Chapter 132 Chapter 133 Money Luck
Ji Ma held a crossbow in both hands and looked into the yard.
She saw a flat-headed young man next to a clothes rack swaying with stockings, who had inappropriate thoughts about Ji Ma’s underwear, fall to the ground. Li Anxi, like an irritated cat, bared her teeth and grabbed a wooden stick to hit the rural youth on the head.
He raised his hand to block while using his other hand to brace himself as he ran.
Behind him were two companions, one with a mushroom haircut and the other bald, who were cursing from the wall.
“Son of a bitch! Filthy thing!”
“Put down the stick!”
Li Anxi struck the flat-headed young man on the head, causing him to cover his head in pain and shout:
“Henry! Come save me!”
“Wait!” The mushroom-haired Henry had just crossed over the wall when Li Anxi turned around and struck his calf with the stick, making him pull back his foot in pain.
At this moment, the flat-headed young man stood up, glaring intensely at Li Anxi, shouting, “Son of a bitch!”
After saying that, he lunged at the shorter Li Anxi.
Ji Ma immediately shouted, “If you don’t want to die, stand still!”
Then, without hesitation, she aimed at the flat-headed young man and pulled the trigger. The crossbow bolt grazed the scalp of the flat-headed young man, embedding itself into the wall.
Mushroom-headed Henry quickly withdrew his foot, shouting, “Stop! She has a crossbow!”
The flat-headed young man, frightened, touched his head and froze in place, turning to look at Ji Ma.
Ji Ma had already deftly reloaded the crossbow, aiming at the young man’s chest and saying, “Next shot I won’t miss; I’ll shoot your heart directly.”
The young man was at a loss, while the bald companion next to Henry, scared, jumped off the wall to escape, and Henry shouted, “Calm down! Calm down! He meant no harm; he just wanted to steal a piece of clothing.”
Ji Ma suddenly felt disgusted, her skin prickling with goosebumps, and a murderous intent rose in her heart. She stepped forward, sternly scolding, “What filthy hands touched my clothes?! This is my home; it’s only right that I kill you!”
The flat-headed young man was so frightened that he couldn’t even speak. Ji Ma’s index finger rested on the trigger. To her, killing the young man before her was as trivial as stepping on a cockroach—there was no psychological barrier.
Li Anxi ran to Ji Ma and said, “Master, I caught him stealing, and I knocked him down with one blow.”
Ji Ma shouted at the flat-headed young man, “Get lost! I’ll count to five!”
The young man hurriedly got up and ran towards the wall like a headless fly, jumping but failing to grab the edge and fell to the ground.
“Five!”
Mushroom-headed Henry quickly extended his hand, shouting, “Quick! Grab my hand!”
The flat-headed young man grabbed Henry’s hand and hurriedly climbed over the wall, followed by a crash as he fell to the ground, and then the sound of running.
Ji Ma lowered her crossbow, her face flushed with anger, and carefully looked around the scene. The skirts and underwear hanging on the clothes rack were untouched, while one of the cat ears on Li Anxi’s head was bent and covered in dust.
“Are you hurt?”
“Master, it doesn’t hurt,” Li Anxi said. “He just hit me on the head once, and I picked up the stick to hit him.”
Li Anxi was thin, only twelve years old, a head shorter than Ji Ma, yet she dared to confront the disgusting little thief stealing underwear.
Ji Ma felt very pleased, reaching out to smooth her cat ears and dust off her head, saying, “You’ve worked hard.”
Li Anxi smiled happily but suddenly thought of something, saying, “I’m sorry, Master.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I was discovered.” She pressed her hands against the fluffy red cat ears on her head, trying to push them into her hair. “Everyone knows there’s a bastard in your family.”
“Don’t call yourself a bastard,” Ji Ma said. “It’s just right; I need to talk to the villagers.”
They couldn’t just sit back and wait; who knew what those three scoundrels would say when they returned to the village? They would probably exaggerate and cause panic among the villagers. Although it wouldn’t be serious enough for them to come with torches at night to burn down the yard, it would certainly mean Li Anxi would be bullied when she went to the village to buy things in the future.
Ji Ma said, “Bring the horse here; I need to talk to the village chief.”
“Okay, Master.”
Ji Ma changed into a suitable dress, pinned a brooch, and donned a sun hat with a black veil, looking like a lady, while a weapon belt was strapped around her waist, holding the crossbow. She sat sideways on the horse, and Li Anxi, wearing a straw hat, followed behind her, looking anxious.
Once they reached the village, the discussions went smoothly. The villagers saw Ji Ma and thought she was an important person, certainly affluent, and they succeeded in meeting the village chief.
Originally, the chief was very displeased with Ji Ma and hated having a bastard settle near the village, shouting for her family’s men to come talk. But after Ji Ma took off her hat, the chief’s attitude softened considerably. Upon hearing Ji Ma came from the Sanctuary and was able to create magical potions, he immediately became attentive.
Herbalists usually also act as doctors, and villagers could buy ointments or seek remedies from them when injured or having unusual ailments, plus the Sanctuary’s reputation was excellent.
The chief immediately believed Ji Ma, taking her to find the parents of the three boys.
Ji Ma didn’t dwell too long on the matter, simply telling the parents to take care of their sons and not let them run off stealing girls’ underwear, as there had been frequent underwear thefts in Marin City lately, and everyone was digging three feet into the ground to find the culprit.
If they got caught, it wouldn’t end well for them.
As she spoke, her words quickly spread throughout the village, and everyone chattered, suspecting those three were the notorious underwear thieves that plagued the city.
Henry’s father, the village blacksmith, felt embarrassed when he heard this and gave Ji Ma a few silver coins as compensation.
When leaving, Ji Ma asked Li Anxi to buy some things, and she followed behind, letting everyone know Li Anxi was the herbalist’s maid.
The process went smoothly, and when Ji Ma left, she had a barrel of beer and a bag of fresh milk, along with a game hen for sale from a hunter hanging nearby.
Ji Ma was in a good mood and planned to reward Li Anxi properly when she got home. She grabbed a handful of coins from her money pouch and handed them to Li Anxi, saying:
“This is your reward.”
Li Anxi cupped the gold coins with both hands, her eyes shining as she said:
“Thank you for your grace, Master!”
After this little commotion, Ji Ma returned home to continue reading Galtte’s “Alchemy Notes.”
After flipping through a few pages, her head became swollen from the convoluted logic and profound magical knowledge. She yawned and lay down on the recliner, tossing the book aside.
“It would be better to find someone to sell this book.”
Ji Ma suddenly remembered the money luck talisman she had made and wondered about its effectiveness.
She called Li Anxi and asked, “Have you been keeping the talisman close to you?”
“I’ve been wearing it all the time.” Saying this, Li Anxi reached inside her collar to pull out the talisman.
Ji Ma blinked, observing its magic. The faint golden magic inside had grown even fainter, and the faint golden glow above Li Anxi’s head also dimmed.
Was the magic depleting? At this rate, it would be drained in a few days. Why hadn’t Li Anxi picked up any money yet?
Ji Ma suddenly slapped her forehead.
Who said Li Anxi hadn’t picked up any money? The gold coins she granted her were all money! She hadn’t expected the money luck to take effect in this way, and the results were remarkably quick.
“Little Li, go fetch the money I gave you.”
Li Anxi was taken aback and said, “Okay, Master.”
She turned and soon returned with a cloth bundle of gold coins, laying them on the table and spreading them out.
Ji Ma counted; there were a total of eleven gold coins. She stretched out her hand to grasp them, the coins filling her small hands. Li Anxi didn’t secretly hide any gold coins; her loyalty was evident.
Ji Ma felt a bit heartbroken; her hands were so small yet could hold so many gold coins. It must be the influence of the “money luck talisman.”
“Hold onto it well; don’t buy any drugs, like black lotus or anything.” Ji Ma pushed the gold coins toward Li Anxi, “And don’t buy any strong liquor either.”
“Understood, Master.”
Li Anxi accepted the gold coins.
“You can go about your business now.”
Ji Ma waved her hand, and after Li Anxi left, she lay on the recliner and calculated her gains.
Li Anxi got eleven gold coins and an additional five silver coins from the blacksmith as compensation. The only cost was getting a stick and fighting with a thieving scoundrel; although they were young men taller than her, they weren’t ruthless, and they didn’t use excessive force.
Li Anxi only received one hit to the head, while the material cost was three gold coins. Compared to Xinji’s works, the effectiveness was of a whole different level.
This indicated that the wider the final glow’s range during potion making, the brighter it was. Hence, the better the effect.
But it could also be that she had more money now, resulting in higher gains for Li Anxi.
Nonetheless, this was an encouraging outcome for Ji Ma. It proved her understanding of potion making was correct.
She tossed the “Alchemy Notes” aside, walked into the alchemy room, and continued practicing.
After making three money luck talismans, Ji Ma’s stomach began to rumble. She glanced at her personal system time; it was time for lunch, so she stopped her work.
She closed her eyes and felt her condition. Some magic had been expended; she could not continue indefinitely.
She left the alchemy room, made some spiced chicken, and then took a nap on her bed. Afterward, she rode off to Marin Castle to attend school, leaving Li Anxi alone at home.
…
…
On the road to Le’an Port.
A pair of elves rode horses under the scorching sun.
George, clad in armor, led the way atop his horse, Old White, who, while running, grumbled, “It’s always the innocent mounts that suffer when the rider wears armor.”
Of course, no one else could understand what it was saying.
To George’s right was an elven maid, and to her right was Eve Frostleaf. The elven maid faithfully fulfilled her duty, acting as a buffer between the two.
However, that was twenty minutes ago.
Eve Frostleaf had unknowingly fallen behind the two by a full half body length.
She was quite considerate toward her mount. She wasn’t wearing armor or a dress; rather, her pair of long, shapely silver legs clutched the white mare, lightly kicking its belly.
The white stallion increased speed, gradually moving toward George’s left side, where there was no elven maid blocking the way.
Just as Eve Frostleaf was about to catch up with George, the elven maid suddenly maneuvered her horse, forcefully inserting herself between the two.
Eve Frostleaf shot her a cold glance.
The elven maid said, “My duty is to keep you protected, Lady Frostleaf.”
Frostleaf said nothing.
At that moment, her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of movement in the grass on both sides of the road, as a stall trap rose up in the middle of the path.
She immediately shouted, “Ambush!”
The poor steeds in front stumbled, and Eve Frostleaf’s horse was no exception—it tumbled heavily. She nimbly jumped off its back, landing steadily.
At a glance, she saw George hadn’t fallen; his mount had leapt over the trap at the last moment.
The elves riding behind immediately reined in their horses, just as weapons were drawn, when crossbow bolts suddenly shot out from the grass on either side, toppling many elves who had only donned breastplates in their rush.
Eve Frostleaf glanced at the pitch-black crossbow bolt embedded in her fellow elf and spat out three words: “Duruzhi.”
A few dark elves, painted with black eyeshadow, sporting sky-high hairdos, and dressed in black light armor, emerged from the thickets, more figures appearing to surround them.
George reined in his horse, shouting, “Dark elves are attacking!”
