Chapter 15

"What do you want to pawn?"

Inside the shop counter, a pale-faced woman sized up the young man before her expressionlessly.

"My soul."

Luo Qingchen's tone was calm, as though he were speaking of something utterly ordinary.

"How much silver can I pawn it for?"

he asked.

The woman gave him another look and said, "In the past, it could only be pawned for fifty taels of silver. But lately, those above are desperately short of souls. If you sign the contract today, I can give you eighty taels."

Luo Qingchen froze. "Eighty taels? That little?"

A soul? Eighty taels?

The woman smiled faintly. "That is not little. Eighty taels of silver is something an ordinary Blood Medicine might need a lifetime to earn."

In truth, most Blood Medicines could never earn that much.

Because they would not live that long.

Luo Qingchen fell silent for a moment, then said, "I am a cultivator."

He took out a wooden plaque engraved with his name and identity, passed it over the counter, and said, "My soul should be worth more, shouldn't it?"

"A cultivator?"

The woman took the plaque and examined it closely for a few moments before nodding. "A cultivator's soul is stronger, so naturally it is worth more. If you sign the contract today, I can give you three hundred taels."

"Three hundred taels..."

Luo Qingchen murmured the words. After several breaths of silence, he reached out, took back his wooden plaque, and prepared to leave.

Three hundred taels was still far from eight hundred.

If he could not gather eight hundred taels, then there was no point in selling his soul.

Just as he turned toward the shop entrance, the woman suddenly spoke again. "How much do you want?"

Luo Qingchen stopped and turned back. "Eight hundred taels."

The woman sneered. "Eight hundred taels? What do you think your soul is made of, gold or silver?"

"I need eight hundred taels."

Luo Qingchen said it calmly and prepared to leave.

The woman said again, "At most, I will give you five hundred taels. Pawn it or don't. After today, you may not get this price again."

Luo Qingchen paused, then shook his head.

When he lifted his foot and stepped over the threshold, the woman suddenly slapped the counter with a bang. "Another hundred! Six hundred taels!"

Luo Qingchen did not stop and walked straight out of the shop.

The woman snorted coldly and did not call after him again. Muttering a few words under her breath, she sat down.

A moment later, Luo Qingchen appeared outside the door again and looked at her. "Could you add another hundred? Seven hundred taels?"

The woman sneered and was just about to mock him when she heard him continue, "I need eight hundred taels of silver to save my younger sister. For the remaining hundred taels, I can borrow it. But if I am still short two hundred taels, I may not be able to borrow enough. If I cannot save my sister, what meaning is there in selling my soul?"

The woman stared at him for several moments, thought it over, then took out a contract from beneath the counter. "Then seven hundred taels it is. If those above were not currently short of souls, you would not even dream of getting this price!"

Luo Qingchen walked silently into the shop and looked at the contract on the counter.

Pointing at the words on it, the woman explained, "The term is one month. If you come back and repay the money within one month, this contract will be returned to you. We lend you seven hundred taels. Whether you repay it tomorrow or on any other day within the month, you must return nine hundred taels to us. If a month passes and you cannot repay the money, then your soul belongs to us. At that time, come here and use your blood to make a token. Once you die, we will immediately collect your soul."

"Also, do not even think of running away or reneging on the debt. I have already recorded the identity plaque you just showed me."

The woman gave him a stern warning.

"If we discover that you intend to flee or break the contract, we will immediately send people to collect your soul, whether you are alive or dead."

Luo Qingchen said nothing. After silently reading through the contract, he took out a dagger, cut open his thumb, and pressed his fingerprint onto both copies.

His sister's soul was hanging by a thread. He had no other choice.

As for the one-month deadline...

He would have to live through the month first.

The woman stamped the contract, handed one copy to him, and asked, "Do you want silver notes or silver?"

"Silver notes."

Silver was too heavy. If anyone found out, he feared he would not even survive the night.

A moment later.

He left the pawnshop with the enormous sum of seven hundred taels tucked against his chest.

From this moment onward, neither his body nor his soul belonged to him.

He raised his head and looked at the sky overhead.

The sky was gray and overcast, without a single ray of sunlight.

How could that be called the sky? It was clearly a dark prison that never saw daylight.

He was inside that prison.

There were few pedestrians on the street, and the vendors were listless as well.

When he passed that Grocery Store, he merely glanced at it before continuing onward.

He was still short a hundred taels and had to gather it as quickly as possible.

At a turning in the road, he suddenly stopped and looked back.

Nothing behind him appeared out of the ordinary.

Yet for some reason, he felt that someone had been following him just now.

He searched the area a few more times, touched the dagger in his sleeve, and continued onward.

Before long, he arrived at Zhao Shi's stall.

Zhao Shi's face was pale, and his right wrist was wrapped in bandages. Evidently, he too had been drained of blood today.

Beside Zhao Shi sat a graying middle-aged man, lowering his head as he cleaned mud from his shoes.

Luo Qingchen knew this man too. His name was Zhao Laosan, Zhao Shi's father.

"A-Chen!"

Zhao Shi had been spacing out. When he saw him, his eyes lit up and his face filled with delight.

Hearing this, Zhao Laosan raised his head as well.

Luo Qingchen greeted them. "Uncle Zhao, Brother Shi."

Zhao Laosan looked him up and down, disbelief written all over his face. "A-Chen, Shi said last night that you have already become a cultivator. Is that true? Weren't you studying before?"

Zhao Shi said from the side, "Father, of course it is true. How could I lie to you? I was shocked too when A-Chen told me yesterday."

Luo Qingchen nodded. "Uncle Zhao, I have indeed become a cultivator. I am working at the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion now."

"The Hundred Fragrance Pavilion..."

Zhao Laosan frowned, seemingly wanting to say something, but after hesitating, he kept silent.

Zhao Shi asked from the side, "A-Chen, nothing happened to you last night, right? Did you see A-Yun?"

Luo Qingchen said, "Not yet. I only begin night patrols tonight."

He weighed his words and was about to explain why he had come when an angry roar suddenly sounded from the roadside behind him. "Where did this little beggar come from? Get lost! You stink to high heaven!"

Luo Qingchen turned to look. A scrawny figure with disheveled hair and ragged clothes was lowering her head as she hurried away from the front of a shop.

"Huh, isn't that Little Mute? Why isn't she mining today?"

Zhao Shi asked in confusion.

"Little Mute?"

Zhao Shi looked at him. "A-Chen, you must not remember her, right? She is that Little Mute from Clear Water Town! You and Xiao Yu often helped her and her older sister back then. She arrived here before we did. But there is really something wrong with her head. She is so small and skinny, yet she chose to mine. That is work only men can manage. Women who come here and want to stay alive either sell themselves to brothels or voluntarily become living Corpse Slaves for the disciples of the Demon Controlling Sect. At least they get food and clothes, and do not have to give blood or waste their strength."

"Her?"

When Luo Qingchen looked toward that small figure again, she had already turned into an alley and vanished from sight.

He remembered that girl.

She had an older sister. The two sisters had often been abused and beaten by their parents. Every time he saw them on the street, they were disheveled, dressed in rags, covered in wounds, rummaging through garbage for food. Even in the dead of winter, they wore thin clothes full of holes, shivering from the cold without even shoes on their feet.

Several times, the sisters had fainted from hunger. Fortunately, Xiao Yu and he had seen them and saved them.

Xiao Yu often brought the sisters food and had even given them a quilt and some clothes to wear.

The children in town often bullied the sisters. Whenever they saw them, they would call them Little Mute and little beggars while throwing things at them. Every time Xiao Yu and he saw it, they stopped those children.

"A-Chen, from now on, stay far away from that vicious little beast!"

At that moment, Zhao Laosan seemed to recall something, his face filled with lingering fear.

While Luo Qingchen was still puzzled, Zhao Shi lowered his voice. "A-Chen, you may not know this yet. The day before something happened in Clear Water Town, Little Mute poisoned Wealthy Master Wu's entire family of more than twenty people with rat poison. She even cut off their heads, then went home and personally stabbed her parents and younger brother to death..."

"She killed her parents and killed her brother. Worse than a beast!"

Zhao Laosan cursed under his breath.

Luo Qingchen was stunned. He looked again toward the alley where that small figure had disappeared and asked, "Do you know why?"

Zhao Shi said, "Auntie Shui said Wealthy Master Wu took a liking to her and spent two taels of silver to buy her. She would rather die than submit, so she slashed her own face with scissors. Her father was a gambler and had already lost the two taels Wealthy Master Wu had paid. When he returned home, he beat her half to death, then had no choice but to send her older sister to Wealthy Master Wu's residence. Who knew her sister would refuse as well? Wealthy Master Wu and his family broke her legs, and she crawled to a well and threw herself in to die. Wealthy Master Wu lost both his money and his prize. The next day, he went to their home again. Her parents tied her up and let Wealthy Master Wu take her away..."

At this point, Zhao Shi's body trembled. Lowering his voice further, he said, "Who knew she was so ruthless? She had secretly brought rat poison and poisoned Wealthy Master Wu's entire household, young and old, that very day. Then she returned home in the middle of the night..."

"Auntie Shui was there at the time too. She came back with her hair disheveled. When her parents saw her, they cursed and beat her again, preparing to tie her up and send her back. Her younger brother also told her to hurry up and get lost..."

"Then she suddenly took out a sharp knife and stabbed them to death... Auntie Shui said she stabbed her father many times and even cut off his head. When she left, she was covered in blood, like an evil ghost..."

Zhao Laosan could not help cursing again. "An ungrateful, unfilial thing, worse than pigs and dogs! Your parents gave birth to you. Whatever they tell you to do, you should obediently do it! So what if they sold you? You actually dared to kill your parents. You deserve heaven's wrath! After death, you should enter the eighteen levels of hell and never be reborn for all eternity!"

Zhao Shi echoed, "Exactly! Little Mute should enter the eighteen levels of hell and never be reborn for all eternity!"

Luo Qingchen remained silent and said nothing.

As for borrowing money, he did not mention it again. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he took his leave.

When he passed that alley, it was already empty. Only a few black fallen leaves spun and fluttered softly in the cold wind.

He quickened his pace and left that place.