I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 262: Chapter 167: Re-entering the Heart Prison, It All Connects

In his groggy state, Zheng Xiu felt a warm, soft touch furtively caressing his face.

It felt like a hand.

On closer inspection, it felt more like a steamed bun.

Then again, it was like a little kitten secretly giving his face a wet lick before stealing away like a thief, leaving a complete mess behind.

Zheng Xiu opened his eyes. A sharp pain shot through his chest, and his whole body felt like it was falling apart, rendering him unable to move.

In the darkness, a figure in pale yellow quietly receded, walking up a set of stairs.

Zheng Xiu tried to sit up, but the searing pain made him suck in a sharp breath, not daring to move again.

’That damn Xie is fucking ruthless.’

Zheng Xiu cursed inwardly. The events that had transpired on the dome were still vivid in his memory.

Zheng Xiu would have felt bad cursing Feng Bei, but he felt no pressure at all cursing Xie Luohe.

After all, they weren’t the same person.

Since he couldn’t get up, Zheng Xiu decided to just lie flat. He moved his eyes to scan his surroundings, and the cold iron bars standing around him gave him a strange sense of peace.

Iron bars... Iron bars...?

’Am I in jail?’

CLICK.

Zheng Xiu shot straight up, the quilt covering him—faintly scented with a maiden’s fragrance—sliding down to his knees.

The joy of returning to his ”comfort zone” overshadowed the pain in his body. Zheng Xiu grimaced, breaking into a foolish chuckle.

”Younger Brother Gongsun, you really are hard to kill.”

A laugh with an unreadable tone came from nearby.

Zheng Xiu turned to look. Chu Chengfeng was staring wide-eyed, hands gripping the iron bars. He was squatting with his legs apart, and for a moment, Zheng Xiu felt as if he were looking at a sturdy bulldog.

「Late at night.」

Xiao Buping, Wen Shishan, and Chu Chengfeng were still locked in their iron cages, still prisoners.

The harsh environment made it difficult for them to sleep. After Zheng Xiu woke up, the three of them spoke one after another, filling him in on his situation.

To be more precise, it was two of them.

Xiao Buping and Chu Chengfeng.

For some reason, Wen Shishan merely hugged her arms in her cage, staring coldly at Zheng Xiu. The corner of her mouth was curled in a disdainful arc, as if Zheng Xiu had killed her father or something.

’Has being locked up made you stupid, little missy? Your family’s sworn enemy is clearly the one with the surname Chu.’

That was what Chu Chengfeng and Xiao Buping told him.

The unconscious Zheng Xiu had been carried into the cage by several burly men, looking like he was on his last breath.

At the time, Chu Chengfeng and Xiao Buping thought Zheng Xiu was dead.

But soon, Xiaotao had arrived with a bucket and some medicinal plaster. She’d carefully wiped the blood from his body, applied the medicine to his chest, and wrapped it with gauze. She had even brought a thick Cotton quilt and tucked him in tightly.

Xiao Buping clucked his tongue and sighed with emotion. ”I ask the world, what is this thing called love? You didn’t see it, but after that young lady finished treating you, she held your face and sobbed for the longest time. She cried until her eyes were swollen shut.”

Zheng Xiu froze, then touched his own face. It was still wet, not yet dry. He had originally thought it was just dew from the cool night air. He dabbed a little with his finger and brought it to his lips for a taste. It was salty. They were tears.

Chu Chengfeng also stroked his beard with a sigh. ”If I were you...”

Wen Shishan sharply cut him off. ”What are you getting at?”

Chu Chengfeng shook his head. ”But alas, I am not!”

Wen Shishan then looked at Zheng Xiu. ”To seduce and abandon! You beast!”

From the fact that Zheng Xiu and Xiaotao had been alone together last night, and from Xiaotao’s attitude towards him, she had concocted an entire dramatic saga in her head. She imagined so many details that she began to feel it as if it were her own story, and tears welled up in her eyes.

After all her mental fabrications, her opinion of Zheng Xiu could be summed up in a single word: Scumbag!

’How baffling.’

’If it weren’t for the lack of a proper criminal code here, this Marquis would absolutely sue you for slander.’

Zheng Xiu shot a glare at Wen Shishan, then turned his glare on Chu Chengfeng.

Chu Chengfeng spread his hands helplessly, giving him a look that said he was powerless to help.

”However, Younger Brother Gongsun,” Xiao Buping suddenly lowered his voice, ”what exactly did you do to offend that person with the surname Xie?”

Zheng Xiu couldn’t possibly tell them the full story, so he gave a vague reply. He claimed that Xie Luohe had wanted him to paint a portrait, but the Gongsun Family’s ancestral teachings explicitly forbade the painting of Humans, so he had refused. In response, Xie Luohe had beaten him half to death.

After hearing Zheng Xiu’s tale, Chu Chengfeng and Xiao Buping looked at each other. Their eyes lit up simultaneously, and they spoke in unison:

”It could work!”

Zheng Xiu asked, ”What could work?”

Chu Chengfeng stroked his beard, pondering. He seemed hesitant. ”But... if we do that, isn’t it a bit... dirty?”

”Dirty?” Xiao Buping shook his head forcefully. ”Not at all! She was unjust, so we’ll be unscrupulous! How can that be called dirty? At worst, it’s just an eye for an eye!”

Seeing Xiao Buping and Chu Chengfeng speaking in riddles right in front of him, Zheng Xiu said irritably, ”Do you two even hear yourselves?”

Xiao Buping looked at Zheng Xiu with a fervent gaze. ”Younger Brother Gongsun, you must understand, I, Xiao Buping, know a woman’s heart better than anyone. There isn’t a woman in this world that I, Xiao Buping, can’t figure out.” He suddenly shot a terrified glance upward, rubbing his increasingly bald head. When the hidden arrow he was expecting didn’t materialize, he let out a huge sigh of relief and lowered his voice even more. ”I, Xiao Buping, have a brilliant plan that can help us escape to freedom!”

Zheng Xiu said, ”Elaborate.”

Xiao Buping shook his head with an air of self-satisfaction and said confidently, ”Look, this band of thugs are all villains who kill without batting an eye. And that Xie Luohe is the worst of the worst, a public enemy everyone wants to see dead.”

Zheng Xiu’s brow furrowed when he heard this, but he didn’t argue. ”And then?”

”If I, Xiao Buping, am not mistaken, this Xie person has seen her share of rough bandits. She’s not a fan of Jianghu Knights, but she has a special preference for your type—the gentle, seemingly weak Scholar. It’s the classic ’one look at a scholar ruins a lifetime’ situation! She must admire you!”

Wen Shishan’s eyes went wide, full of disbelief.

Chu Chengfeng nodded repeatedly, showing his approval.

Zheng Xiu, who knew the inside story, found Xiao Buping’s words utterly comical. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”Absolutely impossible!”