The bald guy with the scarred face was named Ma Kui.
Zhou Xiao'an hadn't told him. Gu Wujiu had figured it out himself. On the way there, two skinny poles squatting beside the plaza were muttering under their breath. One of them said, “Ma Kui's in a bad mood today. Don't go over there.” The other immediately ducked his head even lower.
Gu Wujiu filed the name away and didn't slow down.
“Host, one last confirmation,” the system's voice rang out, unusually carrying a hint of seriousness. “You really intend to walk over there of your own accord?”
“Yeah.”
“First level of Qi Condensation versus third level of Qi Condensation, three against one. Do you know what that's called mathematically?”
“What?”
“Getting yourself killed.”
Gu Wujiu ignored it.
He stopped about five paces in front of Ma Kui and the other two—not too close, not too far. Too close would look provocative; too far would look like he was afraid. In his previous life, he'd used this distance countless times when negotiating with people on the street. It was just outside the range of their fists, but close enough for them to hear him clearly.
Ma Kui lifted his eyelids and glanced at him.
Gu Wujiu knew that look all too well. Every local thug in the urban village looked at new punks that way—sizing them up, assessing them, then filing them under “not worth the effort.”
“What do you want?” Ma Kui's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against iron.
Gu Wujiu didn't answer him directly. First, he looked at the two lackeys beside Ma Kui: one tall and skinny, the other short and fat. They both seemed to be at the second level of Qi Condensation. Then he did something that even the system fell silent over for half a second—
He smiled.
It wasn't a fawning smile or a provocative one. It was the kind of smile that said, “I know something you don't.”
The first lesson Third Brother had taught him in his previous life was this: when negotiating with someone, first make them feel like you know something. You can know absolutely nothing, but you have to make them think you do. Once people believe the other party has information they don't, they panic. Once they panic, things get easy.
“Brother Ma Kui,” he said, his tone as casual as if he were greeting a neighbor, “I heard you've been collecting Zhou Xiao'an's spirit stones lately?”
Ma Kui's eyebrow twitched. Not because people knew about it—around here, there was no need to hide when you were taking things by force—but because of Gu Wujiu's tone.
It was too calm. A first-level Qi Condensation newcomer walking up to a third-level Qi Condensation local thug and speaking in that tone was either an idiot or completely fearless.
“What the hell's it got to do with you?” Ma Kui straightened up. He was more than half a head taller than Gu Wujiu.
“Nothing, really.” Gu Wujiu nodded, his earnest attitude resembling someone acknowledging a simple fact. “But there's one thing that does concern you.”
He paused, glanced around, then lowered his voice as if sharing a secret. “I just came from the alley to the east. I heard some people talking about you.”
Ma Kui's expression changed.
“Who?”
“I don't know. Their robes were better than ours, and they had patterns on the cuffs.” Gu Wujiu's description was so specific it sounded as if he'd actually seen them. In reality, he had noticed several disciples in somewhat nicer clothes passing the eastern alley on his way over. He simply hadn't heard what they were saying.
But Ma Kui didn't know that.
“What were they saying?” Ma Kui's tone had already shifted from annoyance to vigilance.
“They said you've got quite a lot of spirit stones saved up,” Gu Wujiu said lightly, as if commenting on the nice weather. “They also said that a third-level Qi Condensation practitioner like you has been collecting protection money in this territory for three months. You've saved enough to make it worth their while to come take a trip.”
Ma Kui's face darkened.
Gu Wujiu counted to three in his head.
One, two, three—
“Damn it,” Ma Kui cursed under his breath and turned toward the eastern alley.
Hook, line, and sinker.
That was the basic logic of surviving on the streets: every level of the food chain was watched by the level above it. Ma Kui bullied Zhou Xiao'an because Zhou Xiao'an was weaker than him. But Ma Kui was afraid of people stronger than himself, too. The more spirit stones he'd stolen, the more he looked like a fat piece of meat.
Gu Wujiu didn't need to make up anything complicated. He only needed to give the fear already lurking inside Ma Kui a gentle shove.
“So,” Gu Wujiu spoke up at just the right moment, his tone like a kind neighbor offering some advice, “I figure Brother Ma Kui is a smart man. You should know what to do.”
“What are you getting at?” Ma Kui's scrutinizing gaze returned to him.
“What I'm saying is”—Gu Wujiu spread his hands—“you've got too many spirit stones on you. Keeping them all in one place makes you a target. If you keep taking that little bit of junk from Zhou Xiao'an, it'll be a bad deal if someone starts watching you.”
He paused, then added, “Of course, that's your business. I'm just passing by and making an offhand comment.”
With that, he turned and walked away, his pace neither hurried nor slow.
Behind him, Ma Kui stared at his back, his brows furrowed into a knot.
“Host,” the system said in his mind, its tone complicated, like it had just swallowed a candy with every flavor in it. “Eighty percent of what you just said was made up.”
“Ninety percent,” Gu Wujiu corrected silently. “I couldn't even make out the faces of those people by the eastern alley.”
“…Then how did you know Ma Kui would believe you?”
“Because he's someone who survives by taking other people's things. People who survive by taking are most afraid of being taken from.” The corner of Gu Wujiu's mouth curled slightly. “I've met hundreds like him in my previous life. Every last one was the same. The more they had, the less soundly they slept. I just helped amplify that feeling of ‘not sleeping soundly’ a little.”
The system was silent for several seconds.
“So your plan is to make Ma Kui decide for himself that continuing to bully Zhou Xiao'an isn't worth it, and get him to stop on his own?”
“More or less.”
“And what if he doesn't stop?”
“Then I'll add more fuel to the fire.” Gu Wujiu walked back to the stone pillar and glanced down at Zhou Xiao'an, who was still huddled there. “Though I probably won't need to. The defining trait of people like him is that they bully the weak and fear the strong. The moment they sense danger, they run faster than anyone.”
Zhou Xiao'an looked up at him, his eyes filled with the question, What did you just go do?
“Nothing.” Gu Wujiu crouched down, pulled a fasting pill from inside his robe, hesitated for one second, then shoved it into Zhou Xiao'an's hand. “Eat it. If you don't get something in that face of yours soon, you won't need anyone to beat you tomorrow. You'll starve to death on your own.”
Zhou Xiao'an stared blankly at the blackish pill in his hand, then looked back at Gu Wujiu. His lips trembled.
“You… why…?”
“Don't ask why. If you have to ask, the answer is that I've got something wrong with my head.”
Ding—
“Congratulations, Host, on completing the quest: Help a Heart-Eater Sect disciple overcome a difficulty.” The system's voice rang out, amazingly carrying a trace of genuine surprise. “Merit Points +10. Reward: Fragment of a Qi Condensation cultivation method ×1.”
Gu Wujiu froze.
“Wait, that's it?”
“The quest completion standard is ‘resolve the difficulty,’ not ‘eliminate the threat completely.’ You successfully caused the abuser to develop the intention to retreat and provided the victim with immediate assistance. The settlement conditions have been met.”
“What if Ma Kui comes back and bullies him again?”
“Then that'll be the next quest.” The system's tone returned to its usual obnoxiously cheerful self. “Don't worry. This system will never let its Host sit around with nothing to do.”
“…This is a never-ending trap.”
“No. It's called sustainable development.”
Gu Wujiu closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, then exhaled.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands. When he'd handed over the fasting pill just now, he hadn't even hesitated much. Three pills had become two, and the food that had only been enough for ten days was now down by a third.
What a loss.
He'd taken another loss.
“Host, would you like to view the fragment of the Qi Condensation cultivation method?”
“…Show me.”
A yellowed phantom appeared before his eyes. It was covered in dense lines of tiny characters, most of them too blurry to make out. Only the first few lines were barely legible:
“Cultivation Method Fragment (1/?): Let qi return to the dantian, and focus the mind on the spirit platform. Between each inhale and exhale, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth comes from all directions…”
Everything after that was a blur.
“This is the reward?” Gu Wujiu stared at the fuzzy image. “Half a scrap of lousy paper?”
“It is a fragment. Fragments are supposed to be incomplete. If you want the full version, continue accumulating Merit Points to exchange for it.” The system paused. “Friendly reminder: the complete cultivation method is expected to cost five hundred Merit Points. At the Host's current rate of accumulation, you'll need… hmm, about fifty quests.”
“Fifty?!”
“Keep it up, Host!”
Gu Wujiu sat on the ground beside the stone pillar, his back against the cold stone wall. He stared at the tattered fragment of the cultivation method before him, listened to the system in his head offer encouragement in a voice rotten to the core, and felt the two remaining fasting pills pressing against his ribs inside his robe.
Beside him, Zhou Xiao'an cautiously put the fasting pill in his mouth and took a bite. His eyes suddenly reddened.
Gu Wujiu turned his head away and pretended not to see.
“System.”
“I'm here.”
“You said I'd die if my Merit Points reached zero?”
“Yes.”
“How many do I have now?”
“Ten.”
He was silent for a while.
“So that means my life is worth ten bucks right now.”
“Merit Points aren't money—”
“Same thing.” Gu Wujiu stood and dusted off his butt. “They're both numbers, and hitting zero means I'm screwed either way.”
He glanced at the sky. A little dim light filtered through the gray mist, making it impossible to tell whether it was morning or evening.
“When's the next quest coming?”
The system seemed to freeze for a moment.
“Host, are you… voluntarily asking for another quest?”
“Cut the crap. I asked when.”
“…It could trigger at any time. The Host is advised to spend more time among crowds to increase the odds of encountering ‘people in need.’”
“Fine.”
Gu Wujiu set off, heading deeper into the alley.
Behind him, Zhou Xiao'an wiped his eyes. After hesitating, he called softly, “Um… what's your name?”
Gu Wujiu didn't look back.
“Gu Wujiu.”
“Gu… Wujiu.” Zhou Xiao'an repeated the name, his voice carrying a cautious solemnity, as if he were memorizing something very important.
Gu Wujiu walked into the mist, the corner of his mouth twitching before he could stop it.
He remembered a fortuneteller in his previous life telling him that the name Chen Hao was no good. It was too upright and couldn't suppress his fate.
Now his name was Gu Wujiu. Wujiu—without calamity or fault.
He lowered his head and looked at these clean hands of his, hands that had never hit anyone.
“I hope this name gets it right for once.”
The system didn't respond.
But Gu Wujiu had the distinct feeling it was laughing.