Chapter 9

Performing arts aren't easy to sell. To captivate an audience, performers must have extraordinary skills that either amaze or entertain. Meng Ruji didn't expect Mu Sui to make people laugh, so she hoped he could amaze them instead.

However, using props for a performance was beyond Meng Ruji's means. She quickly ruled out music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—skills Mu Sui might have, but which she couldn't afford to showcase. She also dismissed options like opera, juggling, ventriloquism, and monkey shows.

Meng Ruji shook her head, contemplating more unusual performances. Sword swallowing? Borrowing a passerby's sword and risking injury wasn't an option. Breaking a large stone? Even if she could find one, she had no spiritual power to help her. An ordinary woman couldn’t break stone with a hammer, and Mu Sui might end up injuring her ribs if he tried.

“Do you... know any kung fu moves?” Meng Ruji and Mu Sui stood by the roadside of the market, watching pedestrians pass by. After a long time, Meng Ruji had to ask Mu Sui, “Just for fun.”

Mu Sui thought about it and shook his head. “I can’t remember what kung fu I learned.”

As expected, Meng Ruji raised her hand. “It doesn’t matter. I noticed that the moves you used on the bank of the Nai River were very methodical. Your body still retains some memory.” Meng Ruji gently tapped Mu Sui’s neck with her palm. “Try to think about it. If I were to attack you with this hand, how would you defend yourself?”

Mu Sui allowed Meng Ruji to place her hand on his neck. The skin touched by her palm felt numb, making him reluctant to fight back.

Mu Sui shook his head and said bluntly, “You don’t really want to attack me, and I don’t want to fight back.”

Meng Ruji was taken aback by his simple and sincere gaze and was at a loss for words. “I want you to imagine—if I weren’t me.” Meng Ruji lowered her expression, pretending to be serious, and continued to guide him through a mock scenario. “If I were a gangster and wanted to kill you…”

Mu Sui listened intently, and his expression gradually became serious.

“If I were to chop your neck with this palm, you would…”

Before she finished speaking, Mu Sui blocked her hand and, almost instinctively, raised his hand towards Meng Ruji’s ear. Meng Ruji was startled as he gently grasped her head and turned it to the side. Had he been more aggressive, she could have suffered a serious injury.

Meng Ruji sighed. "So, what you learned is a deadly skill."

Mu Sui looked worried. "Can’t a skill for killing be used for a performance?"

"Deadly skills are useful but not entertaining. You can't just kill someone in the street for fun, right?"

Mu Sui looked thoughtful as he surveyed the crowd. Meng Ruji, seeing his indecision, abruptly exclaimed, "No!"

Mu Sui glanced down. "Oh."

“We are performing, not harming people or stealing! We don’t need that! Don’t you want to avoid starving in that Yamen for the rest of your life?”

“Will you also be in Yamen?”

“Of course not!”

Meng Ruji was speechless. This foolish man wanted to drag her back there?

Mu Sui murmured in a low voice, “Then I won’t go.”

Meng Ruji sighed. Seeing his wild demeanor, she didn’t expect him to perform any fancy moves.

Meng Ruji sighed in resignation. She hadn’t expected him to perform any flashy moves. As for herself, external martial arts had never been her strength. With her focus on cultivating internal skills through the inner elixir, she hadn't invested in physical training. Her martial arts skills were only sufficient for critical situations.

Without resources or skills, Meng Ruji's stall was at a standstill. However, just as she sighed, Meng Ruji noticed a man in the bustling crowd sneakily following a girl with a fur collar. Meng Ruji narrowed her eyes slightly, folding her hands and observing the man.

Mu Sui noticed her sudden shift in attention. Following her gaze, he saw the man reaching for the girl’s bag with a thin blade, ready to steal it.

Meng Ruji sneered. "Half the people are starving, and you’re still stealing?"

Mu Sui immediately felt a sharp sting on his face, as if slapped. It was all the thief’s fault for making Meng Ruji unhappy.

Meng Ruji pondered whether she should arrest the thief and drag him to the Yamen to make money, or catch him, threaten him to extort more from him.

Before she could decide, a familiar whoosh sounded beside her, and a gust of wind lifted Meng Ruji’s hair. She saw a dark shadow darting out.

Meng Ruji was momentarily stunned but quickly raised her legs to chase after the thief. Mu Sui ran fast, drawing attention in the crowd. The thief, already feeling guilty, turned around to see an imposing figure with a murderous expression charging straight towards him, as if intent on taking his head!

The thief panicked and didn’t attempt to hide or steal discreetly. Seeing the bag within reach, he directly grabbed it from the girl’s arm. Amid her exclamation, he snatched the bag, hugged it to his chest, and fled wildly. Could Mu Sui stop him? He just chased after him. What could Meng Ruji do? She was left trailing behind like a dog on a leash, shouting all the while: “Don’t run! Stop! Wait!” Her voice reached the two in front. Mu Sui didn’t think she was calling him, but the thief, believing he was the one being addressed, ran even faster. After running two miles, Meng Ruji was at her limit. Panting heavily, she felt as though her breath was tainted with blood. The market was long gone, replaced by earth walls and dusty ground. Her sight was blocked by the surrounding earth houses, and she couldn’t see where they had gone. She could only shout with her remaining strength and intuition: “The crime is not punishable by death! Don’t harm people!” Uncertain if Mu Sui heard her, Meng Ruji finally collapsed in the middle of the dirt road, her legs too weak to stand. Soon, she began to feel a tearing pain in her chest. She thought Mu Sui must have run far ahead. Meng Ruji felt pain and hatred. She resented the burglar and the elixir thief who had provoked her. The pain intensified, and she heard a woman’s exclamation: “Oh my God! You didn’t take the medicine!” The woman’s voice was accompanied by heavy breathing. Meng Ruji looked up, seeing the girl in the fur collar bending over, looking at her with concern. The victim of the robbery had caught up, having arrived just as Meng Ruji had collapsed. She squatted beside Meng Ruji, took out a medicine bottle, and gave her a mung bean-sized pill: “Hurry, take this. It will stop the pain, or you might die.” Meng Ruji, in agony, swallowed the pill without questioning it. The pill, sweet like candy, eased her pain gradually. Her breathing normalized, and she thanked the girl, “Thank you so much…” “No thanks necessary. I should thank you for helping me chase the thief. I just got my wages today, and they’re all in that bag.” The girl looked around anxiously, “I don’t know where they ran off to…” “Wait here. They might come back soon.” Meng Ruji wondered if Mu Sui was feeling pain now. If not, catching the thief should be easy for him. She then asked the girl, “Excuse me, I just arrived in the Land of No Remain and don’t know much about it. What kind of medicine did you give me? And why did it relieve my pain?” The girl patiently explained, “We’re all half-dead here. To stay in the Land of No Remain, we need life-saving items.” “What do you mean by life-saving items?” “We’re like wandering ghosts with half a soul. If we don’t attach ourselves to something here, we’d dissipate. That object is our life-saving device.” “Can this object be a person?” “It could be anything. Some people attach their life to animals or even their houses.” Meng Ruji was taken aback. The girl continued, “This medicine, called mung bean, helps us manage our life-saving items. It’s given by the government and is quite affordable.” Meng Ruji, relieved but still pondering, thanked the girl again. Just then, she saw Mu Sui returning, holding the burglar by the collar, the bag in his other hand. His face was bruised and purple, clearly beaten. Mu Sui, unaffected by pain, seemed to handle the situation with ease. Meng Ruji sighed, reflecting on how fate was uneven. While some enjoyed freedom and abundance, others like her had to struggle. Once lucky, now she felt like she had to work hard just to get by in this new, unforgiving world.

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