He had just said that the genius doctor Wu Qiaozi went to Linhai Mountain to look for medicine, and might come into Shoushan Village.
The village was obviously xenophobic. If an outsider really came in, she would hear the news at home within a day. As long as Wu Qiaozi entered the village, she would not be afraid of missing him.
But it would be safer to spend money to get specific information. In case something unexpected happened, or Wu Qiaozi changed his mind and decided not to go looking for medicinal herbs, she would also know something.
After the man took the silver, he only raised his eyelids, as if he didn't care about the fifty taels. He took out a dark blue silk ribbon from a bag beside him and said, "Take this. Remember to carry it with you. Don't take it off."
Hua Shi pinched the cold silk ribbon, took a look at it, and asked in confusion: "What is this...?"
"We secretly appreciate the unique skill of transmitting messages. Just take it." The man looked at Hua Shi, who still looked confused and ignorant, frowned, but still patiently explained.
"When the time comes, a pigeon will follow this ribbon to find you. Tie the piece of paper with the message on it to the pigeon's foot. After you get the message, you can tie the ribbon back to the pigeon's foot."
After hearing this, Hua Shi noticed that there were several bird cages behind the man, with several pigeons with black and white feathers trapped inside. Looking closely, the black color of the pigeons' wings seemed to be dyed with a special potion. Their heads and wings were black, but their bellies and backs retained their original white color. It looked a bit... strange.
After the two came out of the room, they saw that the doorway, which was originally sparsely populated, was now blocked by more than ten people, and the trivial and noisy sounds started to rise again.
"Hey... did you see that when you came here? Over in the arena, that slave and the city lord's tiger have been fighting for over an hour, and it's not over yet."
"No way! It's been over an hour, and he's still not dead? Who is that slave?"
"I don't know. I heard he was a slave captured from the Kingdom of Mecca. Perhaps he was a defeated general, so powerful."
"General? Reduced to being a slave in the black market of a small town? Hiss..."
Hua Shi listened to every word of the discussion among the people, and as they walked away, the noisy discussions were also forgotten.
She followed Xie Mingchi, turned a few winding roads, and came to the bloody scene of tongue pulling out that she saw at the beginning. The shrill screams interrupted Hua Shi's immersed thoughts.
Her brows furrowed subconsciously, and when she looked up, she saw a man holding a sharp dagger who had already cut the tongues of several people.
There were four or five people kneeling and lying on the ground, howling in pain, their bloody tongues were stepped on, and there was a pool of blood on the ground, which was creepy to look at.
Xie Mingchi took her hand and quickened his pace, wanting to leave this place quickly.
Hua Shi couldn't bear to watch this inhumane scene, and his eyes were stung with pain.
She is not a savior, and she can't do anything about such bloody and cruel things...
“Wuwuwu… Help me! Help me!”
Accompanied by a childish cry, before Hua Shi could react, her trouser legs were tightly grabbed by a pair of dirty, blood-red little hands. If she had not reacted quickly, her trousers would have been almost pulled off.
Because of this sudden change, Hua Shi's fast pace was abruptly stopped.
“…Wuwuwuwu…!! Please save me, I don’t want my tongue to be pulled out! Please, please!”
The child who was holding her trouser leg, with messy hair and tattered clothes, loosened one hand and knelt in front of Hua Shi, kowtowing his head.
The head hit the ground with a loud noise that struck the heart, and coupled with the muffled crying sound, it was miserable and pitiful.
“Bang!”
Before Hua Shi could say anything, a half-meter-long whip was swung over, flying through the air and hitting the boy's hunched back.
"Ugh...ah!" The boy cried out in pain and fell to his knees on the ground. His whole body went limp, but the hand that was holding Hua Shi's trouser leg was still holding it tightly, refusing to let go.
"Let go, you little bastard! If you don't let go, do you want to be whipped?"
The man holding the whip shouted fiercely. Seeing that the boy was collapsing on the ground in pain, he still refused to let go and held Hua Shi's trouser leg tightly with one hand.
"Oh, I don't believe you anymore. I want to see whether your hand is harder or my whip is harder."
As he spoke, the man swung the whip and was about to hit him again.
"Wait a moment."
Hua Shi raised his hand, stopped the whip that was swinging towards him, and shouted to stop.
The man glanced at Hua Shi and Xie Mingchi, loosened his wrists, raised the whip, then lowered it again. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Why...? You feel sorry for this little slave and want to buy him?"
The man looked at them with some disdain, and he looked them up and down several times, as if he was considering whether they had any money.
Hua Shi paused and looked down at the boy on the ground.
The man who was almost fainting from the pain heard Hua Shi's voice to stop her, which was like the sound of nature. A faint hope rose in an instant. He raised his head with difficulty and looked at her with tearful eyes, his eyes full of pleading and pain.
“…Please…you.” The boy’s weak voice sounded again.
Hua Shi lowered his eyes, feeling reluctant. He sighed deeply in his heart, and a hint of hesitation flashed across his face.
The child's age was unclear. Most of the slaves on the black market were of unknown origin. She also had four children to support at home. She couldn't just take someone away for no reason...
The boy seemed to see the hesitation on Hua Shi's face and knew that if he didn't say something now, this opportunity to save himself from the dire situation would slip away.
He struggled to get up from his knees, grabbing Hua Shi's trouser legs with his hands, using almost all his strength. He looked up and said sincerely, "Madam, please buy me. I'm already seventeen years old. As long as I recover from my injuries, I can do anything. And... and I'm very strong and can do a lot of heavy work. Just give me a meal, please..."
He finished speaking in one breath, and his voice became a little weaker at the end.
Seeing his pleading eyes, Hua Shi finally gave in and turned to look at the man who was watching leisurely, swinging a short whip in his hand, and asked, "How much silver do you want to buy him?"
When the man heard this, his eyes narrowed and he curled his lips and said, "Do you two have any money to give? Ten taels of silver, do you have any?"
Looking at these two people dressed in dusty clothes, I don't know which family they are servants from. Ten taels of silver, even if you live frugally for a whole year, you can't save up...
The boy, kneeling on the ground, turned pale when he heard the price. His lips trembled as he looked back, "...Ten taels...Why ten taels..."
He remembered that earlier, the one who was sold... was only three taels of silver...
Ten taels of silver, would anyone be willing to buy him?
…
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
