Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 97: A Forgiving Deal

"Fuck..." Han Yu covered his mouth, but it was too late.

"A-HA!"

Li Mei reappeared at the well’s edge, eyes glowing like a fox spirit who just caught the last dumpling at the banquet.

"Got you now." She smiled with the pure, unfiltered joy of a small child about to perform a highly unethical experiment.

Han Yu blinked up at her, utterly defeated.

"Of all times, I had to sneeze now," he muttered, cursing his traitorous nose.

"Come on out," Li Mei chirped. "There’s no way out unless you want to drown and reincarnate with foot fungus."

Han Yu stared up from the depths of the well, soaked to the soul and clinging to the mossy stones like a sad, shivering frog.

He could barely see her through the water dripping into his eyes, but he could hear the smile in her voice.

"I’ll make you a deal," Li Mei purred.

Han Yu groaned. Oh no. Deals with mad alchemists never ended well.

That was, like, Cultivator Survival Rule #2—right after "Don’t eat glowing mushrooms unless you’re desperate or emotionally numb."

"I’ll forgive the sock incident," Li Mei said sweetly, "if you agree to help me test a few pills."

"A few?" Han Yu narrowed his eyes.

She held up a tiny pouch. It jingled ominously.

"Ten. Maybe twelve. Max fifteen. I’ve been meaning to test the side effects, and no one wants to volunteer after the ’accidental temporary limb loss’ incident."

"I don’t like any of those words," Han Yu muttered.

Li Mei grinned. "Oh, and if you survive them all, I’ll personally deliver you a sock from an Inner Court disciple. Fresh. Unlaundered."

Han Yu’s eyes sparkled like a raccoon spotting a shiny object.

He couldn’t help it. He was weak. He had dreams. Terrible, sock-related dreams.

"...Deal."

The next day.

Han Yu sat cross-legged inside Li Mei’s pill hut, trembling slightly as the tenth pill sizzled down his throat like spicy regret.

There were charts all around him, most of them covered in red ink, and one labeled:

"SUBJECT 17 – OBSERVATIONS: Still Alive (Surprisingly)."

Li Mei hovered beside him with a quill and notepad, gleefully documenting every twitch.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

Han Yu blinked. "I can taste colors."

Li Mei scribbled furiously. "Excellent! That’s progress from yesterday, when you could only smell music!"

After accepting her deal, Han Yu had been whisked away to the pill hut—a place that looked less like a lab and more like a battlefield for pharmaceutical warfare.

Li Mei had given him several pills that brought about various effects. Most of them were unpleasant. None of them, shockingly, had been fatal.

From the corner of the room, a small turtle wearing a helmet honked softly and exploded into a gooey mess.

Han Yu didn’t even react anymore. That was the third turtle today.

"Next pill?" Li Mei asked brightly.

Han Yu stared at her with bloodshot eyes and the twitch of a man who had seen things the human mind was not meant to witness.

"Didn’t you say twelve?"

"I said maybe twelve. The rest are bonus pills."

"Lady, my soul is probably growing a beard at this point."

Li Mei patted his shoulder like a proud parent sending their child off to spiritual war.

"One more and you get the sock."

Han Yu swallowed.

Pride? Gone.

Dignity? Gone.

Stability? Long gone.

He reached for the last pill, a suspiciously bouncy sphere that squeaked when touched.

He popped it into his mouth.

It tasted like disappointment and elderberries.

The world shimmered. His vision blurred. His body lifted a few inches off the ground and made a "boing" sound.

He hovered there for several seconds, vibrating slightly like a malfunctioning spirit talisman.

"...What does this one do?" he asked nervously.

Li Mei flipped through her notes.

"I have no idea. I forgot to label it."

Han Yu screamed.

Unknown to him, a new streak of chaotic energy had begun roaming through his meridians like a drunken cultivator at a tavern crawl.

Two hours later.

Han Yu lay crumpled on the floor, steaming slightly.

His hair was spiked.

His eyebrows had relocated to his neck.

He now spoke only in rhyming couplets.

"Never again," he muttered. "I’ll never chase another sock again. Socks are lies. Socks are pain."

Li Mei clapped her hands. "Good news! You survived the testing."

Han Yu blinked up at her, hollow-eyed.

"...So... the sock?"

Li Mei grinned and pulled a silk-wrapped bundle from her inner robes.

"Here. As promised. One genuine Inner Court disciple sock."

Han Yu unwrapped it reverently.

It shimmered faintly with spiritual thread. It had a delicate scent of plum blossoms and absolute superiority.

It was everything he ever wanted for the mission—and absolutely nothing he would ever admit to in public.

He held it to his chest like a monk receiving enlightenment.

"Barely worth it."

Li Mei leaned in.

"By the way... I may have added a small tracking talisman to that one too. For science."

Han Yu’s face fell.

"Why?"

But before he could launch into a full mental breakdown, Li Mei patted his head.

"Don’t worry. You’re my test subject now. I take very good care of my experiments."

Han Yu wasn’t sure if he should be grateful or terrified.

"What do I do about these?" Han Yu asked pointing to the eyebrows that were now on his neck, instead of his face.

"Oh those, you can just shave them." Li Mei said not caring much.

"Then what do I do about my actual eyebrows!?" Han Yu pointed to his bare face.

"Ah that." Li Mei looked at them for a moment before checking her notes. "Come back tomorrow, I’ll make something to fix that." she added.

"Sigh~ Fine." Han Yu said having given up.

Having gotten the sock after a day of surviving the pill tests, Han Yu walked out.

Probably both.

From that day forward, whenever a strange scent wafted through the sect or a suspicious explosion came from the alchemist’s hut, you could bet Han Yu was inside—

Coughing.

Glowing.

Floating.

Or screaming.

And on especially quiet nights, if you listened very closely, you could hear him whisper from under his blanket:

"...Socks aren’t worth this."