Chapter 514 - 508_1
Lin Yue, though skilled in some martial arts, could handle a village woman or two, but the masked man before her seemed much harder to defeat. She could only look for an opportunity to strike unexpectedly. Yet, because she was nervous, a cold sweat broke out on her forehead, despite the cold weather, as she warily watched the masked man.
The masked man saw Lin Yue looking like that and thought she was scared stiff, foolishly standing still, dumbly standing there, neither shrieking nor crying out, which really saved him some trouble. An expression of unconcealed contempt spread across his face—he had never taken a fragile woman seriously to begin with but, for the sake of appearances, he still uttered a few intimidating words, "Be good, there’s no one here to save you. If you dare to scream, don’t blame me if my fist doesn’t go easy on you and hurts you bad."
"Mister, why are you blocking this young lady’s way? Are you trying to rob me? I have some silver on me, if you take the silver, please, please spare me," said Lin Yue, pretending to be frightened and trembling, further lowering the masked man’s guard.
"Ha, the young lady has silver? Just what I need since I’m short of money. Hand over the silver quickly, and I’ll think about whether to spare you or not." The masked man had set his sights on Lin Yue and naturally wouldn’t let her go without getting what he wanted. He’d lull her into handing over the silver coin first and then sell her off to some brothel. With her looks, he could get at least ten taels of silver. Let her go? Impossible!
Hearing what the masked man said, Lin Yue pretended to reach into her sleeve for the silver while moving closer to the masked man. Seizing the opportunity when he was off guard, she grasped her dagger and thrust it fiercely toward his chest.
The masked man wasn’t expecting Lin Yue to suddenly attack him; he was stabbed squarely in the chest. Even though the pain was sharp, his reaction was quick. He slapped toward Lin Yue’s head, but Lin Yue leaned to the side to avoid a hit to her head, though her body still took a powerful strike. Her entire shoulder went numb, but she couldn’t worry about that now; escaping was critical. Taking her chance, she fled from the masked man’s reach and broke into a run.
However, Lin Yue didn’t run into the spice shop. After all, she didn’t have any real relationships with the shop’s staff: she had only purchased spices a few times, at most being merely an acquaintance. Even if she ran into the spice shop, the shopkeeper and the clerks might not help her. They might even turn her over to the masked man for their own safety, for the masked man clearly wasn’t someone to be trifled with. Committing robbery in broad daylight meant he had to have some powerful backing that made him bold enough to act so brazenly. To get involved with him would surely bring trouble. Seeking benefits and avoiding harm is human nature. Even Lin Yue couldn’t say for sure that she would help in such a situation, so why test others’ nature at this moment? A correct gamble could possibly lead to being saved but also bring trouble and danger to the rescuer. A wrong bet would be far worse. After what had just happened, if she fell into the masked man’s hands again, he certainly wouldn’t go easy on her; he might even torment her.