C30 – Protective Fee
“Sis, you’re back,” Qiu Hanh called out as she entered.
The woman nodded, her attention quickly drawn to a stranger lying on the bed. With a furrowed brow, she pointed at Tan Chong and demanded, “Who is this?”
“He’s Tan Chong, a friend I met on the road,” Qiu Hanh explained. “He seemed exhausted, so I let him rest here for a bit.”
Stirred by the voices, Tan Chong sat up.
Blinking away his grogginess, he caught sight of the woman and blurted out in disbelief, “Dilraba?”
She bore an uncanny resemblance to a celebrity named Dilraba from his past life, leading him to wonder if she, too, had traveled through time.
The woman gave Tan Chong a once-over, her beautiful face clouding with irritation. “What are you rambling about? My name is Qiu Jing, not Dilraba.”
Tan Chong’s handsome features had initially made a good impression.
Yet, the look in his eyes carried an odd significance, leaving her feeling uneasy.
“My apologies, I mistook you for someone else,” Tan Chong said, rubbing his nose with an embarrassed grin.
Qiu Jing, Qiu Hanh’s sister, had grown up in the Desolate Swamp Mountain Range. Qiu Hanh had filled him in on this during their journey back. So, while Qiu Jing resembled Dilraba, she was certainly not the same person.
”Now that you’re awake, please leave,” Qiu Jing instructed Tan Chong.
In these apocalyptic times, trust was a luxury. She was unfamiliar with Tan Chong’s past.
What if he posed a threat? That could spell disaster for her and her brother.
Qiu Hanh’s discontent was palpable as he grumbled, “Sis, Mr. Tan has just come to and hasn’t even eaten. Isn’t it heartless to send him away so soon?”
He hadn’t known Tan Chong long, but he didn’t believe him to be malicious. He couldn’t fathom his sister’s rush to expel their guest.
“I actually have some urgent matters to attend to,” Tan Chong interjected with a sheepish smile, seizing the opportunity to excuse himself.
In a world where caution was the norm, he couldn’t fault Qiu Jing for her wariness.
Before he departed, he felt compelled to leave something behind for them.
He had rested here for several hours, after all, and these items could serve as payment for his stay.
The storage bag was filled with an abundance of food and a few Energy Stones. As Tan Chong was retrieving items from the bag, the wooden fence at the cave entrance was suddenly kicked open.
Two haughty men strode into the cave.
The leader was a man in his twenties, marred by an ugly face riddled with bumps, rivaling Chen Dong in unattractiveness.
Upon noticing Tan Chong seated on the wooden bed, the ugly man’s demeanor shifted. He pointed at Tan Chong’s nose and barked, “Who are you? And why are you here?”
“What does it have to do with you?”
Tan Chong, observing the man’s aggressive demeanor and nasty attitude, frowned and let out a cold huff.
“How dare you speak to him like that? Do you have a death wish?” The ugly man’s companion, a young man with a buzz cut, glared and spat out a curse, ready to charge at Tan Chong.
“Liu Wei, he’s our friend. What are you trying to do?” Qiu Jing positioned herself in front of Tan Chong, intent on protecting him.
She might not have known Tan Chong well, but she refused to let him be mistreated.
Liu Wei gestured to the buzz-cut youth to hold back, scoffing, “I’m not here to cause trouble. I’ve come to collect the protection fee.”
Qiu Jing extended an Energy Stone towards Liu Wei, “Take this Energy Stone and leave my home immediately.”
Feigning interest in the Energy Stone, Liu Wei instead seized Qiu Jing’s hand.
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