Chapter 26 The slaves that Hudora saw at first glance didn't seem particularly special...

The cold wind roamed the earth, stirring up layers of sand and gravel.

The doors of the neighboring houses were tightly shut, but one house always seemed to gape open when the wind blew. The people standing in front of the door stood there crookedly, like decayed teeth, trembling every now and then.

"Please—please grant me a few more days." Hudora stood before his wife and daughter, bowing deeply to the ground.

Unfortunately, the women surrounding their family weren't so easy to talk to.

The squinty-eyed woman carrying the parchment clicked her tongue and shook her head repeatedly: "Hudora, Hudora, your whole family is treating me like a lamb to the slaughter, isn't that right? Mother, Mother, you've disappeared; Mother, Mother, you need to take medicine; the house is our ancestral home and we won't sell it; the land was rented to you by other relatives—hey, ptooey! Give me back my money!!"

“It’s true.” Hudora calmly stood in front of the crying child, knelt down and slowly kowtowed, “Selling the house requires the consent of the entire clan, and the land belongs to my wife’s sister. We really have no money left.”

"Oh, then how about a few more days?" Her squinting eyes narrowed even more, and she laughed mockingly, "Three days? Or five days? Your mother owes us two hundred gold coins, how are you going to pay her back?"

"..." Hudora clenched her fists.

The creditor is right. Mother's gambling debts are simply too high; one gold coin can buy a whole sheep. How is she going to scrape together two hundred?

Even if we extend the grace period to another ten days or half a month, or even until next year, this family will have nothing left to sell.

So... run?

Anyway, it wasn't her who owed the money. Even though the law stipulates that daughters should pay their mothers' debts, she still wanted to take her whole family and run away to a place where they would never be a burden again.

"Ha, you're asking me for leeway? You're not thinking of running away, are you!" He glanced at her coldly, seeing through her little scheme, and snorted, "Bring me a rope!"

"What are you going to do?!" Hudora looked up and saw two strong women grinning maliciously as they twisted the ropes wrapped around their arms and approached her step by step.

No, why should I be a slave!

She gritted her teeth and charged at the squint, wishing she could die with him!

Kill! Kill! Kill! If you won't let me have an easy time, then nobody else will either!

"Mom—" Hudora gasped as her little daughter's shrill cry made her gasp.

Ignoring the stick the thugs were swinging at her, she hurriedly turned around. It turned out that the two men weren't after her, but had caught her wife like a chicken and were tying her arms up tightly.

Bang!

The wooden stick struck Hudora heavily on the head, and she immediately fell to the ground, feeling dizzy and disoriented.

"Hmph." He glanced sideways and stepped on her finger as he walked inside. He first led his men around the house, and then came out with two strong women, each carrying a burlap sack.

"You poor wretch! All that junk is worthless!" She kicked Hudora on the ground viciously.

The sack was already bulging, and Hudora guessed from its outline that they must have packed all the books she had left in her house into it.

Those parchment books are her treasures. If she carefully sells them to book lovers, each one could fetch several gold coins. How can you say they're worthless?

Her mouth was full of blood, and the sounds she made were hoarse and strained.

He glanced sideways, pretending not to hear, and walked up to Hudora's wife, looking her up and down. Finally, he grinned and shook his head: "Really... how could your family have married you such a worthless wife? She's so ugly! The higher-ups could only give her 20 coins at most."

Ugly... Lilysa is clearly beautiful and kind, and she's also very smart... cough cough cough.

Hudora wanted to retort loudly, but even retorting made her angry: No, no, no! Why should my wife be treated like a commodity! She, she is priceless!!

Of course, someone with a squint couldn't hear Hudora's inner screams.

She shook her head and walked up to the little girl, pinching Ashe's cheek with her dark fingers. "Hey, this kid's not bad, she could make up for it."

"Enough!" Hudora struggled to her feet. She was panting heavily, her chest heaving like a bellows.

But Ke Xieyan merely glanced at the person on the ground and sneered, "Not going to do it? If you're not going to do it, what else do you have to pay off your debt?"

"......"

"Lady Hudora, you should learn from others and sell your wife and children to save yourself~ Heh, you still owe me 150 gold coins!" He squatted down and patted her face, while the thugs on both sides helped their master put a knife to Hudora's neck.

"I..."

"What?!" he asked, squinting and baring his teeth.

"Me!" Hudora roared through gritted teeth, her eyes bloodshot.

Ignoring the blade, she twisted her neck desperately, struggling forward like a dying, mad dog. "I...I still have myself! I...sell myself!!"

"......roar?"

She glanced sideways, paused for a moment, then grinned, revealing half a tooth. "Oh my, I didn't realize you were such a tough woman! But—"

He glanced sideways, his smile fading: "What makes you worth 150 gold coins?"

"Not 150, cough cough cough. It's, it's 300, I'm worth 300!" Hu Duola staggered to her feet. The two thugs looked at their boss guiltily, and only after seeing her glancing sideways and pursing their lips did they breathe a sigh of relief and disperse to the side.

"Ha! I have to give you 100 gold coins?!" He squinted, feigning surprise.

However, Hudora was not bothered by her appearance and returned to his wife and daughter.

She stood before them like a swaying mountain.

“You know I am worthy. I have half noble blood. Moreover, I am literate and very, very good at calculation and writing. I am a scholar of some renown.”

Hudora's tone calmed down. She looked at the squinting man with her sharp eyes and said, word by word, "You know I'm worth this price. You don't need to pay the extra 100 gold coins, but you must come with me to the witness to sign a contract, swearing never to harass my wife and children again!"

He glanced sideways and remained silent for a moment, then broke into a bright smile a few seconds later.

"Oh dear, of course! Come on, let's sign the contract!"

A parchment scroll covered in blood-written words was placed in front of Hudora.

......

"No, I won't sign! I don't want to sign!!"

How could I possibly shout my true feelings out loud? Little Ash would worry.

Hudora felt a wave of annoyance. Her hands jerked violently, and her forehead suddenly bumped into something hard.

That is...

She opened her eyes, and a thick stack of parchment blocked her view.

Hu Duola rubbed her eyes and got up from the table. The sky outside the window was already bright.

"......"

Oh, I remember now. Last night, the foreman ordered me to wipe down an entire row of cages, so I was exhausted when I got back.

It was just a nightmare.

Hudora mechanically reached out and gathered the parchment together, preparing to put it in the box and lock it.

Although her master didn't trust her yet and only gave her some basic accounts, she could imagine the terrible punishment she would suffer if she lost them.

She lowered her head and silently tidied up the scattered papers. "Bang!" The old wooden door was suddenly pushed open by someone.

"teacher!"

A girl with ginger-yellow hair rushed in.

Her long hair was braided down her back, and she wore a long-sleeved shirt, trousers, and cloak in the style of a wandering knight. As she walked, the scabbard hanging from her belt slapped against her thigh with a clattering sound.

It's Elsa.

Hudora's icy expression melted for a moment; this child was the only one here who would call her teacher.

But the thought of "this place" made it impossible for her to smile.

No matter how respectfully Elsa addressed him, she was still her master's daughter, her little mistress.

"Take a look at this, isn't it a treasure map?" Elsa eagerly handed over a piece of sheepskin.

It was covered with ancient characters and accompanied by a simple line drawing that looked like a map. In the middle of the drawing was a string of coins, but it was impossible to tell whether they were gold or copper coins.

Hudora took the parchment, examined it carefully, and shook her head.

"No. This is probably a letter written by a soldier two or three hundred years ago when she was short of food and clothing during a march. She asked a special messenger to go home and ask for money for her."

"What is this~" Elsa immediately lost interest. She tossed the parchment aside and muttered, "It's worthless."

"...It will be valuable in a few hundred or a thousand years." Hudora swallowed many words and carefully tidied up the account book. Then she picked up the parchment that had been lying aside and put it into the box.

"Teacher, shall we go out and play together today?" Elsa leaned against the table, swinging her legs back and forth.

"No, I have something to do later."

"Oh~"

Da da, da da da da.

The girl came and went quickly; she jumped to the ground and ran away without even closing the door.

That's wonderful. I hope my little Ash can be as energetic as her.

Hudora felt a dull ache in her heart: if it weren't for her mother's gambling and her own illness, her wife and daughter wouldn't have to suffer like this. She wondered if they were doing well at home, if they were eating and sleeping on time.

She walked numbly out of the small room that served as both a storeroom and an accounting office, and headed towards the kitchen.

It was called a kitchen, but it was really just a few small and dilapidated tents in the slave market.

The cook would get up early to pound the cooked tubers into powder and put them in a bucket. Others would carry the bucket away and use a long-handled wooden spoon to scoop out rice. The spoonful of starchy dumplings was the slaves' breakfast.

Hudora wasn't exactly a trusted confidante who kept the books, but she knew that her master here—her squinty-eyed boss, Scarface Donnie—was using this method to tame her.

She hadn't really spoken to Donnie yet, but this man had already made her experience real bullying through many of his subordinates.

If nothing unexpected happens, once Lord Donnie believes she will be a good dog, he will personally come to deliver justice, right?

...I've had enough.

Hudora carried the bucket to the middle of the rows of cages.

This is the wooden cage area, the furthest from the central display area, where some of the "goods" that are relatively harder to sell are placed.

Of course, if a seller brings a big fish here specifically to visit, they will also genuinely praise the goods here.

Those who are too thin are said to have "traveled a long way and are weary from their journey."

What's truly ugly is "possessing exceptional sensitivity and skill".

What's truly remarkable is that "everything about her is perfect except for her personality"...

Snap.

She flicked the spoon, slapping a lump of starch into the slave's outstretched hands.

"One more, sir."

Hu Duola refused without looking up, "No, the kitchen has already planned it out. If I give you extra, the others won't have anything to eat."

"hehe."

Hearing the laughter beside her, Hudora couldn't help but look up: slaves almost never made such sinister noises, wasn't she afraid of being whipped?

At first glance, the slaves seemed unremarkable, except for their unusually cunning eyes.

Those were eyes that may have suffered many humiliations but would never yield.

"You... never mind, I'll give you another spoonful." Hudora shuddered instinctively, a strange sense of danger making her want to get away from here immediately.

"No, no, no, food is no longer needed, sir," the special slave whispered, clinging to the cage. "I need you to provide something else now."

"...What?"

“Come with us.” The woman in the cage stretched out her hands, her palms covered with crisscrossing wounds, which she twisted violently in her eyes—then clenched her fists.

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Author's Note: Updates will be on tomorrow's page~ To avoid disrupting the pager, the update time will be delayed until 11 PM. However, the update the day after tomorrow will be earlier at 9 AM, so everyone can read them together after waking up! *kissing emoji* [sprinkling flowers]