Mo Dao Zu Shi: Astray

Radiant, Part Three

"Huh? An apology note?"

The farmer scratched his head in confusion as he held said apology note.

"What's it say?" A fellow farmer leaned in close to him.

"Apologies. I used one of the poles to defend myself from an ambush. Please accept this replacement I crafted to compensate."

A newly carved carrying pole lay against the wall.

"An ambush?" his fellow farmer asked. "They were so ill-equipped that they had to use one of our carrying poles?" He gasped. "Or perhaps they were forcibly disarmed?"

The farmer shrugged. "Well, whatever happened, they left us with a replacement. And free paper too! So no complaints here." He carefully put the apology note away, saving the paper for whatever other uses it might have. "C'mon, we gotta go tend to the crops. I wanna get home in time for a special dinner with my wife and daughter."

"So what's the special occasion?" his fellow farmer asked.

"It's my little girl's birthday! After work is done, I wanna spend as much time with her as possible today!"

With a hearty laugh, the other farmer patted a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Let's get a move on, then! You can't keep your daughter waiting at home for eternity now, can you!"

And so, the farmers carried on with their day.

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"What do you mean you can only pay me less than what we agreed to?"

Pan Wukun kept her expression neutral and her voice even as she addressed the nobleman in front of her.

The nobleman shook his head, letting out an exaggerated sigh. "It can't be helped, Pan-xiushi. I can only spare so much money when I have to save a large amount for important business affairs. My sincerest apologies."

Right. By "important business affairs", this nobleman meant whatever money he set aside for his fancy parties and carriage rides.

This absolute asswipe was trying to cheat Pan Wukun out of her hard-earned money and labor!

Pan Wukun sighed and shrugged. "Oh well. I guess that evil spirit will return to torment you."

The nobleman blinked, the smugness wiped off of him. "What? What do you mean?"

Pan Wukun clasped her hands behind her back, casually pacing around the room. "Evil spirits can be persistent beings. That particular nasty one feeds off of the negative energy in broken promises. I'm a cultivator with spiritual power and you're a nobleman with money. Upon its return, who do you think that evil spirit is actually going to listen to?"

Pan Wukun was totally bullshitting, but the nobleman didn't need to know that.

The nobleman shivered. He got the hint. "Very well. I shall give you the promised payment."

Pan Wukun smiled sweetly. "Glad we've come to a mutual agreement. Pleasure doing business with you."

Pan Wukun stepped out of the nobleman's house, patting the big bag of money she carried.

Yes. Noble families had so.much.money.

This amount was going to keep Pan Wukun and Meng Yao afloat for months!

"That was devious, Wukun-ge." Meng Yao smirked. He'd been sitting back, watching the show.

Pan Wukun chuckled. "Remember, Meng Yao, when someone wants to screw you over, deviousness always helps."