CHAPTER 48: CHAPTER 47: REST ASSURED, THEY DON’T KNOW YOU

Wei Xueqing walked inside with familiarity, reaching out in front of four clay statues on the left side of the second row, picking up the incense from the incense burner and lighting it on the eternal lamp on the left.

She knelt down, placed the incense at her brow, and closed her eyes, praying devoutly.

Yang Chen watched from the side, deep in thought.

After finishing her prayer, Wei Xueqing inserted the incense into the burner, knelt down, and looked up at the statue, calling out emotionally, "Mom, I..."

Halfway through her words, Wei Xueqing turned to look at Yang Chen, her expression turning cold, and said icily, "Please leave!"

Yang Chen nodded and retreated without saying much.

As he suspected, the clay statue was of Wei Xueqing’s mother.

Ningjing Daoist Temple had a peculiar tradition where after pious men and women passed away, they could accumulate merits by having clay statues made in their image and placed in the temple for worshippers to pay respect.

After twenty years, when enough merit was accumulated, the family could fund a gold body statue.

After the gold statue was created, the clay statue could be moved out from the clay statue shop to the gold body shop.

It was said that the incense offerings there were more fervent and effective, and many would come to worship there, some even having a gold statue created to take home for worship.

Clearly, Wei Xueqing’s mother was a devout believer.

Yet Yang Chen did not expect Wei Xueqing was here to honor her mother.

Crouching at the doorway, Yang Chen took out a cigarette and started to smoke.

By the fifth cigarette, Yang Chen’s ears picked up on something, and he stood up.

He heard someone jump over the courtyard wall.

Walking to the corner, Yang Chen saw several sneaky figures slipping into the clay statue hall.

Yang Chen frowned slightly and turned to walk in through the front door.

The figures darted into the back row of clay statues.

Besides Wei Xueqing’s voice, Yang Chen heard some people whispering, "Quick! Pack it up, we can recoup our costs when we get back today!"

Hearing the conversation, Qin Muyun realized.

Although these clay statues weren’t gold, they were still worshipped by people.

Some were relatives or neighbors, while others sensed a connection when viewing the statues and began offering incense.

There was money in the incense boxes before these statues. If the incense money was enough to fund a gold statue, the results would be best. So, these incense boxes probably contained a decent amount of money.

This clay statue hall wasn’t as crowded as other halls, making it a frequent target for these thieves.

As long as they didn’t affect Wei Xueqing, it was fine.

Yang Chen leaned against the door, smoking a cigarette, quietly waiting.

"Wow! Boss, this chick is so fresh and tender!"

"She’s really beautiful, I’ve never seen such a pretty woman before!"

The three men had their eyes on Wei Xueqing.

Wei Xueqing glanced at them disdainfully, snorted coldly, and ignored them.

A middle-aged man referred to as the boss looked at Wei Xueqing, salivating and rubbing his hands, "Beauty, are you here alone?"

Wei Xueqing took a deep breath and said coldly, "Is it any of your business? If not, please leave immediately and don’t disturb me!"

The boss laughed slyly at her words, rubbing his hands, "Oh, it’s very much our business! The three of us are bachelors and haven’t tasted someone as beautiful as you. Let us enjoy ourselves today!"

Hearing this, Wei Xueqing immediately stood up in fear, pointing at them, and yelled, "You, get out! How dare you speak such filthy language here; aren’t you afraid of divine retribution?"

The three bursted into laughter, "We’ve been stealing money here often, and no one has punished us!"

"That’s because it’s not time yet," Yang Chen approached, standing in front of Wei Xueqing, glaring at the three, "Remember, evil deeds bring no good results, it’s not that you’re not punished, but the time has not come yet!"

The leader sized up Yang Chen, noticing his strong and tall build, frowned with worry but wasn’t intimidated verbally, "Who are you? I’m telling you, don’t meddle!"

Yang Chen looked down at the three, calmly said, "I’ll give you three seconds to get lost, or you’ll know what retribution is!"

One of them pulled out a knife and said to the leader, "Boss, we don’t have to fear him; I’ve got a knife. If he dares to interfere, I’ll stab him!"

Yang Chen knew persuasion was futile.

Before the man finished speaking, Yang Chen darted forward like an arrow.

Grabbing the leader by the shoulder, he swung his right elbow into his bicep, making him scream like a slaughtered pig, a crisp sound emanating from his shoulder.

This move dislocated the leader’s arm, severely bruised his muscle, which would take months to heal completely, causing unbearable pain.

In an instant, Yang Chen used the same method to take down the other two, all three howling on the ground as if in a contest.

"Shut up!" Yang Chen scolded, "Screaming in such a solemn place, do you want to bring retribution upon yourselves?"

The three already knew what Yang Chen meant by retribution, shivering in fear.

Despite the pain bringing tears and mucus, they scrambled up under Yang Chen’s command and fled through the back door.

Watching them leave, Yang Chen bent down to collect the stolen money and placed it all into the incense box in front of Wei Xueqing’s mother’s statue.

Seeing this, Wei Xueqing frowned slightly, "How can you give this illicit money to my mother?"

Yang Chen looked up at her, "This isn’t illicit money; it’s funds from eradicating evildoers. Besides, you don’t know where it all came from, so donating it to your mother is also an act of charity for others in the future."

Even though Wei Xueqing was displeased, she couldn’t refute Yang Chen’s words.

"Let’s go!" Wei Xueqing snorted coldly, not wanting to say more, turned around and limped away biting her lip.

Yang Chen followed.

Walking out of the temple, just as they descended the stairs, Wei Xueqing twisted her foot and almost fell down the mountain!

The mountain was over a thousand meters high, and the stairs steep; falling would mean certain death!

With a cry of alarm, Wei Xueqing felt herself losing control, closed her eyes in terror.

In that critical moment, she felt a strong hand grip her and a force pull her back up.

Simultaneously, a hand held her waist.

Wei Xueqing felt herself lighten and realized she was being lifted.

Opening her eyes, she saw Yang Chen’s face close to hers.

"You!" Wei Xueqing, never having been so intimately close to a man, blushed red, "You, put me down!"

"No," Yang Chen said calmly, continuing to walk down.

Though the mountain wasn’t busy that afternoon, there were still people around; seeing their gazes, Wei Xueqing’s face flushed even more, "Let me down, or I’ll shout harassment!"

"Shout if you want, no one here can take me," Yang Chen declared domineeringly.

"You!" Wei Xueqing found Yang Chen unreasonable, "I’ll tell my dad you laid hands on me!"

"Unafraid," Yang Chen responded, "First, you sprained your ankle and can’t walk; me carrying you is normal. Second, I didn’t harass you, I saved you."

Seeing Yang Chen’s stubborn demeanor, and the bystanders’ gazes making her feel ashamed, Wei Xueqing resorted to pleading, "I beg you, please put me down, so many people are watching."

"Don’t worry, they don’t know you," Yang Chen replied.

"..." Wei Xueqing was thoroughly exasperated.