to dig up the grave.

A short while later, a father and son, each carrying a hoe, joined them.

The four men exchanged glances, said nothing more, and began digging at the grave with even greater fervor.

Old Man Bai noticed that Su Zhenzhen was staring straight east, but he couldn't see anything. He was about to ask her where she would stay for the night.

Su Zhenzhen was the first to ask, "Do you remember how many other diners there were besides Mr. and Mrs. Li at the inn?"

Old Man Bai was counting in his mind when Hensheng almost blurted it out, and his words were clear and logical.

“There were two brothers who looked rather poor, a father and son who looked normal, a family of five who were all in good spirits, and a couple. The woman was wearing a jade bracelet on her wrist, which looked quite beautiful. Excluding us, there were eleven people in total.”

Su Zhenzhen glanced at Hensheng with some surprise. She hadn't expected that besides being beautiful and delicate, he was also a thoughtful person.

It had already gotten dark, but fortunately there was still a faint moonlight.

Su Zhenzhen saw that the grave mound had been leveled. At this moment, a family of five came over with torches, and even the child's face was radiant.

Su Zhenzhen quickly pulled Old Man Bai and Hensheng behind a big tree.

The wind was a bit strong, and Su Zhenzhen couldn't hear very clearly, but she could still vaguely hear things like "baby can exchange money and not worry about food and drink".

Once the coffin was partially visible, the couple arrived with hoes. The woman seemed to be doing this for the first time; she was wearing a large string of Buddhist prayer beads around her neck.

These four groups shared the same goal, and after meeting, they neither exchanged pleasantries nor blamed each other.

He wasn't a vicious criminal, but he was facing difficulties and took a risk.

Of course, the most important thing is that the gold-embroidered robe is valuable enough; each person can exchange a piece of cloth for a lot of food.

Su Zhenzhen felt a little regretful. These eleven people would most likely not survive tonight. It was their greed that caused them to die, and even their previous generosity could not make up for it.

Not to mention that this daughter of the Li family died of old age; only those with good fortune can die of old age.

The coffin was completely dug out, and it looked like the nails were about to be pulled out.

Su Zhenzhen was still wondering if they were waiting for her family when she saw all eleven people fall down at once.

Um?

What kind of deadly weapon is this?

Mr. and Mrs. Li appeared, carrying torches and accompanied by the night breeze.

At first glance, it's hard to tell if it's a human or a ghost.

Although Li Da's words were hard to hear, Su Zhenzhen could clearly see him dragging the corpses out one by one.

Li's wife stomped on each of the corpses, and as if that wasn't enough to vent her anger, she spat on each of their faces.

"Damn beasts! You're all so eager to profit from the dead! When the court is in trouble, you all act like cowards! If it weren't for the court's decree, trees could grow on your graves, let alone live your own lives."

Su Zhenzhen heard these words clearly, but she had no interest in taking on such trivial matters that had nothing to do with performance. It would be impolite to stay after watching the excitement go on for a while.

Just as he was about to wait for Mr. and Mrs. Li to leave, he took out a flashlight and hurried on his way through the night.

Unexpectedly, a strong gust of wind suddenly came, blowing leaves onto the three of them, making a clattering sound.

"Who's there!" Li Da looked over and even walked towards them with a torch in hand.

Su Zhenzhen realized something was wrong; she hadn't expected this person to be a trained martial artist, able to detect sounds from such a distance.

He simply took out a flashlight and shone it openly ahead.

When Li Da saw the bright light from the flashlight, he was first shocked, and then looked at Su Zhenzhen and the other two warily.

Su Zhenzhen waved her flashlight. "We're just here to watch the show. Look at this thing I have, isn't it rare? It's worth much more than the gold-embroidered robe your daughter is wearing."

Before Li Da could speak, Su Zhenzhen first saw the scrolling comments in her mind.

[The female lead just knows how to fool honest people; this flashlight only costs ten yuan.]

I'd trade my flashlight for the golden robe, but the problem is, nobody's willing to trade with me.

Su Zhenzhen's lips twitched. No, is this right? Luckily, others couldn't see these sabotaging comments, otherwise it would have been a disaster.

Li's wife caught up, her expression identically wary. "Are they here to rob tombs too?"

Li Da shook his head, but his words were directed at Su Zhenzhen.

"This place is not safe. We need to move the child to another place. To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings, please leave now."

Su Zhenzhen was more than happy to do so, and she grabbed Hensheng, ready to run away.

But as soon as he took a step out, Li Da rushed forward and blocked his way.

"Wait a moment."