Walking this alleyway in his underwear, and encountering another man, would be disastrous. The man holding his hair might even undress him completely and sell him off somewhere.
As he hesitated, the man pulled his hair harder. Unwilling to let it continue, he flailed his arms, and the man’s grip loosened. His painful scalp felt relieved.
‘What, what just happened?’
Turning around, the man who had been holding his hair lay collapsed. Instead, another man with a frightening face stood before him.
“What’s the use in robbing a child?”
He kicked the collapsed man a few times before turning his gaze toward him. Their eyes met.
The man appeared to be in his late 30s. One eye bore a long scar, and his hair seemed longneglected, all tangled up.
The man’s mere presence was overwhelming.
“Seems like it’s already daytime. When I’m drunk, I always black out, you know……”
He glanced around with a halfhearted eye.
He should run. But unlike before, his feet wouldn’t move.
“Young lady, do you happen to know what time it is?”
The man grinned at him.
“Huh? Young lady.”
“Um… it should be just after noon.”
The man looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected an answer. He, too, wondered why he’d willingly given the time.
This man was even more intimidating and frightening than the fallen one. He would certainly be equally or more dangerous.
“That’s surprising.”
“……”
“Anyway, thanks, young lady. Thanks to you, I know I have to get back before I get an earful. As a token of my gratitude, I’ll escort you out of this alley.”
There was no need.
“I’m fine.”
Hesitant, the man pushed my back.
“Come on. If you keep staying here, you’ll lose more than your eyes, young lady.”
“……I, I can go on my own.”
“Don’t refuse. This alleyway is deep and complicated. It’s filled with weirdos.”
The man kicked the arm of the fallen man a few more times and grinned.
“This guy is one of the saner ones around here. If you run into someone else, you might not only lose your clothes but also every strand of your hair.”
What about you…? I held back this question. First and foremost, I had to get out of there.
People who had been asleep were now waking up, and they were all watching me. The look in their eyes indicated what they would do to me once the man in front of me was gone.
As I moved, the man moved along. He neither bound me nor held my arm.
“Young lady, what brings you to this alleyway? Are you here looking for your father?”
“I… took a wrong turn.”
“Unlikely. Like I said, only those familiar with the complex web of paths here usually come.”
Lying didn’t work on the man. She considered another lie but feared it would only offend him.
“I was following someone, and that’s how I ended up here.”
“Who?”
The man was filled with questions.
“…A woman.”
“Women who reside here all have their unsavory sides.”
She swallowed her retort: You’re the most unsavory of all. Speaking without care could jeopardize her life.
“It’s better if you don’t come around here again, young lady.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know what your connection is to those women, but you’re better off forgetting it.”
“Yes.”
“Then turn left from here, young lady.”
The man pointed the way.
He was a formidable opponent. She was just looking for a chance to flee, but he left no openings. Despite his questioning, his gaze was firmly fixed on her back.
“Um, why are you here, sir?”
Desperate to divert his attention, she was the one to ask a question this time.
“Me? There’s a big gambling den here. Oh, is that a secret?”
“…”
“Young lady, you’ll keep this a secret, won’t you?”
He spoke absurdly. As she remained silent, he chuckled.
“It’s best to keep your mouth shut. You’d be the one in trouble otherwise.”
Chances were, he was telling the truth. A gambling den in the deep backstreets of a major town like Hosha Village…
Most people living in this village were aristocrats. Even commoners were relatively affluent, meaning influential families were likely involved here.
Could her father also be connected to this back alley?
“What are you thinking, young lady?”
This man could be a lot more dangerous than she initially thought. She needed to escape as soon as possible. Just then, a bright light caught her eye.
“We’ve arrived already?”
“…It’s the marketplace.”
The marketplace she knew well in Hosha Village was right in front of her.
“You know the way from here?”
Was he really escorting her? Untrusting, she just blinked.
“Lise!”
Yurik’s voice rang from a distance. Turning her head, Yurik, who had come up to her, grabbed her arm.
“Yu, Yurik. How did you—”
“Lise, who is this man?”
Noticing the man in front, Yurik became cautious.
“Goodbye, handsome gentleman? I’ll leave her in your care now.”
“What?”
“Goodbye then, young lady.”
With a brief farewell, the man gracefully vanished.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
