I filled the tiny bucket with warm water and poured it on myself.
My muscles unwound as the water hit my skin.
"Ahh, that totally hits the spot~."
Because of this broken leg, I had to refrain from going into the water for the next week, but I didn't mind it too much.
All of a sudden, a punk's voice broke through the silence.
"I'm not getting in there."
"...So? What does that have to do with me?"
I quickly rubbed the soap bar in between my hands, creating colorful little bubbles.
The bubbles wrapped around my arms and floated in the air.
"Playing with bubbles, are you a child or something?"
"..."
Ugh, can't this punk just leave me alone?
"If you aren't going to shower, then can you leave or something?"
"I can't do that."
Is this guy trying to piss me off?
"What? Why?"
"..."
"Seriously? Now you don't talk?"
I dipped the bucket back into the river and poured its warm water all around me, swiftly washing off the bubbles.
"You know Grandma Guanhuai won't let you back in the house without taking a shower, right?"
"I couldn't give two shits about that hag."
...Right.
I was already done showering, but I didn't want to stop bathing in the water's warmth.
"You say you don't give two shits, yet you still sold all those potions today...makes me wonder-"
"And this was why I was so easily able to break your legs, yeah? How can you just sit here and shower while it's pitch dark? Are you a moron or something?"
"You-!"
"ARE YA BOYS DONE YET? YA'LL SURE ARE TAKIN YER TIME, AIN'T YA!"
Grandma Guanhuai came walking down the river towards us. It seemed that she had already finished showering.
"We're almost done...or, more like I'm almost done."
I looked back at the punk who refused even to get a single drop of river water on him.
So arrogant for what? Doesn't this guy also live in the slums?
Grandma Guanhuai cocked her head to the side and glared at him.
"Now ya know I ain't got no room in my house for smelly folk, yeah?"
"..."
"GET. IN. THE. DAMN. WATER."
"I'll just sleep on the floor, alright? I don't think showering right now is a good option-"
"I DONE ALREADY BOUGHT YA SOAP AND NEW DAMN OUTFIT, YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE A SHOWER."
"...Fine."
That's Grandma Guanhuai, alright, no room for negotiation.
She glared as he slowly lowered himself into the water.
"Yer gonna wash yerself with yer clothes still on?"
"You got a problem with that, too?"
"...."
I watched as Grandma Guanhuai lowered her head, almost like she had given up.
This wasn't like her at all...
...there's no way she'd give up so easily.
Breaking the silence, I slowly spoke up.
"Uh, Grandma Guanhuai, it can't be that big of a deal that-"
Before I could finish, a bright light shot past me, heading straight towards the river.
I could hear the sound of splashing water as dust engulfed my vision.
What the hell? W-was that Grandma Guanhuai?
I tried to get up, only for intense pain to shoot up my leg.
"...Grandma Guanhuai?"
There were sounds of struggling.
"HEY, HELP-UMF"
Wei's voice rang out before getting cut off again.
"Grandma Guanhuai?! W-what the hell is...."
Just as panic filled my head, the dust had started to clear...and...
"...PFFT, hahhhhaa, there's no way! Those were the clothes she got you?"
What stood in front of me was a roughly dressed Wei, rocking little bunny pajamas.
"Damn ungrateful kids, can't even respect yer elders anymore, eh?"
Wei opened his mouth to say something, but instead, he had coughed up river water in place of his retorts.
"Alright, kiddos, we're going back."
"You...you dare-!"
A single glare from Grandma Guanhuai made him clamp his mouth shut.
"If ya ain't got nothin else ta say, carry that jitter-bug back home already!"
Grandma Guanhuai slowly walked away with the rest of her belongings.
I watched as he slowly got up from the ground.
He was most definitely cursing Grandma Guanhuai to death.
"Aren't you going to carry me back home, bunny-boy?"
"Don't say another word."
"Yeah, sure, pal...wait! Before that, let me get a picture of you. Just stand still for a bit."
I grabbed my phone and snapped a couple of pictures...but that wasn't my goal.
Although it was quite funny, something else piqued my interest...
Just how powerful was Grandma Guanhuai?
She's been putting this guy down so easily...
I closed my eyes and tried to feel for the Li-Liang running through my body.
I know I need to rest right now, but I can't shake off this feeling...this feeling that something's up.
Just who is this robber? And how does he scale compared to Grandma Guanhuai?
I could feel the Li-Liang run towards my eyes, and then, I finally opened them.
A warm red light filled my eyes, with a wall of words appearing on it.
[Skill activation failed.]
[Insufficient Li-Liang.]
Huh? But it's been more than a day? I should have some power left, no?
Wei quickly walked up to me.
"Uh, hey, wait, I'm not done taking pictures!"
He swiftly snatched the phone from my hands, then turned to me with a look of disgust.
Why's he acting like I'm the criminal or something?
He tapped something on my phone before throwing it back at me.
He...he deleted my pictures!
"You-!"
"I can either leave you here, or you can shut up and still get back home."
...Ah, it seems I had forgotten about this stupid leg.
Why did I think I was in any spot of power?
"Okay, I'll shut up, just get me back, alright?"
I waited for him to turn his back to me so I could get my piggyback ride, but he didn't.
"Uh, I said I'll shut up...hey, you're not really going to leave me here, right?"
"Shut up, I'm thinking."
"Huh? Thinking of what?"
"..."
"Hey! What the hell are you thinking about?"
"..."
...This can't be good.
***
I was being princess-carried back to Grandma Guanhuai's house.
Ugh, this is so fucking embarrassing...
"God dammit, can't you move any fucking faster?!"
"You're incredibly heavy, so no."
"...You..."
I could feel a blood vessel pop in my forehead.
"Why can't you just give me a piggyback ride, huh? You were doing fine with that before!"
"It's night."
"And?!"
"I can easily drop you if something happens, and you won't be able to latch on to me."
"...Excuse me?!"
Ugh, I should just stop arguing with this moron!
Instead, I slowly looked back to when my skill failed.
It only meant one thing, and it was that looking at this guy's history costs more Li-Liang than I thought it would...so, this guy's more powerful than I think he is.
I need to rest more. Until then, I can't rely on my skills to find out more about him.
...?
"Hey, why did you stop...."
We both went silent.
At first, all I could feel was the gentle breeze of the wind.
But then, I could hear tip-tapping.
Not from nature, but a person.
I had been in this exact scenario multiple times already.
Hearing someone behind me while walking through dark alleyways in slums...
...Why the hell is this happening to me so many times?!
And why do I have to notice this so late?!
Shit, this can't be good-
"ACK!"
I was almost immediately dropped onto the concrete.
"You almost dropped me on my bad leg-!"
Two different colors clashed against each other, with a loud boom erupting from the chaos.
I was once again in a slum alleyway clash.