Chapter 118: The Market (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

"How could this be..."

Shen Tang stopped in front of the woman.

The latter looked at the dark-faced man that Shen Tang was leading with a mixture of surprise and fear.

She was terrified that the ferocious wild boar would rush up and trample her to death. But she dared not utter a word to drive it away, and could only cower and tremble.

The woman closed her eyes in near despair, but despite her fear, she didn't let go of her son in her arms. This scene moved many to tears. Of course, only Qi Shan and her companion were truly touched.

The other people were already hard-hearted and unsurprised.

They either stare blankly into space with numb eyes, or smirk with schadenfreude, waiting to see a good show and release their stress.

"Don't be afraid, it won't hurt anyone."

Can I see your child?

Upon hearing this, the woman hesitated, then looked up at the young woman before her. Though the woman's features were not yet fully developed, one could foresee that many years later, they would be breathtakingly beautiful. This woman and her companion seemed completely out of place in this place.

The woman hesitated for a moment, then slowly loosened her embrace.

Shen Tang squatted down and placed her fingertip on the child's wrist to check for a pulse. But as soon as her fingertip touched the skin, before she could even discern the pulse, her heart skipped a beat—the skin she touched was cold and stiff, and there was no pulse at all.

Looking again at the child nestled quietly in his mother's arms, Shen Tang's pupils trembled slightly. Under the woman's expectant gaze, she couldn't utter a single word. The child's head was turned towards the woman's embrace; because of her previous holding posture, Shen Tang hadn't noticed that the child had already passed away.

Shen Tang lowered her head and withdrew her hand.

The woman, oblivious to what was happening, asked, "Madam, would you like to buy my son?"

Zhai Le was sensitive to breathing and had noticed early on that the child was no longer alive. Hearing Shen Tang and Qi Shan's conversation, he was about to say something when Qi Shan raised his hand to stop him. He hesitated on the spot, his thoughts swirling and fermenting, finally settling into a complex, short sigh.

Brother Shen looks like he's new to the world, and he's easily swayed by everything.

He had seen far too many similar scenes.

Sometimes he couldn't help but question himself: What use was he? Why, despite possessing such martial arts skills, could he not help these people?

We are powerless to change anything.

Brother Shen is of pure heart; he must be feeling even more distressed.

Shen Tang nodded: "Yes, buy it. How much?"

If an ordinary person called her "wife" under normal circumstances, Shen Tang would probably complain that the person didn't have good eyesight. But this "wife" from a woman made her feel an indescribable bitterness. She blinked, trying to suppress the inexplicable bitterness rising up.

The woman's cloudy, tired eyes suddenly brightened.

"No, not much, forty or forty coins."

He was probably too excited; his voice was weak and trembling, and he was so anxious that his tongue was fighting with his teeth, and he almost bit the tip of his tongue.

"Yes, I bought it."

The woman choked up as she thanked him, saying, "Thank you... thank you!"

"Does Madam have any other requests?"

The woman was momentarily stunned by the question.

After a long pause, the rusty, sluggish parts of her brain finally began to function weakly and slowly, allowing her to understand Shen Tang's words. She hesitated, "Mother, could... could you let him eat more? He's very well-behaved, he doesn't eat much, and he's obedient, sensible, and filial..."

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

Drip, drip, drip, drip onto the child's already bluish cheek.

The woman kept murmuring how well-behaved and obedient the child was.

Shen Tang said, "Yes, that's no problem."

She counted out forty coins and handed them to the woman, adding a pancake as well. This transaction drew whispers from the nearby stalls.

Shen Tang heard it clearly, but lowered her eyes and ignored it.

He just clenched his teeth and tensed his jaw muscles.

The man whispered, "Is this woman crazy? That child's been cold all day... The mother is cunning, selling the dead for a living price."

Another man leaned in and said, "That's why women are more useful than us men. A few tears and the money comes in; she can buy a dead person. Tsk, what a spendthrift woman, paying out of her own pocket to collect someone's corpse..."

The third man clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes: "Hmph, she's lucky she ran into a stupid woman. A dead thing like that's lucky to sell for five coins, hardly any meat, and practically just firewood..."

Someone else laughed maliciously, "We're about to be completely fooled!"

In the past, there have been many "sellers" who exploit the sympathy of strangers to extort money; scammers have many tricks up their sleeves. They hoped that Shen Tang would discover she had been scammed and react with shame, embarrassment, anger, and frustration. That helpless rage was quite a stress reliever.

Shen Tang ignored all these voices.

The woman accepted the money with trepidation, then tenderly stroked her son's cheek, as if he were the most precious treasure in the world.

In the end, she hardened her heart and prepared to hand the child over.

To everyone's surprise, Shen Tang raised her hand and politely declined, saying, "I have things to do and can't spare the time. How about I take your child away after I'm done?"

Upon hearing that she could still spend some time with her child, the woman was so moved that tears streamed down her face. She knelt down with a thud, hugged the child, and kowtowed several times to Chen Tang, repeatedly saying, "Thank you, thank you, Bodhisattva, thank you, living Bodhisattva..."

Shen Tang led the dark-faced man to his feet and returned to Qi Shan's side.

Qi Shan: "Aren't you worried that she's lying to you?"

Shen Tang was lost in her own world, and it took her a while to get Qi Shan's words. She suddenly snapped out of her reverie, pursed her dry lips, and replied, "It can't be a scam... If it really is a scam... whoever cheated me out of money, I'll kill them!"

Qi Shan: "..."

Zhai Le: "???"

Shouldn't the focus be on the emotional deception?

Qi Shan felt that Young Master Shen was too soft-hearted and was about to offer some words of comfort when Shen Tang asked, "Yuan Liang, everyone comes into this world crying and naked, and leaves naked amidst their sorrow. Since death is inevitable at birth, what is the meaning of life?"

She asked, "Is living just about suffering?"

What's the difference between living in the present and experiencing tribulations in the mortal realm?

Tragedy similar to that of women can be seen every few steps away.

Is she really in the mortal realm right now?

The underworld must be no different, right?

The fact that Shen Tang bought a corpse suffocated by Guanyin clay for forty coins had long been noticed by some people, and some even tried to do the same to move this kind-hearted but extravagant woman.

As a result, Shen Tang did not stop, which infuriated everyone.

Qi Shan's heart stirred.

He usually doesn't bother answering these kinds of questions.

However, the questioner was the ever-mischievous Young Master Shen, which added a special significance to the question. He said, "I live to leave a mark that belongs only to the person 'Qishan'."

Shen Tang then asked Zhai Le, "Where is Xiao Fang?"

Zhai Le touched his nose, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Me? My idea is a bit ambitious, but you're not allowed to laugh when I tell you. I want to lead my troops to assist my brother in pacifying the southeast."

Shen Tang couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Zhai Le was furious: "You promised not to laugh!"

"I didn't promise not to laugh. Your idea is indeed good, but aren't you being a bit timid? You're satisfied with just one piece of Southeast China? You should learn from me how to broaden your perspective—"

Zhai Le asked, "How do we broaden our perspective?"

Shen Tang paused for a moment, then squinted and thought for a while.

A demonstration was given.

"For example—I want to pacify the world!"

Qi Shan's hand trembled as she looked at the boy.

In the sunlight, the boy's black pupils revealed a hint of dark brown, and for a moment, he even thought it wasn't a joke.

Zhai Le: "Are you dreaming?"

Shen Tang pouted: "Aren't you dreaming too? Since it's all a dream, why not just go for it all at once? Don't you think so?"

|ω｀)

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(End of this chapter)