-1-
A little black cat came out of a dilapidated hole in the wall, and a maple leaf swirled towards its nose.
-2-
The latter subconsciously stretched out its paw to pat the bright red color that was about to fall on the tip of its nose, and suddenly seemed to remember something, shook its tail, turned its head away arrogantly, and walked away along the wall.
——It’s true that it likes playing with maple leaves, but this time, it’s here to do serious business.
-3-
I haven’t filled my stomach yet, so I’m going to rummage through the garbage.
-4-
The little black cat stuck to the wall, carefully hiding in the shadows, and slowly approached another dilapidated hole in the wall.
The hole in the wall leads to the back kitchen of a restaurant. As long as you get in, you will find countless dead fish and pig bones to eat. Its nose is very sharp.
Although I prefer to taste human death, there is no other way. I need to fill my stomach and store energy for survival...
Well, it's not really a living thing though.
-5-
It is a common banshee, whose food is the death of life.
It looks very advanced, but it is actually very miserable - it is willing to eat anything, as long as it is rotten and related to death, it will put it into its mouth without being picky.
After all, it is not picky about food and is a very, very weak banshee.
Too weak to cause any death, he could only wander around dark alleys, restaurant kitchens, and dirty water buckets at execution grounds.
Some of its kind are worshipped by princes and nobles, transformed into warriors dedicated to taking lives; some can conjure majestic scythes and personally cook the death of their choice; some travel between different worlds, chosen by powerful evil spirits as subordinates; some sit on platforms piled with corpses, tasting a variety of deaths and listening to hymns dedicated to themselves...
But that's just its kind. Not it.
-6-
It's just an ordinary banshee.
Without past, without future, wrapped in a tattered shroud, essentially just a shadow.
In many worlds, he searches for a small hole in the wall through which he can sneak through, then smells the scent of death, comes to the food of his choice, and barely fills his stomach.
It wanders the world without any particular purpose. Like many of its kind, it just wanders and looks for food.
After all, they are not living things, and they do not need a clear purpose for living.
Oh, why turn into a black cat?
Because this form is very convenient - much more convenient than the shadow form.
Its main menu is dead fish and rotten pig bones, its main territory is dark alleys and trash cans, and it can't think of any form more suitable for it to wander around in than a black cat.
Moreover, unlike many of his kind—
-7-
This banshee doesn't like blood very much.
It likes maple leaves, and when it is bored, it likes to take pictures of maple leaves the most - so it doesn't like blood, which is similar in color.
I feel that blood is a bit dirty and I don’t want it to stain my favorite toy maple leaf.
Therefore, although it is a banshee that feeds on death, it rarely creates or waits for fresh death.
Rummaging through the garbage to fill its stomach, curling itself up to sleep under its shroud, and then playing with maple leaves, snowflakes or spring breeze with its paws—this is its daily routine.
-8-
Its fellows disliked it, saying it was a bit silly, not actively seeking food or becoming stronger, and not even keen on pursuing the origin of its birth.
A Banshee's strength is closely tied to the source of her birth. Each Banshee's foraging is designed to find the most powerful death, using it as their own source of power, truly reshaping their own strength...
They seek death like a snake shedding its skin. They have only three chances: one at birth and two more after birth.
Choosing the origin once can reshape yourself.
The stronger that death is, the stronger the reshaped self will be.
...Compared to endless devouring, slaughtering, and foraging...reshaping oneself through a certain death always makes the transformation faster and stronger.
-9-
Therefore, there was once a banshee who would sit alone in a shroud on a blood-soaked battlefield for seventy years, and then choose the heavy death on the battlefield that lasted for seventy years.
There are also banshees who will spy on those unique souls, lure them into an inescapable tragedy, and then let them choose this heavy and vivid death.
A banshee transformed on the battlefield is said to be able to scatter thousands of troops, and a banshee transformed in tragedy is said to be able to interfere with fate.
The Banshee's abilities have a very low lower limit, but an unlimited upper limit.
As long as... you answer those two multiple-choice questions correctly and choose the right origin of your birth.
-10-
Only it does not desire.
Why do we have to go to such great lengths to pursue the origin of our birth? Why do we have to become so strong?
Its fellows all say it is a little waste.
But it doesn't care much.
It thinks that a good life is to fill its stomach, get enough sleep, and play with fun toys when it wakes up.
Why do we need to become stronger?
Its current state is great. No one follows it and no one pays attention to it. It can just casually drill in the small holes in the world. If its energy is unexpectedly exhausted one day, it can just collapse in the depths of its favorite alley.
As long as you are not hungry, life is fine.
-11-
Anyway, it is something that cannot be experienced even in death.
Something that has no life, no death, and has nothing to do with being "alive."
So it just wanders around casually, hoping to just fall down somewhere casually.
Born from the shadows, disappear into the shadows.
It's a clueless fool, and there's nothing wrong with that.
-12-
No matter how powerful you become, your claws can only slap one maple leaf at a time.
-13-
That day was just such a casual day.
It chose another small hole in the wall, drilled through it, and came to a new world, a new city.
The city was particularly prosperous. You could smell the fragrant aroma of meat and oil from outside the hole in the wall. Your ears were filled with the sound of wine cups clinking together. Children running on the street were turning strange little toys in their hands. "Gudong gudong," it sounded like a drum that was being hit repeatedly by two small balls.
It looked for a while, turned around and left, following the guidance of its nose to a place where it could fill its stomach. The restaurant's kitchen was always busy and would not notice a kitten sneaking in to rummage through the garbage.
The scent of death attracted it, guided it... Hmm, this time it smelled really good, it looked like a freshly dead fish... Did they only cut open a certain part to cook and then throw away the rest...
It walked over with its eyes closed. The aroma of the food was so strong this time that it even felt a little dizzy.
What kind of fish could it be… a flatfish with the roe removed and the eyes removed, or a mandarin fish that was steamed and then thrown away after adding a little too much vinegar… slurp…
"Ah. What a cute kitten."
-14-
It opened its eyes.
…food is not fish.
It was a small wooden basket next to the bamboo baskets filled with dead fish.
-15-
The little girl in the basket had her hands and feet tied together with straw ropes, but she looked at it with a smile: "You are so cute."
...It's a human cub.
It paused, sniffed indifferently, and turned its head to the side.
No wonder the fragrance is so strong.
Because the girl tied next to a basket of dead fish were fresh cubs that were about to die.
-16-
Children are always much simpler than adults, so the death of a child is much purer than the death of an adult.
It was a single, pure fragrance, very strong, so strong that it would attract many banshees.
But it doesn't like it very much.
A simple, pure death is not fun and is pathetically boring.
-17-
It stuck its head out, rummaged through the basket full of dead fish, picked out some bones for itself, and then walked away with its spoils, feeling satisfied.
When it came, it chose a corner in the alley with a great angle, wanting to take the food it had chosen with it to eat, so that it could enjoy the strange shapes of the ivy on the wall while eating.
"Kitten~ You are so cute, let me pet you~"
“…”
"Meow~ Meow~"
“…”
So noisy.
It looked at her again indifferently and figured out the cause of death of this human: starvation to death in an hour.
…He’s going to starve to death in an hour, and yet he still has the energy to meow at her here. What a stupid human cub.
It didn't want to pay much attention to the cub, but the smell of its impending death was too fragrant. If it walked away, another of its kind would surely show up and eat it.
It doesn't care whether the cub will be eaten or not, but when its own kind devours it and dies, they will see her memories of her life. It doesn't want its own kind to see her meowing with it.
It feels stupid.
So it reluctantly loosened its grip, pretending to be casual, and let a piece of dead fish meat fall into its mouth.
With a "plop", it fell right into the cub's mouth.
"Meow."
Take it and eat it.
-18-
The little girl Camellia, who had just been sold into a brothel, opened her eyes wide and thought, it turns out that the stray cats in this city also know how to feed people.
What an incredible city.
-19-
She didn't know that she was only an hour away from starving to death while tied in the basket that day. She had been hungry for so long that her eating organs were almost degenerating and disappearing. She was so hungry that she almost forgot the feeling of hunger.
——Until a stray cat fed her a piece of rotten dead fish meat, and her body system, which was on the verge of collapse, took in basic energy.
-20-
The little girl Camellia comes from a very far away place, a beautiful hometown with mountains and rivers. She has been exiled since her parents died in the war.
Shancha had no time to grieve, because she had not been able to eat since her parents died. She was mixed in the refugee group in a daze and had no idea how long she had been hungry.
She even wanted to eat mice and grasshoppers, but she didn't have the ability to do so and she couldn't compete with other refugees.
The adults in the team all murmured, hold on a little longer, hold on a little longer, the city is just ahead.
That city was the most prosperous place in the world. It was said that even the holes in the walls were filled with the fragrant smell of meat and oil, and beggars could even get meat bones.
So Shancha gritted her teeth and persevered to the end, even though she couldn't grab any food and didn't know how long she had been hungry - she just held on and arrived in front of the city.
-twenty one-
But she didn't smell any meaty grease. The soldiers guarding outside the city were wearing silver scale armor, and from a distance they looked like the bellies of the fat fish that the masters kept in the pond.
Feiyu's belly swung the long knife and stabbed through the stomachs of all the refugees.
-twenty two-
Shancha didn't look back. She was a delicate little girl who couldn't even catch a mouse or a grasshopper. She didn't dare look back at the bloody corpses, and she was too hungry to have any extra thoughts.
The soldier in front of her who was about to kill her had a frivolous look in his eyes, and the blade did not fall for a long time. Instead, he grabbed her hair and pulled her into an alley.
Shancha kowtowed hard on the ground, then unbuttoned her clothes in front of him.
-twenty three-
She knew she was beautiful. She used to be the prettiest girl in her hometown.
As long as she has enough to eat, she is willing to do anything.
-twenty four-
So camellia became camellia.
The soldier took her into the city, tied her hands and feet, put her in a basket, and sold her to the largest brothel in the city, where she was given the nickname "Camellia".
She was so beautiful that the soldier was reluctant to take the final step, thinking that at least he could keep his innocence. He wondered how much money such a delicate girl could fetch in terms of drinking and prostitution.
——She did sell a lot of silver, Shancha didn’t count it, but the soldier looked very satisfied when he left with the silver.
She was so beautiful that even though she was starving to the point of being half human, she still seemed to be the most beautiful girl the brothel owner had ever seen.
The soldiers were satisfied, the madam was satisfied, and Shancha was also satisfied.
What's there to be dissatisfied about? She successfully entered the city and is now staying here. The old mother who bought her said that she would bring her some steamed buns after the banquet and then take her to the building for formal training.
-25-
She's going to have steamed buns to eat soon, so what's there to be dissatisfied about?
Shancha hadn't read much and didn't have much sense of propriety or morality. Her parents had never taught their innocent and beautiful daughter not to become a prostitute.
Shancha only knew that her parents had died of starvation and had no steamed buns to eat before they died.
Therefore, people will die if they don’t eat.
...She was lucky to enter this city that smelled of meat and oil, and got steamed buns to eat with her pretty appearance. How lucky she was, and what a satisfying thing it was.
-26-
She lay drowsy in the bamboo basket, and even though she was so hungry that her eyes were dizzy, she still couldn't suppress the urge to laugh.
If she wasn't so hungry that she had no strength, she would have wanted to sing.
So happy.
Sure enough, the adults were right. As long as we entered this city, we would never go hungry again.
-27-
However, Shancha didn't make it to the end of the banquet and died happily of starvation while dreaming of eating steamed buns.
——If the stray cat hadn't fed her, she would have died in that bamboo basket.
-28-
Shancha had no idea that she had brushed shoulders with death, simply because she smiled foolishly at a stray cat.
-29-
But she still engraved the black cat deeply in her mind, because it was the first life that gave her food on this escape journey.
The first person to feed her was not a man, not a woman, but a stray cat.
...What a kind and lovely kitten.
-30-
So, later, when she walked down the street, neatly dressed, and saw the black cat hiding in the shadows of the alley again—
It looked like it had obviously been in a fight, with blood all over its body and one of its hind legs dragging on the ground.
Looking closely, the stray cat's fur was not bright, and its breed was not rare. Its eyes were cold, and it was black from head to toe, including its eyes.
Not good looking, nor well-behaved.
But it squatted in the shadow, with the tip of its tail still elegantly coiled in front of its paws, its posture noble and indifferent. Although it was in a miserable state, it seemed to be looking down on everyone passing by.
...What a special cat.
No wonder, it is a cat that feeds humans.
Shancha was stunned for a moment, then narrowed her eyes.
"Hush," she said to the cat, "Don't run away. I'll bring you a bowl of food."
-31-
The human cub who was rescued casually gave it a bowl of chicken soup with rice and bandaged its wounds.
It’s not leftover rice, nor is it dead fish. It’s just clean white rice with golden soup.
It lowered its eyes and sniffed the bowl of rice with a somewhat unfamiliar smell.
There is no smell of decay...but as long as there are dead lives, it is enough to fill the stomach.
Large chunks of chicken were mixed in the rice, and it smelled like dead chicken, but why did it smell completely different from the dead fish piled in the baskets in the kitchen?
So strange.
-32-
It shook its tail and stopped thinking.
The food in front of it smelled delicious, and it had just had a fight with its own kind, so it was really hungry and didn't bother to think.
Although no human had ever offered it such good food, it deserved this meal because it saved the cub.
Other banshees have hymns to worship, but it has chicken soup with rice.
...What is there to brag about among our own kind? What's so great about being able to transform? Can you eat chicken soup with rice like this after transforming?
-33-
Shancha watched the black cat lower its head, reach into the bowl, and slurp the rice.
This little stray cat must have been hungry for a very long time. The way it ate was different from other cats. It didn't even glance at her warily, and always wanted to escape.
...As soon as I saw the food, I let down all my guard and felt as happy as if I were back home.
Just like her.
-34-
Shancha couldn't help but reach out and gently touch the cat's head.
"I live in the tall building over there," she said softly. "Stop fighting and come in through the hole in the wall in the backyard to find me. As soon as I see you, I will definitely make you a bowl of rice."
-35-
The tip of the black cat's tail stiffened.
No matter how weak it is, it is just a banshee, and no human has ever dared to put their palm on its head.
...Forget it, I won’t do it again. This stupid cub even had the guts to meow at it.
It doesn't bother with the cubs with stupid brains.
-36-
Besides, the cub kept its promise.
As long as it could get through the small hole in the wall and appear before her eyes, it would definitely receive the offered rice porridge.
Chicken soup rice, bone soup rice, fish soup rice...
In fact, Shancha just sneaked into the kitchen, scooped a large spoonful of soup from the pot, and added a bunch of messy dishes.
But these things are much more delicious than the piles of dead fish, and it has no habit of putting itself in a difficult position.
-37-
Shancha began to feed a black stray cat at a fixed spot, hiding in the most remote courtyard of Jinlin Pavilion, giving it bowls of rice porridge and occasionally touching its head.
The other little girls being trained in the building had all kinds of secrets. She just fed a stray cat at a fixed location, and the old mother who trained them turned a blind eye.
It's just a few bowls of soup with rice. This little girl named Shancha is well-behaved and pretty, so it's no big deal to give her a few more bowls of rice.
-38-
Unlike other little girls who would secretly hide in the quilt and cry, thinking about climbing over the wall to escape -
Shancha sincerely tried her best in all the training. This little girl was only thinking about being the best prostitute and eating the best food.
When the other little girls heard the word "perform", they shook their heads in fear. Only Shancha asked her mother with a fascinated look on her face whether the customers who would buy her products in the future would give her something more delicious than rice porridge and steamed buns.
Her requirements are not high, fried dumplings or sauce-flavored pancakes are fine with her, and if a customer can offer the signature dish of beef vermicelli soup from the shop on the corner, she can give it to herself for free.
The old mother just thought that this was an extremely stupid girl.
...There's nothing wrong with being stupid for a prostitute, but for someone like her to sell herself out for a bowl of beef soup with vermicelli is really stupid.
-39-
Then the old lady sighed, pointed at the most dazzling woman on the platform of the Golden Scale Pavilion, and said to Shan Cha:
"As long as you become a top courtesan, all the men in the world will rush to buy you free meals. Crabs from Shanzhen Restaurant, roast duck from Zui Xiang Lou, not to mention beef vermicelli soup, you might even have a thousand bowls of dragon meat vermicelli soup."
Shancha took a deep breath.
-40-
From then on, every time the black cat came to eat the soup and rice offered to him, he would hear the stupid human cub muttering to him like a spell, "I want to be an oiran in the future and make all the men in the world buy me food for free."
It didn't pay much attention.
As a newly born, weak banshee, it doesn't quite understand the complicated things between humans, nor does it quite understand men and women, and it doesn't even quite understand what a prostitute is.
But it knows that there is no such thing as a free lunch in any world, so how could there be such a good thing as buying a meal for free?
-41-
If being pretty could get free meals, it would definitely abandon its black cat appearance, try to find a suitable death, and transform into a beautiful little girl.
There's no reason why this stupid cub could trick people into giving him food. It's impossible for such a cute banshee to trick people into giving him food.
-42-
Humph, of course it is the cutest banshee, because every time this cub is offered as an offering, people have to hold its face and repeat it over and over again, praising its cuteness.
-43-
Shancha didn't know that her endless praise had already made the young banshee dizzy.
Of course, if you know that she will also praise you, who can be cuter than a cat that lets you touch its head and ears, wags its tail while eating in silence, and so eager to put its head on the bowl when it finishes eating?
Starting with this cat, Shancha also fell in love with feeding stray animals. She would always leave something for stray cats and dogs whenever she passed by - as if she was trying to save herself who was once dying - but her favorite was still this special black cat.
-44-
It didn't come often, and when it did, it just lowered its head to eat. It never communicated with her, let alone rubbed her hands, meowed, and showed its belly.
But, its eyes seemed to understand what she said.
There were few friends she could talk to in the brothel, and Shancha was trying very hard to become an oiran, so she couldn't talk to any normal little girl.
The black cat would always listen to what she said, with its ink-black eyes, cold yet serious.
So, the only time Camellia would talk to the black cat was when she was feeding it.
-45-
The days passed one by one, and Camellia grew bigger day by day, and she kept muttering more and more when feeding the cat.
She kept thinking about how the strings of the zither cut her hands when she practiced today, how the basic skills of dancing and fanning herself were painful and tiring, how the old lady gave her favorite color of skirt to another girl when she distributed skirts today, how the owner of the beef soup and vermicelli shop had been replaced by a somewhat mean young woman from a lenient old lady, and how the courtesan sitting on the high platform of the Golden Scale Pavilion had a really hard life. Today, she helped the courtesan to dress up in place of the sick maid, and it turned out that the beautiful hairpin on the courtesan's head was so heavy that she could hardly lift it.
There are more worries when you grow up than when you were a child. After all, when you were a child, you didn’t know anything and could happily sell yourself to a brothel for two pieces of steamed buns.
-46-
But the black cat never bothered it.
Whenever she brought it food, it would listen to her and occasionally wag its tail.
It's like...
-47-
“Like family.”
Shancha murmured, "You're like family to me."
Once upon a time, only her parents would listen to her chattering nonsense like this.
She wanted... She wanted...
"One day, if I become an oiran, have endless free food, and can truly support myself... I'll try to win over a few more families."
Shancha lowered her head and gently touched the black cat's cheek with her face. "This way, you and I won't be alone anymore. We will have a home."
-48-
It didn't understand what the human cub was saying.
She became more and more noisy, always saying something incomprehensible.
What is “loneliness”? What is “family”? What is “you and me”?
Besides, she feeds it and it eats...isn't that enough?
It is a solitary wandering banshee. A fixed place for collecting offerings is already the maximum number it can accept, and it is impossible to accept any more.
-49-
It's like every time when it was hungry, bleeding and injured, it would quietly walk over from the wall, and when it saw Shancha lowering her head to feed other stray cats and dogs, it would always turn around and leave.
It comes here to collect offerings, not to wag its tail to beg for food.
It is not a real cat, nor is it a real stray cat.
-50-
Of course, it doesn't mind Shancha feeding those real stray animals.
This human cub sometimes showed completely unnecessary tenderness and compassion. It knew that this was because she was still "kind", otherwise the scent she exuded when she was on the verge of death would not have been so mellow.
The death of a wicked person tastes unpleasant. The Banshee is a despicable creature, but she does not like despicable deaths.
They are drawn to a kind and pure death.
The Banshee loves the most withered smell of the most beautiful things.
-51-
So, it can see that Camellia is not a bad boy.
It can be seen from Shancha's action of feeding stray animals that Shancha really wants unconditional trust and closeness to her existence. Moreover, one is not enough, she wants a lot, as if it can warm something she has lost.
But it is not a human being, nor a stray cat. It is impossible for it to huddle together with her for warmth and live among piles of strange lives begging for food.
It doesn't mind Camellia exuding its excess sympathy, but it will not eat at the same table with them.
-52-
The offerings it receives must be sincere and dedicated only to itself.
It would never share a bowl with any other life.
-53-
So, every time, when it came back with its wounds and found Shancha feeding other small animals, it would slowly leave with its wounds.
...It's not that it hasn't thought about giving up on this insincere human cub and looking for food elsewhere. Since Shancha brought it rice porridge, it has gradually figured out some ways to get food from humans... But, the existence in the human world that is kind enough to send it food will always be kind enough to feed many animals.
It didn't want to share a bowl with stray animals, so it had to leave.
Pure kindness is never selfish.
...It doesn't hate Wuqi's kindness, but it can't be said to like it either.
-54-
During this period, a fellow tribesman came to fight with it again. It lost badly as usual, but the latter was not much better off.
The banshee fell heavily to the ground, then pounced on it and tore its body apart, gasping and telling it that she had found a way to become stronger, and one day she would completely swallow this unambitious fool.
It ignored it.
That banshee is gray and has already transformed once. Even if she becomes stronger, she probably won't be as cute as it, so why bother paying attention to her?
-55-
Later, when it was foraging, it heard that its fellow tribesmen had established a base in a strange world, gathering batches of innocent children, and then destroyed those innocent cubs in batches using the darkest methods, hoping to collect the most powerful death to complete its third transformation.
...Yes, the Banshee loves to destroy the most beautiful things.
The death of a saint is enough for thousands of banshees to scramble to eat, not to mention the tens of thousands of pure white cubs.
Her fellow tribesmen all said that the banshee would probably transform into the most powerful being of this generation, and who knows how many innocent deaths she could have eaten.
Their words were full of envy. If it weren't for that strange world being so special and seemingly completely isolated from other worlds, their fellow tribesmen would all want to snatch food from it.
-56-
It's not interested.
The death of Wushao, which was tailor-made and carefully planned, was not fun at all.
It never likes the death of its cubs, after all, it is still a newborn cub itself.
-57-
Well, that’s getting off topic.
It’s better to go and check on your cub, who at least knows how to make regular offerings. The lifespan of human cubs is always short.
It didn't mind her kindness, because she didn't let stray animals gather around when she made offerings.
-58-
So it once again drilled into the hole in the wall as it was used to, and entered the city - but this time, it failed to drill into the hole in the wall of the Golden Scale Pavilion.
It saw Shancha on the street corner. She was sitting in the beef vermicelli soup shop that she had longed to eat. She had a somewhat immature makeup on her face and her carefully selected beautiful dress was covered with oil stains.
-59-
It was the new owner of the shop that Shancha had mentioned, a somewhat mean young woman.
She poured Shancha's entire bowl of beef noodles.
-60-
"Get out, get out, get out—"
The woman's voice was sharp and shrill, with a hint of tears in it: "Get out - you little bitch without a mother or a father - get out! Don't touch my fans with your dirty mouth!"
-61-
Shancha sat stiffly in the shop, a little dazed.
-62-
Today was the first time that she was officially allowed by her mother to go out to the street to buy rouge and powder, and to put on makeup to attract customers' attention, leave some grace, and prepare for her own performance.
But she didn't care about the preparations her mother mentioned. She just saved some spare money and was full of anticipation, thinking that she could finally taste the beef vermicelli she had longed for.
But before she could taste it, she was splashed with the vermicelli soup she had longed for.
...What a pity, this is food.
The delicious food hasn’t even reached your mouth yet.
-63-
Shancha sat in the shop, feeling a little aggrieved, but not that aggrieved.
From the pointing and talking of the people around her, she vaguely heard that the proprietress in front of her, who was hysterically banging the doors of her own shop, had all her belongings stolen by her husband who loved whoring and gambling. He exchanged them for a jade-inlaid hairpin and gave it to the courtesan of Jinlin Pavilion.
The courtesan of Jinlin Pavilion was not someone who could be flattered with a cheap hairpin. She didn't even give him a glance. The drunken man was thrown out by the pavilion's thugs. He lay unconscious on the street all night, and the next day he was run over by the carriage of a noble who came to the pavilion to play, and was cut in half.
The nobleman was unhappy and asked the proprietress to compensate him for the dirty wheel, so the woman's only daughter was also taken away as collateral.
-64-
The owner of the beef noodle shop lost her husband, her wealth, and her children overnight.
She was mad with hatred, but she couldn't rush into the Golden Scale Pavilion to tear apart the beautiful courtesan on the high platform, so she could only pour beef powder on the young prostitutes who had not yet come out of the Golden Scale Pavilion.
Shancha sat in her seat in a daze, watching the woman scream, curse, and yell, then collapse on the ground and cry for a long time, like a bowl of spilled beef noodles.
Her dress was soiled, her forehead was bruised by the bowl, and her hair was torn a few times, but she didn't move.
Not moving at all.
Because Shancha doesn't understand.
-65-
She doesn't understand propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame, nor does she understand the relationship between husband and wife and children.
She could happily sell herself to a brothel for two pieces of steamed buns, and she could willingly attract customers for free meals. She didn't understand these unnecessary things other than filling her stomach.
These... lives... outside of the brothel.
Why was the woman crying? Her daughter had only been pawned off as a prostitute, not dead.
Why was the woman crying? Shouldn't she be happy that a man addicted to whoring and gambling was crushed in half by a car?
Why was this woman crying? It didn't matter if she lost her wealth; she was still young. She could still earn a living by taking off her clothes...
Shancha was willing to teach her how to bend down, dance, twirl a fan, and please customers. If she learned these good things, she would always have food to eat.
-66-
Shancha has many questions in her mind.
But she was very smart, and she vaguely knew that these questions should not be asked to the person who was sitting on the ground crying.
-67-
Maybe she should save it and go back to ask her old mother who taught her like she did before. Although the latter would look at her and shake her head and sigh, she would always give her an answer.
So Shancha didn't ask, she just stood up, left the powder money on the table, and then cast a last look at the woman.
She is almost an adult, and even with her youthful makeup, plain clothes and greasy soup, she can't hide her beauty that can attract thousands of people.
In that glance, there was no hairpin or flower.
Just a quick glance was enough to captivate the souls of everyone around him.
All the pointing and whispering sank into the water, like falling into a pool of water.
Regardless of gender.
-68-
After a while, the proprietress who had collapsed on the ground let out a long, shrill cry.
"Are you having mercy on me?! You're a whore—you're having mercy on me?!"
-69-
She seemed to be completely crazy, stumbling towards Shan Cha who was about to leave, holding a knife for chopping beef bones in her hand.
Shancha was suddenly pulled back in a daze—the proprietress raised the knife high and pointed it at her beautiful face—
"You whore—Aaaaaaah!"
——A black cat jumped onto her face, extending its sharp claws.
-70-
The ox bone knife fell to the ground with a bang, and the crazy proprietress was pinned down by the yamen runners who rushed over.
The crowd stirred again, pointing and talking like dead fish floating in a pond—again, discussions, rumors, glances, whispers—
The lady boss of the powder shop went crazy and wanted to kill the young prostitutes of the Golden Scale Pavilion with an ox bone knife. This was enough to make the people in this city talk about it for three more days.
Shancha was shoved around by the people of this city, and she didn't know where she was going—this city where even the holes in the walls reeked of grease.
She was so panicked that she stuck to the wall.
It's the base of the wall in the shadow.
A pitch-black cat crawled into her arms and looked up at her.
-71-
"Meow."
-72-
Camellia looked down at it.
Then she slid down slowly and sat down in the shadow of the alley.
"It's you..."
-73-
She slowly hugged it tightly, sat in the shadow, and big tears flowed out of her eyes like water overflowing from a pool.
“How terrifying…”
-74-
Shancha, who was not yet seventeen, murmured with tears in her eyes, "This city... is so scary..."
-75-
What a scary city.
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