Some of the people who had already received gold returned with their rtives. More vigers kept arriving. What started as twenty people had grown into nearly fifty, and the crowd was still swelling.
Alex''s eyes shifted to the side.
The two cultivator women in blue and yellow robes were still there.
They were the real danger.
He prayed silently that these two unwee guests would lose interest and leave without investigating him further.
But they were still scanning the surroundings carefully, as if searching for something important.
They paid no attention to Alex because he appeared too busy dealing with the crowd.
And Alex understood.
He had to keep looking busy. Very busy. Until they left.
"All of you, stop!"
A sharp voice cut through the noise.
The crowd turned.
A man in tattered clothes stepped forward, but his eyes were bright and intelligent. He dragged a wooden chair from somewhere and ced it beside Alex.
"Young Master Bai, please sit while you inspect them. This will take time. You should not stand too long. It would be a pity to tire your legs."
Truthfully, Alex''s body was in terrible condition. He had just survived a light bomb, crashed in a broken V?XEN, and barely held himself together. The offer of a chair felt like a blessing.
He sat down without hesitation.
Momentster, two women hurried over and ced a table in front of him.
One quickly served him tea.
Another, a pretty young woman, stepped behind him and began gently massaging his back.
Alex let out a slow breath and rxed into the massage. He had to admit it felt incredible.
"You," Alex said, looking at the man who had brought the chair.
"I am Zhuge Liang. Awaiting your orders, Young Master," the man replied with a respectful bow.
"You may take thirty gold ingots," Alex announced loudly so everyone could hear. Zhuge Liang shook his head at once.
"Young Master Bai, you are the purest and most innocent man here. How can I speak of admiration and honor in terms of money? I serve you because I admire you. Please, allow me to serve you without reward."
Alex studied him and smirked.
This one was clever.
He wasn''t trying to pluck golden eggs. He was trying to catch the goose itself.
"As you wish," Alex said.
"Thank you, Young Master," Zhuge Liang replied, straightening up.
He turned to face the vigers and raised his voice.
“From now on, each person will receive only one gold ingot. Form a line. The person
at the front may begin praising the truth about our Young Master Bai.”
Murmurs of protest broke out.
"This isn''t fair!"
"I want five gold ingots!"
"Yes! Five!"
Zhuge Liang stepped forward calmly.
"Whether it is fair or not is decided entirely by Young Master Bai."
He leaned toward Alex and bowed slightly.
"Young Master, for vigers like us, one gold ingot is already life-changing. Giving more will only empty your coffers quickly and benefit fewer people. With one ingot each, you can win the voices of the entire vige—and secure the City Lord''s position firmly in your hands."
Alex looked at him and nodded slowly.
Smart. Very smart.
"Proceed. One gold ingot each.”
"Thank you, Young Master!" Zhuge Liang said loudly, then turned back to the crowd.
"One gold ingot. If you don''t want it, go home now. Don''t block the people who do." He gestured toward the wooden box.
"There are only about three hundred ingots here. Those who hesitate will lose their chance."
"I want it!"
"Me too!"
Vigers rushed to the entrance, scrambling to form a line.
The first man rushed forward, chest heaving, eyes zing with exaggerated loyalty.
"Young Master Bai! My inws
always curse you, calling you
useless trash. I went home and
pped both my mother-inw and
father inw for you told them to
stop speaking nonsense about your name!"
He pointed proudly at the line behind him.
"As proof, the two people standing there are my mother-inw and father-inw. You
can ask them if I pped them or not!"
A middle-aged woman in the line raised her hand timidly.
“He''s telling the truth,” she said. “He pped me very hard. My face is still swollen.”
The old man beside her nodded quickly.
"Yes. It is our mistake for not understanding you, Young Master. We were wrong."
“One gold ingot for this warrior of truth,” Zhuge Liang said calmly, cing the heavy piece of gold into the man''s hands.
"Thank you, Young Master Bai—the purest and most innocent man alive!”
An old woman pushed her way to the front, her voice shrill and fierce.
"Young Master Bai! If anyone dares nder you again, I will curse their family for three generations!"
"Excellent,” Zhuge Liang replied smoothly, cing a gold ingot into her hands. "Just make sure you curse louder next time."
The line grew longer. People began
presenting their poetry, their songs,
their finest performances of
ttery twisting the truth into
whatever shape could be exchanged
for gold.
Zhuge Liang stood beside the box, calmly handing out one ingot at a time, smiling
as if this were a well-rehearsed ceremony.
Then an elderly couple stepped forward.
They didn''t shout. They didn''t perform.
They simply looked at Alex in silence.
Their eyes were deep, heavy with
something that made the noise met
the crowd fade into nothing. Tears gathered at the edges as the old man let out a long, tired sigh.
"We forgive you."
That was all.
And yet the entire ce fell quiet.
Alex slowly rose from the chair.
He walked to the box, took ten gold ingots, and ced them gently into the
trembling hands of the old man.
"Thank you," Alex said softly.
He knew he had done nothing. But he also knew the real Bai Xiaochun must have
hurt these two deeply for them to carry such sorrow in their eyes.
He watched the old couple walk away and exhaled a long breath.
Zhuge Liang understood that sigh immediately. He stepped forward at once.
"Anyone who wishes only to say ''forgive'' may form a separate line on the other
side!"
Alex nodded. This man could practically read minds.
Soon, many parents and women stood quietly in the forgiveness line.
Alex stood there, greeting them one by one. Some whispered forgiveness. Some
said nothing at all. Alex simply ced ten gold ingots into their hands.
Ten gold ingots for each of them.
They both knew what this was.
This waspensation for the sins Bai Xiaochun hadmitted in the past.
He was cleaning up the past with money.
As the real culprit was already dead, crushed by a flying car.
"Wait!"
A sharp voice rang out from the back of the entrance.
"Stop this at once! All this money belongs to the Empire!”
About twenty soldiers rode in on horses, pushing through the crowd.
"Damn," someone muttered. "The corrupted judge ising. He must want to seize
all the gold."
Zhuge Liang nced at the approaching soldiers, then shot Alex a quick look for
silent approval.
In the next heartbeat, he seized the wooden box and hurled it forward.
Gold ingots scattered across the ground at the vigers'' feet, rolling in every direction for them to scramble and grab.