Chapter 35: The Test
Sha Xia’s eyes darted, and a wicked idea popped into his head. A cruel smile spread across his face as he flipped his wrist, seizing Zheng An’s arm.
Leaning in close to Zheng An, he chuckled maliciously, “You mean that pretty little fool who’s lame and deaf?”
Zheng An hadn’t expected Sha Xia to break free so easily. While he wasn’t as incredibly strong as Sha Xia and Achi, he was still a young man of 180cm and 150kg—a considerable size with considerable strength.
But when excruciating pain shot up his arm from the crushed bones in his wrist, Zheng An regretted his impulsive attempt to stop them.
The quickly receding blood rushed back the moment he heard Sha Xia’s four descriptive words.
Lame, deaf, and foolish—there were many such people on Liuli Star. Quite a few unlucky individuals possessed all three characteristics.
However, adding the qualifier “pretty” drastically reduced the number of possibilities.
Zheng An could only think of one person: Mu Mu.
“So you’ve captured Mu Mu! Why did you kidnap him? He’s just a poor little fool with disabilities!” Zheng An exclaimed urgently. “Yes! He’s extremely poor! He doesn’t even have enough star coins in his account to buy your outfit!”
Sha Xia continued to tease Zheng An, “He’s poor, but you don’t seem to be. Why don’t you pay a ransom to get him back?”
The word “ransom” stunned Zheng An. His mind raced, recalling the number in his account. He hung his head, his lips dry, and quietly asked, “How much? How much is the ransom?”
Sha Xia deliberately lowered his voice, “Not expensive, five million star coins.”
“What?!” Zheng An looked up in astonishment, his eyes wide, his mouth agape—a clear expression of shock.
“Five million star coins, it’s not expensive!” Sha Xia adopted a villainous expression, languidly saying, “So, will you pay or not? Give me a straight answer, the boss is waiting for my report.”
“I, I, I need to think, let me think,” Zheng An’s face was blank, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. He didn’t dare look at Sha Xia, his gaze fixed downwards as he mumbled, “Yes, think, think.”
Five million star coins wasn’t a large sum for Sha Xia and Achi. The military offered good salaries and benefits.
Each legion also had its own benefits, the specifics depending on the legion commander’s decisions.
Yan Gui Xing was generous to his people. Achi was Yan Gui Xing’s adjutant, and Sha Xia was the captain of Yan Gui Xing’s personal guard; their treatment was naturally superior.
However, this sum of money was an astronomical figure for Zheng An. Why “originally”? Because Zheng An now had 4.8 million star coins in his account.
He didn’t know what had gotten into him lately; his luck had exploded. Whatever star beast race he bet on, it won.
Zheng An didn’t dare bet large sums, only a few thousand star coins each time. But he won so many races, including a semi-final, that the winnings totaled 4.2 million.
It was this windfall that allowed Zheng An to find a new apartment so quickly.
Now, he had to choose between saving this retirement fund and saving Mu Mu.
Too difficult! Truly too difficult! There was no way to choose! On one hand, 4.8 million; on the other, the little fool. Zheng An couldn’t choose.
That was 4.8 million!
He had worked day and night for ten years, betting on countless races, to barely save 600,000.
This time, he’d gotten incredibly lucky. Zheng An knew this kind of luck wouldn’t last; he wouldn’t win millions again.
But if he didn’t use this money to save the little fool, what would those people do to him?
Zheng An didn’t dare to think about it, didn’t want to; he knew that in those scenarios, Mu Mu would end up terribly, terribly harmed, perhaps even a dismembered corpse.
But it was 4.8 million! Millions!
Forget it! They say that birds of a feather flock together, but in times of hardship, they fly apart. He and Mu Mu, the little fool, weren’t even friends; why should he spend millions to help him? Even if he did, would Mu Mu, that pauper, ever repay him? Would he have to endure hardship like the past ten years?
He already had four million star coins!
But if he didn’t help, the little fool would really suffer terribly. They had lived together for ten years. To be able to help and yet stand idly by…wasn’t that too cruel?
Zheng An truly couldn’t choose, his emotions on the verge of collapse.
Achi, who had been leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching the scene unfold, saw Sha Xia’s joke morph into Zheng An’s questioning of his own conscience.
Sighing helplessly, he intervened, “Enough, the joke’s over. Let’s get down to business.”
After all, they were there to retrieve Mu Mu’s luggage, not to ruin Mu Mu’s friendship. If they truly alienated Mu Mu’s only friend, Achi would feel a pang of guilt.
“Joke?” Zheng An raised his head in a daze, his unfocused eyes falling on Achi, then shifting to Sha Xia. “This was…a joke?”
Sha Xia released Zheng An’s wrist, stepping aside, raising both hands in surrender. He apologized to Achi first, then said to Zheng An, “Yes, a joke. We’re regular soldiers in the military; how could we possibly engage in kidnapping and extortion!”
“The military?” Zheng An blinked, his emotions gradually calming. He carefully studied Sha Xia’s sharp, Western features, confirming he hadn’t seen this face online, then turned to Achi.
The more he looked at Achi’s handsome face with thick eyebrows and big eyes, the more familiar it seemed. Suddenly, he remembered seeing the adjutant beside the Fourth Legion Commander at a military event. The adjutant had this face.
“You’re…the adjutant of the Fourth Legion Commander?!” Zheng An pointed at Achi, asking in shock.
Achi wasn’t surprised that Zheng An recognized him. He had accompanied Yan Gui Xing to various events, and whether intentionally or not, his face had appeared on the star network.
He considered himself handsome, uniquely so, and his combination with his boss was memorable.
Achi nodded, confirming Zheng An’s words. Zheng An’s newly calmed mood was sent on a rollercoaster ride to its peak.
He couldn’t understand why Mu Mu would be connected to Adjutant Achi. Wait! He suddenly remembered Mu Mu chatting with him late at night over a week ago, saying he’d been saved by someone surnamed Yan.
Could this Yan be the Fourth Legion Commander, the Star Lord of Liuli Star, Yan Gui Xing?
Did he guess correctly?
Zheng An nervously rubbed his hands together, cautiously asking, “Adjutant, is Mu Mu with you? Did he offend you? If so, I apologize on his behalf. He’s just a simpleton; please be magnanimous and don’t hold it against him.”
Achi couldn’t acknowledge the relationship Zheng An implied between him and Mu Mu, but he couldn’t explain that he had no connection with Mu Mu either; Zheng An wasn’t entitled to such an explanation.
Achi’s expression soured. He glared at Zheng An and said curtly, “Mr. Mu is safe; you don’t need to worry. Just know that Mr. Mu will no longer be your roommate.”
Overwhelmed by Achi’s presence, Zheng An didn’t dare ask further, nodding meekly. When Achi asked about Mu Mu’s suitcase and other belongings, Zheng An eagerly presented Mu Mu’s small suitcase.
After Achi and Sha Xia left with Mu Mu’s luggage, Zheng An remained stunned. He stared at the dirty wall, unconsciously picking at his pants.
After about five minutes, Zheng An closed his eyes, took a deep breath, grabbed the doorknob, and closed the door.
He quickly went to the bed, face down, and threw himself onto the mattress, rolling around before sprawling on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling.
“My god! Little fool Mu Mu is actually with Marshal Yan! He’s hit the jackpot!”
“Will he be living in a mansion, riding luxury airships? I should rent a one-bedroom apartment; the larger one is too expensive.”
“I’m so envious of the little fool, he’s so lucky.”
“No, no!” Zheng An shook his head vigorously, worry clouding his face. “Marshal Yan’s temper is notoriously unpredictable; he changes lovers more often than clothes. Who knows how long the little fool will last by his side?”
“I’m kind and good-hearted, I’ll just rent that good apartment. I’ll leave a room for him, just in case he gets dumped and has nowhere to go.”
Meanwhile, Achi and Sha Xia left the small hotel and headed toward a nearby shopping mall. Zheng An’s hotel was too small to have a place to park a flyer, and the surrounding buildings were too dense for a public landing pad.
They had no choice but to park their flyer at a shopping mall two blocks away.
Once at the mall, they intended to take the express elevator to the top floor where the flyer parking was located. However, they were informed that the elevator was under repair and wouldn’t be operational until the next day.
Seeing the nearly deserted mall on a holiday, Achi and Sha Xia suspected it was a ploy by the mall to force people who just wanted to use the parking to shop.
Sha Xia muttered a curse under his breath, carrying Mu Mu’s small suitcase, and joined Achi on the escalator.
Neither of them enjoyed shopping; the military-issued clothing sufficed for all four seasons.
Sha Xia rarely ventured into shopping malls. Standing on the escalator, he yawned boredly, complaining about how many floors the mall had, taking forever to reach the top.
Achi often accompanied Yan Gui Xing to malls, but Yan Gui Xing only went to a few specific high-end stores, using a VIP-only elevator, and the stores were cleared beforehand.
Riding an escalator floor by floor like this was a first for him.
When they reached the eighth floor, Achi unintentionally glanced up, his gaze stopping on a mannequin in a sky-blue nautical-style short-sleeved shirt, beige shorts, white socks, and brown loafers.
“Sha Xia, wait.” Achi called out to Sha Xia, who was walking ahead. “I think we should buy some things to take back.”
Sha Xia tilted his head, “???”