LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 240: Spoils of War
Any modern person encountering such a situation would instinctively call the police.
But Li Sushang, having lived in an era with a less developed legal system and heavily influenced by knight-errant stories, found this situation not only normal, but perfectly in line with the heroic tropes of rescuing damsels and upholding justice.
As expected, she easily dealt with the thugs. However, she showed restraint, only injuring them enough to render them unconscious.
"Can you still hold on?" She helped the dazed Ren up, retrieving her blood-soaked ID card. But it was severely damaged, unusable.
She didn't blame Ren for destroying it. On the contrary, she saw his act of destroying the victim's identification as a sign of his conscience.
"Cough, cough…" Coughing uncontrollably, Ren didn't immediately check his wounds. Instead, he pulled out Li Sushang's debit card from his pocket. "I'm sorry. I stole your things."
"Oh, it's nothing! You should worry about yourself first." Li Sushang said dismissively. When she was first swindled out of all her money, she survived by eating wild vegetables and tree bark. With her current strength, going a few days without food wasn't a problem.
Hearing her words, Ren seemed to relax. Gritting his teeth, he pulled a roll of bandages from his pocket. He had prepared these bandages for his first meeting with Kiana; he hadn't expected to use them again.
The wound on the back of his head looked serious with all the blood, but it wasn't life-threatening. However, he was sore and weak from the thugs' beating. His hands trembled as he tried to bandage himself, missing the spot several times, only managing to spread more blood.
Unable to watch any longer, Li Sushang took the bandages from him, swiftly wrapping them around his head. She then used her hairpin to secure the bandages.
Under the silvery moonlight, her light brown hair cascaded down as she removed her ribbon, her usual twintails transforming into a waterfall, softening her youthful, heroic features into something more gentle and approachable.
"Done!" Satisfied with her handiwork, Li Sushang clapped her hands, placing them on her hips.
Ren, now with a bandaged forehead, looked pale, his eyes downcast. His crimson eyes held an unreadable emotion, a lingering sadness.
Li Sushang, looking him up and down, suddenly blushed. As someone who appreciated beauty, upon closer inspection, she found the gray-haired Ren quite handsome.
He's quite good-looking.
She quickly suppressed the thought, glancing at Ren to make sure he hadn't noticed her reaction. Feigning nonchalance, she said, "I won't pursue the matter of you stealing my ID. Let me take you home. You don't look like you'll recover anytime soon."
"I...don't have a home," Ren shook his head slightly, leaning against the wall to catch his breath, trying to clear his head.
Remembering their earlier conversation, Li Sushang recalled that he was indeed homeless. But his clothes were clean, and though pale, he didn't look like the refugees of her time. He didn't look like a homeless person.
"Then you must have a place to stay, right?"
"Yes," Ren nodded, not denying it.
After resting for a few minutes, his strength returned. Instead of leaving, he went to the unconscious thugs, rummaging through their pockets, retrieving some scattered bills.
Seeing him stealing in front of her, Li Sushang said hesitantly, "Stealing from others is wrong. Even if they're thugs, it goes against the code of chivalry."
"No. These are spoils of war."
"Spoils of war?" Unfamiliar with this modern term, Li Sushang looked at Ren in confusion.
"If you speak of chivalry, you should know that combatants often wager something before a fight. The victor takes the loser's wager. When they decided to attack us, they made a wager. For you, it was the money you carried. For them, it was their possessions. My wager…was my life.
You won. Naturally, their wager belongs to you. We call these the spoils of war."
"I see. I've learned a new term."
Li Sushang pondered this as Ren finished searching the thugs. He gathered the money and handed it all to Li Sushang. "Digital currency is so common in this city now, it's getting harder and harder to find actual cash."
"You keep it. I don't need it." Li Sushang refused, but Ren forced the money into her hand.
"These are your spoils of war."
Looking at his serious expression, Li Sushang didn't push back. She wasn't one for complicated thoughts, and Ren's explanation made sense. There were many instances in martial arts novels where gratitude was expressed, but there were also instances of accepting payment.
The paper money in her hand felt smooth, like fine fabric, with clear patterns and bold lettering.
"Is this the banknote of this era?" She rubbed the bills curiously, then remembered Ren's words. "Wait, getting harder?"
She had assumed Ren was truly desperate, but his movements while searching the thugs were too practiced. Had she been tricked again?
"I do resort to certain…methods sometimes. There are plenty of thugs in this city. Conflicts are bound to happen. I sometimes deliberately instigate conflicts and profit from them." Looking into her eyes, Ren said seriously, "They're right. I'm not a good person. To survive, I'll do whatever it takes. But there are things one can do, and things one shouldn't."
"Are you going to arrest me?"
Under the moonlight, they stood facing each other. Shadows covered most of Ren's face, only his crimson eyes gleaming.
Li Sushang was conflicted. Technically, neither Ren nor the thugs were good people. There was no reason to favor one over the other. But emotionally, she leaned towards Ren. He was only trying to survive, while the thugs were actively causing harm.
"Argh!" She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
"I'll let you go this time, but don't let there be a next time. There are so many new things in this era, so many jobs. Finding a way to support yourself shouldn't be difficult. If you can't, I'll have the luocha arrange something for you. But…"
"Don't be a bad person anymore." Li Sushang moved closer, admonishing him like an elder.
But at only 150cm tall, she looked like a child, making the scene rather comical.
"Okay."
"It's late. Since your injuries seem to be manageable, we should part ways. Farewell, until we meet again."
After their farewell, Li Sushang walked alone, thinking about the day's events.
In just a few days since waking up, she'd not only seen flying metal carriages and this wondrous city, but had also encountered such an incident. It was all so novel and unforgettable.
"I hope he becomes a good person." She sighed, clutching the money in her hand.
Returning to the hotel, the same receptionist was still there. Li Sushang showed her the torn ID card, asking if she could still check in.
The answer was yes, of course. But as Li Sushang looked at the luxurious hotel, smelling the faint fragrance of perfume, she couldn't help but picture Ren hiding in a garbage dump.
If she had only experienced the city's entertainment, she wouldn't have thought staying in a hotel was strange. But after seeing Ren's struggles, she suddenly felt a sense of aversion to this opulent hotel.
"The knights-errant in stories roam freely. They don't stay in fancy inns. If one lives in such luxury, how can one speak of wandering the world?"
Under the receptionist's bewildered gaze, Li Sushang took back her ID, apologized politely, and ventured back into the night.
"I still need to make sure that boy gets on the right path." Finding a reason for herself, Li Sushang retraced her steps.