While Xu Min was busy focusing on improving his body and working hard, Wang Li was often observing the young boy with a curious gleam in his eye. Throughout the day, the overseer watched the young boy for a long time before he temporarily left his duties at the harbor and found a good friend of his, a beggar.
"Listen up, Xiao San," He said with a smile on his face. "I need you to get me all the information you can about a boy named Xu Min. No matter what you find out about this boy, just tell me. I'll pay a good price."
Having asked the beggar, Wang Li rushed back to the harbor only to see that everyone was still doing their tasks as ordered, none of them slacking off in the slightest.
As the day passed and the sun started to set, Wang Li looked at the boy and gave him one last order, "Put these cases up, go back home, and start cultivating. I'll cook when I return home."
Wang Li could not help but pat the young boy's head while he said that and a gentle smile emerged on his face. To be honest, Wang Li usually disliked kids a lot. He hated all people who were weak-minded and easy to control, yet this boy was clearly willing to do anything to increase his strength, something that both amazed and worried the older man.
Xu Min looked at his benefactor, hesitating slightly because he had to wonder again how big of a risk it was to stay with this older man. As he pondered over this dilemma, he suddenly remembered the delicious food that was cooked for him the day before. Considering that he had eaten nothing at all the whole day, and had been working the entire time, his judgment was clearly clouded as he slowly walked towards the small house owned by Wang Li.
At first, Xu Min walked slowly towards his destination, but how could someone this motivated to become stronger walk slowly? He quickly increased his pace while he rushed back to the house. He traveled through all the many alleyways he had used in the morning.
Although the trip was longer than when he had followed Wang Li, it was definitely the best way for Xu Min. He could become familiar with the different alleyways he needed to use to get to the docks like this. Xu Min was the kind of person who would rather be safe and spend extra time on something than be sorry and find himself in a troublesome situation.
While Xu Min was running back to the house, Wang Li was standing at the harbor, no longer focused on the workers in front of him. He was instead leaning against a wall, seemingly in wait of someone's arrival.
It did not take long before a poor beggar made his way towards the overseer with a sleek grin on his face.
"Overseer Wang," He greeted, nodding his head yet showing no signs of respect apart from that. "I did as you asked and investigated this kid called Xu Min."
"Xu Min is a fugitive from a small town within the woods. The reward for bringing his head is a hundred gold coins. As to why he is wanted, I could not determine. In spite of that, let's split the reward, fifty-fifty. You kill him, and I will return with his head to the Zhong family who issued the bounty."
Hearing this, Wang Li went quiet for a while, glancing at the beggar to see his expression.
"This information," He asked with a low voice, "have you told anyone else about it?"
Hearing the question, the beggar could not help but snort in contempt. "Who do you think I am?" he asked, slightly upset. "I do not want others to steal my golden goose. Are you interested or not?"
After Wang Li heard these words, a cold gleam flashed through his eyes. Quicker than anyone was able to notice, his hand struck out, entering the chest of the beggar, where his hand squeezed tightly around the beggar's heart, turning it into pulp.
As Xiao San collapsed to the ground, his face was filled with shock. He had not even had a moment to let out a sound, let alone a scream.
As the man collapsed to the ground, Wang Li had long since vanished. He merged with the dark shadows of the small alleyways, and made his way back to the house where the young man was awaiting his arrival.
Wang Li stopped briefly in one of the darkest alleyways where he wiped the blood off his hand with a cloth, which he then tossed away. A hard expression was present on his face, which then slowly turned back to his usual jovial look. As his appearance slowly returned to normal, the overseer headed towards a marketplace, where he purchased ingredients for dinner.
Returning to the room, Wang Li noticed that Xu Min was seated on the ground. He was in the exact same place as he had been the previous night. A slight chuckle escaped the older man's lips. For some reason, Wang Li took a liking to this young man, and he could not help but feel curious about what such a young child could have done to be hunted at such a tender age.
Without disturbing the cultivating boy, Wang Li started cooking the food he had purchased. After an hour, Xu Min was unable to cultivate any further because the scent of food reminded his body how hungry it was after a whole day of hard labor, and it interrupted his concentration.
Seeing that Wang Li seemed to be contemplating something while cooking, a feeling of danger surfaced in Xu Min's heart. Instinctively, his eyes looked towards the door as he estimated the necessary time he needed to run away.
However, before he had a chance to make even the slightest movement, Wang Li was in front of the door with a smile on his face.
"So kid, I hear your head is worth a hundred gold coins. Why don't you tell me what you did? Depending on your answer, I might just find myself a hundred gold coins richer."
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