Chapter 5020 — I've Seen a Ghost

"Who's the shameless little scoundrel? Say that to my face!" The old man, too, hastily stuffed the money away, shouldered his carrying pole, and went hobbling after him, cursing all the way.

One behind the other, the two of them vanished around the mouth of the alley in a matter of moments. In a few short minutes, not a trace of them remained. Wei Zhao was left alone in the deserted lane.

"Heh. Truly something else. Cheated the moment I came down the mountain last time, and now that I'm back in the secular world, cheated again — and the trick's the exact same, beat for beat. Do I really look that much like a born sucker?" Wei Zhao shook his head and laughed at himself.

If he couldn't see through a scam this obvious, he'd have to be a genuine fool. What's more, this con was identical to the one he'd run into on the train when he first came down the mountain. The only difference was that back then Wang Xinyan had been there to warn him, while now she was off on Cloud Terrace Island. How could Wei Zhao possibly have fallen for it?

Clearly, judging by the way these two sold their act — flawless, indistinguishable from the real thing — they had to be professionals. They'd caught sight of the ten-thousand-yuan wad in Wei Zhao's hand and marked him, then staged this little drama.

The pair were probably still congratulating themselves, secretly gloating over having found a nice, gullible idiot. But in another moment they'd find out just who the idiot was.

Wei Zhao casually tossed the so-called ticket — the one supposedly holding ten third-prize wins — into a pile of trash. In his hand, somehow, there was now a thick stack of cash. Besides his own ten thousand, he had quietly lifted everything the other two were carrying as well, and all together it came to a full thirty thousand. He'd been worrying earlier about not having enough money to get by, and now he had enough to last him a good while.

A moment ago he'd been sighing that things had changed beyond recognition. But after this little episode, Wei Zhao felt that the secular world hadn't changed one bit — and he liked it all the better for that.

He pocketed the thirty thousand and made his way out of the alley toward the busy street beyond. As far as he was concerned, the priority now was to find a real-estate agency and rent a place — the sooner he recovered his strength, the better.

But before he'd taken two steps, five men suddenly came crowding into the mouth of the alley. Wei Zhao thought at first that the two swindlers had realized something was wrong and come back to settle accounts with him. A closer look, however, showed that it wasn't them at all — these were plainly five petty thugs.

At their head was a thing with a mop of dyed red hair. He and his crew blocked the way with obvious ill intent. The alley was a dead end, and the only exit was already plugged by them; there was no escaping even if Wei Zhao wanted to. Of course, they were nothing but a pack of small-time hoodlums, not those two Foundation Establishment cultivators. He had no need to run at all.

"Hey, kid. Your brothers here are a little short on cash lately. Thought we'd borrow a few bills from you, spend a little. No problem, right?" Red Hair swaggered over with a cocky, wide-legged gait, his four underlings trailing behind him, each striking a pose more absurdly badass than the last, all trying to look cool and tough.

"Borrow money?" Wei Zhao arched an eyebrow, a half-smile on his lips.

"Yeah, borrow money. Doesn't have to be much — a ten-thousand or twenty-thousand, just to be polite about it. How much exactly depends on whether you know how to play nice, kid." Red Hair had a cigarette clamped between his lips and blew a smoke ring with what he took to be great flair.

"Then I'd better get this straight. Is it just you borrowing money, or are these Four Heavenly Kings behind you borrowing too?" Wei Zhao said mildly.

"Four Heavenly Kings?" Red Hair glanced back at his posturing underlings, and his face immediately darkened. These four idiots — one holding an umbrella, one holding a fruit knife, one holding a guitar, and the most ridiculous of all, one holding a pet golden python. Damn it if they weren't literally the Four Heavenly Kings!

The four underlings, oblivious, only struck their poses with even more vigor at Wei Zhao's words. They seemed rather pleased with the title.

"Yeah, the Four Heavenly Kings want to borrow too. Just hand it over as you see fit, kid." Red Hair fought down the urge to turn around and hit someone, and looked at Wei Zhao with a black scowl.

"Four Heavenly Kings, and you still need to borrow money?" Wei Zhao chuckled and spread his hands. "What a pity. I don't have a single cent on me. Want to search me and see?"

"No money? How come I just saw you on the street holding a wad of cash? Kid, us brothers asking you for a loan is us giving you face. A person's got to know how to play along — understand?" Red Hair said, his expression turning ugly.

"I did have some, but those two swindlers just now cheated me out of it. I haven't got a cent left on me now." Wei Zhao shook his head.

Red Hair still didn't believe him, but the Heavenly King with the golden python did. He leaned in and said, "Red Hair bro, the kid might be telling the truth. I've seen those two before — con artists who work the villages, prey on the yokels. They've been operating here in the county town lately. If this kid got marked by them, he might really have been cleaned out."

"Why the hell didn't you say so earlier!" Red Hair flew into a rage. Had he known, he'd have brought his men to waylay those two swindlers instead — rob the robbers, no risk at all, and a bigger haul to boot.

"Red Hair bro, you didn't ask me..." The Golden Python Heavenly King wore a look of utter grievance.

"Do I have to ask about something like that? Would it kill you to use your brain for once!" Red Hair could have kicked this idiot underling to death. It was too late now to go after those two swindlers — having pulled off their con, they'd have vanished at the first opportunity, lest the sucker in front of them come to his senses and give chase.

"So now you believe me?" Wei Zhao cut in, half-smiling.

Red Hair had already believed him, but the sight of that expression on Wei Zhao's face instantly roused his suspicion again. He jabbed a finger at the Golden Python Heavenly King. "You go search him. He might still have some on him!"

"Huh?" The Golden Python Heavenly King froze, and after a glare from Red Hair, reluctantly shuffled over. He reached out to pat Wei Zhao's pockets — and the next instant his expression changed drastically. He didn't dare so much as glance at Wei Zhao, and stammering, he turned his head and said, "N-none... there's none..."

"None? Did you even search properly, you idiot? If he's still got money on him, it'll be hidden away good and tight. What use is a couple of random pats like that!" Red Hair cursed.

"That's not what I mean — I mean he doesn't have any pockets..." The Golden Python Heavenly King was on the verge of tears.

"Bullshit! Aren't those two trouser pockets of his pockets?" Red Hair looked ready to kick him.

"B-but... I can't touch him... it's empty..." The Golden Python Heavenly King no longer dared stand anywhere near Wei Zhao. With a wail, as if he'd seen a ghost, he fled behind Red Hair and the others.

Red Hair and his men didn't understand a word of it. They stood dumbfounded for a good while before Red Hair cursed, "What kind of nonsense is that? Useless piece of trash — can't even handle a little thing like this. I'll do it myself!"

With that, Red Hair walked up to Wei Zhao and reached for his trouser pocket. But then his own face took on the look of a man who'd seen a ghost. His grab came up empty — Wei Zhao was plainly standing right there, yet he'd grabbed a fistful of air and touched nothing at all. (To be continued.)