"People actually fall for this...?"
Jiang Beiran rubbed his forehead in exasperation from his perch on the rooftop. The situation Fang Qiuyao had stumbled into was one of the most common scams in the martial world, known as the "Night-Weeping Granny." Con artists were perhaps the most adept at sizing up their targets—they had different methods for tricking young girls versus older women.
But on the Mysterious Dragon Continent, where sects flourished and heroic warriors abounded, there was one particular demographic of victims Jiang Beiran had never encountered before transmigrating here: female martial artists. Young women like Fang Qiuyao, who had just entered the martial world brimming with righteous fervor, were far from rare. Naturally, specialized scams had emerged to exploit them.
The "Night-Weeping Granny" was one such scheme—essentially an old woman would collapse on the ground weeping hysterically until some naive young heroine like Fang Qiuyao came to her rescue. To Jiang Beiran, this scam was about as sophisticated as "I'm Emperor Qin Shi Huang—send money." Yet somehow, young female martial artists kept falling for it.
Now he was witnessing it firsthand—he didn't know whether to call Fang Qiuyao endearingly naive or just plain dim-witted. Still, as he'd said before, Jiang Beiran didn't dislike girls like Fang Qiuyao. She wasn't really at fault—the problem lay with society itself.
Tightening his face covering, he nimbly leapt across rooftops to follow them. After winding through several alleys, the old woman led Fang Qiuyao to a large courtyard planted with cabbages. Pounding on a small cottage door, she shouted, "Open up!
You wicked daughter-in-law, come out here!"
"Who's banging at this hour? Trying to kill someone?"
The door slammed open to reveal a ferocious-looking woman who glared out angrily. Taking one look at the woman's vicious expression, Fang Qiuyao immediately concluded she must be the villain here.
"You vile woman! Don't you dare act so arrogantly! I'm here to demand justice for this elderly aunt!"
The woman blinked in surprise upon hearing Fang Qiuyao's voice, only now noticing the girl standing behind the old woman.
"How strange... I didn't see her at first. I was wondering why the old hag was shouting the code phrase for no reason."
Shaking off her confusion, the woman snapped at Fang Qiuyao, "Who the hell are you? Mind your own damn business!" Fang Qiuyao's temper flared at the woman's aggression.
With a metallic shing, she drew her White Rainbow Sword.
"Ohhh, pulling a sword on me? Go ahead then—chop me right here!"
The woman fearlessly stepped forward, jutting her neck out. Having always intimidated others just by drawing her blade, Fang Qiuyao was taken aback. She actually retreated two steps.
Seeing the standoff, the husband quickly intervened.
"Now now, let's all calm down. Miss, please put your sword away."
Turning to the old woman, he said, "Mother, what's gotten into you this time?"
"What's gotten into me? Since you won't discipline your wife, I found someone who will!"
Just then an angry shout came from a neighboring cottage: "What's all the racket? People are trying to sleep!" The husband immediately apologized, "So sorry, we'll take this inside."
He clasped his hands pleadingly at the three women.
"Please, let's discuss this privately. No need to air our dirty laundry out here."
The old woman snorted, then said to Fang Qiuyao, "Miss Fang, perhaps we should continue inside. Family matters shouldn't be made public." Seeing an opportunity to deescalate, Fang Qiuyao sheathed her sword.
"Very well. I only came to reason things out peacefully—I've no wish to harm anyone."
The shrewish woman rolled her eyes.
"As if you could."
The husband quickly pulled his wife inside, repeating, "Inside, let's talk inside." With the woman gone, Fang Qiuyao helped the old woman into the cottage.
"Come, auntie, let me assist you."
"Ah, such a kind girl."
The old woman nodded approvingly. After ushering them in, the husband peeked outside before shutting the door firmly.
"This operation's bigger than I thought..."
Jiang Beiran observed the sprawling courtyard from the rooftop. The "Night-Weeping Granny" scam usually involved an entire gang—this compound undoubtedly housed more than a few shady characters.
"Huh? There's actually a Mysterious Practitioner here? Falling Sunset Town truly has hidden talents—even a con artist ring has someone of that caliber?"
Initially, Jiang Beiran had understood straightforward attributes like Strength and Constitution, but the purpose of Spirit had eluded him despite extensive testing. Only after accumulating more Spirit points did its functions become clear. First, he could exert spiritual pressure to intimidate targets.
Second, his enhanced perception could detect all cultivators within a certain radius and discern their cultivation levels—both exceptionally useful abilities. Inside the cottage, Fang Qiuyao had been earnestly debating the shrew, only to be constantly interrupted by vulgar retorts that left her flushed with frustration.
"You—!"
As she stood up angrily, her legs suddenly felt weak.
'What's happening?'
Her brow furrowed as she recalled one of her cowardly senior brother's incessant warnings during their descent: "If your legs go weak suddenly, don't overthink it—use whatever strength you have left to run. Nine times out of ten, it means you've been drugged. If you don't flee, prepare to die."
'But I didn't smell anything unusual...' Her thoughts grew sluggish as numbness crept through her upper body.
'Oh no!'
Realizing this matched her senior brother's description exactly, Fang Qiuyao forced herself upright with a burst of effort!
(End of Chapter)