"Not that much — just over a hundred thousand or so..." Yu Xiaoke said carefully.

"Good grief!" Wei Zhao nearly jumped out of his skin. "Over a hundred thousand and you call that not much? No wonder they're out to have their way with you. Why don't you just give them the money back and be done with it?"

"I can't give it back — I've spent it all, how could I?" Yu Xiaoke said, her face crumpling miserably.

"Over a hundred thousand, every cent of it gone? And you're still wearing rags like this?" Wei Zhao found it hard to believe.

"I didn't spend it on myself — I spent it on others," Yu Xiaoke said. "Can't you help me? I know you're extraordinary!"

"Spent it on others? You stole money and gave it away? Are you out of your mind?" Wei Zhao had been half inclined to lend Yu Xiaoke a hand, but hearing this he decided he would do better to keep his distance from her.

"*I'm* the one who's out of my mind? I'm the one keeping an orphanage alive — a whole household, over a hundred mouths to feed. How long do you think a hundred thousand will last?" Yu Xiaoke shot him a glare and snorted.

Wei Zhao blinked. He had not expected that Yu Xiaoke stole money to keep a family fed. Still — one person supporting over a hundred souls? Didn't that sound a little absurd?

It was only that the word "orphanage" stirred something faintly in Wei Zhao's heart. He had never seen his own parents, and in the most fundamental sense he too was an orphan. Had it not been for the cultivation of his master and the old man, Wei Zhao might well have grown up in some orphanage himself.

So Wei Zhao decided to take Yu Xiaoke at her word, for the time being. "How much do you owe? I'll pay it off for you first."

"It's not just a matter of the money! I also... I also kicked one of Black Bird Bro's eggs to a pulp..." Yu Xiaoke's face flushed red and she dropped her voice to a murmur.

"Ha?" Wei Zhao's eyes went wide. Good Lord, so violent? She had kicked one of the man's eggs to a pulp? No wonder he wanted to have his way with her — anyone in his place would feel the same. Even if I am a miracle doctor, Wei Zhao thought to himself, after all this time there's no growing him a new one. "Then you'd better let him have his way with you — I'm helpless."

"How can I?" Yu Xiaoke's eyes went wide. "I'm still a virgin, aren't I? I heard it's worth a good deal of money. I was saving it — for the day the orphanage runs dry and the children have nothing to eat, I'd go sell my first time!"

"Pfft—" Hearing Yu Xiaoke's words, Wei Zhao nearly choked to death on a breath he could not draw. Her thinking was truly staggering. And yet, if she really meant it, Wei Zhao could not help but admire her a little...

Could a girl truly make such a sacrifice for a crowd of orphans?

Wei Zhao looked into Yu Xiaoke's eyes. She did not look like she was lying — and that was precisely why he had chosen, for the moment, to believe her.

"All right, all right — just help me first, won't you? At worst, count it as a debt. I, Yu Xiaoke, am a celebrated heroine of the jianghu; everyone knows I'm the most loyal of the loyal. When you're in trouble in the future, I'll certainly do my part without hesitation!" Seeing that Wei Zhao was inclined to help, she pressed on quickly.

"Heroine? Female thief, you mean?" Wei Zhao shrugged. "I don't seem to be in any trouble..."

"Shit! The two of you over there whispering and canoodling — am I invisible or what?" Black Bird Bro was about to burst. Where had this pale-faced stranger popped out from on the way, and since when was he Yu Xiaoke's husband?

Still, it hardly mattered whether he was Yu Xiaoke's husband or not — since he had come here, he was not leaving. The thieves of Songshan City and the Flying Swallow Sect had been at odds for years. If Wei Zhao was Yu Xiaoke's husband, he was a man of the Flying Swallow Sect too. Since they had crossed paths today, they would beat him along with her.

"I'm not ignoring you," Wei Zhao said, glancing at Black Bird Bro. "But whether you exist or not makes no difference to me. What should I call you?"

"Ha, pale-face — you've got nerve!" Black Bird Bro laughed coldly, his eyes fixed on Wei Zhao. "Only I wonder whether you'll still have nerve in a moment. Have you heard the name Black Bird Bro?"

Black Bird Bro was the second-in-command of Songshan City's thief syndicate, naturally a figure of some renown. No one in the trade had not heard his name. Even the lone wolves had to go pay their respects at Black Bird Bro's doorstep before they dared work Songshan City.

"No," Wei Zhao said, honestly shaking his head. "But you're Black Bird Bro, yes? Since you're a thief and she's a thief, then we're in the same line of work. Let's just let this matter drop — don't go looking for trouble for yourself. A thief is a thief; don't cross the line into thuggery."

"Motherfucker — who do you think you are, daring to lecture me?" Black Bird Bro flared up in an instant, jabbing a finger at Wei Zhao. "Boys — cripple this punk first, and then we'll all have our way with Yu Xiaoke!"

"Heh heh, you got it, Black Bird Bro!" The four brutes closed in and surrounded Wei Zhao.

Yu Xiaoke's heart was pounding. When she had spotted Wei Zhao earlier and called on him to save her, it had been pure instinct. In this deserted alley he had become her only straw to clutch at. But now that Wei Zhao had actually come, she was anxious again — after all, he was only one man against five brawny brutes. Could he handle them?

Wei Zhao did not look particularly strong. That he could take one of them, Yu Xiaoke believed — she herself could have held her own against one in single combat, and that was precisely why she had dared follow that thief into this deserted alley in the first place: even if they tried to rob her by force, she figured she could manage.

Who would have thought the situation would turn so swiftly — in the blink of an eye it was five against one, and in her desperation Yu Xiaoke had no choice but to rely on Wei Zhao.

"Can you handle this?" Yu Xiaoke asked, anxious.

"No. Want to swap and let you try?" Wei Zhao smiled and shot the question back.

"Then you'd better do it. Good luck!" Seeing that Wei Zhao showed not a trace of nervousness, Yu Xiaoke's heart settled at once. He must have some confidence, she thought — otherwise he'd be plotting an escape by now.

"Boy, be sensible. Hand your wife over to the brothers for a little fun, and you can walk away." One of the brutes looked with contempt on Wei Zhao's slender frame; he thought the man couldn't even take one punch from him.

"That's right — looking at your bookish face, you'd do well enough as a thief, but fighting isn't your line, is it? Wouldn't want your face ruined; it'd make future jobs inconvenient." Another brute jeered as well.

"Why don't you hand your wife over to them for a little fun?" Wei Zhao did not tell the brute to hand his own wife over to *him* to play with, because the very idea disgusted him — even if she were offered, he wouldn't touch her.

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