Chapter 23 Watch Me Charge Fees

After I finished speaking, I looked at them. Ah Tian was the first to burst into laughter. "I never expected it. You believe in this stuff at such a young age."

The boss sighed and said, "Regardless of what it is, my purpose for coming here is just Sakurayuki."

Kakashi immediately came up and grabbed my shoulder, saying, "Siyi, Siyi, we absolutely can't back out now. Look, two villages have been burned, everyone dead. After nine years, there might be three villages gone, then four after another nine years, and in another nine years, they'll all be burned down. Whatever is being suppressed here might escape. When that happens, powerful strange monsters or something else might threaten our Earth. We can't wait for Ultraman; let a few of us be the heroes this time and save the world."

After he finished speaking, he tightly held my hand and looked at the three people beside us. They all stared at Kakashi as if they were looking at a monster. Kakashi looked at them and signaled for them to join hands, but Su Haicheng turned and walked towards the west, saying, "Anyway, let's go to the village first and ask around, especially about the legend. Once we have some clues and are fully prepared, we can discuss whether to go underwater or not."

Ah Tian nodded and followed Su Haicheng, saying to me, "Siyi, if you haven't eaten enough, eat while walking."

"Oh, alright. I still don't support going underwater. Let's gather some information in the village." I shrugged off Kakashi's hand and followed their footsteps.

The boss also caught up with Su Haicheng and said, "Hey, Su Haicheng, give me the key. If you guys don't plan on going underwater, I'll go by myself!"

Kakashi was left alone in place, his hand still extended, shouting behind us, "Don't you guys have any conscience? I'm just boosting morale for us. Hey, wait for me. Siyi, I didn't know you were so amazing, with knowledge about formations. Can you tell me more?"

By the time we reached the next village, it was already afternoon. These villages were rarely visited, but that doesn't mean no one ever enters them. A middle-aged woman carrying a bundle of vegetable leaves was the first to notice us and hospitably asked, "Which family are you looking for? I can help show you the way."

The boss immediately smiled and said, "Auntie, we're just here to have fun. Can we go to your house?"

"Of course, of course. Come, follow me."

She agreed just like that and led us towards her house. Both Kakashi and I widened our eyes in surprise. Su Haicheng and Ah Tian didn't seem to have such a strong reaction.

I walked at the back of the group and whispered, "Isn't she worried that we might be bad people?"

"Yeah, exactly!"

The boss, also speaking in a hushed tone, said, "People do come into these villages sometimes. The families who receive guests always receive money as compensation. These villages are far from the county town, and they don't lack food but money. So, they are more than happy to accommodate us. As outsiders, as soon as we enter the village, someone will notice, and they will know which family we go to. Don't have any bad intentions."

"So, they are simple-minded, huh?" If it weren't for this trip, I would never have understood this perspective.

When we arrived at Auntie's house, her husband saw that guests had come and quickly asked the women to prepare the food. I looked at the wooden house, two stories high, with pigs kept downstairs and a small hall upstairs for the owner, with a total of four rooms on both sides. There was no kitchen; they cooked in a corner of the living room. And that strange barrel in the pot was supposedly used for steaming rice.

There was a small color television with a makeshift antenna made from a pot lid, and it could receive quite a few TV channels. The walls were filled with names and phone numbers written in charcoal. The boss quietly told me that in such villages, the more names and phone numbers written in the living room, the more respected the owner of the house is.

Su Haicheng had a cold expression on his face, but he still spoke politely. "Sir, we would like to learn about a legend here, something about a key and dead people coming back."

The elderly man, with gray-white hair and a hunched back, holding a massive hookah pipe, squinted his small eyes for a moment. "How do you know about that key?"

He spoke in the local dialect, which was difficult to understand. The boss quickly stepped forward and said, "My girlfriend is from a nearby village."

Only then did the elderly man nod and let his guard down. He started walking outward and said, "I'll go get the teacher from the village to talk to you."

In a village, the teacher and the village chief were the most respected individuals. While waiting, Ah Tian said he was going hunting because he noticed that the food prepared for us by the auntie consisted of only a chicken carcass and vegetables. A chicken carcass? For me and Kakashi, who had always lived in the city, it was something unknown. It was during that time that I learned a chicken carcass referred to the remains of a chicken after removing the flesh and skin. Their lives were mostly self-sufficient. Suddenly having so many guests, they couldn't prepare any good dishes in such a short time.

Su Haicheng stood at the staircase on the first floor, watching Ah Tian leave. The boss and Kakashi were still studying the names left by various people in the living room, even finding one left by a professor from University D who brought students for a field trip.

I stood with Su Haicheng at the staircase, watching Ah Tian leave, and whispered, "He went hunting with a gun, right? Is it safe?"

"Ah Tian is skilled with firearms and has hunting experience."

"I thought he was just a decorative bar owner." I chuckled. However, when I turned to look at Su Haicheng beside me, he still had a cold expression. Is this guy's sense of humor dead or what? "Hey!" Irritated, I went around him, blocking his path. I caught his gaze.

Normally, in this situation, one would ask, "What's wrong?" But he didn't. He just looked at me, waiting for me to speak. I knew he was waiting for me to say something, but I remained silent. I just kept looking at him, and he continued to look at me without saying a word.

I couldn't help but speak up, "Hey, are you just going to keep staring at me? What's with the intense gaze? By the way, I've spent quite a bit of money from your card, but I can't repay you right now. If you keep staring at me like this, I'll have to consider charging a fee. There's only one of me in the whole world, rarer than a giant panda. Five hundred per hour isn't too expensive, right? Take a look, take a look, I'm paying off my debt. Oh, by the way, do you want me to unzip my jacket a bit?"

My hand rested on the zipper of my military green outdoor jacket. Five seconds later, the corner of his lips twitched, and he turned his face away. I let go of my hand and let out a sigh, "Su Haicheng! You finally smiled. I thought you became completely dumb and incapable of smiling after this incident."

"I didn't smile."

"You did smile, I saw it."

"I really didn't."

I gave him a disdainful look, "Just admit that you smiled, okay? I even sacrificed my charm to make you happy, and you don't give any reaction. No wonder you're thirty and still can't find a girlfriend!"

I turned around, intending to go upstairs, but when I passed by him, he grabbed my hand. "Fine, I smiled. Just don't make such jokes again."

"Are you serious?" Looking at his awkward expression, I couldn't help but tease him further. Actually, what I wanted to ask was whether he was a thirty-year-old virgin. But I was afraid he would get angry.

He didn't say anything else and turned around, going upstairs faster than me. Ah Tian came back quickly, holding a pheasant in his hand. The smile on Auntie's face made her eyes almost unable to open.

After the table was set with food, we sat down at the table, accompanied by the village chief and the village teacher. The village chief was an old man in his seventies, and the teacher was a man in his thirties wearing a cheap suit.

Auntie didn't join us at the table; she just held a bowl and ate the leftover food by the stove. I called out a few times, and the teacher said to me, "Miss, no need to call. It's the custom here that women don't eat at the table."

"Oh? Then what should I..."

Kakashi, being cheeky, laughed and said, "Siyi, come on, take your bowl and join the pigs downstairs to eat." He even picked up a chicken leg and offered it to me.

I glared at him, wanting to scold him, but I kept my composure in front of everyone. The teacher quickly said, "You can eat with us. You're a guest, a guest from outside. A university student, right? Haha, I also attended high school, wanted to go to university, but couldn't pass the exams back then."

The men poured the drinks, as it was customary to have a bowl of liquor before the meal when there were guests present. The teacher specifically told me that if I wasn't accustomed to it, I didn't have to drink. Just hold the bowl and make a gesture as if drinking.

After drinking and eating, the conversation finally turned to the key and the legends.