A gloomy-faced man said, “Lucky. Two kids who look about three years old and are all alone. If we can catch them, we’ll definitely fetch a good price.”
Among them, a gloomy-faced old woman’s eyes flickered. “Indeed, not bad. They ran into a shop like that, so they probably have some spirit stones on them too. That counts as an unexpected windfall.”
“But if they just ran out like that, could they have some background?” one of the child traffickers asked cautiously.
Although they were child traffickers, they weren’t fools.
The children of high officials and nobles were untouchable; they could only go after ordinary people’s kids.
“Heh, just two ignorant little brats. They were just talking nonsense with that street beggar… truly naive. Besides, they’re dressed plainly, so they probably don’t have any background.”
Those two children clearly had the look of innocent fools. How could they possibly be the offspring of high officials or powerful experts?
Unless they were pretending… and that was clearly impossible.
“That’s right,” the old woman said with approval. “You keep watch on the surroundings. If anything changes, we’ll leave as quickly as possible. Leave the rest to me.”
Tricking two children was the job of an experienced old woman like her. It was easier that way.
Just think… if those children disappeared, their parents would surely be heartbroken… But that didn’t matter. It wasn’t like they were the only parents losing children.
The others nodded, then dispersed. They were responsible for cover and handling any accidents.
They had no idea that high above them, in the nine heavens, terrifying strands of sword qi had already taken shape within the clouds.
This sword qi was not in the form of a strike. It was motionless.
As if it could descend at any moment…
The Sword Emperor Changgeng on the street closed his eyes.
…
After entering the tailor shop, Chen Ziyuan said, “Shopkeeper, we want to buy some fine silk.”
The shopkeeper, lounging on his chair with a bowl in hand, heard the voice but saw no one.
He said in confusion, “Where is everyone? Did I hear wrong? I thought I had a customer…”
“Shopkeeper, look down at us.” Chen Ziyuan suspected that the shopkeeper had poor eyesight.
Only after hearing that did the shopkeeper finally notice the two children hidden behind the counter.
“…”
“Shopkeeper, what are you drinking? Is it good?” Chen Zihao’s attention, however, was on the bowl in the shopkeeper’s hand.
A look of anticipation appeared on his face.
The shopkeeper laughed in spite of himself. “What an interesting little fellow. Kid, this is medicine for my cold. It doesn’t taste good. It’s bitter.”
“Oh.” Chen Zihao tilted his head. “Then can it cure my cold?”
The shopkeeper fell silent.
Chen Ziyuan rolled her eyes at her younger brother in speechless exasperation.
“Shopkeeper, don’t listen to my younger brother. We’re here to buy silk fabric…”
The shopkeeper smiled. “I see. Then where are your parents? Or any other relatives, if you have them.”
“Daddy isn’t here. Mother is a stone. We want to make clothes for Daddy and our stone mother.”
Pfft… The medicine the shopkeeper had just swallowed nearly came back up. His eyes widened. “Your mother is a stone?”
His expression could not have been any stranger.
“That’s right, that’s right. We popped out of a rock crevice.” Chen Zihao nodded repeatedly while staring at the bowl in the shopkeeper’s hand.
Chen Ziyuan asked in confusion, “Shopkeeper, is something wrong?”
The shopkeeper was speechless.
Then he shook his head. “Of course there’s a problem. You’re normal children, so how could your mother be a stone? Let alone the idea that you came out of a stone… That’s impossible.”
“But that’s what Daddy told us,” Chen Zihao said unhappily.
“The shopkeeper is trying to fool little kids! Don’t think we’re easy to trick just because we’re young.”
Chen Ziyuan naturally sided with her younger brother and added, “My younger brother is right. Daddy wouldn’t fool us.”
“…”
The shopkeeper was thoroughly bewildered. Then he laughed heartily. “Interesting, interesting. Your Daddy is just teasing you… Maybe you’ve never seen your mother. If you ever do someday, you’ll understand…”
Hearing that, Chen Ziyuan and Chen Zihao began to doubt themselves. They really had never actually seen their mother…
That was why they were so different. Their mother had never shown up, while other children all had mothers. So Daddy had actually been fooling them?
No, they had to ask Daddy about it later.
Chen Ziyuan suppressed her thoughts and said, “Shopkeeper, we still need to make clothes for Daddy…”
“Good, good. Such filial children. Then what color do you want?” The shopkeeper didn’t mind.
“Red, then. Daddy will definitely like it.” After saying that, Chen Ziyuan asked suspiciously, “Shopkeeper, you’re not going to cheat us just because we’re young, are you?”
Hearing that, the shopkeeper nearly lost his temper. These two children were doubting him again.
He immediately put down the bowl in his hand and took out a sign from beside him with the words “Hands Clean of Greed” written in big characters! He thrust it right in front of the two little ones so they could see.
He said sternly, “What is this? This shop is a small business with thin profits, and we never cheat anyone… honest to all, young and old! How could we cheat you just because you’re young? Absolutely impossible!”
Chen Ziyuan blinked. “Hands Clean of Greed?”
“Hands Clean of Greed?” The shopkeeper looked at it and hurriedly took it back. “Wrong one, wrong one.”
Embarrassed, he pulled out another sign. “It’s this one…’Honest to All, Young and Old!'”
“See? The word ‘young’ clearly refers to you. It couldn’t be more obvious.”
“Then we’ll trust you.” Chen Ziyuan giggled.
“That’s more like it.” The shopkeeper felt much more at ease. He had almost exposed the fact that he was the city lord.
Then he said, “By the way, do you have spirit stones? This shop can’t afford to do business at a loss.”
Chen Ziyuan pouted. “Shopkeeper, why are you so worried? Even without spirit stones, you could pawn my younger brother here. Either way, you wouldn’t lose.”
The shopkeeper and Chen Zihao stared at each other. On second thought, maybe not. He was afraid Chen Zihao might try to steal his medicine.
“Here, spirit stones, shopkeeper. Take them.” As she spoke, Chen Ziyuan had already taken out a bag of spirit stones.
When the shopkeeper saw how full it was, he was completely stunned.
Good heavens, a wealthy family!
“Kid, one spirit stone is enough.”
“Huh? Why is it so cheap?”
“You’re lucky. Today we’re having a huge clearance sale!”
“Yay, that’s great. Thank you, shopkeeper.”
Chen Ziyuan and Chen Zihao were delighted, then hugged the silk and prepared to leave.
As they were leaving, Chen Zihao even turned back and asked, “That medicine really doesn’t taste good?”
Chen Ziyuan dragged her smelly younger brother away at once.
The shopkeeper smiled as he watched the two little ones leave.
“Not bad…”
“Look, with this city lord guarding Anta City, everything is managed in perfect order, harmonious and friendly! Even two children are so filial.”
“So touching!”
“And my honesty as city lord hasn’t gone to waste at all!”
“It’s just that these two kids are a little pitiful. They were fooled by Daddy, still don’t know they have a mother, and even say they popped out of a rock crevice. It’s hilarious. Looking at it that way, giving them a discount is only right.”
“But it seems like there are a few bastards sneaking around outside…”