Chapter 167 World 7 (15)
The precious fan moved slightly, pushing open the door of the woodshed.
Upon hearing the sound, Wu Li looked outside the door. When their eyes met, Bao Shan discovered that because Wu Li had not eaten for several days, his already sunken eye sockets became even more sunken, making his heterochromatic pupils look like stars in the sky, sparkling and emitting a dazzling brilliance.
Baoshan lifted her skirt slightly and leaned forward in front of Wuli. Her floor-length dress, like a soft feather, brushed past Wuli's exposed ankles. Wuli suppressed the urge to avoid her and raised his head to look directly at Baoshan.
A fragrant bowl of plain noodles was presented to Wu Li—crisp green vegetables, accompanied by a refreshing mix of red and green side dishes. One glance revealed Bao Shan's intentions. Those who haven't eaten rice or porridge for a long time have an empty stomach. If they were to hastily consume meat or fish, it would be harmful to their health.
The bowl of vegetarian noodles that Baoshan brought was small in portion but enough to fill one's stomach. There were only a few drops of sesame oil in the clear soup, and no other meat or fish.
Bao Shan said softly, "My mother-in-law said that if you refuse to eat, it will harm your health."
Wu Li's eyes swept across the plain face lightly, and he spoke hoarsely: "I'm just a slave. As long as I'm alive and can find a good customer, that's enough."
How could a guard care whether a lowly slave is willing to eat or whether it will harm his health?
Her crow-feather eyelashes trembled slightly, and her soft lips parted slightly: "But physical pain is always uncomfortable."
Wu Li suddenly stood up, reached out to hold the porcelain bowl, and lightly touched the jade fingers of Bao Shan with his fingertips.
"You...you guys, are you really going to find customers for me?"
Bao Shan frowned slightly and timidly withdrew her fingers: "Daddy always had to find new masters for the slaves he brought back in the past.
Daddy said that anyone who could afford to buy slaves must be a powerful family. They would have no worries about food, clothing, and shelter. The slaves would serve their new masters, and their income would rise accordingly, allowing them to live a life of ease and comfort.
Her jade-white cheeks showed her innocence, and the words that came out of her mouth were extremely casual and natural, as if she believed Dong Yixiao's words completely without any doubt.
Wu Li looked a little dazed. The doubts that had been lingering in his mind since he first saw the treasure fan were finally resolved at this moment.
Wu Li completely understood why a weak and kind-hearted person like Bao Shan would allow her father, the horse merchant, to wantonly bully the slaves and resell them as commodities.
It turned out that Dong Yixiao had already found a pretext to deceive his soft-hearted daughter.
Everything Dong Yixiao did was to find a good customer for the slaves and to make a living for both father and daughter.
As for the whipping scars on the slaves' bodies, they seemed insignificant compared to the wealth and glory they enjoyed after finding new customers.
Kindness and ruthlessness, two completely different temperaments, are intertwined on the precious fan, and in the end, pure white becomes the background color.
Baoshan has a kind nature, that's true.
It was also true that she treated the slaves kindly, but she never considered letting them go.
But all this does not contradict her pure and kind nature.
Wu Li's eyes were gloomy, and he felt a little guilty for taking advantage of the treasure fan's kindness.
But thinking of the drow in the slave garden, Wu Li could only harden his heart. When he looked up again, his eyes were heavy and he said, "Yes, I can't hurt myself."
He stretched out his long arm, reaching for the porcelain bowl from Baoshan's hand. But the pain in his wrist furrowed his brows, and his hand immediately lost strength. In a moment of carelessness, he knocked the bowl to the ground. The plain noodle soup was still steaming. Wu Li, however, seemed oblivious and reached out to pick it up.
"Don't touch it."
Baoshan whistled softly, but Wu Li's palm had already touched the scorching heat.
The bright red color spread from Wu Li's palm, leaving a large crimson mark.
In a panic, Baoshan grabbed Wu Li's wrist, turned his palm over, and looked carefully at the burn marks.
Baoshan's eyebrows furrowed, her jade-like face turning even paler with fear. She cupped Wu Li's hand, leaning over and blowing gently. The feather-soft breath soothed the scars on her palm.
Wu Li's eyes remained motionless as he watched Bao Shan wrap his large palms with a handkerchief that fit his body.
Bao Shan's tightly knitted brows never relaxed from beginning to end. She asked softly, "Does it hurt?"
Wu Li nodded quietly.
Seeing this, Bao Shan felt that the burn was even more serious.
Otherwise, given Wu Li's gloomy personality, how could he admit that the wound was painful? It must have been unbearable pain that forced Wu Li to admit it.
"My hand hurts."
Wu Li lifted his sleeves, revealing his wrists which were scarred by the shackles.
When he saw Baoshan's face turn pale, a strange feeling emerged in his heart.
But for Zhuo Er, Wu Li still made up his mind to make use of the weak Central Plains woman in front of him.
He lowered his voice, with a hint of temptation.
"I won't run away... Can you untie me?"
Baoshan's beautiful eyes trembled slightly, and her expression relaxed. Of the slaves from this foreign land, the only one bound in shackles was Wu Li.
Wu Li had to wear such a heavy chain day and night, and now he couldn't even hold a porcelain bowl steady because of it. Bao Shan opened her soft lips and was about to agree.
Wu Li suddenly moved closer to Bao Shan. His usually calm eyes softened. He deliberately lowered his voice, almost whispering into Bao Shan's earlobe.
Waves of tingling sensation spread from Baoshan's earlobe to her ear bone, making her face shy and her beautiful eyes droop slightly.
"How about exchanging it for cloth?"
Wu Li seemed to be using this to prove that even if he was free from the chains, he would still be bound by the cloth and would not hurt anyone, let alone escape.
Baoshan felt the heat rising on his face and subconsciously agreed to Wu Li.
She got up to get some cloth, and when she came back, the filth in the woodshed had already been cleaned up by her mother-in-law who was in charge of sweeping.
Seeing Baoshan coming towards him with a scarlet cloth in his hand, Wuli stretched out his arm, exposing his most vulnerable wrist to Baoshan.
But what Wu Li felt on his wrist was not the restraint of cloth as he had expected, but a cool touch.
Wu Li lowered his eyes and saw Bao Shan applying cool and smooth ointment on his injured wrist.
The white and soft hand touched his red scar, and Wu Li moved his fingers slightly, wanting to grasp the hand in his palm.
This feeling was so strong that Wu Li could only turn his head away and not look at the treasure fan in order to calm his inner restlessness.
The crimson cloth was loosely wrapped around Wu Li's wrist.
"Tighter..."
Wu Li reminded.
As soon as he said this, Wu Li thought to himself that he was confused.
No matter how tightly the precious fan wrapped around him, he would break free.
The looseness of the cloth was actually beneficial to him, so why bother to remind him?
However, when Wu Li looked at Bao Shan's small, upturned nose, which was covered with beads of sweat, he thought to himself: Bao Shan is so easy to deceive. If it were a slave with the same bad intentions as him, he would be bullied.
He gave this reminder to prevent Baoshan from being deceived by other slaves.
After wrapping the cloth, Baoshan took out a key and pointed it at the buckle on the chain. With a "click", the chain that had imprisoned Wu Li for many days fell to the ground.
Wu Li's wrists and ankles suddenly felt lighter, and he felt as if he had been freed from the heavy restraints.
As for the cloth on his wrist, Wu Li could easily break free with just a little effort.
But Wu Li did not try to break free from his restraints and escape from the Dong family in front of Bao Shan.
He raised his arms, and the crimson cloth fluttered in the wind. The crimson color that caught his eyes made Wu Li look dazed.
Such bright colors seem to be used only in weddings in the Central Plains.
At this time, it acted as a restraint, tying his hands.
Wu Li asked Bao Shan to do something to him, and no matter how abrupt and rude the action was, he would not resist, in order to prove the firmness of this new restraint.
But Baoshan's face was troubled when he heard this. Hesitantly, Baoshan imitated Dong Yixiao's scolding of a slave and reached out to pat Wu Li's cheek. It was like the flutter of a feather, without the slightest intimidation. Wu Li's thoughts wandered, wondering: If it were any other slave, would Baoshan still be so limp and pitiful?
Just thinking about it in his mind made Wu Li feel unbearable.
A ridiculous thought even emerged in his mind: as a slave, he had to rack his brains to teach the guards how to tame slaves.
It's really crazy.
But Wu Li still put all the ideas in his mind into practice.
He leaned over and left a kiss on Baoshan's cheek with his cool lips.
His lips sank slightly as they touched the porcelain-white cheek. The warm, delicate touch was so inviting that one couldn't leave. But Wu Li only tasted it briefly. After offending the beautiful woman, his eyes remained calm, without a trace of guilt, as he quietly gazed at the precious fan.
Bao Shan covered her cheeks, her beautiful eyes sparkling with tears, her voice trembling with disbelief. The slave, who had been so gentle just a moment ago, had suddenly overstepped the bounds: "You...are such a scoundrel..."
Baoshan turned to leave, but Wuli grabbed his wrist.
Baoshan raised her eyes, but looked into Wuli's helpless eyes.
Wu Li expected that such behavior would certainly make Bao Shan angry, and in his rage, he would be justified in beating and kicking him.
But Wu Li didn't expect that the treasure fan was so soft that it didn't even know how to resist strongly.
So, under the gaze of those tearful and helpless eyes, Wu Li grabbed the wrist of the treasure fan and hit himself on the cheek.
The crisp sound was particularly abrupt in the quiet woodshed.
The tears in Baoshan's eyes were about to fall, but when he reacted, he quickly withdrew his hand and stepped back.
She, she actually hit Wu Li...
And he was beaten under Wu Li's guidance!
A faint red mark appeared on Wu Li's cheek. He was slapped by the woman, but he was not angry at all. Instead, he said in a deep voice: "See, I won't resist."
Baoshan left in a hurry.
When the night deepened, Wu Li freed the cloth from his hand, put it in his arms, climbed over the wall and left Dong's house.
Wu Li followed the path he remembered and came to Nuyuan.
There were many guards in the slave garden, but Wu Li was not in a hurry. He stayed under the eaves for more than three hours.
Until the time and number of guards in the slave garden were clearly understood.
It was already late at night and everything was quiet. Even the person patrolling the slave garden felt a little sleepy and did not pay as much attention to the guard as he had in the first half of the night.
Wu Li took the opportunity to walk into the slave garden.
The slave garden is very large, and searching aimlessly is indeed tiring.
But there was no trace of slackness on Wu Li's face. He stared at each closed wooden door with sharp eyes.
Until I saw a piece of cloth fluttering in front of a wooden door.
The color was exactly the same as the robe that Wu Li wore when he met Zhuo Er.
Wu Li pushed open the door and walked to the bed in the darkness.
The person in the room seemed to be a very light sleeper. He soon noticed someone breaking in and asked in a cold voice, "Who?"
After seeing the man in front of him clearly, Zhuo Er murmured softly, "Brother."
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