The group left immediately, and very quickly at that. Around 10 p.m., they arrived at the town that Qingmang had mentioned.

In the 21st century, even in remote towns, nightlife is vibrant. Four adults, one child, and a monkey had barely entered the town when they were spotted by people drinking beer.

The town has so few people that the residents can tell at a glance whether someone is an outsider or not.

Once inside the street, Qingmang looked up and then led the group to a barbecue stall. He pretended to order a few skewers of barbecue and then turned to ask the stall owner about the town.

"You must be from out of town. Where are you headed?" The boss was very welcoming as business came to his door.

Green Python: "I came from Penang. My car broke down on the way. Boss, where are the hotels in this town?"

Mentioning cars, Qingmang's mind raced. He thought he should buy a car for commuting. Then he could take Yinhuan and travel all over China. Anyway, he had money now, and as far as he knew, a decent car only cost tens of thousands of yuan.

...Well, although the Green Python often roams the world, to be honest, he hadn't lived among people for about five or six years while tracking Luo Mang. His understanding was somewhat outdated.

These days, it's incredibly difficult to buy a decent car for tens of thousands of yuan!

The boss looked at the green python, paused slightly in his hand movements, and then laughed heartily: "There's a hotel just around the corner."

"Thanks." The green python took the roasted chicken wings and handed them to the silver ring that was tugging at his clothes.

Silver Ring's eyes lit up, and she snatched it, taking a bite with delight.

After asking for directions, the group headed towards the hotel indicated by the barbecue owner. Before leaving, Yinhuan turned back and looked at the owner thoughtfully.

Silver Ring is always sensitive to human emotions, and that boss just now seemed a bit strange.

As the group left, unbeknownst to them, the others at the barbecue stall began to gossip about it.

"Ayi, why did you point them to Afang's house?" The young man sitting in front of the stall asked the barbecue owner with a stern face.

The boss chuckled and said, "Ah Fang's family isn't doing well. Every little bit helps."

The young man said, "Who would dare stay at her hotel? This is no way to rip people off."

The boss lowered his head and said in a low voice, "These people are only staying for one day, nothing serious, at most they'll just sleepwalk for one night."

The young man glanced at the owner, spat inwardly, got up, paid the bill, and called to his companions as they left the barbecue stall.

"Don't let Ah Yi's honest appearance fool you, he's cunning inside. We're not going to his place for barbecue anymore," the young man muttered to his three companions as they walked down the street.

"I've wanted to stop going for a long time. If it weren't for Ah Mao always going to his house, who would want to talk to him? It's one thing that his grilling is bad, but every time we pay the bill, he won't even give us 50 cents," another person complained.

“He’s a neighbor after all. It wouldn’t be right not to go to his house.” The man called “A Mao” rubbed his hands together.

"You treat him like a neighbor and support his business, but does he treat you like a neighbor? Alright, let's find somewhere else to continue our drinks."

"You guys go ahead and drink, I'm not going."

The young man exhaled a smoke ring, narrowed his eyes, tossed the half-lit cigarette on the ground, and walked towards the street corner.

"Ah Hui, mind your own business. There's something strange about Ah Fang's place." The young man who had been complaining earlier grabbed Ah Hui's arm.

“We can’t let them keep ripping people off. Look at how many waves they’ve already been scammed. If this continues, what will become of our town’s reputation? My dad said that last time someone came to our town to invest, A-Yi directed him to A-Fang, and the investment they agreed on was immediately canceled the next day. Everyone in the town knows A-Fang is pitiful and struggling, so helping her out is fine, but this is just taking advantage of people…”

Ahui got angrier and angrier as he talked. In a town like this, everyone knows what's going on in each other's lives.

Afang's family's hotel was left to her parents. By all accounts, they could afford to run a hotel and live a comfortable life. But their good fortune didn't last long. Two years ago, the couple died of food poisoning, for reasons unknown.

Ever since the old couple died, the hotel has become haunted. Everyone who checks in wakes up the next day to find themselves sleeping in the hallway. Once or twice could be explained as sleepwalking, but this happened more than ten times in a row, so everyone guessed that there must be something evil in Afang's hotel.

After these incidents happened repeatedly, the townspeople who used to book rooms at her house and have their relatives stay overnight were no longer willing to go.

There were already few outsiders in this small town, and the locals were unwilling to go there anymore, so Afang's hotel business got worse and worse. Now, it almost entirely depends on outsiders to make a living.

Afang's life wasn't easy. At twenty-three, she was a young woman whose parents had died, and she had a younger brother with polio. Everyone turned a blind eye; if outsiders came and went to stay with Afang, no one would say a word. After all, it wasn't like they had any bad intentions in bringing them there.

But the problem lies with Ah Yi.

Ah Yi liked Ah Fang, and coincidentally, he had a barbecue stall on the street leading into town. Whenever he encountered outsiders, he would lead them towards Ah Fang. Not only that, but he also had a sharp eye, especially at judging whether people had money or not. Last time, he misled them, directing an investor that Ah Hui's father had finally managed to attract to Ah Fang's place.

Ahui's father is the town mayor. He's not that old, and it's not impossible for him to advance further. He finally managed to get a medicinal herb investor through an introduction from an old comrade-in-arms, hoping to achieve some political achievements and move up the ranks... Well, that's what ruined everything.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!