The Beacon of Kyushu

The next morning, the sky was just beginning to turn pale.

At this moment, Wan Jianfeng was just sleeping when he heard Chen Tuan's voice beside his ear, "Jianfeng, wake up. We have to set off early, otherwise you can't afford to miss something important!"

Wan Jianfeng reluctantly opened his eyes after hearing the voice, and after a while he slowly sat up from the bed, "Master, what time is it now? I'm so sleepy, can I sleep for another half an hour?"

Chen Tuan shook his head and said, "It is already the Yin hour. If you don't get up, we may not be able to enter the capital before the Chen hour. I heard that the emperor will call out the names of the successful candidates at the Donghua Gate today. If we can't see him before he goes up to the city, I am afraid that Qu Yue's matter will be delayed for another day!"

Wan Jianfeng rubbed his eyes, yawned, put on his clothes and got out of bed. He felt a little hungry, so he reached out to take out his purse, but the moment his hand touched the purse, he had an ominous premonition in his heart, "There is no such thing as a free banquet in the world. Last night, I drank with the guy who called himself Li Xiaosan. Could it be that he stole my silver and the gold ingots he gave me?"

As he spoke, he hurriedly took out his money bag, quickly opened the white rope tied to the bag, and looked inside. It would have been better if he hadn't looked, but when he looked inside, he found that the original ten taels of silver had disappeared without a trace, and the bag was bulging with several hard stones.

Wan Jianfeng thought of what happened last night and slapped himself in regret. "Oh, my brain is so stupid! The gold ingot was not mine in the first place. He stole it, but the ten taels of silver are gone. Now my master and I have nothing to eat or drink. I can sleep in the open air and beg for food, but what about my master?" He hurried to Li Xiaosan's room and pushed open the closed door. But the room was empty. There was no trace of Li Xiaosan, not even a trace of him sleeping here.

Seeing this, Chen Tuan followed and asked, "Jianfeng, was the silver that your master gave you stolen?"

Wan Jianfeng nodded and said, "Yes, last night, I was drinking with a stranger. I was very careful during the process, but he managed to replace ten taels of silver with ten taels of stone without anyone noticing."

Chen Tuan always regarded gold and silver as dirt, and did not blame Wan Jianfeng for the loss of the silver. He just said leisurely: "Jianfeng, it doesn't matter if people make mistakes. The important thing is to know why you make mistakes and not make the same mistakes again next time you encounter the same situation."

Wan Jianfeng recalled it and suddenly realized: "This damn thief, he deliberately tried to get close to me and acted generous, all to lower my guard. Later, he left the inn under the pretext of being drunk, and he must have gone to find a purse exactly like mine. Then, he pretended to be drunk and fell to the ground, leading me to help him up, so that he could take advantage of the opportunity to fall in my arms and make a fake one look real. How could I not see through such a simple routine? I am so angry!" Chen Tuan nodded with a smile and said, "Blessings and Infinite Heavenly Venerable, Jianfeng, according to what you said, this person is very scheming and does things in a chain. He is a rare talent, which reminds me of a friend I saved many years ago."

Wan Jianfeng asked curiously: "Master, who is this young man you are talking about? Is he also a thief who cheats people without thinking?" How old is this guy now? He should be dead.

Chen Tuan thought for a moment and said, "This man's surname is Ying-named Fei, with the courtesy name Ru-feng. He is from Luling, and is known as 'The Gentleman on the Beam Swallow'. I met him ten years ago, so he should be five or six years older than you."

Wan Jianfeng smiled bitterly and said, "Haha, I thought that if this guy was gone, the only person who could steal from me would be the one last night. But after hearing what Master said, it's possible that Ying Fei and Ying Rufeng would also be included. I really have to be more careful in the future."

Just as Chen Tuan was about to speak, the shopkeeper came over with two bowls of porridge and a plate of pickles. Chen Tuan saw that the shopkeeper was still calm, and Wan Jianfeng was afraid that he would ask him for rent, so he wanted to find a crack in the ground to hide.

The shopkeeper had a complicated expression when he saw the two of them. On the surface, he was smiling, but secretly, he was gritting his teeth. "You two, Li Xiaosan has already paid for your room. This is what he ordered for you. Feel free to eat it."

Wan Jianfeng couldn't believe his ears and asked in confusion: "Boss, this Li Xiaosan is a thief. How could he be so kind as to pay our bills and even treat us to breakfast? Did you make a mistake? Also, did he steal the gold ingot he gave you yesterday?"

The shopkeeper stamped his foot and said unhappily, "Gold ingots? What he gave me was just a broken stone painted with gold powder! If he hadn't paid for the two rooms, last night's wine and food, and this breakfast, I would have dragged you two to the police!"

Wan Jianfeng smiled and clenched his fist, saying: "Haha, this little thief is really interesting! If I run into him again in the future, I will definitely compete with him again and let him experience how powerful I am!" (End of this chapter)