Chapter 2 Back to Old Tricks

  Ma Yun turned her head to look at Liu Xin, his eyes were still familiar, just like that night five years ago, with a melancholy and kindness that made people feel he was a good person, willing to get close to him. This face had appeared in her dreams countless times, who would have thought he was a thief? When she was interning at the police station, looking through the materials of those five old cases, the suspects were all different, old and young, male and female, fat and thin, but they all had one thing in common: they only appeared once at the scene of the crime, then disappeared without a trace. But Ma Yun was very familiar with their eyes, she could determine that these people were all impersonated by Liu Xin. Five years ago when Liu Xin "heroically saved her", she was still a young girl, and Liu Xin's image had been etched in her mind, she also knew about his background, and like her father, she felt deeply sorry for him. Who would have thought he was actually a notorious thief, involved in shocking cases? Her heart was shattered, but she didn't hesitate at all, still speaking out her thoughts, and got the support of her superior to capture Liu Xin.

  Ma Yun stared blankly at Liu Xin, still holding onto a thread of hope: "Liu Xin, I'm convinced that you're the one who did these cases, why don't you come back with me and surrender?"

  When Liu Xin heard Ma Yun finish explaining why she was certain he was the culprit, he couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. He never thought he would fall into the hands of this woman who had secretly been in love with him all along. Seeing her single-mindedly advising him to surrender himself, he said: "Ma Yun, let's not discuss surrendering for now, I have two pieces of news to tell you, one good and one bad, which one do you want to hear?"

  "Let's start with the good news," said Ma Yun succinctly.

  "Haha, looks like you're an optimist, that makes me feel at ease." Liu Xin said with a smile, "The good news is we're all still alive."

  "Didn't you say it was nonsense? Bad news?"

  Liu Xin disagreed, saying: "How can you say it's nonsense? Look at us falling from such a high place and yet we're not hurt at all. Isn't that good news? The bad news is that we'll never be able to go back...we..."

  Ma Yun interrupted him and said: "What's going back? It's impossible. They will find this place soon, and it doesn't look like there is no way out around here."

  Liu Xin said resolutely: "We're definitely not going back! Because we've crossed over!"

  Ma Yun looked at Liu Xin as if she was a monster, and sneered: "Are you out of your mind? Talking nonsense in broad daylight, and time-traveling too? Have you been reading too many online novels?"

  "This is true, although I also dare not believe it, but it's a fact!" Liu Xin walked to Ma Yun's side and sat down, with a serious face, "Think about it, if I hadn't crossed over, I would have escaped already, why would I come back? Actually, at first, I didn't recognize you, otherwise, I wouldn't have handcuffed you. I escaped from the valley not long after, met a woodcutter, and thought I was filming a movie at first. The woodcutter saw me and got a fright, thinking I was a barbarian. I knew I had crossed over, remembered that you were still handcuffed to the tree, if I didn't come back to release you, this beauty from the 21st century would either be eaten by wild beasts or starve to death. However, I've figured it out now, it's currently Han Guangwu and five years, which is AD 182, soon to enter the Three Kingdoms era, how many great gods dream of crossing over to the Three Kingdoms, unexpectedly I got to experience it, what a great opportunity! I want to go to Luoyang first to take a look at Diao Chan, then go to Hebei to find Zhen Mi, and also Jiangdong's Da Qiao Xiao Qiao, see who is the most beautiful among them. If there's an opportunity, I'll marry one or two, three or four, five or six, seven or eight..."

  "How did you cry?" Liu Xinyue said more and more excitedly, suddenly hearing the "sobbing" sound in his ear, he turned his head around, but found that Ma Yun had already been crying with tears streaming down her face.

  "Waaahhh... It's all your fault! Waaahhh... Why did you have to run? Waaahhh... You've ruined everything, I'll never be able to go back now..."

  Liu Xin was sweating profusely, and the woman said with a sense of grievance: "How can this be blamed on me? If you hadn't pounced on me, we wouldn't have fallen off the cliff. Now I would have been free and easy, and you would have returned to the police station by now. At worst, you just wouldn't have gotten any credit."

  Ma Yun suddenly rushed into Liu Xin's arms, her two fists pounding on his chest like raindrops, crying: "It's all your fault! You're a good person, why did you go and do something bad like stealing? If you got caught, just admit it and take the punishment, at most you'll spend a few years in prison, what's the point of running away!"

  Liu Xin felt relieved, realizing that the police only had a small amount of evidence against him. He gently patted Ma Yun's back and said: "Alright, alright, don't cry anymore. Things have turned out this way, which none of us expected. I must escape, if you catch me again, I'll be shot. The cases I've committed add up to billions, enough to be sentenced to death. But now these are meaningless. Now it's the 21st century, theoretically speaking, I haven't committed any crimes yet, and you're not a police officer either. What we need to consider now is how to live well."

  Ma Yun stopped crying and wiped away her tears, asking: "What are you planning to do?"

  Liu Xin thought for a moment and said, "I'm easy to handle. You know what I'm best at? Wanting to make some money to get by is still easy. The key is how you're going to handle it? Originally, if we just opened your handcuffs, we could go our separate ways. But now that I know you're Ma Shu's daughter, I can't not care about you. Speaking of which, Ma Shu was pretty good to me back in the day. How about this: I'll think of a way to find a handsome guy to marry you off?"

  "What nonsense are you talking about!" Ma Yun scolded, "Five years ago, you said that no one else is allowed to bully me, only you can bully me, you can't go back on your word."

  "Did I say that? I don't remember." Liu Xin rubbed his head, "Fainted, you won't fall for me and chase me all the way to the Eastern Han, will you?"

  Ma Yun's face turned red, and she pushed Liu Xin away: "Stinky beauty! Who's chasing you? However, you can't go be a thief now. We have hands and feet, how can we not find something to do to make a living?"

  "Looking for something to do? What era is this now! It's the late Eastern Han dynasty! Are you and I going to farm and weave? Can you weave or can I farm? Even if we could, we don't have any land!" Liu Xin shrugged his shoulders and said, "Forget it, after talking with you for half a day, it's already noon, my stomach is starving. You wait here, I'll go get some food."

  Ma Yun grabbed Liu Xin who had just stood up and said: "No way, you can't go steal!"

  Liu Xin patted her hand lightly and said, "Don't worry, in this desolate wilderness, I think there's nowhere to steal from, unless it's you. Fortunately, my backpack is still here."

  Ma Yun felt his face burning as he watched Liu Xin's back view getting farther and farther away, muttering softly: "A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory!"

  Liu Xin had a skill with flying knives, and his backpack had been holding thirty-six willow-leaf flying knives for years. These willow-leaf flying knives were made to be the same size as real willow leaves, forged from a special steel by a senior. In the mountain valley, there were many small animals, and Liu Xin's flying knives hit their mark every time within twenty meters, taking lives as easily as picking something out of a pocket. However, he had never actually killed anyone before, and this skill was mostly used for hunting instead.

  Liu Xin strolled around for a while, then picked up a pheasant and a wild rabbit and walked back. Every time Liu Xin finished a case, he liked to run into the mountains to play, and when he was hungry, he would catch some game to roast and eat, with salt and seasonings readily available in his backpack. Before long, the valley was filled with the aroma of meat mixed with the scent of burning pine branches, making Ma Yun drool with desire, constantly asking if it was ready yet, this little girl was obviously also hungry.

  "How is it, delicious? Eat slowly, don't burn yourself." Liu Xin couldn't help but remind Ma Yun, who was gobbling down her food without any ladylike image.

  Ma Yun's parents had been very strict with her since she was a child, and the instructors at the police academy were even more ruthless. Now, this handsome guy in front of her, who she had secretly admired for years, showed such concern for her, Ma Yun couldn't help but feel a warm feeling in her heart. As she gnawed on a chicken leg, looking at Liu Xin, her eyes suddenly lit up and she said: "I didn't expect you to be so skilled, I have an idea, you should become a chef."

  "I'm going to be a chef?!" Liu Xin suddenly jumped up, shaking his head like a rattle drum, "Are you kidding me? I finally managed to travel through time once, and you want me to become a chef! How much money can I make from that? Can I marry a beauty? I'd rather die than do it!"

  Ma Yun stretched out his oily hand, pointing a finger at Liu Xin's forehead and said irritably: "You're always thinking about marrying a beauty, don't you think I'm beautiful?"

  Liu Xin had to repeatedly apologize: "Beautiful, beautiful, you're indeed beautiful. Let's not talk about this for now, let's think about what to do next. You're a big girl with such short hair, going out will scare people to death, and need to put on some makeup. There's a small town three or five miles outside the valley, we'll go there later to get some clothes to change into..."

  Ma Yun hastily said: "Don't go stealing!"

  Liu Xin said helplessly: "Okay okay, I won't steal it, can't I even buy it with money?"

  Ma Yun said with a strange tone: "Where did you get the money from? The money on your body can't buy anything here."

  Liu Xin said with a pleased expression: "Now the circulating currency is five-copper coins, of course the paper money on me is useless, but I have gold in my backpack, one hundred grams per bar and there are ten bars!" The gold bars that Liu Xin stole from the vice mayor a few days ago were all put in his backpack.

  Ma Yun suddenly realized: "No wonder I felt so heavy carrying this bag in the morning."

  Liu Xin brought Ma Yun to the small town, enduring the strange glances of passersby on the road. They found a fabric store, took out a gold bar, bought some clothes, and rented a room. Over the years, Liu Xin had learned four great skills in addition to his incredible thieving skills: Light Body Kung Fu, Flying Knife Technique, Qingcheng Splitting Fist, and Disguise Technique. The two people disguised themselves according to the dress of passersby on the road, but they both had short hair, so they could only wear two hats for the time being. Ma Yun also had to disguise herself as a man.

  The two of them, having finished dressing up, walked out of the inn and strolled around the small town. Although the town was not big, with only one street running through it, the streets were lined with shops, bustling with people coming and going. The two of them walked along the road, as if they had arrived at a Han Dynasty film base, finding everything novel.

  As they walked, a thin, dry-faced yellow man came face to face with them and passed by their side. Liu Xin's foot slipped, and he lightly bumped into the man.

  The man angrily said: "Can't you watch where you're going?"

  Liu Xin hastily apologized, and the man finally scolded and walked away. Ma Yun was not only having fun on the way but also thinking about finding a suitable business for Liu Xin to do. Seeing that Liu Xin accidentally bumped into someone, she turned her head, ready to blame him, but saw that he had an extra small package in his hand, and her face flushed red, her eyebrows furrowed, her eyes wide open, and she shouted angrily: "Liu Xin, you..."

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