Chapter 47: The Sudden Turn of Face
“According to the laws of Shalin City, we have the obligation to take you back to your master.” The red-haired S壮 immediately drew his sword, eager to show off, “You can also choose to resist, which would be excellent because I will put this dagger into your chest.”
“I… I.” The brown-skinned girl struggled to breathe, stepping back a few paces. “I was kidnapped; I am not a slave.”
“Fallacy. Do you think I am blind?”
“Come on, before I die, I will kill you.” The man, an arrow lodged in his back, pushed the brown-skinned girl aside, bending over with a curved saber, “For freedom.”
“Slave bandit, how many law-abiding citizens have you killed? How much private property have you stolen?” the red-haired S壮 said. “Today, your sinful life comes to an end. And you, woman, don’t think about escaping; you are wearing a collar and can’t run fast.”
“Law, oh law♪.” The poet Disha began to sing, “Protecting sacred private property, how great you are, law♪.”
The red-haired S壮 held his shield in front, gripping his dagger tightly, aiming at the severely injured slave bandit. He was very weak, and he wanted to make a fine display in front of Liz.
S壮 said, “Liz, don’t go too far. Although the slave bandit has done many evil deeds, he looks human, and his death will disgust you.”
Liz said, “No need; I want to see how the slave bandit dies.”
“Slave bandit” is a derogatory term used by the law-abiding citizens of Shalin City for a group of slaves. Shalin City practiced slavery; since there were slaves, there would also be slave escapes, and some escaped slaves, full of revenge, chose to stay and raid Shalin City.
Their greatest crime was infringing on the most valuable private property of good masters—their slaves. They always helped slaves escape without compensation. Law-abiding citizens have an obligation to report escaped slaves and will receive a bounty.
Under the gaze of his beloved, the red-haired S壮 was excited to sing a song; he tightened his muscles, ready to charge in.
George’s face was grim. He extended a large hand and heavily patted him on the shoulder, momentarily rendering him immobile.
“What are you doing?”
The red-haired S壮 was on high alert, thinking George would snatch his kill.
George shook his head.
“What do you mean?”
George gave Ji Ma a look.
Ji Ma hesitated. This was the best opportunity to provoke George against Liz. Their values were like two extremes; as long as she said something strange, George would surely remain a virgin.
However, if things turned sour between George and Liz, there would be no chance to widen her connections, and she would lose the clue to the wizard in New Delhi for her slave contract.
Although she claimed not to be in a hurry, the probability of her identity being exposed would increase if George and Liz fell out. Future opportunities might not be so good.
In the end, she decided to speak normally and leave the outcome to fate.
Ji Ma said, “My lord’s chivalry requires that he cannot tolerate you capturing the slaves who are running towards freedom and taking them back to lock them up.”
“Helping slaves escape is a serious crime. Do you want to be driven out of Shalin City?” the red-haired S壮 retorted.
George nodded.
“My lord means that even if it’s illegal, he still must let you release these two.”
“Well.” The red-haired S壮 seemed unsure whether to be happy or angry and said with a laugh, “But don’t forget, there is an army nearby, and they won’t allow you to escape the punishment of the law.”
Ji Ma looked at George again; George’s gaze was firm as he clenched his fists and waved downwards.
“My lord is warning you,” Ji Ma reminded, “Just a reminder, the army is quite far away, and the law of Shalin City is even further, but my lord’s sword is right in front of you. We forget thousands of things a day, so why not forget this one and continue our adventure happily?”
“You are threatening me?”
The red-haired S壮 raised his voice, with veins popping on his forehead.
“Please wait.” A gentle voice cut in from Liz, “George, let me explain. He is a slave bandit, and he shows no mercy to law-abiding citizens. They burn houses, burn ships, rob at night, and collude with Deepwater City.”
“You vile woman, that’s because you locked the shackles around our necks,” the dark-skinned man retorted angrily. “You treat men like plow animals, women like breeding dogs, whip them, force-feed them medicine, teach them to lick men’s testicles, and force them to sell.”
“You deserve it.” Liz countered resolutely, “You sold yourselves willingly, yet you regret it now, only wanting to enjoy the fruits of others’ labor for free. Without the whip, you wouldn’t work at all.”
“What willing? My hometown was burned down by barbaric nomads; I was sold to Shalin City.”
“If it weren’t for Shalin City, you would be dead by now. You cowardice in the face of invaders only makes you attack Shalin City, which provided you with a meal,” Liz said, hands on her hips, ignoring the angry man, pointing at the brown-skinned girl, “As for you, you were probably sold by your parents.”
The brown-skinned girl instinctively nodded.
Liz turned to George and said, “Our Shalin City values the law; lawful slaves deserve their fate. My grandfather used to say that if one is not lazy and not stupid, they won’t become slaves. That woman must be the child of lazy and gluttonous parents drowning in debt, so they sold her. Since she has been sold, she must adhere to the spirit of the contract; how can one take money and still want freedom? Don’t you think?”
George bit his lips tightly, upon hearing this, he didn’t give Ji Ma another look but took off his backpack. Inside the backpack were adventure necessities, neatly arranged. From deep inside his backpack, George took out a roll of drawing paper, a bottle of paint, and a paintbrush.
Ji Ma was surprised; he actually carried his painting supplies with him.
George spread the drawing paper on the board, dipped the brush in paint, and wrote a neatly penned, sharp line of common language:
“Slavery is evil, and no reason or excuse can mask the sin of enslavement.”
Liz felt a bit angry; putting herself in George’s shoes, she thought he might not accept it. Trying to explain it well to him, yet he wouldn’t listen, not only contradicting her but also slandering Shalin City!
“Evil? Sin? Without slavery, there would be no prosperity in Shalin City, and the citizens would not have enough to eat.” Liz continued, “I heard that in Bartó, serfs are everywhere; isn’t that evil?”
George furiously wrote, every word seeming to leap off the paper, “Bartó does not have a slavery system. And I cannot tolerate oppression, which is why I left home for ten years. All men are born equal; this is self-evident.”
“Are you going to let them go?” Liz said, “Don’t forget, I told you that the slave bandit has innocent blood on his hands; he is a robber. Just because he was once a slave, will you ignore the crimes he committed?”
At this moment, George hesitated and wrote: “I will save that girl.”
“No!” Liz coldly replied. “That woman is an accomplice to the slave bandit.”
At this time, the dark-skinned man asked, “Are you a knight from Bartó?”
George nodded.
“I heard the knights of Bartó act justly,” he chuckled, “Anyway, I am about to die; save her. She is innocent.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his knife and stabbed hard into his chest, once, then twice, collapsing to the ground.
Liz frowned and turned her face away.
It was a man using his life to give George an excuse and motivation to save someone; indeed, there was also moral coercion involved.
Ji Ma avoided no chance, watching the brown-skinned girl run to the man, futilely trying to stop the bleeding with her hands and shedding tears in vain.
“I will save her.” George wrote again, nearly breaking the brush.
“The slave bandits plunder lawful slaves everywhere; saving her will only make the slave bandits bolder. I will not agree.”
“I will save her.” He wrote again.
George walked toward the brown-skinned girl.
Liz was angry and said, “Don’t think about being invited!”
Ignoring her, George gestured for Ji Ma to comfort the brown-skinned girl, and Ji Ma squatted down, saying to her, “You are free now.”
With that, George pulled out a pair of pliers and broke the iron collar around the brown-skinned girl’s neck, which fell to the ground.
Liz was even angrier. George actually didn’t listen to her—wasn’t he brave enough to strike at the bear just now? What a scumbag.
“I will call the nearby army to stop your illegal actions!” Liz said, taking out a glowing gem. “You can still back down.”
George drew the giant sword from Ji Ma’s arms as a response.
“You!”
She was furious, biting her teeth, but didn’t dare to call the army. With one turn, she quickly left.
The red-haired S壮 was overjoyed, quickly chasing after her.
“Thank you, thank you.” The brown-skinned girl covered her mouth, choking on her words, “He is… a good person. My friend asked… him to rescue me. He brought three companions; they all… died… woo woo.”
George silently took out a bag of money filled with silver coins, gold coins, and copper coins, handing it to her.
“Travel expenses.”
“Thank you.”
George wrote on the drawing paper, “We take her to find her family first, change her clothes, so she won’t be caught again as a slave.”
Ji Ma nodded.
At this moment, the poet Disha, who had been watching from the side, walked over and said to George:
“Are you from the Sanctuary? A shake of the head is not, and a nod is.”
George said nothing.
Ji Ma felt a wave arise in her heart, the thought of silencing him emerged; she controlled her expression and asked, “Why do you say that?”
“Only those from the Sanctuary would do it this way.” The poet Disha shrugged. “I suggest you report to the Sanctuary; it’s not far from Bartó. Who knows, the God of Dawn might cure your speech impediment.”
After saying that, George had to take care of the corpse.
The poet Disha waved goodbye to them, “I’ll be leaving first. It’s a pity we couldn’t meet at the banquet. But perhaps next time we can fight side by side.”
On the other side.
On the dirt road, Liz and S壮 walked together.
Liz’s face was red with anger, her chestnut-colored long hair swaying behind her as she complained to S壮, “I thought he was fighting bravely for me, yet he slandered my hometown for the slave bandits and lowly female slaves! What right does he have?”
“Right!” The red-haired S壮 agreed. “He looks down on Shalin City.”
“Do you think he’s been thoroughly brainwashed by chivalry?”
“Of course not.” The red-haired S壮 said, “Liz, think about it; there are many knights from Bartó who come to Shalin City every year, but has any knight like him ever sheltered slave bandits?”
“You’re right.” Liz said, “I originally wanted to call the army to teach him a lesson, hmph, but thinking about how he also reluctantly saved me, though I wasn’t in life danger, I’m not petty.”
“He’s really lucky.” The red-haired S壮 said, “If he knew your true identity, he would probably change his face completely; he looks very hypocritical.”
“S壮, you’re really smart.” Liz cheered up immediately, “I’ll invite him to the banquet; he will surely regret it deeply.”
S壮 wanted to slap himself, quickly saying, “Never mind; he will only think you’re apologizing to him and feel very charming, thinking he has captured you.”
“What? Are all men like this?”
“Yes.”
“Disgusting, then forget it.”
At that moment, they crossed a small hill.
In the shade of the trees, the four horses they had previously tied to the tree came into view.
Liz was stunned, and so was S壮.
They saw George’s tall horse, lying on Liz’s chestnut filly, vigorously doing the act. Meanwhile, S壮’s mare was sweating profusely, soft and lying nearby, with suspicious viscous liquid flowing beneath its rear.
The poet Disha’s gray stallion stood by watching.
“Little Red!” Liz suddenly shouted, “Drive it away!”
S壮 drew his dagger and charged at the celestial warhorse.
The celestial warhorse turned its head and forcefully pulled away, dragging a long thing. It wasn’t in a hurry to flee but waited for the long thing to retract into its body.
When S壮 lifted his sword to run in front of the warhorse, it kicked the ground and sprang forward ten meters, leaving only a cloud of dust.
Liz and S壮 could only watch as the celestial warhorse elegantly trotted away in the distance, leaving two exhausted mares behind.
With a darkened face, Liz said:
“I’ve changed my mind; I must give George a hard time, arranging the lowest seating for him to make him regret it deeply.”
