"Has the sun risen in the west? Didn't you see? The Xi Family Cripple finally left the house today!"
"Really?"
"Why would I lie to you? I saw it with my own eyes. His father pushed him out on a cart, all the way toward the village entrance. Looks like they were headed for the city."
East Street gossipers, Laundry Market Hollow.
As the sun set, several Old Women from Dakan Village sat on the stone roller at the village entrance, picking the tender leaves from Spiral Leaf and Winter Mallow while whispering among themselves, their voices rising and falling.
"Probably went to see another healer?"
"What good would a healer do? How many healers have they already seen? I'd say no one but a Master Mage can cure that illness of his."
"Exactly. To get a Master Mage to help, wouldn't it cost at least a thousand big coins? Don't blame me for speaking bluntly—even if they sold off the whole family, they still couldn't fetch a single big coin."
The "big coins" the women spoke of were the common name for Gold Coins.
"When that cripple was born, I could tell something was wrong. He looked downright creepy. Look at what he's become now. Lying around at home every day, not working, eating for free, and he can't even be left alone. Someone has to look after him all day. You've never been inside his house, have you? Oh my, all that shit and piss, right there on the bed. It's disgusting. I can barely say it."
"That's right. If you ask me, that cripple is nothing but a debt collector. They should've pushed him out into the wilderness and left him to fend for himself."
"Hey, do you think Old Xi might have taken him out today