Scorpio's face rapidly darkened. He hurried to the cage, gripped the iron bars, and snapped them apart before reaching in and seizing Chen Cheng by his filthy, long hair.
After confirming that it was indeed Chen Cheng's face, Scorpio began feeling every bone in Chen Cheng's body. He wanted to make sure Chen Cheng's aptitude was truly as worthless as claimed.
But after he had examined every bone in Chen Cheng's body, the ashen gray on his face deepened several shades.
Chen Cheng's bone structure was sturdier than that of most people his age, but his innate skeletal foundation was abysmal, as if the development of his bones had already reached its limit in this lifetime.
Such a bone structure was trash among trash. Once he grew a few years older, his bodily functions would plummet exponentially.
Yet Scorpio had no idea that Samlet, a Legendary expert of the entire continent, had long prepared for this. When Chen Cheng was three, Samlet had sealed his innate skeletal foundation, making it impossible for anyone to discern his martial talent through bone-reading. As for magic, Samlet had been powerless to do anything about that.
Of course, Samlet's original intention had been to make Chen Cheng less conspicuous before outsiders. After all, one did not even need to feel his bones to see that he was a top-tier genius on the path of the warrior.
Nor could Samlet have imagined that Chen Cheng would actually be captured by Slave Traders.
Seeing this, the priest Famal at the side gave a disdainful snort. Scorpio's actions just now had been an insult to him, a devout follower of the God of Light.
Only then did Scorpio break out in a cold sweat from that snort. What had come over him just now? Had his head been clouded by panic? He had actually dared to distrust a priest's appraisal spell right in front of him.
These priests were not ordinary mages who would recognize anyone as their boss for a bit of money. They had been raised under the Church's teachings since childhood and held positions within the Church.
In this world where divine power stood above all else, questioning a member of the clergy was even more damned than questioning a noble lord.
Scorpio immediately bowed to Famal and apologized. "I'm sorry, Priest Famal. This lowly one was panicked out of his wits just now. Please forgive a devout follower of the God of Light who has been deceived."
Upon hearing him mention the God of Light, the irritation on Famal's face immediately gave way to devotion. He murmured several classic passages he had learned since childhood, then forgave Scorpio's rudeness this time.
Now it was Baron Kekebor's turn to discuss Chen Cheng's price with Scorpio. Previously, Kekebor had feared that Chen Cheng's talent might be too heaven-defying and cost him a great deal of Gold Coins.
But now that Chen Cheng's aptitude had been appraised as trash among trash, his price naturally fell off a cliff. Not to mention that he was suffering from a severe cold and was already on his last breath, making him even less valuable.
Though he was not worth much and his innate talent was trash among trash, his precious daughter liked him.
Seeing Kekebor's smile, Scorpio knew he had misjudged badly this time. If he had known earlier, he would have inspected Chen Cheng the moment he captured him. If he found him useless, he could have killed him outright to avenge his subordinates.
To be honest, Scorpio truly wanted to refuse the sale, drag Chen Cheng out, skin him and pull out his tendons to vent the hatred in his heart.
But Chen Cheng had already caught the eye of Baron Kekebor's most beloved daughter. Scorpio had not refused outright before, and he had even hoped the priest's appraisal would scare the Baron away. Now, even if he did not want to sell, he had no choice but to do so.
In the end, Scorpio had no choice but to compromise.
He also knew that he had suffered a crushing defeat this time. The slave-catching team he had painstakingly built would likely have to disband in the future.
The two then began discussing Chen Cheng's price right in front of him. In the end, after Scorpio's bitter pleas, Kekebor bought him for the "sky-high price" of two Gold Coins.
Someone with such poor aptitude and illness would normally cost no more than fifty silver coins. Kekebor's two Gold Coins amounted to two hundred silver coins.
The price was four times higher, and it could be said that Kekebor had only paid it in consideration of the many men Scorpio had lost.
Of course, as a Baron, Kekebor did not think much of these Slave Traders. Otherwise, if he truly valued them, he would have offered an even higher price in light of how many people they had lost.
When Chen Cheng was handed over, Scorpio and the others went through all his belongings. They found that the only thing of any real value was the iron rod that had killed so many of their men. Everything else—the tattered leather armor, the blackened broken stone, and the inferior Iron Sword—was trash among trash.
After the slave contract was transferred, Kekebor's steward placed a Slave Collar around Chen Cheng's neck.
This Slave Collar had originally been used by nobles to tame ferocious beasts in the wilderness. Magic Array Patterns were engraved within it, and its owner could use the Magic Key in hand to control the patterns and inflict punishments such as magical electric shocks upon the wearer.
Famal then did Kekebor a favor and treated Chen Cheng with an Exorcism Spell.
As Famal chanted, a Magic Rune traced in white light appeared before Chen Cheng. Then a beam of exorcising holy light, carrying sacred white energy, descended upon him, wiping out most of the cold germs in his body.
Though his severe cold had mostly healed, the weakness in his body remained. Having already cast two spells, Famal felt somewhat fatigued as well, so Chen Cheng would have to recover his frail body on his own.
Kekebor had bought Chen Cheng for his little Fini, so the Magic Key to Chen Cheng's Slave Collar was handed to Fini.
After receiving the Magic Key, Fini smiled happily, then jumped up and kissed Kekebor on the face.
She then ordered Chen Cheng to follow her away. But Chen Cheng was far too weak; before he could even stand, he fainted.
When Chen Cheng opened his eyes again, he saw a stone wall above him. Some hazy voices reached his ears, and as he gradually became more awake, the voices grew clearer and clearer.
"Hey, Sophia, don't you think our Miss Fini is really kind? That wild Monkey inside was already in such a state, yet Miss still refused to give up on him and even had the two of us take care of him."
"Jenny, keep your voice down. But honestly, although that wild Monkey inside has trash aptitude, his body is really impressive—especially down there. When I was wiping him down, I couldn't help touching it twice..."
"Oh my, you really have no shame. But now that you mention it..."
As the two maidservants outside continued talking, their conversation gradually drifted in another direction. Inside, Chen Cheng spotted a set of linen clothes by the bed and immediately picked them up to put them on.
Just then, the voices of the two maidservants approached his room. Before Chen Cheng could say anything, they pushed open the door and walked in.
When they saw Chen Cheng dressing himself, the two maidservants let out light giggles. Chen Cheng currently looked as if someone had tied his clothes onto him with rope.
That was because Chen Cheng had never worn this kind of one-piece garment before, while Sophia and the other Little Maidservant thought he was merely a wild Monkey from the mountains, so naturally he did not know how.
The two Little Maidservants chatted and laughed as they came to Chen Cheng's side. Then they began stripping off his clothes, ignoring all embarrassment between men and women as they directly demonstrated on his body and taught him how to dress.
"You wild Monkey really have good fortune. Miss not only had us come care for you, she even prepared new clothes for you. You'd better learn from me how to wear them. Once you're dressed properly, you won't be some savage mountain man anymore."
The two Little Maidservants demonstrated while chattering away. In the end, they got Chen Cheng dressed while his face burned red with embarrassment.
"Mm, Jenny, look! I told you so. Once this wild Monkey gets properly dressed, he really is a strong and handsome young man."
"Oh, Sophia, stop acting lovesick. Miss said that once he woke up, we were to notify her."
"Yes, yes, I know."
"Little Monkey, don't run around. Stay here obediently. In a while, your master—our young mistress—will come see you."
Whether Chen Cheng understood them or not, after giving their instructions, the two Little Maidservants locked the door and left to find Fini, laughing and playing as they went.
Listening to the maidservants' footsteps fade away, Chen Cheng looked at his linen clothes and the collar around his neck. Finally, he lay back on the bed and let out a long sigh.
"Chen Cheng, Chen Cheng... you never would have thought that the moment you came down from the mountains, you'd become a slave, would you? Damn, this is fucking bullshit."
Chen Cheng had no thoughts of escaping right now. One look at the Magic Rune on the collar around his neck told him it was not something to be trifled with.
Thinking of the Magic Rune made Chen Cheng think of his sword.
Before fainting, he remembered that Scorpio and the others had only taken his crude homemade shotgun. Everything else had been given to Fini and the others.
He rose and inspected the small stone room. At last, he spotted his belongings in a corner.
The Crystal Pendant, the beast-hide clothing, and the Iron Sword he had concealed were all neatly placed there.
Chen Cheng walked to the corner, picked up the Crystal Pendant his mother had given him, and put it back around his neck.
When he was little, this Crystal Pendant had been purple and lustrous. But as he gradually grew up, its shine dimmed more and more, until it became the black, dull thing it was now, without the slightest gemstone-like quality.
Perhaps it was precisely this change that kept Scorpio and the others from realizing it was a gemstone. Otherwise, the only keepsake his mother had left him in this life would have been taken by them.
Just as he bent down to pick up the Iron Sword, there was a sudden clatter. The Slave Collar around his neck unexpectedly came undone and fell to the floor.
Staring at the collar that had suddenly dropped, Chen Cheng initially thought Fini had done it. But after looking all around and finding no one, he knew it could not have been her.
After pondering for a moment, Chen Cheng turned his gaze toward the Crystal Pendant he had just put on.
Chen Cheng picked up the collar from the ground and put it back on. Then he used the pendant around his neck to touch the collar. Immediately, he saw the collar's locking Magic Rune abruptly cease, and the collar came undone.
Before Chen Cheng could even rejoice, he heard the chattering voices of women outside the room. He knew Fini had arrived, so he immediately pressed the collar back into place.
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