Jiang Chen spread his hands and smiled.
“Their plan was exposed, so naturally, they ran away!”
“Ran away?” The beautiful woman frowned.
“Do you know who they were?”
“I don’t know who he was, but when I was teaching him a lesson earlier, he mentioned that he worked for Lord Dog,” Jiang Chen said after a moment of recollection.
“Lord Dog?” The woman thought about it carefully, but it didn’t seem like she knew this person.
While she was still puzzled, the shop owner beside them widened his eyes.
“Are you talking about Lord Dog from town?”
Jiang Chen shrugged with a smile.
“Unless someone else shares the same nickname, it should be him.”
“Holy crap!” The owner’s mouth twitched.
Losing his previous joking demeanor, he held out a hand toward Jiang Chen.
“Pay me for the herbs from earlier, and then you two need to get out of here immediately.”
“Ask her for it.” Jiang Chen pointed at the woman.
She froze for a moment, initially wanting to retort, but on second thought, the herbs had been used to save her life.
She pulled a bill from her pocket and handed it over.
“Keep the change!”
“Keep what change?
A hundred bucks can’t even buy a single one of my herbs!” the owner cursed.
Embarrassed, she scratched her head and hurriedly asked, “How much is it, then?”
“Four hundred and fifty-two.
I’ll waive the two bucks.”
The woman nodded, took out another four hundred, and handed it to him.
The owner took the cash, stepped aside to clear the aisle, and said to the two of them, “Alright, consider the rest of the money my hush fee.
Now hurry up and leave.
If you get caught by Lord Dog later, absolutely do not say you came here!”
“Is this Lord Dog really that formidable?” the woman asked.
Jiang Chen was also quite curious.
Just moments ago, the owner had been very talkative and joking around.
How did he seem like a completely different person the moment he heard Lord Dog’s name?
The owner took a deep breath.
“In this day and age, anyone who can be called ‘Lord’ is naturally no ordinary character, let alone Lord Dog, whose nickname is ‘Mad Dog’.
“Lord Dog is practically known by everyone in the entirety of Baiyun Town, and everyone fears him.
Anyone he sets his sights on will be clamped down on fiercely, just like a mad dog biting someone.
Even if they aren’t bitten to death, they’ll lose a layer of skin!
“Listen, you two, let’s just pretend we never met.
Hurry up and leave my shop.
Although business has been slow, it barely manages to feed me.
I don’t want Lord Dog to wreck my livelihood because of you.”
“Is he really that terrifying?” Jiang Chen chuckled.
“Let me put it this way.
Ruthless, wicked, cold-blooded to his own flesh and blood—take all the words used to describe bad guys and put them on Lord Dog, and it still wouldn’t be enough to describe how evil he is.
Do you think that’s terrifying enough?”
As the owner ushered them toward the door, he grumbled, “Last month, right next door at the steamed bun shop, Lord Dog came to buy a bun and thought there wasn’t enough meat in it.
He forcefully chopped off Old Liang’s hands!
Look over there—even now, no one dares to clean up that shop!”
Standing at the door, Jiang Chen and the woman looked over together. This story is hosted at g.com.
A portion of the steamed bun shop’s sign was still visible, but the entire storefront was reduced to ruins, completely trashed.
“Hurry up and leave!” With that said, the owner retreated back into the pharmacy and yanked down the rolling shutter door.
It was broad daylight, yet he was so worried about Lord Dog coming to his door that he even refused to do business.
It was obvious just how terrified he was of Lord Dog.
Jiang Chen looked at the woman.
“It seems this Lord Dog who has his eye on you is far from simple!”
She frowned.
“I’ve never even heard of this guy.”
“Then how does he know you?” Jiang Chen asked.
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.
Could it be…” She paused, seemingly realizing something, and her frown deepened even more.
Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow.
“Could it be what?”
“You wouldn’t know even if I told you.” She waved her hand and added, “Thank you for stepping in to save me today.
I have an urgent matter to attend to and need to leave for a bit.
Give me your contact info.
Once I’m done with my business, I’ll reach out to you and thank you properly.”
Jiang Chen chuckled.
“No need to thank me.
You go handle your business.”
“No way,” she refused, shaking her head.
As she spoke, she stepped forward and pulled Jiang Chen’s phone right out of his pocket.
After punching in a string of numbers on it, she took out her own phone.
Seeing that the call had gone through, she handed his phone back.
“My name is Qin Yu.
What’s yours?”
“Jiang Chen.”
Qin Yu nodded and saved his name in her contacts.
She waved her phone at him.
“Like you said, that Lord Dog is no ordinary guy.
If he comes looking for trouble, call me.
After all, you only offended him because of me.”
Having said that, she walked over to a nearby motorcycle, started the engine, and sped off.
Jiang Chen glanced at the number on his screen and casually locked his phone.
He felt that his encounter with Qin Yu was nothing more than a chance meeting between two ships passing in the night.
There was no real need to save her number.
Besides, even if Lord Dog did come looking for trouble, he wouldn’t stoop to asking a woman for help.
He walked to the entrance of the alley and looked around.
Baiyun Town wasn’t large, and with traditional Chinese medicine in decline nowadays, it would probably be difficult to find a second herbal pharmacy.
“We’re closed for the day!
No business!” the owner’s voice rang out from inside.
Jiang Chen chuckled.
“If you don’t open the door for me, Lord Dog is going to have his men smash it down!”
The moment he heard the name ‘Lord Dog’, the rolling shutter door was immediately yanked open.
The owner looked up in a panic.
When he saw Jiang Chen, he cursed angrily, “You scared the crap out of me!
I thought Lord Dog had actually brought his men!”
“Cut the crap.
I want to buy herbs.”
“I’m not selling!” the owner spat, preparing to pull the shutter back down.
Jiang Chen raised a hand and easily blocked him.
“Not selling?
Then when I run into Lord Dog, I’ll tell him you helped me.”
“You!
You bastard!”
The owner’s face flushed red with anger.
He stood at the door and looked left and right.
Seeing no one around, he grabbed Jiang Chen and hauled him inside.
“Hurry up and tell me what herbs you want to buy.
And once you leave, don’t say we ever met.”
“It’s just a Lord Dog.
Is this really necessary?” Jiang Chen laughed dismissively.
He bypassed the owner, walked behind the counter, and began picking out herbs himself.
After selecting several types of seeded herbs in succession, he asked, “How much?”
“Why are you buying so many seeded herbs?
Their medicinal properties aren’t very good.”
“None of your business,” Jiang Chen replied.
The owner looked them over.
“These come to a total of two thousand three hundred.
Just give me two thousand!”
“Two thousand?” Jiang Chen glanced sideways at the owner.
“Scamming that young woman just now was one thing, but you’re trying to scam me too?”
“You—!”
Just as the owner was about to retort, Jiang Chen fished three hundred bucks out of his pocket.
“This is all you’re getting.” With that, he headed straight for the door.
The owner stared at the three hundred in cash, his mouth twitching violently.
“Over two thousand worth of goods, and you fucking give me three hundred!”
He wanted to give chase, but the mere thought of Lord Dog stopped him in his tracks.
Stomping his foot in anger, he had no choice but to swallow the loss.
Jiang Chen had just walked out of the pharmacy when his phone started ringing frantically.
He answered the call with a smile.
“Sister Rou, I’m a bit busy here…”
“Jiang Chen, I’m being followed!
I’m over by Tianhe Street.” Before Jiang Chen could finish his sentence, Zhang Rou’s tense and fearful voice came through the receiver.