"Just for that?" Xu Yangchun was utterly speechless. "Can't you stop being so suspicious all the time? I think she has eyes that resemble the person who saved me back then."
Over twenty years ago, when he was still a child, his family was impoverished, and his parents were starving. He ventured out into the snowy mountains, hoping to find something to eat, but instead of food, he encountered wolves.
When he was in despair, a woman as beautiful as a celestial fairy appeared and rescued him, even giving him some money. It was because of that money that his family survived that bitter winter without freezing to death.
Over the years, through his own efforts, he had finally achieved some success. He had been searching for his benefactor who saved him all those years ago, but to no avail. If it weren't for the money he received back then, he would have thought it was just a dream.
Today, when he saw Ling Yue's eyes, they were identical to the ones in his memory, so he stared at Ling Yue's eyes for such a long time.
"Why didn't you say so earlier..." Li Caifeng knew about Xu Yangchun's childhood experience of being saved. She was also grateful to the person who had rescued him.
"How dare you say that." Xu Yangchun glared coldly at Li Caifeng and turned to leave. He had decided that once he returned, he would divorce Li Caifeng. Otherwise, his child would be corrupted by this unreasonable and overbearing woman.
"Wait for me..." Li Caifeng hurried to catch up with Xu Yangchun, but she was in so much pain that she could barely stand, let alone walk. She stumbled and fell to the ground, trembling in agony. "Yangchun, don't leave... Yangchun... I know I was wrong... I'll apologize to that woman..."
However, Xu Yangchun acted as if he didn't hear her, not even pausing his steps.
After dinner, Ling Yue and Lan Ji took a stroll around the venue and then left. They had already bid on most of the raw gems they were interested in and were now waiting for the auction results the following morning.
"Yue Yue, let's go for a walk. It's too early to go back now," Lan Ji suggested, spotting a grocery store nearby. He took Ling Yue's hand and headed towards the store.
Ling Yue glanced at her watch, seeing that it was just after one o'clock, and nodded in agreement.
Lan Ji entered the grocery store and asked the shopkeeper, "Ma'am, do you sell popsicles here?" It was scorching hot, and he wanted something icy to cool down.
"Yes, they're in the freezer. Help yourself," the shopkeeper replied, gesturing towards the freezer as she attended to a young customer.
Lan Ji approached the freezer, opened it, and saw that there weren't many popsicle varieties. "Yue Yue, which one do you want?"
"I'll have this one," Ling Yue said, reaching for a creamy popsicle.
"Then I'll have the same," Lan Ji grabbed another creamy popsicle, closed the freezer, and walked to the counter to pay the shopkeeper.
"Are you here for the gemstone auction?" The shopkeeper took the money, eyeing Ling Yue and Lan Ji calculatingly.
Lan Ji nodded slightly, and he and Ling Yue left the grocery store.
After they had gone some distance, the shopkeeper picked up the phone and made a call. "Wu! Two decent targets just came into my store, probably here for the gemstone exchange. They're fat sheep."
Ling Yue's red lips curved into a cold, deadly smile. With her keen hearing, she had heard the shopkeeper's conversation crystal clear.
With a slight movement of her finger, a talisman silently appeared and then vanished without a trace.
The shopkeeper hung up the phone, humming happily. Once those two were taken away by Wu's men, she would receive a hefty tip, as she had done countless times over the years, becoming one of the few wealthy people in the village.
Would she feel guilty? Of course not. Who told those people to come sightseeing in Myanmar? Wasn't it like sending lambs into a tiger's den? This was the Golden Triangle, a lawless land. Anyone who came here for tourism had to be prepared to lose their life at any moment.
She felt a slight sting on her calf, as if something had bitten her. The shopkeeper looked down but saw nothing. As she was about to tidy the shelves, the pain in her calf intensified, as if countless ants were gnawing at her entire body. The agony slowly spread throughout her body, and the shopkeeper writhed on the floor, howling in pain.
The torment grew increasingly unbearable, and the shopkeeper started banging her head against the wall, hoping to alleviate the suffering, but to no avail.
Finally, in desperation, she grabbed a pair of scissors from the table and plunged them into her own throat. This kind of pain was worse than death, and she could no longer endure it.
As her blood dripped onto the floor, the shopkeeper's ordinary yet sinful life came to an end.
Ling Yue and Lan Ji strolled along the bustling street when a car pulled up beside them. A young man wearing a floral shirt and sunglasses leaned out of the window. "Hello there! You look like you're from the Summer Nation. I'm from there too. Where are you headed? Let me give you a ride."
Before Lan Ji could refuse, Ling Yue had already accepted. "Sure."
Lan Ji gave Ling Yue a puzzled look.
Ling Yue mischievously winked at Lan Ji, opened the car door, and got in.
Lan Ji shook his head and smiled, following her into the car. If anything did happen, he was confident in his ability to protect Yue Yue.
The car started moving, and the young man glanced at the rearview mirror, a satisfied smile crossing his lips. "When did you guys come to Myanmar? Are you here for tourism or the gemstone auction?"
"Tourism," Ling Yue gazed out the window at the passing scenery. "But this doesn't seem to be the route to the hotel, does it?"
"That's right. It's rare to meet fellow countrymen in a foreign land, so I thought I'd take you to see some of the best sights in Myanmar," the young man said, handing Ling Yue and Lan Ji two bottles of mineral water from the front seat. "Up ahead is the famous Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar's most renowned tourist attraction."
Ling Yue and Lan Ji accepted the mineral water, knowing it was likely tampered with without even needing to open the bottles.
"It's getting late today, so we'll just take a look from afar. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you for a proper tour," the young man said with a mocking laugh as he saw Lan Ji open a bottle and take a sip of the water. Not even the slightest bit of caution - they deserved to be tricked.
The young man was quite chatty, his demeanor making it seem as if he was genuinely happy to have met fellow countrymen, constantly introducing Ling Yue and Lan Ji to various tourist attractions in Myanmar along the way.
An hour later, the car entered a compound.
"What is this place?" Ling Yue surveyed the scenery outside the window, a flicker of realization in her eyes. They had arrived at their adversary's lair.
