Chapter 122: The Harsh Ashmelion

"Uncle... What are you..." Cecilia held her burning cheeks. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at the Landlord whom she thought to be a good man. Why did her Uncle Landlord slap her across the face? Why were they destroying everything inside the house?

The wooden table, the chairs, the paper that daddy bought for me, and the quill...

Nooo!

Cecilia started crying out loud. Her cries were filled with anguish. She started crawling towards the direction of the landlord and his lackeys, hoping to stop what they were doing before it was already too late.

"Why are there pieces of paper here? As we thought, that bitch indeed struck it rich! To think that she would be able to afford ink and paper! That bitch must be hiding her money somewhere in this house. Find it!"

"Boss, what are we going to do with these pieces of paper?"

"Have you gone senile? Of course, we are going to take them for ourselves! We can still use those used paper, we can sell them to merchants albeit at a lower price, but money is still money so don't you dare leave them!"

"Copy that, boss!"

The lackeys licked their lips and carefully tucked the pieces of paper into a pouch that they had prepared beforehand.

Even though these rogues were uneducated, they still knew what was expensive and what was cheap in the market.

One of the most expensive items that money could buy in the wet market was paper, inks, and quills. These items were often bought by nobles in bulk, but if someone had money then they could surely buy these items for whatever purpose they want to use them.

Paper, ink, and quill were expensive in the City of Ashmelion.

It was questionable if Cecilia even knew about the value of these items, but one thing was for sure.

She couldn't let them take these things away for they were given to her by his daddy.

"Stop... Daddy... Daddy gave that to me!" She crawled her way towards the rogues and grabbed the ankle of the Landlord whom she trusted and opened the doors for earlier.

The rogues stopped whatever they were doing and the Landlord himself, who looked to be a fat middle-aged man turned to look at Cecilia in amusement, "Oh, your father gave this to you?"

"Hahaha, so you do have a father? Hahaha, what a joke... You do not even know that your father has died a long time ago?"

"What a poor girl, to think that your mother could deceive you like this..."

The landlord clicked his tongue as he mocked.

"No... You're lying! My daddy isn't dead! He came back and he's with us!" Cecilia fiercely retorted.

The landlord raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh, he came back? All right, I will believe you." A smile appeared on his lips as he crouched and asked, "Can you tell me where your mommy keeps the money? I promise that after you told me where she keeps the money, I will immediately leave..."

"No! I won't tell you anything! You're bad, Uncle Landlord! You slapped me earlier and you're destroying our house! I won't tell you anything even if I die!" Cecilia declared with a glare.

"Hahahaha..."

The landlord's lackeys laughed out loud, "Little girl... Do you really think that we do not dare to kill you? If you died, then your mother and father will be sad!"

"Think about it, and choose what you think is right! Do you want your mother and father to be sad when they found you dead? Don't be so selfish!"

"Just tell us where the money and we'll obediently go away!"

The City of Ashmelion had harsh sanctions for murders.

Once convicted of a murder, there was only one way to go and that was an execution. This was the reason why despite the fact that these men could easily kill the little girl Cecilia, they didn't dare to do so. After all, they came here only for the money, not for the life of the child.

What's more, they had their own children to take care of and they really couldn't bring themselves to kill a child unless it wasn't absolutely necessary for their own survival or if they had no choice but to do so.

It would be good if Cecilia becomes obedient and tell them what they wanted to know.

But...

"No! Mommy told me to never cooperate with bastards like you!" Cecilia replied in protest.

"What...?"

The rogue who was trying his best to coax the child into a confession was astonished.

But in the very next moment, he dashed towards Cecilia and sent another smack towards her cheek.

The force behind his slap was so strong that Cecilia rolled several times onto the ground before she was finally stopped by the wall at the corner.

"You ingrate! How dare you talk to adults like that! Your parents didn't discipline you or somethin'?!"

The rogue was so mad that he wanted to continue on beating up Cecilia but he was stopped by the landlord, "That's enough... If you continue, then you'll kill the child!"

His words were enough to awaken the angered rogue from his reverie.

"But boss! We've already made a deal! If my brothers and I can't get anything out of this, then we'll make you pay for the trouble you've caused us!" The rogue glared at the landlord and the landlord's clicked his tongue out of frustration.

He had observed Charlotte and Cecilia for a few days and he had discovered that their lifestyle had significantly improved.

Charlotte was a struggling mother who couldn't even pay the rent for the small hut just a few months ago, but several days ago, she suddenly came in with a bunch of money and paid several months of rent in advance!

She suddenly became loaded!

Just what did happen?

The landlord's interest was piqued. He was certain that Charlotte must've finally sold her body for a price to a random noble who couldn't keep his lust satiated. That was the only explanation that the landlord had as to how Charlotte suddenly acquired a lot of money.

At first, he thought that Charlotte used all the money that he got from that noble to pay several months of rent in advance, but after further observations that he made in the following days. He discovered that the lifestyle of both mother and daughter paid had improved!

Just a few months ago, Charlotte was always listless whenever she comes back from the wet market.

The paper pouch that she held would always come from that well-known seller of beef jerky and hardtacks.

But the landlord saw from his observations that since a few days ago, Charlotte would return from the wet market with several cans of ice cream and chicken!

Chicken was an incredibly expensive protein in Ashmelion.

Those that could afford to raise this rare type of protein were loaded with money and likewise, they would sell the meat at a disgustingly high price. The fact that Charlotte could afford such a valuable protein explained that she must be loaded with money!

This was the reason why the landlord made a decision and enlisted the help of the Yellow River Gang. With their help, it should be easy for them to steal that money from Charlotte and with the Yellow River Gang's power in the Northern Borough as a deterrence.

He doubted that Charlotte would even report the incident to the police.

The landlord spent quite a bit of money to enlist the help of the Yellow River Gang. If he was to come out of this house empty-handed, then he might pay for their help with his life!

"Damn it!" The landlord gnashed his teeth before he pulled out a knife.

The members of the Yellow River Gang were astonished to see the landlord pulling out a knife. But nevertheless, a smile appeared on their faces. To be honest, these people were used to taking things from other people by force. They were never kind at all, and would never be in the future.

The only reason why they didn't resort to this tactic early on was that they had no scapegoat.

But now that they witnessed the landlord pull out his own knife first.

It was easy for them to pin all the crimes that they would commit in this small hut to him.

The rogues glanced at each other.

They nodded and then pulled out their own weapons. They might have a family to raise but they were left with no choice. And with a scapegoat such as the landlord? Why would they hesitate any longer?

"U-Uncle..." Cecilia was now choking with tears. She had been crying so loud ever since the entire ordeal happened, and she was sure that her cries were loud enough that those from the outside could hear it. But no one from the outside even dared to lend their help to her.

Cecilia felt abandoned.

Without her mother and father around her at this moment.

She went pale and started crying once more as her mental faculties collapsed.

But her cries were soon silenced by the landlord's cry.

"Shut the fuck up!"

He brandished his knife in front of Cecilia, "Tell me where the money is and no one will get hurt!"

His eyes radiated killing intent and it was clear from his voice alone that he wouldn't hesitate to kill Cecilia if he needed just so he could get that money.

After all, if he failed to pay the Yellow River Gang, then he might as well commit suicide.

Humans were innately selfish and even though he felt pained on killing such a little girl.

He knew that he wouldn't hesitate to do such a thing so long as he could save his own skin.

"T-The money... I don't know... Mommy always brought the money with her when she goes out to..."

Cecilia stuttered as she said all of these in a trance. But when she realized that the pressure of dying and making her mother and father sad from her death made her say all of these words, she abruptly stopped and bit her lips.

"I don't know... We have no money! We're poor!"

Now, Cecilia was regretting the fact that she disobeyed her mother.

If only she didn't open that door, then this wouldn't even happen in the first place!

If only she pretended that she wasn't in the house and didn't respond to the voice of the landlord, then all of these wouldn't have to happen!

Cecilia regretted as she wept.

But little did she knew that even if she wasn't in the house nor even if she didn't open the door, the landlord and the members of the Yellow River Gang would've broken the door with kicks and punches so long as they could complete their tasks and receive their money.

Obviously, Cecilia was too young to understand all of these, so she started blaming herself.

Having not received the answer that he was looking for— the landlord became agitated.

"So in the end, you're still being so stubborn..."

"Is that what you want to happen?"

"Do you want to die that much?'

"Then, in that case, let me send you off..."

"I'm excited to see the expression on your mother's face when she sees you dead... Hehehe..."

"She will be so..."

"She will be so, so, heartbroken..."

The landlord approached the little girl and pinned her onto the ground.

"No! Help... Help... Mommy...Daddy!" The landlord raised the knife into the air.

The members of the Yellow River Gang stared at the landlord in anticipation. They wanted to see blood, most importantly, they wanted to witness the moment a person transforms into a murderer.

Seeing such a moment in a place like this was incredibly rare.

As for the reason why they knew that the landlord probably hadn't killed a single person in his entire life?

It was because he was trembling.

That's right, the landlord's entire body was trembling with emotions.

Such a display of emotion only happened when someone who had never killed before was about to kill a person.

Such a scene was incomparably sublime and divine.

The gang members licked their lips, their breaths turned rough with anticipation.

But just as the landlord was about to plunge the knife deep into Cecilia's heart.

A desperate and heartstricken cry rang out from behind.

"No! Don't kill my daughter!"

The landlord's movements froze and he turned to look at Charlotte.

The gang members almost immediately stood up and suppressed her onto the ground.

"Hahaha! We've caught the bitch! We have the money in the bag now!"