Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Never Learned
Jiang Ran was a man of action.
The moment the possibility occurred to him, he stood up and strode out of the inn.
Li Tianxin shot him a silent glance, then rose and followed.
The two of them walked out of the inn. Just as they were about to approach the little girl, they saw a gaudily dressed, middle-aged woman had already beaten them to it.
She struck an affected pose, her hand held delicately like an orchid, her fingertips pinching a silk handkerchief.
With her other hand, she fanned the air around her before covering her nose and mouth with the handkerchief, scrutinizing the little girl.
Her gaze was sharp, raking over the girl inch by inch, making her shrink back instinctively.
Finally, the woman smiled.
"Come with me."
The little girl immediately shook her head again and again.
"I don’t want to..."
"Why not?"
The woman arched an eyebrow. "Aren’t you selling yourself? Now that you have a buyer, you’re refusing to sell?"
"I... I don’t want to sell myself to you. You can’t help me."
The little girl spoke in a low voice. After she finished, she glanced at the woman again, as if worried she’d be misunderstood, and quickly added an explanation.
"Really. I’m looking for a strong warrior to help me rescue someone. If I go with you, I’m afraid it will only bring you harm."
The woman burst out laughing at her words.
"You’re a kind-hearted one, aren’t you? But who told you I’d help you rescue anyone if you came with me?"
"Ten taels of silver. Not a penny more."
With that, she pulled ten taels of silver from her sleeve and tossed them in front of the little girl.
The little girl looked at the silver, then buried her head low.
"I don’t want it..."
"You’re pushing your luck."
The woman’s expression instantly darkened.
"If I didn’t see that you’re a budding beauty who might become a top courtesan in a couple of years, you wouldn’t even get these ten taels of silver!"
"Hurry up, take the silver and come with me. Otherwise..."
Before she could finish her sentence, several burly men appeared behind her.
They glared at the little girl with menacing eyes.
The little girl’s face turned pale.
"What... what are you doing?"
"What else? Taking you to a life of luxury, of course! Take her away!"
At this, she waved her hand. The burly men behind her stepped forward, grabbed the little girl, and threw her over one of their shoulders.
The little girl immediately started crying and screaming for help.
However, of the people around them, some recognized the woman and her background, while others simply didn’t want to get involved.
Who would be willing to lend a hand?
The girl’s beautiful face was stained with tears as she cried and screamed incessantly.
"I won’t go with you... I won’t go with you... I still have to save my father! Let me go! Let me go!"
"Gag her."
The woman ordered. The man carrying the girl fumbled inside his robes, pulling out a white cloth to stuff into her mouth.
The next moment, however, he felt the weight on his shoulder suddenly vanish.
He turned his head. The little girl who had been on his shoulder a moment ago was gone.
Startled, he quickly looked around and saw a young blademaster standing on the side of the street. The little girl who had been crying on his shoulder was now standing beside the man.
"Who’s there?"
The man cried out in alarm.
His shout also caught the woman’s attention.
She looked back and saw that things had gone awry. But when she saw the blademaster, she didn’t get angry. Instead, her face was wreathed in smiles.
"Oh my, what is this young master doing?"
"There’s no reason to be snatching people off the street like this... This girl was selling herself, and I made the first offer. You see..."
Before she could finish, the blademaster looked up and shot her an icy glare.
"Get lost."
The word wasn’t loud, but it was like a steel blade piercing the woman’s heart.
Her body trembled, and she instinctively took a step back. An indescribable pressure built in her gut; if she hadn’t reacted in time, she feared that single word would have scared her into losing control of her bowels on the spot.
Her face was ashen. She glanced around and saw that the crowd was just enjoying the show.
A wave of indignation washed over her, and she gritted her teeth.
"You... how can you be so unreasonable? Everyone, come and judge for me... This girl, she..."
She didn’t get to finish. A figure blurred, followed by a crisp SMACK.
The woman felt herself lifted off the ground. Before she even registered the pain, she realized there was something in her mouth.
She opened her mouth and spat, scattering a mouthful of teeth across the ground.
Only then did her body fall back, caught by the men behind her. A sharp, intense pain finally shot from her cheek to her heart.
The next moment, she saw the blademaster resting one hand on his blade, saying nothing.
Any plans the woman had of making a scene vanished without a trace.
She hurriedly said:
"Spare us, brave sir! We’ll... we’ll leave right now... right now."
She didn’t even try to have her men attack.
She was worldly and knew this blademaster was not to be trifled with.
The men behind her were barely adequate as household guards. To think they could contend with a real expert from the martial world was to give them far too much credit.
If they didn’t leave now while their lives weren’t in immediate danger, she feared they would all die on the spot once they truly angered this man.
She immediately waved for her people to leave.
But then she heard the blademaster call out:
"Stop."
The group froze, not daring to move. The woman slowly turned her head and saw that the blademaster was holding the ten taels of silver.
With a casual squeeze, the silver seemed to turn to clay, oozing out from between his fingers.
The sight made the woman’s scalp tingle with fear.
That was a solid silver ingot! Although silver is a soft metal, it absolutely couldn’t be crushed like that with a simple squeeze.
It wasn’t mud.
The blademaster casually flicked his wrist, and the deformed silver landed in front of the woman.
"Take your silver, and get lost."
"Yes, yes, yes."
This time, the woman didn’t hesitate for a second. She snatched the silver and ran, wishing her parents had given her two more legs.
After watching them leave, Jiang Ran finally let out a frustrated breath.
His expression dark, he walked to the side of the street.
Li Tianxin was standing with the little girl. When he saw Jiang Ran return, he raised an eyebrow.
"Was all that necessary? They’re just ordinary people..."
"It wasn’t."
Jiang Ran pursed his lips. "I just can’t stand people like them. The disgust runs too deep..."
"Hm?"
Li Tianxin was taken aback, his expression turning a little strange. "Did something happen to you?"
"It’s none of your business."
Jiang Ran pursed his lips and ignored him.
There was no way he was going to tell him that when he was fourteen, the Old Drunkard, under the pretext of teaching him the truth about "painted faces and withered bones,"...
...had tricked him into a brothel...
...and, when his guard was completely down, had him trussed up and thrown onto the bed of a former top courtesan from twenty years prior.
Watching that old courtesan, her face like a plastered wall shedding powder with every step, walk towards him...
That was, without a doubt, the deepest, darkest trauma of Jiang Ran’s life.
Fortunately, he was quick-witted back then and tricked the old courtesan into untying him, allowing him to make a narrow escape.
At the time, Tang Huayi had said he never learned the first thing about whoring... and she was right.
After something like that, Jiang Ran had developed a deep-seated hatred for brothels and similar places. How the hell was he supposed to learn anything?
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