Chapter 4: Rich And Overbearing

“Hmph, little lady, you have such a small physique. You will be torn to pieces by those ferocious beasts sooner or later. Why not hand that spirit medicine to me and I can let you live for a few more days.”

The one who spoke was a tall man with a stalwart figure. He had a centipede-like scar that was crawling from his left brow to the right corner of his mouth. The scar cut directly across his left eye gave him a rather sinister look.

These human slaves were people of the lowest hierarchy and had problems living an ordinary life. Right now, this smooth-skinned little lady looked like a complete pushover. These robust and stout men were speaking over each other as they made threats and promises continuously and looked like they were trying to retrieve some of their dignity as humans by speaking to Bai Luochu.

“Hey hey, little lady, don’t listen to his lies. I can somewhat speak to the supervisor of this place. If you give me the spirit medicine, I’ll put in some good words for you. You’ll definitely suffer a lot less.”

The one who was speaking had a rather strong and muscular build but his eyes were slanted upwards. They were bright and he had a particularly long and narrow face, giving him a sinister look.

“I’ll be a fool to trust you.” Bai Luochu thought in her heart. These people were probably going to fall out and become hostile after obtaining the spirit medicine. The current Bai Luochu was no longer that weak and inexperienced no.8 human slave. Although she was still frail and weak, her soul was now that of an intimidating evil dao witch.

Seeing all these people trying to outdo each other with threats and temptations, Bai Luochu couldn’t help but ponder inwardly. These sturdy and strong men were all aiming for the spirit medicine in her hands... Too bad for them, it was pretty much out of their reach. As of now, she wasn’t strong enough and knew that if she left her cell, it would be no different from delivering herself into the mouth of the tiger.

When she thought about her future after leaving the cell, Bai Luochu regained her calm. Downing the contents of the bottle, she sat down cross-legged in order to absorb the medicinal properties of the spirit medicine.

No one expected Bai Luochu to actually drink all the spirit medicine in one go without the slightest hesitation. They were stunned. Some of them clenched their teeth and some others were lost for words and there were even some who started cursing…. Several members spat in Bai Luochu’s direction and leaned on her cell gate with an unhappy expression on their face. It seemed as though all of them were waiting for her to leave her cell.

The time it took to burn half an incense stick ran out quickly and Bai Luochu used this short period of time to fully absorb the spirit medicine.

“Gong! Gong! Gong!” The gongs rang much faster and the sound stabbed into the ears of the prisoners. Bai Luochu felt a wave of headache overwhelming her.

Before the ringing could disappear, the voice of the man echoed in her ears, “What is going on?! Is everyone dead before even stepping into the arena? Hurry up! You cheap slaves, even if you are going to die, you’re better off dying in the arena! Entertain those nobles before you die... What are you still waiting for?!”

When the prisoners heard his voice, their faces changed. They no longer had that arrogant and mighty attitude when they were intimidating Bai Luochu. Every single one of them tucked their tails between their legs as they scurried off like street rats. There was an anxious expression on their faces and it was pretty obvious they were afraid of angering whoever was in charge.

“Ouch!” The person beating the gong still wasn’t content as he smashed his mallet into an unlucky prisoner at the back. Everyone was panicking and Bai Luochu took advantage of the situation to walk out of her prison cell. She was able to remain out of harm's way as she made her way to the gathering point in the main hall.

The main hall and the prison cells were two completely different worlds. The former had the glorious splendor from gold and jade lining the walls. Guests in the main hall were dressed in silk fabric as gems adorned them. The bright main hall became even more dazzling as the light reflected off those gems. The latter was nasty and filthy. It was filled with poor looking slaves who wore unkempt clothes as they lived their lives full of pain and struggling.

“Ahem, everyone is to stand properly. Those whose names I call shall take a step forward!” The man who hit the gong clasped his hands behind his back and spoke in an authoritative manner. Taking out a rolled-up beast skin, he read out the names of the people recorded in it.

“This is the list of people who will step into the arena. If any of you dares to run, only death awaits you.” The moment he spoke, one of the prisoners directly fell to his knees.

The man sneered. “Tsk. I’m going to warn all of you. Today, you’ll be fighting against the Thunder Python. You better start praying to the gods.” After speaking, he glanced at the person kneeling on the ground and saw that he had already fainted. There was a puddle of yellow fluid under his crotch and the stench assaulted everyone’s nose.

“Pah! Who are you trying to disgust? Men, splash some water on him to wake him up before cleaning this place! Don’t contaminate the nobles walking though this place.” The man who hit the gong spat on the person on the ground ruthlessly before barking out his instructions. He left with his hands clasped firmly behind him.

Bai Luochu wasn’t fond of this person. The gong hitter obviously wasn’t someone with noble status and was just simply fortunate enough to not be listed as a slave. Yet he was trampling over these human slaves as though they were insects. Whatever the case, she didn’t have the time to bother about such things. The most important thing was to treat her injuries such that her life wouldn’t be in immediate danger.

Bai Luochu weighed her bag of rewards and headed straight for the Bestial Battle Arena’s merchant house.

She knew about the merchant house and she had even been to one in her previous life. Of course, the one she patronized in the past was on a much grander scale.

The instant Bai Luochu stepped into the merchant house, she became a little startled. This massive merchant house was void of customers and there was only a single staff dozing off at the front desk.

After seeing the goods and the prices they were listed at, she immediately understood. Everything was listed for several tens of thousands of silver and there were even some items priced with gold coins.

With such prices, the sinful slaves locked up in the Bestial Battle Area would never be able to buy anything even after offering their lives. Furthermore, the quality of the items in this place weren’t top-class. As for those spectating the matches, they were either rich or nobility. There was no way they would look at stuff in the merchant house.

When the counter staff heard someone walking over, her eyes lit up and she immediately became invigorated. Just as she was preparing to passionately introduce some products, she saw that the customer was an inexperienced lass. From the tattered clothes she wore, it was obvious she was a human slave. Clicking her tongue, the staff went back to her nap.

“I want this dagger.” Bai Luochu used her finger and pointed at the dagger in front of the counter staff.

“Little sister, you better take a closer look. This dagger is priced at five gold coins, not five copper plates.” The counter staff had a disdainful expression on her face as she cursed silently. “This lowly slave is so ignorant. She is probably a fool...”

Bai Luochu didn’t try to explain anything and simply tossed the reward bag to the condescending counter staff. Taking a look at Bai Luochu, the staff weighed the reward bag. A trace of disbelief flashed in her eyes as she quickly opened it up and saw that it was full of gold coins. Seemingly unconvinced, she took out one of the gold coins and bit down on it. After seeing her teeth marks on the coin, her expression changed.

“Apart from this dagger, give me the silver needles on the shelf at the back, and…” Bai Luochu pondered for a moment and listed a few types of herbs and poisonous plants before asking the counter staff to pack them up.

The counter staff was grinning from ear to ear as this forsaken merchant house finally managed to welcome a god of wealth. Of course, the more she bought the better as the staff would obtain a percentage of the profits.

“Little sister, please come back again soon!” The counter staff was no longer dozing off and was now much more passionate as she served Bai Luochu.

After Bai Luochu bought all these things, she had spent every single gold coin on her. She was sighing at the fact that she actually had to patronize this rip-off of a merchant store. However, she comforted herself at the same time as she was fortunate enough to buy everything she needed.

Right now, she had to return to the prison cell, heal her injuries with the medicinal herbs, temper the silver needles with poison, and attempt to cultivate.