Chapter 18: Please let us off the hook
Fanny did not intend to run Han Shuo through a gauntlet, due to his injuries. She let him go back after she’d cleaned, dressed his wounds, and saw that he wasn’t suffering anywhere else.
Han Shuo’s walk back was filled with silent frustrations and worry. He hadn’t thought that Lisa would cotton on to him playing the fool that quickly.
He’d played quite a few nasty tricks on her recently, and she’d originally let it all go because she thought he was crazy, but now that she knew it was all an act, she was bound to be out for his blood.
He’d unknowingly made it back to his warehouse, while deep in the midst of furrowed, scattered thought. Just as he was about to open the door and step inside, he discovered the two cowering figures of Carey and Borg by his doorway.
Han Shuo had beaten these two the most at the training fields earlier because they were the ringleaders. Their faces were now bruised and battered, and the sides of their faces were even a bit misshapen.
Han Shuo’s thoughts churned as he saw the two of them waiting there. He cautiously checked his surroundings, wondering how many more they had hidden on the sides waiting to ambush him, since they were already here to exact revenge.
He surveyed the vicinity and squinted, staring at the two of them without saying a word. He walked slowly to the side, where he usually washed and scrubbed things, and chose a hard rock. He smiled dumbly and said, “Do you still want to fight?”
Carey and Borg both shuddered when they saw Han Shuo come back with a rock. Carey hastily said, “Bryan, please let us off the hook. It was our fault for offending you before, we’ll never do it again. Please forgive us!”
On the side, Borg was also staring at Han Shuo, with a face full of fear, as he shakily fumbled out two silver coins from his pocket. He cowered in front of Han Shuo and offered them to him, “Bryan, this is a token of our sincerity. Can you please talk to Master Fanny for us? Otherwise the academy will fire both of us. Our families are poor and completely depend on the silvers we earn from doing errands at the academy. Please let us off the hook!”
So, they’d come to beg and plead. Han Shuo threw the rock, that was in his hand, to the side. The honest, dumb look in his eyes faded away as he rested his two hands on his shoulders, lazily sizing up the two.
Han Shuo smiled after a moment. “I don’t want those two silvers!”
Borg and Carey eyed each other, then looked at the completely unruffled Han Shuo. They both bent down, putting one knee on the ground and implored, “Bryan, please forgive us. We won’t dare do anything again.”
“Stand up and talk, stand up and talk!” Han Shuo hurriedly raised the two from the ground while smiling. He then responded, “I don’t want your silver, but I’ll talk to Master Fanny and leave you two alone in the future if you agree on one condition!”
At this point, how could Borg and Carey not know that Han Shuo had always been putting on an act. Han Shuo’s coldly cruel methods in the training fields had stunned and frightened all thoughts of revenge out of their heads. The current Han Shuo had completely exceeded all of their expectations!
“We agree to whatever condition you want!” Borg speedily replied, fervently looking at Han Shuo.
Han Shuo looked at the two in a measured, unflappable manner and nodded. He said, “In the future, the two of you need to hop to it on all my errand duties, and finish them quickly. I’ll talk to Master Fanny, as long as you two agree to this.”
“No problem, Bryan we’ve got this. We know what to do, we’ll carry out your work in the future.” Carey almost tripped over his words in rapid agreement, as if he was afraid that Han Shuo would regret his words.
There were four errand boys in the necromancy major. If the school authorities really did sweep Carey and Borg out the door, they wouldn’t be able to immediately find replacements. This way, the two’s original jobs would undoubtedly fall onto Han Shuo and Jack’s shoulders. Han Shuo would no longer have any free time, and was naturally something he didn’t want to see.
Now that Carey and Borg had agreed to handle Han Shuo’s business for him, he would have a lot more energy to do other things. What a change in fortunes. It used to be that Bryan was the one receiving a whole heck of extra work from these guys, now the situation was reversed, and he had indirectly gotten revenge for that unlucky Bryan.
He noted that the sky was darkening, and remembered that the proposed time with Lisa was quickly approaching. He said with some degree of impatience, “Alright, alright. I need to make a trip to behind the classroom building. You should go back if there’s nothing else. Be careful in the future, keep pretending that I’m that crazy village idiot. If you dare breathe a word of what happened today, I’ll beat you two so badly that you wouldn’t even recognize each other if you stood face to face!”
Carey and Borg cravenly nodded in quick agreement upon hearing Han Shuo’s chilly threat. Han Shuo’s brutally cold-blooded methods in the training fields had branded a deep mark on their hearts. They didn’t dare think of revenge even deep within their hearts.
Just as Han Shuo was about to leave, Borg suddenly thought of something and called out, “Bryan, don’t walk towards the back of the classroom building from the direction of the fake mountains. Lisa just directed Carey and I to set up three holes with nets and tripwires. She said she wanted to test the intelligence of summoned creatures. Don’t walk into them by accident!”
Han Shuo was taken aback, but quickly marshalled his thoughts in understanding. It looked like Lisa had made her preparations early. What intelligence testing of summoned creatures? It’s just something she’s prepared for me!
“Where did you set up the traps? Tell me in detail, otherwise I just may fall into them in the dark!” Han Shuo frowned as he asked Borg and Carey.
There was no way those two could have known that Lisa had set those traps in order to deal with Han Shuo. Add to that their current need for a favor from Han Shuo, and their genuine fear of him, the two quickly elaborated on the locations of the three traps in great detail.
“Okay. See you tomorrow. Remember to thoroughly wipe and dust off the statues on the path to the classroom buildings. I’m going to sleep in tomorrow.” Han Shuo showily gave an order to the two and walked off without a care in the world, towards the fake mountains behind the classroom building.
Department of dark magic classroom building, around a bend in one of the fake mountains.
Lisa was hidden behind the fake mountain, a corner of her mouth lifted into a snicker with evil intent. Her two eyes sparkled with life as she eagerly peered at Han Shuo slowly emerging in the distance.
Damned Bryan, how dare you pretend to be crazy and embarrass me. Not only did you scare me by pretending to be a corpse, but you kicked my butt in the training field and you gave me a disgusting refining recipe. See if I don’t torment you to death. Lisa thought viciously and her fingers tightened on the rope wrapped around her hand.
The other end of the rope was wrapped in a circular loop, laid on the path that Han Shuo would have to take on his way to the fake mountain. Lisa would give a mighty pull as soon as he set both feet into the loop, immediately tripping him to the ground. A big, outstretched net had already been laid out on a protruding rock further up ahead, just waiting to entangle Han Shuo as soon as his legs were tied up.
Lisa laughed a silent, cruel laugh as she watched the unassuming Han Shuo approach. She observed him looking all around, calling out as he slowly shuffled forward, “Lisa, where are you? Come on out.”
“I’m here, come over here. I have something to tell you. You’re dead if you don’t come over here!”
Lisa snorted lightly as she stayed behind the fake mountain.
Han Shuo glanced to his left and right again and walked towards the area with the rope lying in wait, as if he was completely oblivious. Lisa’s heart swelled in joy and she flexed her hands around the rope in her hands, focusing her concentration on the second that both of Han Shuo’s legs stepped into the trap.
Just as one of his feet landed in the trap, Han Shuo’s body suddenly froze as he called out again, “Lisa, where are you hiding?
The loop was just a few inches in front of Han Shuo’s foot. Lisa had almost lost control and sprang the trap when she saw that Han Shuo was about to fall right into it. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that she’d miscalculated.
Just as Lisa relaxed and was about to respond, Han Shuo’s still body quickly strode out, evading the trap in the blink of an eye. He continue walking, murmuring in confusion, “Lisa, what game are you trying to play?”
Thus, Lisa’s carefully laid out rope loop and net trap was seemingly carelessly dodged by Han Shuo with his sudden stop and start. A wave of dejection rose in Lisa’s heart and she cursed in a low voice, hating Han Shuo for his good luck, but never once thinking it was because he was keenly aware of what was going on.
“I’m here, what took you so long!” Lisa was gritting her teeth in complaint, as her lithe body emerged from a crevice in the fake mountain.
“Oh, nothing much. Just that my back was still hurting so I went back and rested for a bit. Thanks for dressing my wounds today.” Han Shuo said without expression and walked towards Lisa.
A sudden crack rang out, as if fragile wooden raft had been snapped. Han Shuo’s body vanished from where he stood, accompanied with his panicked yell. Agony filled moans followed shortly thereafter from a deep hole that had suddenly appeared.
“Haha, damned Bryan, you finally fell for it. See if I won’t torment you to death today! How dare you play a fool and embarrass the future archmage of necromancy!” Lisa’s woebegone expression just a split second ago, was replaced a wave of hysterical joy from her heart when she saw Han Shuo fall into the trap. She hollered excitedly and quickly ran out from behind the fake mountain and made straight for the trap that Han Shuo had triggered.
Lisa laughed in proud, high pitched laughter as she walked to the edge of the trap. She brought out a stone as she cussed loudly at Han Shuo, intending to stone him where he’d fallen to take revenge for her latest humiliation at his hands.
All of a sudden, a hand wrapped around Lisa’s right ankle. Scared witless, she looked down and finally noticed that Han Shuo’s left hand was grasping the edge of the trap, while his right hand was latched onto her ankle. He hadn’t fallen into the hole at all, and was in fact looking at her with an evil grin on his face.
“Come on down!” He guffawed evilly and yanked with his hand, taking advantage of Lisa’s consternation. The carefully scheming Lisa pitched forward, flailing her limbs wildly, while screaming in sheer terror, as she shot straight down into the hole.