Chapter 138 Vegetable
Upon hearing this, the burly men beside him were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
A burly man with a fierce face slapped his thigh and laughed, "Master? You, a grown man, actually serve a woman as your master?"
"Hahaha, I've lived this long and this is the first time I've ever seen such a spineless coward!"
Another tall, thin man chimed in sarcastically, "This is unheard of! It's hilarious!"
Chen Yanqing's eyes suddenly darkened.
He suppressed his anger and said coldly, "What's wrong with men serving women as their masters? Isn't Her Highness the current Princess the master of the world? If you see the Princess, would you dare not kneel and kowtow?"
The leading man paused for a moment, then his eyes darted around.
This young man is so protective of that woman, could she be the daughter of some official?
If we could kidnap someone and sell them to a brothel in the south, we could definitely get a large sum of money!
He immediately changed his tune, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Brother, please don't be offended! It was our ignorance that led us to this."
Chen Yanqing wanted to say something more, but suddenly a "gurgling" sound came from his stomach, which was particularly clear in the quiet, dilapidated temple.
The bearded man immediately put on a fake smile, "Brother, have you not eaten yet? We just harvested some fresh meat and grain, how about we share a bag with you? Guaranteed to be fresh."
As he spoke, he deliberately kicked the cloth bag at his feet.
The wriggling inside the bag became more pronounced, and the faint whimpering sounds became clearer.
Chen Yanqing's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly sensed that something was wrong.
If it were just a wild animal, how could it make that sound?
He glanced at Li Yuanzhao subconsciously, and seeing her slightly raise her eyelids, he immediately understood. Pretending not to notice, he took out the money pouch from his waist and threw it to her.
"Thank you very much then. Please have a bag."
The bearded man caught the money bag and weighed it in his hand. Its heavy weight made his smile grow even more greedy. He called out to the burly man next to him, "Ah Hu, get this brother a bag of fresh ones!"
The man named Ah Hu grinned, revealing his yellow and black teeth, bent down, picked up the most wriggling cloth bag at his feet, and kicked it hard at Chen Yanqing.
The sack landed with a thud at Chen Yanqing's feet. The whimpering sounds inside suddenly grew louder, accompanied by subtle struggles, as if something alive was writhing inside.
Chen Yanqing frowned, squatted down, and as soon as his fingertips touched the hemp rope of the bag, he felt a slight tremor coming from inside.
His heart tightened, and he quickly untied the knot and abruptly lifted the coarse cloth.
The moment he saw what was inside the bag, his pupils contracted sharply.
Inside, a small, thin girl was curled up, her mouth stuffed with a filthy rag.
Her little face was dirty and swollen, with two tear streaks on her bluish-purple face.
Beneath the tattered clothes, faint bruises could be seen on his arms.
She was so weak that she looked like she could die at any moment; only the slight rise and fall of her chest proved that she was still alive.
"What kind of meat is this?" Chen Yanqing's voice trembled as he looked up at the bearded man with disbelief. "This is clearly a human!"
The burly man, however, looked unconvinced, even with a hint of mockery in his smile: "Brother, you seem rather ignorant. This is called 'vegetarian meat.' Children's meat is very tender, much fresher than wild game from the mountains. Stewing a pot of it is enough for three or four people to eat for two days."
"You...you are worse than animals!"
Chen Yanqing stood up abruptly, his anger almost consuming him.
Even though he had been poor since childhood, he never imagined that there could be people in this world so cruel as to eat their own kind, treating living children as "goods" that could be bought, sold, and slaughtered at will.
"The world is suffering from a severe drought, and there are starving people everywhere. It's good enough to have a bite to eat, so what's there to complain about?"
The bearded man shrugged, speaking casually as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, and then "kindly" suggested, "But if you can't bring yourself to eat it, that's fine too. You can keep him as a maid to serve you."
The flickering firelight inside the temple illuminated the numb and cruel smiles of these people, and also revealed the desperate tears of the girl in the bag.
At this moment, Li Yuanzhao, who had been sitting silently all along, finally spoke up, "Did you buy these children? Or did you steal them?"
The bearded man's eyes flickered, then he stubbornly retorted, "What business is it of yours, woman? The goods have been sold, no returns or exchanges! Even if he dies, it's none of our concern!"
Li Yuanzhao said coldly, "Forcibly abducting people and engaging in cannibalism is punishable by beheading at best and dismemberment by chariot at worst, according to the laws of the Great Qi."
The man's expression finally changed. He quietly reached for the broadsword at his waist and shouted, "What do you mean? Trying to meddle in other people's business?"
Li Yuanzhao met his gaze and said slowly, word by word, "It means you deserve to die."
"You little wench! You're asking for it!"
Upon hearing this, the bearded man flew into a rage, drew his broadsword, and slashed down at Li Yuanzhao's head.
Chen Yanqing's heart tightened, and he immediately drew his dagger, intending to leap forward to stop him.
Upon seeing this, the other burly men immediately drew their broadswords and surrounded him.
The situation is changing rapidly.
Just as the blade was about to strike his head, Li Yuanzhao reacted with lightning speed, dodging the blade and grabbing his opponent's wrist with his right hand, twisting it sharply.
A sharp cracking sound was followed by a piercing scream.
The knife in the big man's hand instantly fell to the ground.
Li Yuanzhao seized the broadsword in one swift motion, and with a flick of his wrist, the cold blade was already firmly pressed against his neck.
The sharp touch of the blade froze the burly man instantly, cold sweat pouring down his face.
Only now did he belatedly realize that the woman in front of him was no ordinary daughter of an official; the ruthlessness in her eyes and her skills clearly indicated that she had seen blood!
"Who...who exactly are you?"
His voice trembled, and his previous arrogance was gone.
Seeing this, the other burly men dared not step forward. They looked at their subdued leader and then at Li Yuanzhao, whose eyes were sharp, and were at a loss for what to do.
Taking advantage of the standoff, Chen Yanqing quickly walked to the remaining cloth bags and ripped open all the knots.
It was full of young girls!
Some of the children had already stopped breathing; their faces were deathly pale, and their bodies were stiff.
Some of them, once the cloth ball was removed from their mouths, immediately curled up into a ball, crying out "Mother" in voices so hoarse they were almost inaudible.
Seeing this, Chen Yanqing's eyes grew colder and colder.
He immediately understood that these people were not "small business owners" at all, but clearly a group of robbers.
They abducted helpless children, either selling them as slaves in other places in exchange for food, or selling them as "meat food"—it was utterly depraved!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com