Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Meng Yingying frowned: "Those girls need to be rescued."
Zhou Xiuqi glanced at her and nodded: "That's exactly what I was thinking."
Kong Fusheng put his hands on his hips and said, "Count me in."
——
The winding path leads to a secluded spot, the cobblestones gleam, and cloth shoes crunch on the stones.
"Hurry up, everyone, the host is waiting."
"Where is Ji Cang? Where did Ji Cang go?"
"I just left with Brother Shanwu," a monk said. Wude glanced at the young monk and asked, "Where are you going?"
"The north wing," the young monk said, sounding somewhat unsure under his gaze.
In the north wing, a man knelt on a prayer mat with his head bowed. Opposite him, another man with his eyes closed was striking a wooden fish.
A drop of blood landed on his hand. Ji Cang opened his eyes and looked at the person in front of him, smiling wryly, "Senior brother, you've been slacking off again."
Shanwu remained silent. Ji Cang was not angry, but instead looked at him and rubbed his fingers on Shanwu's blood-stained monk's robe.
Facing the empty air, he said, "Amitabha."
A maniacal laugh echoed from the shadows as he crawled on all fours toward him. Ji Cang said helplessly, "A Yue, stop fooling around and eat."
"If they find out, we won't be able to eat it."
The female ghost chuckled and crawled toward the man, tearing off large chunks of his flesh and putting them into her mouth.
Ji Cang placed his hand on her head and stroked it gently.
Birds hovered on the eaves. The three of them squatted down together. Zhou Xiuqi raised his hand to cover the area and stuck a talisman on it.
"Just as I suspected," he said.
Meng Yingying was surprised. Was the male lead's intuition really that accurate? He could guess it so easily.
Kong Fusheng spoke up: "The female ghost he feeds can understand human speech, so she must be a vengeful ghost at the very least. How do you connect her with Weng Xian?"
Zhou Xiuqi said, "There's only one step between conjecture and confirmation."
Meng Yingying had a bad feeling: "Which step?"
Zhou Xiuqi placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and slightly drew it from its sheath: "Coercion."
Kong Fusheng was dumbfounded, while Meng Yingying facepalmed. They were clever as they were, but when it came to being moved, they were still a bit lacking.
"Don't threaten us. Let's use a trick to lure the snake out of its hole," Meng Yingying said.
Zhou Xiuqi pressed down on the hilt of his sword and looked at her: "Luring the snake out of its hole?"
The room was damp and filled with the sounds of dripping air. Fifteen- and fourteen-year-old girls were piled up inside. Every now and then, rats would squeak and squeak in the shadows, making hungry noises. Everyone in the room was shivering. Suddenly, the door was pushed open.
The man's back was bent into an arc, and the knife scars on his face ran from the top of his head to the corner of his mouth. Yet, he still managed to put on a fawning expression, which made people feel disgusted.
The person next to me was slightly shorter, their entire body concealed by a large black awning, making their features indistinguishable. Their feet were impatiently shuffling along the ground.
"These are all new arrivals, they're all still fresh."
"Hmm, let me see," the person in the black cloak said in a low, high-pitched voice.
The scarred man's eyes flashed, and he said, "They're in high demand. If we don't decide to leave soon, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep them either."
The man in the black cloak rubbed his hands together under the cloak for a while, and Scarface's eyes lit up slightly as he raised his hands above his head.
The next second, Scarface felt a force pressing down on him. The cloaked man beside him took off his cloak, threw it aside, and kicked the door shut. The guards outside started banging on the door, calling out, "My lord! My lord!"
A sharp, pointed blade pressed against Scarface's back, and the person behind him spoke in a clear, gentle voice: "Tell them to back off, or I'll..." As he spoke, the blade stabbed forward. Scarface felt it, his face trembled, his eyes rolled around, and he shouted outside: "It's nothing! This guest wants to close the door and experience it."
The scarred man asked with a wry smile, "Who are you, and why are you disturbing my business?"
The girl behind him didn't waste any words with him. She quickly tied his hands with rope and then kicked him to the ground without answering him.
Scarface saw the girl clearly. She was wearing a pink Taoist robe, with a bun on her head and a wooden hairpin inserted diagonally. She held a sword in her hand and a jade ruyi at her waist. She had delicate eyebrows and eyes, slightly thin cheeks, and clear eyes.
The scarred man gave what he thought was a friendly smile: "Young lady, you wouldn't happen to be here to rescue these women, would you?"
Meng Yingying ignored them, looked at the women huddled together in front of her, and walked to their side with her sword in hand.
Scarface continued, "Even if you save them, their parents will still send them back."
Meng Yingying kept her head down. The rope was rough and had rubbed the wrists of the beautiful young girls until they were bloody. Meng Yingying wished she could kill him with a sword. If it weren't for the fact that saving these girls was the most important thing right now, she would have wanted to kill him.
Meng Yingying used her sword to cut the first person's rope, then looked at her, bewildered, and asked, "What are you doing?"
With time of the essence and the task pressing, Meng Yingying seized the opportunity and slashed directly with her sword, answering as she did so: "I'll save you."
The girl suddenly said, "We don't need you to save us. We did it all voluntarily."
Meng Yingying stopped what she was doing and asked her again, "What did you say?"
The girl was about fourteen years old, covered in bruises, with bloodstains around her eyes.
"Ali!" called the baby-faced girl beside her.
Ah Li's hands and feet were unrestrained, but she maintained her original posture: "Ah Jin! My mother is still waiting for me to be sold so that they will have money and my younger brother can go to private school."
Scarface watched the commotion from the sidelines and laughed, "Ah Li, I didn't believe your mother when she said you were well-behaved, but now I see you really are."
Ahri glanced at him sideways, as if she didn't even acknowledge him: "Don't be so arrogant. I only listen to my parents, not a bastard like you."
The scarred man paused his fake smile, then his face darkened, and his withered eyes stared straight at her: "What did you say?"
Ah Li sneered, "May I ask you, do you call your father 'uncle' or 'father' now?"
Scarface's smile froze completely, his shriveled eyes remaining motionless.
After rescuing the last one, Meng Yingying stood up and said, "I saved you only because I am also a woman."
"Women cherish each other, a bond that will last forever. I do not wish to see you die, so I have come to save you."
After Meng Yingying finished speaking, she glanced at each of the young and scarred faces, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
"Now, those of you who are willing to follow me, follow me. In the future, the sky's the limit. You can choose to go home, or you can choose to treat this place as your grave, as if you are already dead, and tomorrow will be a new beginning. This time, you can choose for yourselves."
After Meng Yingying finished speaking, she waited quietly for their reply.
The women at the head of the group hesitated, their eyes darting around.
"I'll go with you."
"Ah Jin!" Ah Li looked at Ah Jin in disbelief as she stepped forward. Ah Jin said to Ah Li, "Ah Li, we have hands and feet, we can go out and earn money. I don't want to be treated like merchandise, sold around and kicked away when I don't need it anymore."
"I've had enough of this kind of life." Ah Jin's voice was sharp and filled with resentment.
"I...I'll go with you too."
"And me too."
"I'm leaving too."
Various sounds arose in the room. Meng Yingying glanced around and saw that about half of the people still chose to stay. Everyone has their own destiny, and she couldn't stop them.
A large group of people stood behind her, all remaining still as they watched them walk up behind Meng Yingying. Meng Yingying bowed deeply to those who had chosen to stay, saying, "May you all be safe, joyful, and successful."
A faint sobbing sound could be heard, but the person was hiding and didn't want to be seen.
Meng Yingying drew her sword from her waist, pressed it against the door, and turned around to say, "Just run outside later, there will be a boy about my age, follow him."
Ah Jin swallowed hard and asked uneasily, "Really, is it okay?"
Meng Yingying blinked: "Trust me, you will all get out safely, I promise."
Hehehe—
A sinister laugh suddenly appeared in the room. Meng Yingying caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye, and A Jin shouted, "Him!"
Before Meng Yingying could react, drops of blood began to fall to the ground.
Meng Yingying's eyes were still filled with shock. A Jin was calling out, and a circle of sharp screams surrounded her. Meng Yingying felt a piercing pain in her back. She slowly turned around and saw Scarface smiling at her. His terrifying face was wrinkled, like dozens of faces.
"Take them away? Do you even have the life to do that?" A chilling voice pierced her ears, and Meng Yingying felt her body temperature draining away. She knelt on the ground, her mind filled with only one thought: "I'm not the protagonist, I don't have the protagonist's halo."
Scarface, knife in hand, walked step by step in another direction. Ahri huddled up in a ball, and Scarface raised his knife, ready to strike.
Ah Jin covered her mouth and closed her eyes. Ah Li also thought she was going to die. When she opened her eyes again, her bright eyes were slowly losing their light, and she still had a smile on her lips. Her voice was weak: "That was close."
Warm blood flowed to Ahri's feet, a large pool of blood, a glaring sight.
Ahri was stunned.
Meng Yingying landed on her and whispered something in her ear.
Scarface was still smiling, looking at the blood all over the ground.
With a deafening roar, the air seemed to be instantly frozen in place, and a wisp of blood mist rushed in. Scarface raised his knife and swung it, the blood mist creeping up the blade, instantly turning it rotten, while the mist continued to spread. He dropped the knife, and the blood mist dissipated. Scarface looked up and saw a figure jump down from the hole in the roof, strolling leisurely, dragging a silver whip in his hand. His bright red robes were stained with blood from the ground. He glanced down at the figure.
His smile deepened as he said, "I've said it before: in this world, if you don't kill others, others will kill you."
Do you believe me now?
Scarface, now unarmed, watched as Scarface used a whip as a weapon, finding it utterly harmless, and remained unconcerned: "Tampering with a person's livelihood is like killing their parents; she only has herself to blame."
Shang Mang laughed loudly, his crimson lips parted, and tilted his head, saying, "She won't die, but you can die now."
The silver whip moved with unstoppable force, carrying a sharp and chilling killing intent, tearing his neck off. He didn't even blink as blood spurted out.
Ah Jin helped Ah Li, who was still in shock, to her feet and followed. Ah Li glanced back in a daze. The place was empty, with only blood everywhere, a corpse, and a head.
Outside, Kong Fusheng paced anxiously, while Zhou Xiuqi drew his sword, ready to rush inside. Fifteen people then stormed out of the house.
Meng Yingying felt as if her body was plummeting rapidly, and the system's piercing warning echoed in her mind: [Warning! Warning! Host's vital signs are declining! Warning! Warning!]
Meng Yingying crossed her arms and spoke to it in her mind: "Give me a cheat code."
System: [Warning! Warning! Host's vital signs are declining!]
Okay, this system doesn't understand human speech. Meng Yingying opened her body, feeling very tired.
Suddenly, she felt a cold current penetrate her body, her neck felt suffocated, and her whole body was ice cold.
She opened her eyes and saw Shang Mang's face.
Shang Mang grabbed her neck, but didn't use force: "If you want to give your life to someone else, you might as well give it to me."
Meng Yingying's breathing quickened as she touched her abdomen. Her hand found it smooth, and she suddenly smiled.
A gentle smile suddenly appeared on his face, and Shang Mang released his hand: "What are you laughing at?"
Meng Yingying: "I'm not dead yet!"
"I haven't said you can die, so of course you can't die." Shang Mang smiled and narrowed his eyes.
Meng Yingying looked at him, touched the flesh of her abdomen. It had pierced her body so deeply that she couldn't possibly survive. The only thing standing in front of her was that he had saved her.
Meng Yingying's thoughts changed, and she rested her chin on her hand as she looked at him.
Have you ever had a crush on anyone?
Shang Mang's expression changed slightly as he twirled the ring on his hand: "I only like dead people." Meng Yingying stiffened upon hearing this, but the words were already on the tip of her tongue, so she sat up straight and asked somewhat stiffly, "Do you want to try liking me?"
Shang Mang stared at her face without speaking. His eyes were not deep red bloodshot, but calm and deep black.
Meng Yingying felt a chill run down her spine. She thought she could test the waters, and this idea popped into her head. She acted on impulse and naturally asked the question.
She was a little nervous; it was the first time she had ever confessed her feelings to someone.
After a long pause, only one voice was heard: "No."
A feeling of dejection flashed through Meng Yingying's mind.
The emotion vanished quickly, and Meng Yingying didn't have time to catch it before it disappeared. Shang Mang said, "If you become a dead person, I can consider it."
I like you.
Meng Yingying looked at him and smiled slightly: "Let's make a bet."
A ray of moonlight shone on her face, her eyes burning with passion.
"What kind of bet?"
"Let's bet, bet I can take your true heart." Her voice was like the wind, brushing past his ears.
Shang Mang's smile faded slightly, and he turned his head expressionlessly: "Then your deception needs to be more sophisticated to steal my true feelings."
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