Chapter 24: Demon
As for Li Qi, seeing the young woman finally brought a smile to his face, and he opened his mouth, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.
Why?
Because she was awake, and that meant less trouble.
Besides, this woman looked wealthy. Her clothes were made of gauze.
It was no joke. Li Qi had never even touched gauze before. Even the wealthy, middle-class families in Li Prefecture City, those he could come into contact with, mostly wore cotton cloth. As for a pauper like him, it was already good to have hemp cloth to wear.
What did gauze signify?
She had to be at least a great landlord, right?
There was just one question…
If she was truly wealthy, then spending money to find capable people shouldn't be an issue. Why had it dragged on until now, with him, a passerby, having to rescue her?
He didn't understand.
But it could also just be a coincidence.
However… there might be other reasons. One should always be on guard against others. He'd test her out.
Li Qi pondered these thoughts: “This young lady…”
“Ah, wuh, ugh-!” Shen Shuibi shivered in fright, making strange noises and even rolling over.
Ba Kui glanced at her, frowning: “This woman, I fear she was startled by the demon and has gone mad. This is troublesome.”
“Not troublesome, not troublesome at all. It’s even better if she’s mad; no need to be responsible. After having a taste, just toss her anywhere and she’ll run off on her own. We won’t even need to lift a finger,” a nearby merchant said.
Li Qi now understood even more clearly what kind of people these merchants were. No wonder A'Du didn’t dare travel with them and could only seek out strangers.
These people were likely merchants in normal times, but given an opportunity, they would immediately transform into thieves, completely unconcerned with doing evil. Perhaps they had some sense of loyalty, but like Li Kui¹, it was only a minor loyalty to individuals, lacking any intermediate sense of right and wrong.
As for great righteousness, that required a concern for the whole world, and Li Qi felt that he, a humble hauler, was utterly unqualified to discuss it.
But before he could speak, Shen Shuibi, hearing their words, immediately sat up: “I… I’m not mad! You, don’t… don’t…” She stammered for a long time before finally managing to say: “Don’t touch me!”
Compared to her stammering, her movements when sitting up were exceptionally nimble, not at all like someone who had been jolted all night.
Because the person named Li Qi was smiling very terrifyingly, showing his teeth, as if he wanted to eat people.
No, eat rabbits.
As for Li Qi, he was a bit bewildered.
This time he didn't pause, but spoke all at once: “This young lady, what is your name?”
Although he didn’t know what this woman had misunderstood, she didn't seem very bright. It would be better to guide her first.
“I… I’m called Shen Shuibi.”
“My name is Li Qi, Miss Shen. Were you abducted by that monster earlier? Do you still remember where your home is?” Li Qi asked again.
“My home is in Jiannan…” Shen Shuibi replied subconsciously, then she suddenly realized and quickly covered her mouth.
“Jiannan?” Li Qi was surprised. He hadn’t heard of that place name. Was there a place called Jiannan near Li Prefecture?
He looked at the surrounding merchants. These people wandered everywhere, buying and selling goods, so they should know many place names.
But the merchants all seemed bewildered as well, having never heard of it.
A'Du, however, thought for a moment and suddenly said: “I once traveled with a large merchant caravan and overheard them chatting. I heard of a place name in the Tang Dynasty called Jiannan Dao. Is it here?”
“Tang Dynasty?” Li Qi frowned: “Miss Shen, are you from the Tang Dynasty?”
“No, no! It must just be a coincidence of names! I, I, I… my Jiannan is a small place, very small, it’s normal that you haven’t heard of it!” Shen Shuibi said frantically.
“Then, Miss Shen, was the previous demon related to you?”
“No, no relation!” Shen Shuibi immediately replied!
At this, the merchants all took a step back, pulling out their machetes.
A'Du also hid behind them.
Shen Shuibi immediately realized she had said the wrong thing.
Tears were almost streaming down her face.
When she was with the Lady, she never lied!
Now, not only did she have to lie, but she was stammering so badly that it was obvious at a glance.
Li Qi, however, didn't turn around. Instead, he put his hand behind his back and subtly waved, signaling the others to leave quickly.
Then, as if he hadn't noticed the commotion behind him, he walked up and said: “Is that so? It’s good that there’s no relation. You scared me to death.” Li Qi scratched his head, showing a kind smile.
“Huh…” Shen Shuibi’s expression was somewhat puzzled.
This person… was he fooled?
“However, I’m sorry, young lady, we are all working people with little ability. We cannot send you back to Jiannan, nor are we familiar with the terrain, our capabilities are insufficient. How about we part ways here?” Li Qi said politely.
When Shen Shuibi heard this, her heart rejoiced, forgetting everything else, and she nodded frantically.
“Then it’s settled. We’ll be leaving first. Miss, you’ll probably have to go home by yourself,” Li Qi said with a kind expression.
“No problem, no problem! I can go back by myself!” Shen Shuibi quickly said.
“Then let’s part ways here. We haven’t even finished the rice patties in the pot yet. We served them in bowls to share, but you can eat first to fill your stomach,” Li Qi added.
“Thank you!” Shen Shuibi bowed her head repeatedly in gratitude, having already forgotten what had scared her awake.
And after Li Qi finished speaking, he turned and gave the others a look.
The merchants immediately tucked away their machetes, hoisted their back baskets, even abandoning the pot and took off running!
Li Qi also followed without hesitation, dashing along with A'Du!
Are you kidding?! The one behind them was most likely a demon!
And she was no different from a human; she was probably a shapeshifting demon. That wild dog demon was 100% connected to her!
Although he didn't know what the other party was thinking, while this demon wasn't thinking clearly, why wouldn't they sneak away? Were they looking for death?
While Li Qi had stabilized the demon, the group once again ran frantically. They had no mind to continue chatting on the road, rushing to their destination. From early morning, they only drank water and had no time to eat, finally reaching Feng County at dusk.
Finally, upon arriving in Feng County, everyone could breathe a sigh of relief.
Even Ba Kui, at this moment, gave a thumbs-up. Though he was gasping for breath from exhaustion, he still praised: “Hoo… puff, Brother Li Qi, I truly admire you! Facing a demon, you can still be so calm!”
“I didn’t expect it either… hoo, ha… haha,” Li Qi also panted ceaselessly: “I didn’t expect that demon to be so easy to talk to, like an idiot… I was ready to fight her if she couldn’t keep up her act of innocence! I didn’t expect her to actually keep it up, which allowed us to escape!”
“It was still Brother Li who kept his composure, knowing that the demon was pretending to be good, and didn’t rouse the snake by beating the grass, allowing us to escape. If we had exposed ourselves, who knows, there might have been another skirmish,” A'Du quickly added.
(Chapter End)
¹Li Kui is a famous character from Water Margin (水浒传), one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. While fiercely loyal to his sworn brothers within the bandit-hero fraternity of Mount Liang, Li Kui famously lacks a strong moral compass for those outside his immediate circle.