Chapter 18 Handover and "Inspection" "Hey! Guys, I'm here!..."

The snow stopped the next day.

As soon as Bitao left Shiga Village, the sky cleared completely, with not a cloud in the sky, and the bright sun shone on the vast white earth.

The world was so dazzling that one couldn't open their eyes.

Bitao felt a sense of vastness and joy she had never experienced before.

The outside world is so wonderful!

The amazing thing is that—even after selling herself, she's still constantly hungry and her stomach is growling!

The slave trader was taciturn and worked tirelessly day and night to drive the cart.

On the way, Bitao was only given two hard, rock-hard steamed buns to keep her alive.

The slave traders said they would arrive in three days, but their mode of transport was a donkey cart.

Donkeys, you know, have two long ears like rabbits, a long face like horses, and when they bray, they sound like quacks like geese. They are capable creatures.

More than anything, it combines the appearance of a horse, the nimbleness of a rabbit, and the stubbornness of a goose—it won't move when led and will back away when hit.

After four days of bumpy travel, Bitao was exhausted and her bones felt like they were about to fall apart when they finally stopped in a town.

The town is called Sidong Town.

Bitao grew up in a mountain village and the farthest place she had ever been was the county town market. She had never seen such a bustling and lively city with such a large crowd.

Previously, because the burden of earning money to support the family was on her shoulders, the thing she thought about most every day was to treat her mother-in-law's illness and reduce her blood loss.

All the fun, delicious, and beautiful things in the county town market are not related to Bitao.

This time, the donkey cart stopped next to a place called Yuelai Inn on the main street of Sidong Town.

When Bitao arrived there, she realized that the person who bought her was not the final buyer, and that it was time for a "handover and inspection."

Bitao was allowed to get off the donkey cart and stood on the bustling street, looking around curiously.

Although she had been sold and spent the last few days rolling around in a donkey cart, she did not appear disheveled or wretched because of her naturally silky hair.

When leaving Shiga Village, Bitao was dressed too thinly. The slave trader on the road was afraid that she would fall ill again and it would be difficult to hand her over, so he gave her a quilted gray robe to keep warm.

The robe was a terrible sight, patched upon patched, and it was designed for men, but the woman in the robe was undeniably beautiful.

The people looking out the window from inside the inn also had their eyes light up.

The higher-ups specified that this time it had to be "top-quality goods," because the "fish" they were going to catch this time was exceptionally large.

The first few batches sent over were all unsatisfactory, and these people suffered a lot as a result.

Hopefully, this delivery will satisfy the higher-ups.

Among the people making the handover was a matchmaker, who was fat and stout with an unattractive appearance, but her eyes gleamed and her demeanor was calm, clearly indicating that she knew a few tricks.

Several burly men stood around her, clearly indicating that she was the leader among them.

Through the window, she examined the peach blossoms from top to bottom, looking them up and down as if she were looking at a person. Her gaze was not like that of a butcher looking at a fat pig, calculating how much she could sell it for.

She held a handful of melon seeds in her hand, cracking them open as she turned to look at the broker who had brought the peaches.

His opening remark was laced with sarcasm: "Oh, Liu Laosi, you've got some good stuff. This time, you've sent 'top-quality goods.' Where did you find them? Hope they weren't ruined on the way."

"What are you saying! I have a wife!"

The human trafficker who brought the peaches blushed deeply; it was his first time engaging in this kind of human trafficking business.

He would never have done this if his family hadn't been so desperate for money!

But the matchmaker just snorted and spat out a melon seed shell, saying, "Any male would want to have some meat with any pretty female he sees. What are you pretending to be so virtuous for?!"

"After I have someone examine her, if she is indeed a perfect, top-quality woman, you will receive every penny you owe."

"Otherwise... humph!" The matchmaker threw down the melon seeds in her hand and led several burly men out the door.

The pretty figure who had been looking around by the window just moments before was nowhere to be seen when the matchmaker led the people outside. The donkey cart was completely empty; there wasn't a soul in sight!

Only one donkey remained, munching on dry grass with a mouthful of crumbs. When it saw the crowd gathering around, it stared wide-eyed in terror and, with trembling, thick lips, sprayed them with bits of grass.

The matchmaker wiped her face and yelled, "Damn it! They've gotten away! Split up and chase after them!"

Even Liu Laosi, the human trafficker who had just finished the handover inside the house but hadn't yet received his money, hurriedly ran out to join the search.

If Bitao wanted to run away along the way, dealing with an adult man would be much easier for her than hunting a wolf.

Wolf pelts are valuable, but wolves live in packs and will seek revenge if you kill one.

Although Bitao is agile, it's impossible for her to get a complete wolf pelt without suffering any injuries.

Humans are different; human skin is very fragile, as thin as a sheet of paper.

Without fur to protect it, and with so many vital points, a simple poke will cause it to bleed profusely and die quickly.

Bitao didn't run away, and she didn't kill the slave trader, which means the slave trader was honest enough.

Most of the time, Bitao is gentle and polite, speaking softly and slowly, as if she would never get angry or lose her temper with anyone.

But she did quietly kill those in the village who had designs on her.

If you throw it into the mountains, you won't even be able to find its bones.

Later, the villagers increasingly isolated her and her mother-in-law, but it wasn't entirely her mother-in-law's fault...

In fact, in her eyes, people and livestock are the same.

If that human trafficker really wanted to get some meat, as that matchmaker said, he'd probably be frozen solid in some snow pit by now.

However, Bitao didn't actually run away at this moment.

She was really attracted by the bustling town, but mainly she was hungry.

She was going to starve to death if she didn't find something to eat soon.

You should know that "the road is littered with frozen corpses" is not just a figure of speech. She saw several.

Although Bitao had no money, at least she was wearing a quilted coat.

Moreover, she always greeted people with a smile and could chat with anyone. She was so well-dressed and composed that people overlooked her attire and could hardly guess her identity.

She even followed the scent and sneaked into the storyteller's tavern to listen to a story.

It tells the miraculous story of how the Tsinghua Emperor of the Tsinghua Divine Cult manifested his power to curb the outbreak of plague in Hedu City, bestowed divine medicine, and successfully saved tens of thousands of people.

The storyteller's tale was incredibly vivid, describing how the sky was ablaze with light, and the image of the Great Emperor of Tsinghua appeared in mid-air, bearing the sun and moon on his shoulders, his expression compassionate as he dispatched attendants to descend to the mortal realm to relieve suffering and distribute medicine.

It also subtly implies that the source of this plague outbreak originated from the Buddhist sect in Hedu City.

They said the monks were all fat and bloated, their bellies full of the people's fat, using sorcery to plunder the lives of the people of Hedu City, and that the porridge given by the Buddhist sect contained plague.

Bitao listened indifferently, thinking about picking up some food.

There happened to be an old man next to me who had lost all his teeth, and the things on the table were barely touched.

I reckon he's a devout follower of Tsinghua University's teachings; he was swaying his head and looking completely absorbed while listening to the audiobook.

When he saw Bitao reach for the food on his table, he didn't stop her and even poured her a bowl of tea.

They persuaded her to follow the Tsinghua Emperor, saying that the Tsinghua Emperor could relieve all human suffering and even help people ascend to heaven to become immortals.

Bitao asked him, "Then why didn't you join the religion?"

The old man said he was too old and his legs were bad, so no one wanted him. Otherwise, he would definitely have followed the believers to spread the faith and save people from suffering.

So, the threshold for following this Tsinghua Emperor is quite high; the old, weak, sick, and disabled are not eligible.

The desserts were delicious.

The old man didn't listen to a word he said, but he ate and took all the food.

Moreover, after leaving the restaurant, Bitao gained a general understanding of the Qinghua Emperor sect.

This is a cult.

Although the storyteller's narration was vivid and engaging, the people in the hall listened with great excitement.

But the broker who bought the peaches said he would send her to become a "celestial maiden" and live a life of luxury, which is probably pure nonsense.

She took the snacks with her and ate them in just a few bites before leaving the house.

I'm still hungry.

The Earthly Fiend King was moved to tears by a fat rabbit that had been kept for fifteen days. It wasn't that he was easily moved, but rather that Bitao was truly growing.

It's like a bottomless pit.

It wasn't that Bai Duo was just being perfunctory with Bi Tao, feeding her only mixed flour pancakes all day and hoping she would die of malnutrition.

Rather, the Ghost King had been dead for too long and had no savings in the human world.

These underworld officials also have to honestly follow the right path to earn money in the human world.

One must not use personal magical power to disrupt human order.

In times of chaos and countless refugees, how easy is it to make money in this world?

Bai Duo can only take on a human form in his spare time after completing his official duties in the underworld, and even then, it cannot be during the day.

He set up a stall, performed some talismans to ward off misfortune, and earned some copper coins to exchange for mixed flour cakes.

Also, because he didn't know any of the tricks of the trade and only spoke the truth, he often exposed people's bad deeds, which angered and humiliated people so much that they smashed his stall many times.

Bitao usually eats several pancakes at a time by herself.

To be honest, Bai Duo couldn't support her by herself in the end. If Zhuo Xian hadn't helped, Bai Duo would definitely have broken the record of not eating for nine days.

After all, if he eats one more bite, his daughter will eat one less bite.

But Bai Duo is now filled with regret, deep regret.

Why didn't he work harder to earn money and give his daughter a better life back then?!

If he had worked hard to make money back then and let his daughter eat and drink well, his good daughter wouldn't have finally escaped from those villains, only to end up stuck next to someone selling wontons after only a few steps!

Bitao is eating wontons.

She had seen this thing many times at the market in the county town, but had never tasted it.

You can cook meat and noodles like this?

So delicious!

After finishing two bowls, Bitao asked the owner to cook five more.

"Zhuoxian, I truly regret it." Bai Duo closed his eyes, his face expressionless, but his voice was filled with pain.

Zhuo Xian also felt something stuck in his throat.

The two of them followed Bitao all the way, wanting to see when she would be able to escape danger.

She even went so far as to exchange official positions with other Earthly Fiend Kings several times and chase after many more evil spirits in order to earn the opportunity to follow Bitao to Sidong Town.

However, because the two of them scared the Li family of three in Shiga Village into being mentally impaired that day, even though it was the spirit of the infant they had killed seeking revenge, it was considered a cycle of cause and effect and not a violation of the rules.

In response to their exploitation of loopholes, the Underworld has introduced new rules: the Earthly Fiend Kings are prohibited from using their positions for personal gain and from interfering in any matters concerning the contestants.

Otherwise, they will be severely punished!

Therefore, these two Earthly Fiend Kings, who harbored paternal love, could only follow Bitao without being able to do anything to her or give her any further hints.

They watched with heartache as Bitao devoured her food, anxiously urging her: Hurry up, my dear daughter!

—Aaaaaaah! Run! Run! Those people are coming after us!

Those people had actually wandered around the streets several times already.

However, because Bitao was sitting right behind the large pot, the iron pot used to cook the wontons was constantly steaming. Today, the sky was clear and there was no wind or waves, and the steaming heat completely covered Bitao's figure.

These people went back and forth several times but still couldn't find her!

And it's no wonder those people didn't find Bitao; after all, who could have imagined that a woman who had been sold would not hide in some remote corner or ask for help, but instead brazenly go to a wonton stall to eat wontons?

One bowl after another.

They don't even have any money.

Is she sick?!

As Bitao ate, she watched the people running back and forth, thinking to herself, "These people are really fast."

No wonder he could become a follower of the Tsinghua Emperor.

His eyesight isn't very good.

Bitao ate a full eight bowls of wontons and felt full for the first time in her life.

My belly feels full and warm, it feels so comfortable.

She then stood up from beside the table and smiled at the wonton stall owner, who was already looking somewhat wary.

Then she raised her hand and called out to the person who had run past her countless times: "Hey! Guys, I'm here!"

The two ghost kings, who were nowhere to be seen, closed their eyes in despair.