Chapter 59 – Young Xu Xiaoyu (3)
Outside the city, at the farm.
Xu Ke and the others who had been bought were settled in a long room with three beds, each receiving a brand new thin blanket. It was still the chilly spring season, with the night winds high and cold—without the blankets, they would surely catch a cold. Two rough domestic women were arranged in a separate room.
The older ones had already become numb, quietly hugging their blankets and lying stiffly in their beds like cadavers.
However, the hot-headed Xu Ke couldn’t resign himself so easily. He grasped the thin blanket tightly with a murky look in his eyes.
The young boy in the next bed turned over and noticed Xu Ke still sitting up. He sighed softly, “Why aren’t you sleeping yet, Brother Xu? Tomorrow, who knows what the master will have us do. It’s better to rest early…”
Before he could finish, Xu Ke, with a hoarse voice, interrupted him, saying, “You go ahead and sleep. I was really sick recently and overslept a lot; now I’m not sleepy at all. If I disturb your rest, I’ll step outside for a bit. You try to sleep.”
With that, Xu Ke lifted the thin blanket, bit his lip tight, and quietly opened the door. Upon seeing the pitch-black sky outside, he realized that, apart from the soft sounds of snoring drifting from within and the wind blowing from outside, there was no other noise!
Seeing this, Xu Ke couldn’t help but lick around his back teeth; a plan that had been put on hold surged forth again.
If he didn’t take the chance to leave now, with the people inside getting tamed by the Liu Residence and acting as eyes and ears, there wouldn’t be another opportunity when he thought about escaping.
Since he’d miraculously been taken out of the death cell, Xu Ke had not stopped thinking about regaining his freedom.
Unfortunately, having become a slave and landing in the clutches of the Tooth Shop, he had to choose to endure and hide. After painstakingly figuring out the patrol patterns of the guards at the Tooth Shop, he made other preparations and was just waiting to escape tonight—only to unexpectedly run into Jiang Pengji causing a scene.
However… maybe it wasn’t so bad. The Tooth Shop kept a tight watch on “merchandise,” patrolling every quarter of an hour, and they had strong thugs inside and out. Though he had some martial arts skills, he was still a frail scholar.
Not to mention the fact that he was still ill; if he got caught, he would definitely be beaten to death.
In contrast, this farm had lax guards, hardly anyone cared for them, the bought slaves. If he seized the night to sneak out and slipped into the nearby woods, he’d essentially be safe, then conceal himself in the mountains for a couple of days to evade the search—perhaps he’d finally be free!
This thought lingered in Xu Ke’s mind, making him swallow nervously as his throat dried up from fever, feeling like it could emit smoke.
Shaking his groggy head, Xu Ke fought to keep himself awake, recalling the route he’d seen when being hauled over in the mule cart.
“If heaven doesn’t forsake me, I’ll surely avenge this grievance!”
Xu Ke was cautious, crawling low in the shadows to sneak out of the farm, which loomed behind him like a sleeping, man-eating beast, curled up and seemingly harmless, yet with an ability to suck one’s soul away, depriving one of freedom.
Staggering towards the small woods, he pressed forward a mile to the deep forest mountains.
By the time the farm noticed he was gone, it would be at least two hours later, so he still had plenty of time.
However, Xu Ke’s heart, which was about to embrace freedom, didn’t hold this feeling for long. His eyebrows gradually furrowed in confusion.
A growing sense of unease settled in him, and after walking for another fifteen minutes, his heart sank deeper.
The night wind howled, biting cold against his face, but it was nothing compared to the icy chill in his heart.
The stark contrast of almost reaching the paradise of freedom yet being pulled back into hell by reality made his limbs icy cold.
A group of twelve individuals, each tall and robust, all dressed in proper leather armor, were silently watching him from horseback.
Xu Ke stood there in a daze, and they stared back at him, equally bewildered.
At this moment, silence spoke louder than words!
Finally, the clear sound of hooves broke the silence as one of them asked, “Xu Xiaoyu?”
At first, Xu Ke held onto a glimmer of hope; although he was an escaping slave, not everyone intended to kill a runaway on sight.
Now, though? Should he run home for a nice wash and sleep?
Clearly, these folks were here for him; Xu Ke dropped any sense of hope, and instead felt a surge of unaccountable bravado. He straightened his attire and clasped his hands, saying, “That would be I, Xu Xiaoyu of Zisang County.”
“Xu Xiaoyu? Heh, that’s good. Our master has been waiting to see you all night.”
Xu Ke felt suspicious inside, yet the other party seemed unwilling to elaborate, simply gesturing for him to follow. They appeared to want to take him to see someone.
Even if he wanted to run, he had to gauge the situation; he had two legs, and being ill, how could he outrun a horse’s four?
Outside Hejian County, there were many farms and villages of all sizes. After not walking with this strange group for long, he caught sight of flickering candlelight ahead, vaguely revealing the outline of a village. Xu Ke furrowed his brows, pursed his lips tight, his gaze flickering dimly.
The leader of the riders dismounted, tossing the reins to a companion beside him, turning to the pale-faced, blue-lipped Xu Ke, saying, “The master is waiting for you inside; you may go in now. Just remember to mind your manners.”
Xu Ke was still clouded with confusion as he pushed the door open, a wave of warmth washing over him, the air scented with a hint of fragrance.
This aroma instinctively reminded Xu Ke of the graceful young boy he had seen during the day, the noble young master who had spent silver to buy him.
Could it be him?
Xu Ke felt uncertain in his heart, but seeing the shadow cast on the screen, he quickly dismissed that suspicion.
That figure was clearly an adult male, while the boy from noon was at most twelve or thirteen years old.
“Come in.”
A slightly hoarse, mature voice rumbled from within, startling Xu Ke back from his thoughts.
Kneeling in front of the screen, Xu Ke’s eyes glowed with unexplainable colors. After a few breaths, the sounds of fabric rustling came from beyond the screen, followed by steady footsteps that approached him with that enticing fragrance.
“Xu Ke? Xu Xiaoyu?”
A familiar grip on his chin, yet different from Jiang Pengji’s fan, this man held his chin directly, the force so strong that Xu Ke couldn’t help but suck in a breath, the pain causing tears to well in his eyes, turning them red-veined.
At that moment, Xu Ke finally saw the man’s appearance.
Bathed in the flickering candlelight within the room, the man’s features revealed a chilling gaze, seemingly laced with poison.
From the contours of his face, he bore some resemblance to the boy from earlier in the day; anyone who wasn’t blind could see they shared a bloodline. This… Xu Ke was puzzled; he was merely the slave bought by that young master—was it necessary for his family to personally intervene?
With difficulty, he replied, “That would be… the lowly one…”
With that snake-like, cold, poisonous gaze fixed upon him, Xu Ke felt as if his mind were blank, overwhelmed by an unspeakable dread, even the pain from his bruised chin felt distant.
