Chapter 150: Curiosity Killed The Cat
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Those people were practically crawling on the ground as they “got lost.”
Li Yong ran over to pick up his big saber and wiped the blood off the blade on the wailing man’s body. Then he looked at the panic-stricken woman on the ground.
When the woman saw Li Yong looking at her, she didn’t show much gratitude on her face but still looked at him warily.
This was the second time Li Yong had been a hero since he came out with Su Ying. He revealed a smile that he thought was kind and said, “Young lady, don’t be afraid. We won’t hurt you!”
To his dismay, after that girl heard him, she frantically got up from the ground and ran away without looking back.
“Hey, why did you leave like this? You didn’t even say thank you.” Li Yong was a little disappointed.
“Why should she thank you? Who knows if you’ll be the next person to humiliate her?” An old man sitting on the side said faintly.
Li Yong glared at him and said with some annoyance, “Do you think everyone is as vile as you people from the West District?”
The old man smiled but did not say anything.
Su Ying turned to look at the old man. He was wearing a thin sackcloth robe that had been patched up countless times. His hair and beard were white, and he was so skinny that he was only skin and bones. His eyes were cloudy without any glint of light in them. He looked like someone with one foot in the grave and was just waiting for death.
Su Ying walked over to the old man and took out a small bag of snacks. Uncle Hea made these snacks, and she liked to eat them, so she always carried some with her. Whenever she remembered, she would take them out and eat a few.
“It’s food.”
The old man glanced at Su Ying and took the bag without any hesitation. He opened it at once, took out the snacks, and started eating.
It was as if he hadn’t eaten such a delicious thing for a long time. The old man’s cloudy eyes closed in pleasure.
Su Ying wasn’t in a hurry. She waited until he was satisfied before she squatted down and said, “The entire West District is like this? There’s no head to take charge?”
The old man only spoke casually after he had eaten to his satisfaction. “Who cares? Who would care about the lives of people like us? Those who are capable have all gone to other districts. Those who are left behind can only wait for death here.”
Su Ying stood up slowly and continued to walk toward the interior of the West District. She realized that the separation distances between the houses here were much narrower than those in the East District. Many houses were squeezed together.
Tiger Might said that this area was previously managed by the Venom Cult, and the Venom Cult had just been exterminated not long ago. It was impossible for there to be any major changes in this area in a short period of time. She could only surmise that this place was already like this when the Venom Cult was in charge.
The people of the Venom Cult only treated the people here as tools to breed venomous bugs. Why would they treat them as humans?
“What are you doing? Where are you taking the child? You can’t take him away!”
On the narrow road, a man suddenly dragged a young boy out, and the woman behind him cried and ran after him.
The man’s face was dirty, and his eyes were bloodshot. In fact, his eyeballs were covered by a dense web of red vessels. “This kid can’t do anything at home except eat. If we sell him to another district, we can get a tael of silver.”
“Don’t sell him. I beg you! Don’t sell the child…” The emaciated woman caught up with the child and grabbed onto his hand, begging bitterly.
The child was trapped in a tug-of-war between the two adults. His face was blank, and there was no trace of innocence that belonged to his age on his face. “Stupid woman, I’ll beat you to death if you get in my way again!” The man raised his hand and slapped the woman’s face.
The woman fell to the ground and rolled a few times from the impact. She could not get up for a long while.
“How much are you selling this child for?”
The man turned around and was blocked by Su Ying.
The man sized her up and laughed derisively. “How much do you want to spend, Madam?”
Su Ying replied expressionlessly, “I’ll pay you as much as you want.”
The man greedily raised his hand. “Five taels of silver.”
“Alright. Li Yong, pay up.”
“Huh?” Li Yong gave a startled utterance. He thought, “Madam Su, aren’t you the one buying him? Why are you asking me to pay?”
It was not easy for him to save up such a small amount!
Even though he was very reluctant, he still took out five taels of silver and gave it to the man under Su Ying’s indifferent gaze.
“From now on, this kid belongs to me.”
The man immediately smiled when he received the silver. “He’s yours, he’s yours. Hahaha!” The man walked away happily with the silver in his hand.
When the woman on the ground saw that her son had been bought, the despair on her face became even more pronounced.
“What is your husband going to do with the silver?”
When the woman heard Su Ying’s question, she choked back her tears and said, “He’s going to buy Divine Wine.”
“Divine Wine?”
“Yes. He used up all the money in the family to buy Divine Wine.”
“What’s that?”
The woman shook her head. “I only know that it’s a type of wine. After drinking it, it will make people very happy and relieve them of all pain.”
“Where can I find this wine?”
The woman pointed at a narrow street in front of them with a trembling finger.
Su Ying nodded in understanding. “Let’s go.”
“Ma… Madam, I beg you. I beg you to return my son to me. Please return my son to me…” The woman crawled up to Su Ying and begged her.
“He’s the one who paid for him. If you want to beg, then go and beg him,” Su Ying said and left without looking back.
The woman looked at Li Yong.
Li Yong looked at Su Ying and then at the child. He gritted his teeth and said, “If you want to look for your son in the future, go to the Tiger Base in the East District.” With that, he dragged the child with him and ran away. The child would be sold again sooner or later, so there was no point in giving him back.
When she saw her son being taken away, the woman fell to the ground and wailed piteously.
Su Ying followed the woman’s directions and went around the narrow street. She saw a large group of people sitting on both sides of the street. Everyone was holding a wine cup and drinking from it as if he was drunk.
At the end of the street, there was a wine shop. The wine in these people’s hands came from this wine shop.
Su Ying walked into the wine shop and saw the man who just sold the child happily walking out with a cup of wine. He had already taken a sip before he was even out of the shop.
The fellow selling the wine was an old man with white hair and a beard. He was currently fetching wine for someone.
Su Ying asked, “How much is a cup? ”
“A hundred coins of 2-copper-coin denomination,” the old man replied without even raising his head.
“I’ll have a cup.”
The old man slowly raised his head and glanced at Su Ying. He sized her up when he saw that she looked unfamiliar. “Where did you come from, young lady?”
“You don’t sell your stuff to people from other places?”
The old man chuckled. “No, but not everyone can drink this wine. If you have never drunk it before, young lady, you’d better not try it.”
Su Ying took out half a tael of silver. “I’m curious. Give me a cup.”
The old man did not turn down her request anymore. He turned around to get some wine. “Curiosity killed the cat, and it can kill people too.”
The wine was poured into a ceramic cup. The old man placed the cup on the table, took the silver, and gave Su Ying her change.
Su Ying took the wine and left the wine shop.
“Madam Su, this thing doesn’t look right. You mustn’t drink it so carelessly.” Li Yong followed her and said worriedly.
Su Ying sniffed the wine in her cup and narrowed her eyes.
Indeed, she mustn’t drink it carelessly..