Chapter 693 — I Challenge You

The beggar's eyes lit up at once, and he thanked her profusely, while Yu Xiaoke slipped swiftly away from the hospital gates.

"I've got money, I've got money, I don't even know how to spend it — a Nokia in my left hand, a Motorola in my right..." Yu Xiaoke sang happily, counting the cash in the wallet in her hand! And he drove a Beetle, too — a measly three thousand or so, not even as good as those three lechers she had run into at noon! Still, Yu Xiaoke was delighted: in the blink of an eye she had made three thousand yuan, and better yet, she had taught that heartless rich boy a lesson!

"Bang!" Yu Xiaoke suddenly collided with someone and nearly jumped out of her skin! It was all her own fault for being so absorbed — counting money while walking, not even watching where she was going! Instinctively she blurted, "Sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was..."

"If you don't know how to spend it, let me help you." The one blocking Yu Xiaoke's path was Wei Zhao.

Yu Xiaoke froze, then looked up — and never expected that the newcomer was the very rich boy from before. She jumped in fright. "You... what are you doing here?"

"You're quite the money-maker, aren't you?" Wei Zhao produced a lady's wallet and idly flipped through the bills inside. "Over ten thousand? A lucrative haul, hmm?"

At the sight of the wallet in Wei Zhao's hand, Yu Xiaoke was startled. Instinctively she reached for her own pocket — and her face fell in horror. "My... my wallet? How is it with you?"

"Oh, I thought you wanted to trade your big wallet for my small one," Wei Zhao said mildly. "No wonder you hand a hundred yuan to any swindler you meet — too much money burning a hole in your pocket!"

"You... you're talking nonsense! When did I ever give money to a swindler?" Yu Xiaoke glared at Wei Zhao.

"That beggar from before was a swindler," Wei Zhao said, not without mockery. "His leg was never lame at all. It's perfectly fine — healthier than yours."

Wei Zhao was well versed in medicine, so naturally he had seen at a glance whether the beggar's lameness was real or feigned! And when Wei Zhao offered to treat the man's leg, the beggar had not stayed — he had run off instead. That in itself told the whole story.

"What evidence do you have?" Hearing Wei Zhao's words, Yu Xiaoke could not help but knit her brows slightly! She was no fool. She often plied her trade around here and had seen that beggar more than once or twice. She had never given it much thought before, but counting it up carefully today, the man had been begging here for at least half a year. The money he had collected was long since enough to see a doctor — so why hadn't he gone, and why did he keep on begging?

But Yu Xiaoke did not want to admit she was wrong, least of all in front of Wei Zhao! This great villain who had stolen her wallet!

"I can't be bothered to argue with you about this." Wei Zhao snatched his own wallet back from Yu Xiaoke's hand. "With skills like yours, you still come out here to thieve? Go home and practice a few more years before you come out and embarrass yourself."

The other party was a girl, and Wei Zhao could not be bothered to hold a grudge against her; as for her wallet, he decided to confiscate it as a lesson to her.

"You... don't you walk away!" Yu Xiaoke grew frantic. Not only had Wei Zhao pocketed the day's takings, he had insulted her skills! This was beyond bearing. Yu Xiaoke had always regarded herself as the foremost phantom thief, yet Wei Zhao had not only stolen her wallet but told her to go home and practice for a few more years — this was a naked provocation!

Naturally Wei Zhao paid her no heed. He still had to get to the hospital — how could he waste time on this female cat burglar?

"I challenge you!" As the forty-sixth-generation heir of the Flying Swallow Sect, how could Yu Xiaoke let Wei Zhao leave? The man actually dared to look down on a disciple of the Flying Swallow Sect — how could Yu Xiaoke endure it? She was only eighteen, young and hot-blooded, and she would never admit defeat.

(For more on the Flying Swallow Sect, see Faint Light of Old Dreamsed Rebirth: The Pursuit of Beauty.)

"Challenge? Challenge what?" Wei Zhao glanced at Yu Xiaoke and decided the girl was a bit unhinged. This was the pinnacle of thievery, surely — caught red-handed, and instead of thinking about escape, she wanted to challenge him. If she ran into a cop like this, she would have been thrown in prison long ago.

"A contest of thieving skills, of course!" Yu Xiaoke puffed out her chest and stared fixedly at her big wallet in Wei Zhao's hand.

"If we're comparing chests, I might consider it. Comparing thievery — sorry, not interested." Wei Zhao leered at Yu Xiaoke's chest. Not especially large, but quite firm — she must exercise a lot, her pectoral muscles fairly well developed.

"You—" Yu Xiaoke was about to go mad. In all her time in the trade, she had never been the victim of a reverse-pickpocketing — today was the first time! It infuriated her, and at the same time she felt utterly humiliated. She was an heir of the Flying Swallow Sect! The Flying Swallow Sect was the greatest thieves' sect in the martial world — how could she lose to anyone?

Besides, Yu Xiaoke did not think her skills were inferior. It was only that she had been too excited while counting her money and had bumped into Wei Zhao, giving him an opening to snatch her wallet on the sly. In fact, Wei Zhao had stolen her wallet at the very moment she stole his — she simply hadn't noticed.

Wei Zhao ignored her and turned to go, because he felt the girl had a screw loose. With psychological fortitude like that, coming out to be a thief — challenging people at the drop of a hat...

Seeing that Wei Zhao was flatly ignoring her, Yu Xiaoke ground her teeth in fury, yet there was nothing she could do. It was the first time she had ever run into such a thing, and she had no idea how to handle it either. When she saw Wei Zhao walk off, she followed him as if possessed.

Even if Wei Zhao would not compete with her, she still had to get her wallet back, didn't she? That was the biggest haul she'd had all month — how could she just let it be taken? Yu Xiaoke was not about to let it go.

Wei Zhao had not expected Yu Xiaoke to actually follow him. It left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and at the same time convinced him that she was truly unsuited to be a thief. To be a thief and sink to her level — the girl was missing a few screws, no mistake. He was on his way to the police station; was she going to follow him there too?

Yu Xiaoke tailed Wei Zhao as he walked on, confident in her lightness skill. The Flying Swallow Sect was famed for its qinggong; her fighting skills might be nothing to boast of, but she could run fast enough, and so in her eyes, shadowing Wei Zhao was as easy as breathing.

She meant to bide her time for a suitable opening and then lift every last wallet, big and small, off Wei Zhao's person.

But when she rounded a corner at a street intersection, Yu Xiaoke froze — because Wei Zhao was gone!

"Where'd he go?" Yu Xiaoke stared, baffled, at the empty street. This was the back street behind the hospital, a place few people ever passed through under normal circumstances, so there was no way he could have vanished into a crowd. The street was utterly deserted at that moment, which meant she could see everything at a glance.