Luo Ren was so angry his teeth itched.

But he didn’t try again. He wasn’t three years old – competing with such a little brat in front of everyone would be too undignified.

He’d take the long view. There would always be a time when this kid fell into his hands.

Luo Ren remained calm, restraining his impatience and enduring. His words and actions became even more protective toward Mu Dai.

Not far away, Yan Hongsha stopped in front of a shop with Indian style, excitedly urging Mu Dai: “Come quickly, come quickly.”

Her eyes were dazzled by the brilliant Indian saris in the shop.

Actually, there were shops like this in Lijiang too. To be fair, they were somewhat similar to Lian Shu’s shop, both playing with mood and style. But distant food smells better – what you see every day seems ordinary, while other people’s things are precious. Uncle Zhang’s constant refrain was: “What’s so good about Lijiang? Why do people from all over the country come running here?”

Uncle Zhang had looked at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain for over ten years but had never actually climbed it. Those who excitedly came to buy tickets were mostly outsiders.

The shrewd female shop owner demonstrated different ways to wear saris for the two women, praising them blatantly: “You two ladies are so beautiful, why don’t you go into the inner room to try them on? There are so many colors – you need to put them on to really feel it.”

Between the outer and inner rooms was only a curtain of crystal beads, adding changing colors and hazy effects to the room, hoping to stimulate consumers’ adrenaline secretion and make them dizzy enough to make purchases.

Mu Dai put down Yue Xiao Feng and said: “Be good, auntie is going to try on pretty clothes.”

She and Yan Hongsha picked out many items and went in laughing with the shop owner’s accompaniment. The bead curtain swayed with graceful silhouettes, just like any pair of girlfriends with similar tastes.

At the shop entrance stood Luo Ren, Cao Yanhua, and Yi Wansan, like door gods.

Yi Wansan said: “Women trying on clothes is slower than washing clothes. Two women trying on clothes is even more hopeless. Should we go find a café to sit in?”

Cao Yanhua said: “Hypocritical! Humans are hypocritical. They’re not colorful themselves, but they insist on wrapping themselves in all sorts of colors. In this regard, they’re not as good as Liberation. Liberation’s feathers had natural colors.”

Yue Xiao Feng walked around sucking his finger. Everything in the shop had an exotic style, and he was curious about everything. Once he stood on his toes and reached out to touch something, but unfortunately he was too short. He muttered “aiyo aiyo” and tried his hardest but still couldn’t reach.

He looked back at Luo Ren, who smiled back with a smile that contained many meanings, such as schadenfreude, kicking someone when they’re down, and standing by with folded arms.

Yue Xiao Feng knew he couldn’t count on him, so he looked longingly toward the inner room, muttering: “Pocket Auntie…”

Luo Ren nudged Cao Yanhua with his elbow: “Get the little guy out of here.”

Cao Yanhua was startled.

“Get him… where?”

“Anywhere. It’s annoying to see him dangling in front of my eyes.” Luo Ren gave him advice with hidden meaning: “You think he’s cute and like him in your heart, so take him out to buy candy. Can’t you do that?”

Worthy of being teammates who had faced life and death together several times, Cao Yanhua understood immediately. He grasped his Brother Luo’s intention to seize any opportunity to give Yue Xiao Feng some color to see.

He rushed to Yue Xiao Feng in a few steps and boldly intercepted him. Before Yue Xiao Feng could react, he picked him up and ran outside.

After running quite far, Luo Ren finally heard Yue Xiao Feng’s voice carried back by the wind: “What are you doing? What are you doing…”

A sense of great revenge being achieved swept through his heart.

However, this satisfaction didn’t last long. Cao Yanhua soon returned carrying Yue Xiao Feng.

Yue Xiao Feng’s sobbing was continuous, his eyes red like a rabbit’s.

And Cao Yanhua was covered in sweat.

Reportedly, after Yue Xiao Feng realized what was happening, he cried and made a fuss non-stop. Besides calling “Daddy, Mommy,” he also shouted “I’m being sold!”

The nationwide anti-trafficking sentiment had already initially formed. When people nearby heard this, their expressions immediately became strange. Comparing appearances raised more suspicions – although no one stepped forward to stop them, many people’s covertly aimed phone cameras were already clicking away at Cao Yanhua.

Cao Yanhua painfully felt that in the time it took to run out and back, his photos might have already been retweeted five hundred times on Weibo.

Hearing the sobbing, Mu Dai immediately came out and asked: “Why is Yue Xiao Feng crying?”

Like a long-suffering young wife seeing her family, Yue Xiao Feng called out “Pocket Auntie” and ran over sobbing. Mu Dai’s expression changed, and her suspicious gaze focused specifically on Luo Ren, Cao Yanhua, and Yi Wansan.

One of them must have been up to no good.

Cao Yanhua’s face went pale, his lips trembling as he wanted to confess and seek leniency: “Little Master, I…”

Yue Xiao Feng suddenly said something that saved him: “I don’t like Uncle Xiao Dao.”

Except for the female shop owner who didn’t know who “Uncle Xiao Dao” referred to, everyone’s gaze immediately focused on Luo Ren.

Luo Ren remained unperturbed and laughed dryly: “I was afraid he was bored, so I had Cao Fatty take him out to buy candy…”

But inside he was gritting his teeth: Little brat, sharp as a tack, actually knows he was the one pulling strings behind the scenes.

Mu Dai squatted down to wipe the little guy’s tears, coaxing him softly: “It’s okay, it’s okay. Auntie doesn’t like him either.”

Yue Xiao Feng wiped his eyes with the back of his hand: “Won’t play with Uncle Xiao Dao.”

“Won’t play, absolutely won’t.”

“Don’t want Uncle Xiao Dao following.”

“Don’t want, absolutely don’t want.”

It seemed marriage was necessary. The bond between boyfriend and girlfriend was ultimately not strong enough.

Since Yue Xiao Feng wouldn’t let him follow, he could only keep his distance. During this time, Mu Dai looked back at him apologetically, but Luo Ren wasn’t angry and smiled at her even more gently.

He wouldn’t storm off in anger. Years of struggle experience had taught him to win over the key person.

On the road, Yan Hongsha suddenly received a call from Shen Gun. No one knew what Shen Gun told her, but after a few “mm-hmms” and “ah-ahs,” she hung up and suddenly abandoned the half-day tour arrangement. She sneakily moved close to Yi Wansan for a while, then whispered to Cao Yanhua.

Then each person came up with their own reasons – someone had a stomachache and wanted to go back to rest, someone wanted to find a service center to change their phone plan. The most creative was Yi Wansan, who said: “I just got a text message. A buddy I went on a cycling trip to the Sichuan-Tibet line with years ago is also in the ancient city now. I need to go meet him.”

Go ahead, go ahead. Luo Ren didn’t mind. As for Mu Dai, her whole attention was on Yue Xiao Feng. She asked him: “Should we go back too?”

“No go back. Keep shopping.”

So they continued shopping. When they passed a certain place, an aged and hoarse voice suddenly came from beside them: “Is that an unmarried young lady? Would you like a fortune reading?”

Looking around, they saw an old man squatting in a corner, his head and face wrapped in hemp cloth, only revealing a pair of cloudy old eyes that couldn’t see light. At his feet was a rice bowl for collecting money and a small stool for customers to sit on. Behind him, a bamboo pole with a cloth banner leaned forlornly against the wall corner, where the words “Ge Er, Fortune Telling” could dimly be seen.

Luo Ren also stopped not far away, not wanting to stimulate Yue Xiao Feng’s sensitive nerves.

Mu Dai wasn’t interested in fortune telling, but was curious about the first half of Ge Er’s statement: “What do you mean by unmarried young lady?”

Ge Er’s throat rolled twice with a phlegmy sound: “It means not married.”

This old man had quite sharp eyes. For fortune tellers, if you want to test whether they’re accurate, it depends on whether you know how to bluff. Mu Dai bluffed him: “Who says so? I married early and already have a son.”

She sat down on the small stool holding Yue Xiao Feng and casually kissed the little guy’s forehead.

Ge Er said: “Miss, your fate includes the destiny of a daughter. In the future, you’ll have a daughter. This one isn’t your son – at most a godson, or maybe a son-in-law…”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over Yue Xiao Feng, and his pupils suddenly tightened, his throat feeling a bit dry.

Mu Dai was interested to hear more: “Continue.”

Ge Er’s throat rolled again, his tone strange as he said: “This little boy, let me look at him carefully.”

His dark brown, wrinkled old hands slowly moved toward the back of Yue Xiao Feng’s hand.

Probably finding his hands too rough, Yue Xiao Feng said “aiyo” and pulled his hand back, burying his little head in Mu Dai’s embrace and muttering to himself: “What are you looking at?”

Ge Er laughed dryly and suddenly said: “Good, this child has good facial features.”

His words suddenly increased as he pointed out to Mu Dai: “Look carefully.”

“Appearance connects to the five organs and six viscera. On a person’s face, the forehead, chin, nose, and left and right cheekbones are five mountains, representing the five sacred peaks. The nose is the central peak, representing oneself. It must be higher than the other four peaks, but not too high – too high appears lonely. It also can’t be too flat – too flat shows no assertiveness…”

He spoke obscurely but with enthusiasm, his fingers like trembling eagle claws gesturing along Yue Xiao Feng’s features. Mu Dai listened in confusion, but Yue Xiao Feng suddenly cried out “aiyo” loudly.

Mu Dai quickly looked down. Yue Xiao Feng was angry, reaching up to scratch his head. Ge Er laughed sheepishly: “So sorry, children have tender skin, and this old man’s hands are rough. I scratched him. Sorry, sorry.”

His hands were indeed rough, with some dry, cracked old skin sticking up. A child’s scalp is tender – if he really scratched it, there might be a bloody cut.

Mu Dai quickly examined Yue Xiao Feng’s scalp. Fortunately, there was nothing unusual. Ge Er stood up awkwardly, hunched over, constantly apologizing.

At such an old age, bowing and apologizing to her repeatedly, Mu Dai felt embarrassed. But she felt something was wrong – there was a cluster of doubts that began growing like grass in the wind, though she didn’t know in what direction they would grow.

Her phone suddenly rang. With one hand protecting Yue Xiao Feng, she answered with the other.

It was Luo Ren’s voice saying: “Take Yue Xiao Feng back now. I’ll handle the rest.”

After hanging up, Mu Dai stood up and suddenly thought of something, looking around. She remembered that initially Luo Ren had been waiting nearby, but now he was gone.

The sun was getting low. The weather in the ancient city hadn’t been good these past two days. After noon it turned overcast with strong winds. Thick clouds cast shadows overhead, and the sparse sunlight was tinged with gray, making a perfectly good afternoon feel like evening was approaching.

Ge Er walked in the dirty, old long alley, carrying a long bamboo pole under his arm. The cloth banner fluttered in the wind, while he also tucked the rice bowl and folded small stool under his armpit, hunched over and coughing violently.

At the end of the alley was his small shelter, a few square meters – a storage room used by residents for miscellaneous items. Unable to resist his persistent talking, they half-gave, half-rented it to him. The door was made of spliced wooden boards that let in wind, so he had pasted several layers of newspaper on the inside.

Pushing open the door, it was pitch black inside with the smell of incense ash. Ge Er put down his belongings and walked a few steps to the center of the room, reaching out to pull the hanging light cord.

A tungsten lamp covered with a layer of oily grime swayed overhead. The dim yellow light made a crude altar in the corner of the room flicker between light and dark.

The altar was made of unpolished waste wood boards spliced together, with protruding nail heads still visible on the edges. In the center was an incense burner filled with thick ash like a raised grave mound, with an extinguished red candle stuck in the middle and three incense sticks arranged around it. The smoke-blackened wall was covered with talisman papers marked with various lines. In the center was a bare-chested Zhong Kui, fierce and menacing, tearing apart little demons with his hands.

Ge Er cleared his throat, felt around for matches, struck one to light the candle and incense, then opened a drawer to take out a large needle for sole-making. He pressed it against his fingertip to draw blood, squeezed out a drop, and let it fall into the incense ash.

Then, sinisterly, he took out a crude yellow paper packet from his chest, looked at it for a while, and slowly moved it toward the candle flame.

Just at that moment, there was suddenly a whooshing sound behind him. An ice-cold, gleaming dagger flew diagonally through the air, knocking over the incense burner with a clang and driving hard into the table surface.

The incense ash spilled and was stirred up by wind blowing in from the suddenly opened door, invading his already clouded eyes. Behind him came the sound of footsteps, one step at a time, each step heavy and deliberate.

Ge Er was choked by the incense ash and coughed, barely managing to turn around. Through the gray haze, he could only vaguely see a human figure – tall, forcing him to look up.

Luo Ren took the crude yellow paper packet from his hand.

At that time, Mu Dai couldn’t see, but from his angle, he could see clearly – while Ge Er spoke eloquently, his old hand seemed not to touch Yue Xiao Feng, but at a certain instant, his wrist sank and with quick technique and skillful force, he plucked two hairs from the little guy’s head.

He gripped the paper packet tightly, went to the altar, pulled out the dagger nailed to the table, and used the dagger tip to poke at something that had rolled out of the overturned incense burner – the skull of a very small kitten, grotesque and eerie.

This old bastard clearly came from dubious origins, his whole body reeking of crookedness and evil.

Luo Ren chuckled coldly, kicked aside the folded stool and sat down, playing with the dagger in his hand: “You’re seventy or eighty years old, so explain clearly to me why you’re targeting a child who’s barely two years old.”

Ge Er backed away in terror, but after just two steps, his back was against the cold wall.

Luo Ren smiled.

“You won’t talk? I have plenty of ways to make you talk. Or maybe I don’t need you to talk at all – I have plenty of methods to make you die like someone who deserves to die.”