Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune: Starting with death row inmates

Shen Chen kicked Zheng Yu, who was lying on the ground, and seeing that he was completely unresponsive, he called to Zhuang Man and the others: "Shove Liu Ming and this constable into the wine barrel together, let's get out of the city as soon as possible!"

Liu Ming's current posture didn't require much attention from the others. After Zhuang Man and the others tied up Zheng Yu, they stuffed him into a nearby wine barrel.

"Xiaolong, search Liu Ming's room again and see if he's hiding anything valuable. Zhuang Man and I will keep watch at the door to prevent anyone else from getting close," Shen Chen instructed.

He immediately went to the door and saw a sleek, shiny horse grazing on the grass. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Liu Ming is really thoughtful; he's even prepared horses for us."

"Hahaha." The others also laughed.

Zhuang Man was excited. Last time, he and Zhang Xiaolong joined forces to capture Liu Ming, but Liu Ming severely injured him instead, causing him to lose face. This time, Shen Chen did not lift a finger, but he was able to capture Liu Ming into the bucket, and even caught the constable who was in contact with Liu Ming.

"Shen is really amazing..." Zhuang Man thought to himself. He couldn't help but blush when he recalled his past actions in vying with Shen Chen for the leadership position. "I was such a fool back then."

Zhang Xiaolong came out carrying a box of gold, his face beaming with excitement: "Boss Shen, Liu Ming really did hide money! This box has a full three hundred taels of gold!"

Upon hearing this, the faces of the men turned red. Three hundred taels of gold, when converted, was equivalent to three hundred thousand counterfeit currency!

With this money, none of them will have to worry about food and clothing in the future, and they can even afford Qi-boosting medicine, greatly increasing their chances of becoming true Qi martial artists!

With such a huge fortune right in front of them, none of the martial artists at the Internal Organs Realm made a move to take it; instead, they all turned their gazes toward Shen Chen.

Shen Chen said calmly, "We'll divide it up when we get back to the village. Let's go."

"Yes, Chief Shen!" the men replied in unison.

Shen Chen mounted the steed that had originally been prepared for Liu Ming's escape and led the group, now disguised as a Qin Dynasty merchant caravan, to the city gate.

"Stop, routine check." A young soldier at the door reached out and stopped Shen Chen.

Shen Chen glanced down at them, then suddenly cracked his whip and shouted in a thick Western Region accent, "Great Qin caravan, let's see who dares to touch our goods!"

As soon as the words "Great Qin" were uttered, the soldiers of Great Yan at the gate all lowered their heads.

An experienced soldier hurried over and said with a smile to Shen Chen and his group, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the newcomers don't know the rules. Please show us your trade documents."

Shen Chen tossed out the trade document, which the soldier glanced at briefly. Seeing that it bore Qin script, he respectfully returned it to Shen Chen, saying, "Please take care!"

After the "Great Qin Merchant Caravan" left, the old soldier sighed and pinched the young soldier's cheek: "You, you, didn't I tell you? When you hear a Great Qin accent, quickly lower your head and behave yourself. Why do you always have to make things difficult for them?"

The young soldier curled his lip, his voice filled with indignation: "I just can't stand it. Why are the Qin people so arrogant and domineering on our Great Yan territory?"

The veteran scoffed, "Why should I? Let me tell you, it's because the Qin people have the backing of two great dynasties!"

"What do you mean?" The young soldier was a little confused.

"Whether it's the Qin Dynasty or the Yan Dynasty, they all side with the Qin people. That's why they dare to act so arrogantly," the veteran sighed.

……

Liu Ming felt as if he were having a dream. In the dream, he had already ridden a thousand-mile horse and arrived in the Great Qin with a hundred taels of gold. There was fine wine everywhere and Hu women with exposed bellies could be seen everywhere. It was simply a paradise on earth.

"Whoosh!" A bone-chilling cold suddenly came from above.

Liu Ming blinked, his eyes blurry with drunkenness, and saw a group of bandits standing in front of him, with the sound of knives being sharpened nearby.

"Liu Ming, did you sleep well?" Zhao Ying asked slowly, wiping her hands with a cloth.

"Dad?" Liu Ming sobered up instantly, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.

Only then did he realize that he was tied to a wooden stake and that all his clothes had been removed.

When did I get kidnapped and taken back to the mountain stronghold?

Liu Ming's head was throbbing with worry. Just then, he spotted a familiar figure among the bandits and immediately shouted, "It's you!"

Shen Chen turned his head and saw Liu Ming glaring at him with resentment, so he smiled and said, "Brother Liu, is the Qin wine delicious?"

"You! Who are you?" Liu Ming was both shocked and furious. He hated Shen Chen to the extreme, but he didn't know when this person had appeared in the village.

Zhao Ying said, "So you can die knowing why. This man's name is Shen Chen, nicknamed 'Ghost Calculator.' It's your good fortune to have fallen into his hands."

He turned to a woman behind him who was sharpening a knife and asked, "Zhiyan, is the knife sharpened yet?"

The woman named Zhiyan was the leader killed by Liu Ming, and Fu Han's widow. She carefully handed the knife to Zhao Ying, her eyes fixed fiercely on Liu Ming: "Liu Ming, when you killed my old Fu, did you ever think of this day?"

Liu Ming lowered his head and remained silent. He already knew the fate of a traitor and was about to bite his tongue to commit suicide when he was horrified to find that all his teeth had been pulled out at some point.

"Come on, one knife each, but don't stab him in vital areas." Zhao Ying's voice was enthusiastic, but her words were cold.

Zhao Ying stabbed Liu Ming in the ribs, and Liu Ming cried out in pain. Then Fu Han's widow took the knife and stabbed Liu Ming in the back. The knife then fell into Shen Chen's hands.

Shen Chen glanced at the blood-stained knife in his hand, and without much hesitation, he stepped forward and plunged the knife into Liu Ming's body.

The people behind had already formed a line. When it was Fang Xue's turn, Liu Ming was covered in blood, but he was still alive.

Everyone here has killed someone; they know where to stab without causing serious injury.

Only after Fang Xue stabbed him with the final blow did Liu Ming finally breathe his last.

Afterwards, Zhao Ying cut out Liu Ming's heart and liver and made a hangover soup for the bandits present. Shen Chen found the soup unbearable, so he made an excuse to go out and relieve himself.

When they returned to the banquet, Liu Ming's body was gone. The bandits were all arm in arm, chatting and laughing as if nothing had happened.

Zhuang Manzheng was excitedly recounting the capture of Liu Ming to those around him: "...At that time, I thought we had been exposed, but unexpectedly, Shen Tou started cursing the constable..."

"Shen Chen." Zhao Ying suddenly called out Shen Chen's name.

Shen Chen turned around and cupped his hands in greeting to Zhao Ying: "Master Zhao."

Zhao Ying looked Shen Chen up and down, then smiled and nodded: "Thanks to you for capturing Liu Ming, this has put my mind at ease."

"It's what I should do," Shen Chen said politely.

After chatting with Shen Chen for a while, Zhao Ying suddenly said, "I want to adopt you as my godson. What do you think?"