Chapter 200
Chapter 200
Jiang Yunsui almost burst into tears. She had not even taken one bite!
She looked toward the sugar-painting vendor.
“The goods were delivered and the money paid,” he said. “This has nothing to do with me.”
Jiang Yunsui pouted and reached into her purse, planning to buy two more.
One would compensate her for the loss.
But her hand found nothing.
“Huh? Where’s my purse?!”
Nanshu looked down and slapped his forehead.
“It must have been that beggar!”
Jiang Yunsui thought so too.
How outrageous! He had knocked her over, ruined her candy, and stolen her money!
“I’m going after him!”
She angrily ran in the direction the Little Beggar had fled.
Nanshu’s eyes widened.
“Hey! Little Ancestor, wait for me! Don’t run off!”
In the end, Nanshu still lost sight of her.
He slapped his thigh repeatedly, then went back to call for reinforcements.
This Little Ancestor vanished at the slightest opportunity.
Jiang Yunsui had set out to recover her money, but the road offered far too many distractions.
For instance, a married couple was fighting nearby.
A crowd had gathered to watch.
Unable to resist, she squeezed among them and began watching too.
“You vicious woman! She was still my daughter. You… you sold her! Tell me where you sold her!”
The woman spat.
“You’ll never find her. Now you remember she’s your daughter? You call me vicious, but you’re the cruel one! A whole family waits at home to eat while you go drinking every day. Have you ever brought home a single copper?”
“I wash clothes for other people from dawn to dusk. In winter, my hands split open and fill with chilblains. I married you and not only have to serve you, but also the daughter your former wife left behind. Why should I?”
“I have children of my own to raise. You’re useless and penniless, yet now you blame me? I’m not so easy to bully!”
Scratch marks covered the man’s face.
“You… you still couldn’t sell her.”
“Hah! Our son was sick and needed money. You were too useless to provide it, and the family had nothing left. If I didn’t sell her, was I supposed to sell my own daughter?”
The longer Jiang Yunsui watched, the more uncomfortable she felt.
The onlookers pointed and criticized, most of them condemning the woman as a vicious stepmother.
But Jiang Yunsui thought the man was even worse. He would rather spend money on wine and food than care for his family.
Poverty had driven them all to this.
Jiang Yunsui suddenly slapped her forehead.
“I came to find my purse!”
She hurried away and ran around the streets, but she had no idea where to find the Little Beggar.
As she wandered, she heard angry shouting.
More excitement to watch!
Jiang Yunsui squeezed closer and found the people from a steamed-bun shop beating a beggar boy.
“That’s my silver. Mine!”
The bun seller spat at him.
“Where would a beggar get silver? You obviously stole it from my shop while I wasn’t watching.”
“Let go!”
During the struggle, a purse fell from the filthy, disheveled boy’s clothes.
It was clean, made from fine material, and decorated with embroidery. It clearly did not belong with a beggar.
The bun-shop owner rolled his eyes and spat at the boy.
“Still claiming you didn’t steal? Let’s hear you explain this, you little bastard. A beggar like you could never own such a purse!”
The other onlookers began pointing at him too.
“He’s a thief.”
“That purse looks expensive. It couldn’t belong to a beggar.”
The bun-shop owner bent to pick it up.
The Little Beggar lunged, clung to him, and bit him.
“Aah! You damned creature!”
The Little Beggar was kicked aside. The hair covering his face shifted, drawing a chorus of gasps.
“Good heavens! Is that some kind of monster?”
“What happened to his face?”
“He must have some filthy disease.”
Jiang Yunsui pushed through the crowd and snatched the purse from the bun-shop owner’s hand.
It was not his. What right did he have to take it?
The owner watched the purse slip from his grasp. He had weighed it briefly and knew it held a great deal.
His eyes reddened with greed.
“You little wretch! Give that purse back!”
Jiang Yunsui dodged nimbly and scurried into the crowd on her short legs.
“No! It’s mine.”
“Yours? Nonsense! That purse is obviously mine!”
Jiang Yunsui explained while running, urgency sharpening her childish voice.
“There’s a pink mushroom embroidered inside. I never opened it just now. This is my purse!”
“Bah! You and that beggar are probably partners. You must have looked beforehand.”
“Fine. Then tell everyone what’s inside the purse.”
She hid behind a burly, dark-faced man and watched the bun-shop owner warily.
“If you can say it, I’ll give it to you.”
The onlookers began encouraging them.
“That’s right. Tell us what’s in the purse, boss.”
“Copper coins and silver, of course,” the bun-shop owner said.
“Nothing else?” Jiang Yunsui asked.
His expression twisted.
“It’s my purse. Give it here!”
The dark-faced man was a hunter with a strong sense of justice. He immediately blocked the owner.
“Explain yourself first. Don’t bully a child.”
Seeing the situation turn against him, the bun-shop owner glared resentfully at the meddling crowd.
“There’s gold too. Yes, gold.”
Jiang Yunsui continued questioning him in her tender voice.
“What shapes are the gold and silver?”
She was no ordinary child.
She was the exceptionally brave Little Mushroom who had killed a giant serpent with Song Jin’s party and infiltrated a Barbarian camp.
He thought he could bully her?
Not a chance!
She was very capable now.
“Th-the shapes? What other shapes could gold and silver have? The usual shapes.”
His eyes darted around, and his answer was vague. He was obviously guilty.
“I don’t think the purse belongs to the bun-shop owner,” someone said. “Judging by the fabric and embroidery, it belongs no more to an ordinary bun seller than it does to a beggar.”
“Exactly. He can’t even say what’s inside.”
Jiang Yunsui poked her little head out from behind the dark-faced man.
“You don’t know, but I do.”
“There are pretty little stones inside too.”
She reached into the purse and took out several colorful pebbles.
“It’s mine.”
The truth was now obvious.
The bun-shop owner could no longer deny it.
Jiang Yunsui was only a child, and many people were willing to stand beside her and help.
“Thank you, uncles, aunties, big brothers, and big sisters.”
Little Mushroom thanked the people protecting her in her tender voice.
“Where are you from, little girl? Why are you outside alone? We’ll take you home.”
“No, no. I still need to find someone. Bye-bye!”
Jiang Yunsui still wanted to find the Little Beggar.
She had recognized the sores growing across his face.
They resembled those on the people imprisoned in Wushan Cavern’s secret chamber, though his condition did not look as severe.