Wun Fan’s heart beat faster after hearing the question. Given Hung Yu Fei’s behavior when they were riding on the horse, he couldn’t be sure if Hung Yu Fei was actually completely ignorant about such things or if she was just pretending.
“Hmph! I have no interest in arrogant women,” scoffed Wun Fan as he looked at Hung Yu Fei coldly. He was telling the truth. At the very least, he was completely repulsed by Hung Yu Fei’s behavior so far. His only impression of her so far was that of an arrogant girl who did as she liked. To his surprise, she flashed a knowing smile and said, “If that’s the case, why don’t you get out of my room? How else am I supposed to shower while you’re here, pervert!”
“Ah…” Wun Fan was taken aback by the sudden shift in her tone. A smart man doesn’t argue with a woman. It was best if he retreated for now. Moreover, men were always the ones who were at a disadvantage in these social interactions. If their clans were to force him to get together with her because he saw her body or something like that, it would be a disaster…
Wun Fan left without any hesitation and sat down in the living room to rest. He had been riding for hours today and his lower back was sore. After all, this was his first time riding a horse. His posture had not been the best and it affected his body’s condition.
Upon seeing Wun Fan leave, Ho Siu Nam quickly bowed and said, “I’ll be taking my leave now as well, Miss Hung. Just call for me once you’re done with your bath.”
She pointed at the towel by the side and said, “I have prepared a towel for you as well, Miss Hung…”
“There’s no need for that. I already have one,” said Hung Yu Fei as she waved the storage ring on her finger. Ho Siu Nam couldn’t help but be envious of her. Carrying things would be a lot easier if she had a storage ring as well.
This was classic workaholic syndrome. Only a workaholic would be thinking about carrying goods around with a storage ring. It was exactly the same thing as those people who dreamt of having a teleportation device so they could get to work on time.
Ho Siu Nam descended to the living room. She and Wun Fan looked at each other and she couldn’t help but feel awkward. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what to say. For a moment, she wasn’t sure if she should stand or sit and just stayed there for a while, until finally, Wun Fan said, “Sit down. No need to be so reserved. I’m curious about the Green Wolf Gang as well. Why don’t you tell me about them?”
Ho Siu Nam was relieved to hear that and quickly sat down. She was completely tired after today. She had planned to sell the ponies in town, but she ran into Ng Kit’s horse along the way. She had no choice but to help him out of his sticky situation and sold all the ponies to the Green Wolf Gang members.
She was familiar with the work of the Green Wolf Gang. They were a gang with the simple principle of only going after civilians, while leaving nobles alone. Plenty of people had witnessed the Green Wolf Gang abducting beautiful women in broad daylight.
Once in a while, martial artists passing by would be infuriated by this behavior and try to stop them.
The next day, the corpses of these martial artists would be strung up in places where everyone could see them.
It’s said that the government had been trying to organize an army to deal with the Green Wolf Gang. Mayor Hung Yu Zak of Green Sea Town, the closest town to Green Sea Forest, was the one in charge of this endeavor. However, the government continued to show no signs of taking action. Moreover, the Green Wolf Gang was well-hidden inside the vast area of the Green Sea Forest. Even members of the Gang themselves sometimes got lost, let alone any outsiders trying to find them. Even the occasional members that end up getting caught would deny their association with the Gang, remaining stubborn even under torture. They would find opportunities to kill themselves and leave the government with no clues at all.
It’s said that Mayor Hung Yun Zak was extremely frustrated by this problem. He personally put out bounties in the Martial Artist Guild, promising a handsome sum to anyone who found the location of the Green Wolf Gang’s base. However, over the months, every martial artist who tried to track the Green Wolf Gang members was killed without any exception. It was even rumored that the strongest of those victims had been an Innate Martial Master.
The Green Wolf Gang’s infamy reached a peak after that incident. However, they kept a relatively low profile. They never challenged martial artists for no reason and only committed simple crimes, robbing merchants and abducting women every so often. Over time, the martial artists grew used to their presence and the merchants also learned to hand over a protection fee to ensure their safety. Parents of pretty daughters would even contact the Green Wolf Gang and hand over a protection fee of their own accord.
It was like buying insurance for your own life, but this turned into a substantial income stream for the Green Wolf Gang. Their influence grew with each passing day, making it increasingly difficult for the government to get rid of them. The leader of the Green Wolf Gang, Yu Sap Bat, had shown up at the Chan Clan’s auction house to no consequence. The government heard of his arrival and did nothing at all.
Wun Fan couldn’t help but be impressed by Yu Sap Bat. The way he managed the Gang was similar to the way that certain enterprises managed their businesses in his past life.
On the other hand, apparently, Ho Siu Nam’s father, Ho Dai Lik, paid a protection fee for her every month. A drawing of her was kept in the Gang to prevent any members from abducting the wrong person. That was why the Green Wolf Gang members didn’t snatch Ho Siu Nam’s pony from her by force this morning. It wasn’t entirely because of the threat of Hung Yu Fei.
The fact that Yu Sap Bat was able to instill such discipline amongst a band of bandits made him quite an impressive individual.
“Miss Ho, forgive me for being direct, but when I look into your eyes, I can sense your faint hesitation and worry,” said Wun Fan as he stared into the depths of Ho Siu Nam’s eyes, making Ho Siu Nam feel as if he could see through her entire person, “Your heart and mind don’t seem to be in the same place.”
“Is that so…?” said Ho Siu Nam. This might be the first time she was talking with Wun Fan, but there was a strange affability under Wun Fan’s young face. She was actually considering spilling her guts to him.
“Maybe. I don’t know what to do myself,” she said. This was the first time she was telling someone else about her relationship with Ng Kit.
Ng Kit was quite wealthy. At the very least, he could afford three meals a day and if he really wanted to, he could probably choose to not work for the rest of his life and still be fine. That said, Ng Kit’s grandfather amassed the family wealth through that teahouse on the road. It meant a lot to him and his dying wish had been for Ng Kit to continue running the teahouse, which was why he had taken on the task.
Ng Kit’s grandfather was not a member of the extended Ho family. He was technically an outsider, but he had quite a lot of faith within the Ho Village and was trusted by many of the older generation. In fact, before Ho Siu Nam had even been born, the reason her father was elected as chief of Ho Village was because of Ng Kit’s grandfather’s support.
That was why Ho Dai Lik proposed an arranged marriage with Ng Kit’s father between their children. His intentions were to forge a stronger friendship with the Ng family. Moreover, Ho Siu Nam and Ng Kit were childhood friends that got along very well and naturally fell in love with each other. The Ho family and the Ng family became very close because of that. Moreover, when Ng Kit’s parents broke through to the Martial Mortal realms, they became the guardians of the Ho Village. All this made Ho Dai Lik even more certain of his decision.
However, Ng Kit’s parents were killed because of an argument with other martial artists. His grandfather was furious to hear this news and came down with a stroke. He became unable to move and the twelve-year-old Ng Kit had to take on the responsibility of running the teahouse. His grandfather’s medical costs were exorbitant and took up much of the Ng family’s wealth. However, Ng Kit was a mature kid. He didn’t complain about his fate and even tried to improve the teahouse by introducing meat dishes to the menu. While most of the dishes were boiled meat, being able to eat meat while on a journey was already quite the luxury.
However, Ho Dai Lik now believed Ng Kit to be an unsuitable partner for Ho Siu Nam, especially since she had grown even more beautiful over the years. She was already beautiful, kind and the most pretty woman in the village when she was sixteen, even with her freckles. Plenty of teenagers in the village had already asked for her hand in marriage. However, Ng Kit’s grandfather had still been alive and Ho Dai Lik wasn’t so shameless as to break the promise between their families. So, he rejected all the proposals.
Ng Kit wasn’t an idiot either. He knew the predicament he was in and had been trying his best to make as much money as possible for his future. However, his grandfather succumbed to his illness and passed away one night in his dreams.
In the end, Ho Dai Lik still had his reputation to care about, as the village chief. He couldn’t just break the arranged marriage immediately after Ng Kit’s grandfather’s death. So, he approached Ng Kit to talk about his marriage with Ho Siu Nam. He said he approved of the marriage and even wanted to give Ng Kit a family again.
Ng Kit was happy to hear this, but Ho Dai Lik suddenly changed the topic. He mentioned that Ho Siu Nam was the prettiest woman in the village and that he was the village chief as well. The dowry could not be a small sum, or it would be an insult to his daughter.
Ng Kit knew things were wrong when he heard this. Then, Ho Dai Lik asked of him a dowry of thirty gold coins! Ng Kit closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths when he heard this request. This number might not be all that difficult for martial artists. A few risky adventures and they might be able to obtain that sum.
However, for an ordinary family, thirty gold coins was an astronomical amount of money.
ns 15.158.61.17da2