Trash?

When Xie Er arrived in front of the cage, he saw Chen Hou curled up inside, wrapped in wet leather armor, barely clinging to life. He reached out and touched Chen Hou's forehead, feeling the intense heat radiating from it.

Because of the forest chase three days ago and the heavy rain that followed, Chen Cheng, whose physique was already stronger than that of ordinary people, was naturally no match for warriors who had cultivated battle qi. The bumpy journey over the past three days, coupled with the intermittent rain and lack of food, had overwhelmed Chen Cheng's body, causing him to come down with a severe cold.

Not providing food for Chen Cheng was an unwritten rule among slave catchers, who feared that wild slaves would gain strength if fed and attempt to escape.

As for illnesses, these warriors typically had excellent physical condition and rarely fell ill. Even if they did, they had Mage William, who could easily cure them with a low-level minor purification.

Now, William had been killed by Chen Cheng, and Xie Er didn't know how many days Chen Cheng had been burning with fever. Seeing him on the verge of death, Xie Er and the others were heartbroken.

After all, they had suffered heavy losses to capture Chen Cheng intact this time. Xie Er was waiting to sell Chen Cheng for a good price to recoup his losses.

"Captain, let's set off quickly. We must take him to the nearest town. Perhaps the priests in the church there can lend a hand."

A team member beside Xie Er urged him in a low voice, not wanting Chen Cheng to die of illness and leave them with nothing.

This wasn't just about their practical interests; it also concerned whether Xie Er's slave-catching team could continue to exist.

This time, Chen Cheng's firearms had caused heavy casualties to the team. If they couldn't get the compensation they wanted, these slave-catching team members would go their separate ways after this.

Seeing the current situation, Xie Er decided to follow his subordinates' suggestion and head to the nearest town to get a better price for his cargo.

Xie Er took out his treasured map. In this world, maps were rare items. Not only did they mark towns and villages, but they also indicated dangerous areas, something only possessed by some nobles.

The map clearly marked the various towns and noble territories near Nanmu Forest. He then pointed to the nearest small town called Kekebor, which was Baron Kekebor's territory. Perhaps they could get help from the priests there.

After confirming the route, Xie Er led his team to depart.

The prisoner cart swayed for another half-day, and the group finally arrived at Kekebor town.

Xie Er produced a silver coin as a toll and found Baron Kekebor's patrol guards in the town, requesting them to lead him to Baron Kekebor's residence.

The entire Kekebor town covered an area of nearly 20,000 mu, with most of the terrain being mountainous forests and fertile fields, and a small proportion of cultivated land. Naturally, the tax revenue was much lower than that of ordinary nobles, so Baron Kekebor's manor, as the lord of the territory, did not appear as grand.

After being announced by the Baron's servants, the Baron summoned Xie Er.

Entering the manor and walking through the wooden corridor to a reception room, Xie Er pushed open the door and walked in.

"Respected Baron Kekebor, Xie Er of the Xie Er Slave Catching Team pays his respects."

Xie Er said to Baron Kekebor inside with a respectful smile.

A middle-aged man with a potbelly, dressed in slightly ill-fitting silk clothes, said with a smile, "You may be excused, Captain Xie Er. What brings you here? I don't have much extra wealth to buy your slaves, ahahaha."

Seeing that Baron Kekebor was so approachable, Xie Er's anxious heart relaxed considerably, and he then stated his request.

"I truly shouldn't disturb you, my Lord Baron, but one of my most important slaves has fallen seriously ill. Therefore, I request that you permit me to seek treatment from the town's priest for him."

Meanwhile, outside Kekebor town, Baron Kekebor's eldest daughter, Finier Kekebor, was patrolling the town with her hands behind her back, acting like a little adult.

The townspeople were very fond of this young lady. When she was born, the Baron had directly reduced their taxes by half for three years, and then at her full moon celebration, the Baron had added another three years to that.

It could be said that Baron Kekebor's tax reduction had given many of them a way to survive, allowing them to avoid the immense pressure of paying taxes in the previous few years. Now, with the surplus money from before, their living pressure had greatly eased.

When young Finier reached the town entrance, she saw Xie Er's slave-catching team. These men, who killed without blinking in the mountains, acted like fawning dogs upon seeing Finier, a descendant of nobility, showing her flattering and ingratiating smiles.

There was no other way. Although they appeared strong as a group, their social status was lower than that of nobles. If they dared to offend a noble, even if Kekebor couldn't deal with them, viscounts and other nobles who were also nobles would send troops to eliminate them to uphold noble honor.

Little Finier nodded with feigned profundity, then walked through the entire team, her gaze falling on the cage where Chen Cheng was held.

"What is in here?"

Finier pointed at the cage and asked.

"Reporting to you, Miss, inside is a very formidable savage slave. However, he is currently very ill, so please, Miss, stay away from him for your own health."

Finier, however, paid no heed to the supposed illness and became interested in this so-called formidable slave.

Although Baron Kekebor did not have the habit of buying slaves, Finier, having studied for a semester at Huidun Magic Academy, had seen slaves accompanying other noble youths.

This made her want to see what kind of formidable slave these slave traders were talking about. Perhaps it could even be a beastman, Finier thought.

She walked to the front of the cage and ordered the people beside her to lift the animal hide covering the cage, as she wanted to see what the slave inside looked like.

Although these guys were very reluctant, partly fearing that Finier would catch a cold by getting close to Chen Cheng, and partly fearing that Finier would take a liking to Chen Cheng inside.

They were very clear about Baron Kekebor's current financial situation; he definitely couldn't afford Chen Cheng.

But in the end, they still lifted the animal hide.

The commotion outside also alerted Chen Cheng inside. He knew he had a severe cold and, in this era of scarce medicine, he might just die from it.

When he felt the animal hide on the cage being lifted and the cold wind blowing in, Chen Cheng propped open his heavy eyelids to see if those outside were preparing to abandon him.

However, the moment he opened his eyes, he saw a clean, pure, and flawless little girl, like a white porcelain doll, looking at him with her large, watery, beautiful eyes.

When Finier saw Chen Cheng staring at her, she shyly lowered her head.

"You..."

Before Chen Cheng could speak, the guard saw Chen Cheng brazenly looking at the noble young lady and immediately took a wooden stick and struck Chen Cheng with it, cursing as he did so:

"You lowly slave, how dare you look at the noble lady like that? I'll beat you to death."

The others also saw that they had reached the town, and if Chen Cheng's behavior wasn't punished, they might face retaliation from Baron Kekebor. Moreover, there would be priests to treat him later, so they did not stop him from beating Chen Cheng.

Furthermore, so many of their comrades had died at Chen Cheng's hands. If it weren't for the fact that Chen Cheng could be sold for a good price, they would have already torn Chen Cheng to shreds, having harbored a belly full of anger towards him.

Finier, being the kind-hearted little one, immediately called for the guy to stop when she saw Chen Cheng being beaten. It was at this moment that Xie Er respectfully led Baron Kekebor and a priest dressed in clerical robes over.

Seeing his captain respectfully bringing people over, the guy wasn't clueless. He immediately stopped beating Chen Cheng.

Finier then ran to Baron Kekebor's side and called out "Daddy." She then pointed at Chen Cheng with her little finger and said:

"Daddy, I've taken a liking to this little slave. Can you buy him for me as my tenth birthday present? What do you think, Daddy?"

Hearing this, both Xie Er and Baron Kekebor felt a bit awkward.

Xie Er didn't want to sell at a low price, and Baron Kekebor, seeing that Xie Er brought Chen Cheng here to seek help from a priest, also implied that Chen Cheng must be very expensive.

However, upon seeing his daughter's big, pleading eyes, Baron Kekebor finally compromised.

"Priest Famal, please appraise this slave's potential and value for me."

Sigh, it's rare for Ni'er to like something. Even if the price is a bit high, I'll bite the bullet and buy it for her.

Although Xie Er wanted to refuse, he also wanted to get the money quickly. Moreover, Baron Kekebor was a merchant before, so perhaps he still had some wealth.

Furthermore, he wasn't sure of Chen Cheng's potential right now. He somewhat suspected that Chen Cheng wasn't as capable as he imagined, because he had never seen a powerful slave get sick.

Once one reached a certain level of strength, diseases like typhoid fever could be completely immune to due to their strong physique.

Therefore, he didn't go forward to stop anything.

As a priest within Baron Kekebor's territory, Famal naturally had to give the Baron face.

He held the Holy Scripture of Light and approached Chen Cheng. Then, he chanted a specialized low-level appraisal spell, and a white circle of light was cast towards Chen Cheng as he chanted.

However, what no one noticed was that the crystal pendant on Chen Cheng's neck flashed once. Then, everyone saw the white circle of light pass over Chen Cheng without any change.

Seeing this, Xie Er immediately lost his composure. The fact that the circle of light showed no change meant that Chen Cheng's potential was even worse than that of an ordinary person, making him the absolute dregs among dregs.