The scarecrow approached the two and, without hesitation, reached out with a hand made of vines.
The vine hand, unlike a human hand, stretched and twisted as it easily grabbed the man who had been hiding behind Jenny by the collar, dragging him along like a dog.
Crash!
During the process, the man rolled on the floor as he was pulled, but it wasn’t a big deal.
“Cough, let go of me!”
The monster lifted its arm while gripping the man’s collar.
So that he hung in the air, dangling.
Of course, the man gasped for air, making choking sounds, desperately trying to get the scarecrow to loosen its grip. He pushed at its hand and struggled to break free.
But could a being that obviously looked extraordinary be easily escaped from with just that level of strength?
Especially when the man looked weak, with sunken eyes and a frail frame.
Clop!
The woman finally began to walk toward the man as he was captured by the scarecrow.
She stood beside the scarecrow, the heel of her high-heeled shoes clicking against the floor, and as part of the vines that made up the scarecrow awkwardly extended out, forming a makeshift chair, she sat there without a second thought.
Then, as if she was completely oblivious to the fact that she was wearing a short skirt, she crossed one leg and looked at the man, asking, “Did you think you could trick me and get away with it?”
The woman pulled something from her handbag and tossed it in front of the man.
Clink!
The sound of the object clashing with the floor echoed loudly.
It looked somewhat like the letter ‘U’ or a circular shape with a hole in one side, similar to something you might see during a vision test.
That item, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, was something that had traveled through human history, familiar yet unfamiliar to modern people.
“What? A lucky horseshoe?”
Yes, the horseshoe.
The very thing you put on a horse’s hoof.
In the West, it was considered a symbol of luck, or a vessel for good fortune.
“On top of that, it’s an heirloom blessed by the shaman?”
And it wasn’t just a superstition.
Some shamans actually created talismans using these horseshoes to bring good luck, and in cases of famous horses or those with a story behind them, they would even make divine objects from them. Moreover, some of these divine objects would often be sold at auctions.
And those items sold at auction fetched quite a hefty price.
This was due to the historical perception of it being a symbol of luck, combined with the superstition that hanging a lucky horseshoe in a vehicle would prevent accidents.
Whether it really worked or not, who knows?
It might just be a relatively recent trend.
But the important thing is that, whether it’s a trend, a superstition, or an actual effect, the demand for them has increased.
Ships, airplanes, special vehicles, sports cars, racing cars, etc.…
Wealthy people wanting lucky horseshoes would buy them at a ‘premium’, making it harder to obtain them than before.
And astonishingly, this man had scammed this woman using that very perception!
Not only that, he had also swindled her with more than just the horseshoe.
“And what else? A dinosaur egg fossil talisman? You said it was crafted from a dinosaur egg excavated in Anhui Province? That a local Taoist blessed it to help your health?”
Remarkably, the man had also sold the dinosaur egg fossil.
He even deceived her into believing it was a talisman blessed by a Taoist.
No.
It wasn’t even a dinosaur egg fossil.
It was just an ordinary rock that looked like an egg.
The fact that it resembled an egg was a bit unusual.
If he marketed it to stone collectors, he might get a decent price for it.
However, no matter how peculiar the shape was, it had absolutely nothing to do with dinosaur eggs.
And it also had nothing to do with Anhui Province or any Taoist practices.
Why?
Because he found the rock in America!
Moreover, it wasn’t even from an area where fossils are commonly excavated; he simply picked it up while camping by the riverside with his friends. Doubting it might be a fossil, he had it appraised but it turned out to be just an ordinary rock, a mere souvenir he kept.
And that thing was sold as a dinosaur egg fossil talisman?
That’s blatant fraud.
“Cough, I… I made a mistake…”
“A mistake? A scumbag like you…!”
Up until this point, it was enough to blow one’s top.
But the man’s actions afterward were truly pathetic.
He dumped all the money he got from scamming into a casino.
All of it.
Every last bit!
Had he at least won something back, he could have returned some of that money…
But this gambling addict astonishingly squandered all of it.
The sum, which surely wasn’t small, was all lost at the casino in less than two hours.
It was a truly astonishing feat.
And was that the end of it?
No way.
He even sold information about the woman to low-quality people he met at the gambling hall.
Saying there was a naive sucker who would fall for anything.
He received a referral fee in exchange for that…
And he squandered that referral fee in just 20 minutes.
What happened afterwards, you ask?
Well, it’s obvious.
A naive sucker, and on top of that, a beautiful woman.
You think low-quality scumbags would just stand by?
Naturally, those lowlifes approached the woman to scam her and started to hit on her.
However, contrary to the gambling addict’s words, the woman was far from ‘naive and innocent.’ While she might have been a pushover when it came to superstitions, she had quite a bit of experience otherwise.
She noticed their advances and firmly shoved them away.
But the stupid fools, thinking the weak-looking beauty, who they marked as a fool, would respond, got riled up and threatened her…
Thus, the low-life bunch transformed into even worse scumbags.
What went wrong?
Many things turned sour.
They found themselves in bad states, and one even suffered damage in critical areas.
After the brawls, the chase began.
The woman quickly figured out where this annoying problem began and started pursuing the gambling addict, who, upon witnessing the monster he had underestimated make all those men into buffoons, froze in terror and fled.
And during that chase, the man used every trick in the book.
Like he was filming a chase scene from a movie.
Jumping into the middle of a busy road to escape was just the start.
He flipped over trash cans, vaulting over walls in dirty alleyways.
Crawling through garbage-filled holes, shoving people aside or knocking them down to use as obstacles.
And thus, the man ran as if possessed.
But no matter what, he couldn’t shake off his pursuer and ultimately ran into a bar.
To seek help from his younger sister who worked there!
He had worked at the bar for some time now, so surely, he would have saved some money. Plus, he thought that if he wasn’t alone and begged for forgiveness together with his sister, they might get off easy.
Furthermore, the bar was in a downtown area known for good public safety and frequent tourist traffic, so there would definitely be a lot of police around.
He figured he wouldn’t end up being a “scumbag” like at the casino.
Yes.
That’s what he thought…
“Cough! Cough! At this rate, I’m going to suffocate and die…!”
Unfortunately, contrary to the man’s thoughts, there was no mercy in the woman’s hand.
The scarecrow held the man by the collar as if it didn’t care if he truly suffocated and died; even when the man gasped for air and struggled in midair, it showed no intention of letting him down. Instead, it tightened its grip, lifting him higher just in case he tried to escape.
Well, of course, this was to be expected.
Not only did he commit fraud, but he even sold information to low-quality scumbags.
If, as the gambling addict judged, the woman had been naive and innocent, without any power, she could have faced dire consequences.
Thinking of it that way… this gambling addict should consider himself lucky for not being tortured at this very moment.
No, maybe it wasn’t just luck.
Because he had fled to a place where the pursuers wouldn’t find him easily, he wasn’t hiding in some secluded area where he could be buried without a trace.
In light of this, it could be said that the man’s judgment was correct.
However, it was also wrong at the same time.
While he might have reduced the danger from his pursuers…
Conversely, he had caught the attention of a dangerous individual who happened to be in that place.
‘He scammed someone related to magic?’
Shamans do not forgive criminals who dare impersonate them.
And obviously, they also frown upon swindling with divine objects or magic.
‘Heh.’
All who impersonate shamans to commit crimes will inevitably face a shaman demanding payment for their wrongdoings.
However, as for divine objects and magic-related matters, there are many absurdities mixed in with superstitions, and they don’t seek them out individually.
But if they witness something with their own eyes on-site.
And if it’s hard to find a special reason for the one who did it…
‘Then they must pay the cost.’
