Chapter 164: The Abandoned Plan
Morning.
The rising sun shone on Ji Ma’s face as she opened her eyes, feeling somewhat frozen. She raised her hand to rub her eyes, and a soft blanket slid down her arm, the smooth touch immediately jolting her awake.
Wasn’t I sleeping outside on the grass, leaning against a tree last night? Is this an illusion?
Ji Ma widened her golden eyes, looking around to see a four-story building that was blackened and emitting a haze of smoke. The gilded statues on the walls were now dirty and lost their former glory. Not far away, a group of people were moving belongings from a noble’s residence, and a soldier was carrying a sack of silverware, stuffing it into a luxurious carriage.
The carriage was already filled with valuable items, and one had to push hard to close the door.
Still shaken, Ji Ma felt her thigh and found nothing.
Where’s my tool? It was right here last night!
She looked up and saw George standing on the balcony of the third floor, a serious expression on his face as he gazed into the distance.
Why’s he up so early? I haven’t even had a chance to tease him yet.
Ji Ma rubbed her thigh, stood up, and called out to George on the balcony, “George! Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
His tone sounded somewhat downcast.
“I want to come up too!”
George turned around, jumped down from the third floor, and extended his right hand to Ji Ma, saying:
“I’ll help you jump up.”
“Unsteady.” Ji Ma replied, grabbing his left hand, and said, “Hold me at the waist, just like a brave knight saving a princess in a chivalric tale.”
“But—”
“Just do it.”
“Alright.”
George swiftly picked Ji Ma up at the waist, his arms steady as steel. Ji Ma leaned against his armored chest, catching a hint of the familiar scent of peach blossoms. She let out a breath and took a deep breath.
George jumped up to the third floor and immediately set Ji Ma down.
Ji Ma looked closely at his profile and noticed that his serious face had a slight flush, which could just be the light of the rising sun hitting him, but she tended to think George was feeling emotional.
This wooden man must be conflicted about his feelings for me; otherwise, he wouldn’t have hesitated earlier. Still too young.
Ji Ma didn’t disturb George. She covered the sunlight hitting her face with one hand and looked around.
It was the familiar balcony.
“George, do you know this balcony?” Ji Ma said, “Last time the big shot Fulis brought me here to meet the great benefactor. This place is used to entertain distinguished guests. When the Demon King Kima visited, the great benefactor would definitely host him here, like a tail-wagging dog flattering the Demon King, saying: ‘Thank you for making Shalin City prosperous.’”
Ji Ma continued:
“At that time, the great shot Fulis was so flattered, he could hardly restrain himself from pouncing on the great benefactor and licking his shoes. After Fulis left, the great benefactor made me sit down and thanked me for saving Shalin City. Haha, if he were still alive now, I would make him look at this city and tell him during his pain that the reason he failed wasn’t slavery, nor the burned ignition zone decades ago, but because he angered me. You damn panderer.”
“I don’t agree with your view.”
“I know, after all, I am a demon.”
“I feel uneasy when I see cities descending into chaos and disorder,” George said. “I have done the just thing, but this justice inevitably brings about bad consequences. There’s robbery, murder, and crime everywhere; people act like beasts in the jungle.”
“Everything has its good side.” Ji Ma pointed not far away to a group of former slaves brandishing weapons and hardly clothed, driving a cart loaded with treasure. “At least this is an act of just wealth redistribution, beneficial for breaking the solidified class structure; the extent of this redistribution is unprecedented.”
It seemed, perhaps an illusion, that George looked somewhat amused, the corners of his mouth slightly lifting for a moment before vanishing.
“No, this is just robbery. They haven’t grown richer; what they’ve stolen could easily be robbed by others.”
“I dare say, today is the happiest day for them,” Ji Ma said. “Previously, order left them with nothing, uncertainty of survival; now, what’s wrong with stealing? This city doesn’t give them a way to live; no one is qualified to condemn them for not providing a way out.”
“I will re-establish order later.”
Hearing this, Ji Ma felt a headache coming on. She quickly changed the subject:
“Let’s not talk about that for now. Have you found the great benefactor’s body? Is the Shadow King Acanis still alive?”
George answered one by one:
“I only found a large lump of flesh covered in burnt mushrooms, looking like several bodies melded together. If I hadn’t found the great benefactor’s bone sword among the remains, I wouldn’t have recognized him; the Shadow King Acanis should be dead.”
“Did the extraordinary material separate out?”
George shook his head and said, “After such a long time, it’s long gone.”
Ji Ma blurted out:
“That’s a loss of a hundred million. What about the fear war weapon? That’s platinum.”
“Already collected. I completed the initial seal; it’s very dangerous. By the way, here’s your blood horn cup.” George said, handing Ji Ma a black horn cup. “I want to know how you got it.”
As Ji Ma took the blood cup, the moment her hand brushed against it, she felt herself beginning to lose blood as if the cup was sucking at her veins.
“You probably guessed.”
“I’d rather hear you say it yourself; I won’t punish you.”
Ji Ma initially thought of brushing it off but, for some reason, maybe she was in an exceptionally good mood today, she couldn’t keep her thoughts hidden anymore and blurted out:
“Anyway, I did save you; if you punish me, it just shows you have no humanity.”
As soon as she said this, she felt she had gone too far. While that may be true, saying it out loud would ruin her charm.
“You’re right,” George said. “Now tell me how you got the blood horn cup. In hindsight, the gnoll I encountered was very suspicious. It appeared right when the Shadow King did, and it was particularly clever, very much like you.”
Ji Ma didn’t want to answer but couldn’t control her mouth, saying:
“I’m not going to tell you how I snuck out next time.”
After saying this, Ji Ma felt something was off.
George said:
“There won’t be a next time. If we can face each other honestly and openly, you wouldn’t need to sneak out.”
“So you’re not going to treat me like a prisoner anymore? Watching over me every day?”
“I never treated you as a prisoner; I just hoped to redeem you,” George said. “Now you’ve proven you have a heart of gold. I hope we can be honest with each other. The sage Paulo once said: ‘Concealment is like darkness and needs light to illuminate it.’ From now on, you’ll be a true attendant.”
Ji Ma was forced to memorize a heap of the church’s doctrines and stories of foolish goodness produced by the church. She understood that the God of Dawn has light to illuminate the darkness, with attributes of openness and non-secrecy. Therefore, the church advocates and even enforces transparency, not hiding one’s self-interest, not wearing a mask.
Speak frankly, and don’t bury it in one’s heart.
Ji Ma felt that the church must really like the Trisolarans, making efforts to evolve into a transparent-thinking race.
“He also said: ‘Tolerance and understanding are the cornerstones of openness; never punish honest people.’”
“That’s very true, but I remember it wasn’t from him; you also lied.”
“Because I just made it up.”
“I will be tolerant and try to understand you.”
“I have a way to open the Demon King Kima’s treasury. I made a deal with the Shadow King Acanis. The gnoll was me; he lent me the Shadow Blade to poke the gnoll. The Shadow Blade can steal the identity of the injured…”
Ji Ma elaborated in detail, with many specifics, including the green leaves on the chest of the green dragon Tyliss, her alluring buttocks, and the leaves barely covering her rear… This plethora of details turned Ji Ma’s storytelling into an extremely lengthy endeavor, causing George to feel somewhat drowsy listening.
Ji Ma was being intentional; she wanted to use all these details to cover one crucial question. That is, how did she make contact with the Shadow King?
If George knew that she could enter dreams to deceive people, any non-idiot would realize that an 800-jin matter was not that simple. A series of questions following… Getting spanked was secondary; if forced to say out loud like in a nightmare: ‘I want to seduce you…’
Then Ji Ma might as well commit suicide on the spot.
After finishing, Ji Ma anxiously looked at George.
She didn’t want to confess but couldn’t control her mouth for some reason.
George’s lips moved as he asked:
“So, you actually know that the key left by the Demon King Kima in the bank treasury is fake?”
This was one of the questions Ji Ma least wanted to answer.
How did he come up with such a key question? My luck is really terrible; perhaps I used up all my fortune last night.
“I certainly didn’t know.”
“Liar.”
Ji Ma’s big eyes looked elsewhere as an awkward expression crossed her face. She said:
“Right, long live understanding. I’m quite greedy; what if I gave you the real key and you took all the treasure? I was really worried at that time.”
“I was actually doing something stupid and embarrassing while following the Demon King Kima’s requirements, yelling foolish things. I thought I wasn’t loud enough and even raised my voice.”
“At least no one saw.”
“A group of people sent by the big shot Fulis assisted me; after I ran for three hills, they all looked at me with a kind of pitying gaze.”
“Ah, let the past be the past; you won’t spank me, right?”
George seemed to make a very difficult decision, taking a deep breath and saying:
“When you came back last night, I was very happy; I won’t punish you for this matter.”
As expected, foolish. Poor virgin fell into a trap.
Ji Ma’s tail happily wagged beneath her skirt as she said:
“Let’s divide the treasury, seventy-thirty, ah no, fifty-fifty, how’s that? I’ll open the door, and you’ll protect the treasure, and we can even hire some boats from Shalin City. Now the people in Shalin City definitely need job opportunities; we’re doing a good deed.”
George didn’t speak; he faced the sunlight, gazing at the city before saying after a moment: “I’ll think about it.”
Take as long as you want; you’re already my tool, and in the end, you’ll surely obey me and help me empty the treasury. At most, you can distribute your share to Shalin City. Really pitiful, just my puppet, think about it, think about it, and in the end, you can only agree with me.
Ji Ma felt victorious, hands on her hips, her tail happily swaying back and forth.
“Here they come,” George’s tone suddenly lightened.
“Here?”
Ji Ma covered her eyes from the sunlight, following George’s gaze to the direction of the dock. There, a large fleet was approaching the pier, flying the flag of Deepwater City.
She suddenly felt uneasy and asked, “What is this?”
“Deepwater City has funded my actions,” George said, “We signed a 120-page contract, stating that if Shalin City falls into a state of anarchy, then Deepwater City must come here to occupy it and restore order. I think Deepwater City is better than the slave-ridden Shalin City.”
Ji Ma’s face paled further as she said, “So… the treasury?”
“Sorry, I don’t want to cooperate with you,” George said. “I will work with Deepwater City to excavate the Demon King Kima’s treasury for the reconstruction of Shalin City; in the future, there will be no slaves in Shalin City. The Demon King Kima made the evil slave-ridden Shalin City; now, using his legacy, we will allow Shalin City to be reborn.”
Ji Ma felt dizzy and fell to the ground. George quickly supported her, saying, “Ji Ma, Ji Ma, are you okay?”
“I feel really bad.”
Damn retribution.
