Looking at the woman who had dashed herself to death against the iron cage, the leader’s eyes filled with utter annoyance. He turned to another burly man standing by the carriage and barked, “Move her corpse out of the way!”
He had seen far too many dead people. Trying to use death to coerce him into letting her son go… impossible!
And saying that if he didn’t release her son, she would haunt him even as a ghost… *Heh.* In a world like this, ordinary ghosts were nowhere near as terrifying as living humans.
The young boy locked in the iron cage seemed to turn into a lifeless wooden doll the moment he watched his mother crash to her death right before his eyes, uttering not another sound.
Only now, hearing the leader order someone to move his mother’s body away, did he cry out in agonizing grief.
“Mother! *Sob sob sob…* Mother, I don’t need you to save me anymore! Don’t die…”
Listening to the boy’s heartbreaking cries and watching those men haul the woman’s body away without a second thought, Old Lady Shen couldn’t help letting out a heavy sigh.
Though she had long guessed it would turn out like this, witnessing such a tragic scene still made her lament how cruel and grueling the world was.
If not for their precious darling finding the “Pot Immortal,” someone in their family would surely have succumbed to starvation long ago; they would never have made it all the way to Lingluo County.
At the thought, Old Lady Shen couldn’t help walking over to Gu Hanmei’s side and gently stroking the head of little Xihe, who was cradled in Gu Hanmei’s arms.
Though little Xihe’s eyes were covered by her mother, she could still hear the young boy’s agonizing cries.
She couldn’t help asking in a tiny voice, “Mother, what happened?”
Looking at the brutal scene before her, Gu Hanmei let out a soft sigh of her own, at a complete loss as to how to answer her daughter.
Something so horrific was not something she wanted her child to know.
Old Lady Shen didn’t want her granddaughter knowing about such atrocities either. Intentionally changing the subject, she lowered her voice and whispered near Xihe’s ear, “Guibao, could you ask the Pot Immortal if he could lend us some silver?”
Hearing this, little Xihe’s attention was instantly diverted. Turning her little face toward Old Lady Shen, she answered in her sweet, childish voice, “Grandma, then I’ll ask Brother Lu in a bit.”
Hearing her response, Old Lady Shen breathed a sigh of relief.
She walked back to Old Man Shen’s side and relayed what she had discussed with little Xihe.
The gloom on Old Man Shen’s face lifted slightly. He immediately looked at the rest of the Shen family and said, “Let’s find a secluded spot first to rest for a moment.”
Although the others were somewhat bewildered as to why Old Man Shen wanted to do this—since to them, they should be scrambling for a way into the city rather than finding a place to rest—no one dared defy his decision, as he was the head of the household.
Only after Old Man Shen had led the whole family to a completely deserted area did he have Shen Qiang, who was carrying the iron pot, set it down on the ground.
“Guibao…”
Just as Old Man Shen was about to have little Xihe ask the “Pot Immortal” whether he could lend them some silver to pull the family through this crisis, the sound of talking and rolling wheels suddenly echoed from nearby.
Old Man Shen immediately went silent, on high alert, while the rest of the Shen family turned wary eyes toward the direction of the noise.
Before long, the approaching group came into view—it turned out to be the very same men who had been buying children from the refugees earlier.
Instinctively, the Shen family shielded the younger ones—Shen Changgeng, Shen Bichen, and little Xihe—behind their backs.
The men were somewhat surprised to see that the Shen family hadn’t remained outside the city gates, but had instead wandered over here.
One of the men leaned in close to the leader’s ear and whispered a few words.
Having heard the subordinate’s message, the leader’s eyes landed on little Xihe. He looked at Gu Hanmei, who was holding the child, and asked, “That little girl in your arms—are you selling her?”
Hearing those words, Gu Hanmei glared fiercely at the leader like an enraged tigress and spat, “Not for sale!”
Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen stepped directly in front of Gu Hanmei, blocking the man’s view of little Xihe.
The rest of the Shen family men gripped their woodchopping knives tightly, guarding the female family members behind them.
The leader hadn’t expected such a fierce reaction from the Shen family. Looking at Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen, he said, “Normally, when we buy a child, we pay one tael of silver.”
“But as long as you sell that little girl to us, we can give you ten taels.”
Upon hearing this, except for Wang Juhua, whose face betrayed an uncontrollable flicker of delight, the expressions on the rest of the family’s faces grew even more guarded and grim.
They all knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
The fact that these people were willing to pay ten taels of silver to buy Guibao meant that she was undeniably special to them.
Therefore, even if they refused to sell, these men might very well try to snatch Guibao by force.
At this thought, Old Man Shen’s face turned even darker.
Glaring at the leader, he said through grit teeth, “We will never sell our own child! Not for ten taels of silver, and not even for a hundred!”
The leader frowned upon hearing Old Man Shen’s response. “Ten taels of silver is already a fortune.”
He didn’t believe that Old Man Shen truly refused to sell the girl; after all, he was offering ten whole taels!
Ten taels of silver was enough to buy ten entry permits!
The leader looked at Old Man Shen once more and insisted, “Although I really want to buy your girl, ten taels is my absolute limit. I can’t offer a single penny more.”
He still assumed Old Man Shen had realized how badly he wanted the girl and was deliberately claiming she wasn’t for sale just to drive up the price.
Old Man Shen’s face flushed red with rage. Glaring furiously at the leader, he shouted, “I said, no matter how much money you offer, I will not sell my granddaughter!”
“If you dare take another step closer, don’t blame us for getting ruthless!”
“I have four sons, ten grandsons, and woodchopping knives in our hands! If it comes to a fight, we aren’t afraid of you!”
Only upon hearing Old Man Shen’s outburst did the leader finally believe that the old man truly had no intention of selling the little girl.
He glanced at the rest of the Shen family, who looked just as furious as Old Man Shen, and suddenly offered an explanation: “Actually, buying your little girl isn’t to make her a servant girl.”
“If we were really selling her into servitude, we wouldn’t offer ten taels of silver.”
“It’s because your little girl looks very much like our Young Mistress’s daughter who died in infancy. And it so happens that our Young Mistress has been wanting to adopt a child recently.”
“That’s why we want to buy your girl and bring her back to be a daughter to our Young Mistress.”
“If you sell this little girl to us, she will live a life of luxury from now on, never having to suffer a single day of hardship. Are you really sure you won’t sell?”
Hearing these words, most of the Shen family members couldn’t help but look toward Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen, the heads of the household.