AMSSO-Chapter 77: Too Unlucky

Xu Chengjun and Zhao Hanxue hadn’t been doing well these days.

Even drinking cold water would get stuck in their teeth.

A month ago, they entered the Myriad Beast Forest, but they didn’t find the Crystal Fish they wanted. Instead, they were chased by the Floating Crystal Demon Crocodile.

After a hard escape, they caught an Iron-Eating Beast cub, thinking they could make a fortune.

But unexpectedly, afterward they encountered a Rakshasa Wolf, and almost got eaten by a Soul-Devouring Tiger.

They had no choice but to throw away the Iron-Eating Beast cub.

But to their shock, their storage pouch also went missing!

—Inside the storage pouch were more than half of their accumulated wealth over the years!

That alone was bad enough, but at least they survived in the end.

Staying alive was most important.

They thought this was already the worst misfortune possible.

But who would’ve thought, just over half a month ago, they were summoned back home and severely interrogated.

Only then did they learn that someone had used their identity tokens to withdraw a large amount of property from several cities!

Altogether, the amount was no small figure!

Hearing this, Zhao Hanxue almost fainted.

Was this “when it rains, it pours”?!

She immediately wanted to push the blame onto someone else, but she’s the only one who couldn’t produce her identity token.

Everyone else still had their identity tokens safe with them.

She really couldn’t understand how her own identity token had been taken away.

Her identity token had been kept inside her storage pouch.

And removing the identity token was a difficult task.

Besides, even if the identity token was taken out, one would still need to know the Zhao Family’s secret code!

She had never told anyone about that code.

Her guess was that the storage pouch must’ve been stolen by that cub, and maybe it had already been destroyed.

After all, that’s a spirit beast cub, it didn’t understand the value of a storage pouch.

So after her initial daze, she quickly reacted and began arguing forcefully.

The identity token used to withdraw money wasn’t necessarily hers!

It’s also possible that someone else in the Zhao Family had colluded with outsiders!

She checked the timing, the first withdrawal happened shortly after she lost her token.

But in such a short time, it shouldn’t have been possible for the thief to succeed!

Who didn’t know that breaking the imprint of a storage pouch required at least half a day?

Of course, the time required depended on the skill of the artifact refiner.

Zhao Hanxue argued with her family, “Those powerful artifact refiners wouldn’t stoop to such a thing, while weaker ones couldn’t possibly crack it so quickly. In such a short period of time, how could they take my identity token out, know the secret code, and then rush to the shops to withdraw money? Do you think that’s very likely?”

Hearing her reasoning, the Zhao Family also thought she might have a point.

Seeing their doubt, Zhao Hanxue was delighted and pressed harder.

“The subsequent withdrawals happened very close in time. Even with flying artifacts, the timing is extremely tight. And those who can use flying artifacts wouldn’t need to do something like this.”

“And didn’t Uncle Shopkeeper say it? The person coming to each shop was different!”

“So I think it wasn’t just me who lost an identity token, there must’ve been several! It just so happened that mine and Brother Chengjun’s were lost together—and was actually lost.”

Her words swayed the others, and their suspicion toward her wasn’t as firm anymore.

After all, what she said made sense.

The timing was indeed too rushed.

Most importantly, the Zhao Family’s identity tokens and codes were the same, so they couldn’t be sure whose token was used.

Maybe some people had really colluded with outsiders to swindle the family’s wealth.

That wasn’t impossible.

Because of this incident, the Zhao Family was in turmoil.

But everyone swore oaths, claiming they had never revealed the code, and absolutely hadn’t done such a thing.

It was quite troublesome, since everyone believed themselves innocent.

And besides, why only accuse the younger generation? Couldn’t it have been the elders?

Some of the elders had none of the dignity of elders, spending money like water!

With everyone accusing and shifting blame, the family atmosphere became very sour.

In the end, it was the Zhao Family Head who made the final decision.

—The matter ends here. No more talk of it!

However, they began reforging identity tokens so that each person’s would be unique.

At the same time, the secret codes were also changed.

The idea was that, should it happen again, they could immediately identify the culprit.

But achieving this was really troublesome, the Zhao Family had too many direct and collateral descendants. Making everyone recognize the new tokens was no easy task.

Still, to avoid another situation where the culprit couldn’t be found, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and reform.

Thus, the Zhao Family was thrown into chaos.

The Xu Family’s situation wasn’t much better.

But Xu Chengjun was in a far better position than Zhao Hanxue, because three people in the Xu Family had lost their tokens!

So he could shift the blame without guilt.

Moreover, Xu Chengjun’s natural talent was outstanding, and his status in the Xu Family was much higher than Zhao Hanxue’s in hers, so he wasn’t really blamed.

Most people didn’t believe he would collude with outsiders to cheat his own family.

With his talent and strength, the chances of him inheriting the Xu Family in the future were very high. He had no need to do such a thing.

Still, no matter how gifted he was, not everyone liked him. There were still whispers.

Regardless, the Xu Family also carried out identity token reforms.

Both families ended up in turmoil.

Because of all this, Zhao Hanxue was in a foul mood.

She had originally wanted to wash her spirit root, become stronger, and make a fortune.

But instead, she gained nothing!

She even lost a storage pouch and an identity token!

A total loss!

Oh, and she was disliked by some people in both the Zhao and Xu Families.

Although she argued eloquently and shifted responsibility, who let her lose her identity token together with Xu Chengjun?

Their suspicion was heavier.

And not everyone liked them to begin with.

This left Zhao Hanxue very displeased, yet powerless.

As for going back to where they threw the Iron-Eating Beast cub to look for the storage pouch, that was absolutely impossible.

There was a Soul-Devouring Tiger there!

With such ferocity, it must’ve already eaten the cub and that human. It should’ve returned to the Myriad Beast Forest by now.

Even if they went, it would be in vain.

If it hadn’t returned, and was still there, wouldn’t that be even more terrifying?

If she went, wouldn’t that be seeking death?

So, after careful thought, Zhao Hanxue decided that she had to prove herself, to suppress the gossip in both the Zhao and Xu Families!

Thus, she persuaded Xu Chengjun to re-enter the Myriad Beast Forest.

Even though they had suffered a huge loss there before, if they wanted to get rich, they still had to go!

Unless one lost their life, who would refuse the Myriad Beast Forest?

“Brother Chengjun, the Spirit Tea Tree I saw last time is just up ahead!” Zhao Hanxue leaned obediently against Xu Chengjun, whispering.

“Really?” Xu Chengjun lowered his head and squeezed her hand, his face full of joy. “Xiaoxue, you’re truly wonderful!”

Zhao Hanxue’s lips curved with a shy smile, “It’s only because Brother Chengjun believes in me.”