Chapter 485 - A plague

Chapter 478

/*unedited*/

The whole area outside of the city wall is filled with gloominess and the stench of death. Those who were able to survive the battle but is unwilling to leave the city stayed on makeshift houses and tents outside the city wall.

But this place is a hubbub for the soldiers to exert their dominance. In this place, women and children are the prey that is being preyed upon by those people who wanted to bend their frustration and show their force to others. Hence this place is the worst place a woman could be. But what's their option? If they go out into the wilderness or travel down the road, they would surely die. Hence those people who choose to live would go through this hell just to survive.

And right now is the scene where the soldiers are trying to show their dominance to others who are powerless and defenseless. But no one dared walk out and stop them. This is because these soldiers would not even think for a second to kill those who stand on their way.

Hence they can only watch and pray that they would not be the ones to suffer such a fate.

Shin Jiao can hear the pleading voices and cries of the women and little girls as they are being dragged by their hair and thrown into a carriage.

When Shin Jiao saw this, he suddenly remembers his heart demon.

"Does my heart demon want me to do something that can offset my karma?" he thought.

"If so, then… then… If I help others will it go away?"

These thoughts run through his mind and suddenly, he remembers his feelings when he saves some people. That feeling made his mind clear and light. Shin Jiao immediately knew that the infant soul inside his mind dantian is telling him something. And that is how to overcome his own heart demons.

"So I guess this is my path… This may turn out to be my Dao someday." Shin Jiao muttered.

"Senior… Please don't do anything rashly… It's not worth your life." Suddenly a small voice coming from the boy beside Shin Jiao attracted his attention.

However, once he shifted his gaze and saw the boy's little face, Shin Jiao's expression turned stiff. This is because he actually recognizes the boy's small face. Though it is a bit dirty and filled with grime, he can see his facial features.

In truth, if those grimes on his face are removed and he is cleaned, the boy would look handsome and cute. But it seems that the boy deliberately put those grime for a purpose. Then suddenly Shin Jiao realized something.

Why would a boy try to hide his face? It could only mean three things, first is that he is hiding from someone, second it that he is very handsome that it would attract the attention of these filthy beasts for a soldier, and third is that he is not a boy buy a girl.

Shin Jiao's mind jolted as he reflexively scanned the boy's body and discover an array that protects his old and tattered clothes. From that, Shin Jiao can already deduce that his idea was correct.

"This little fellow is not a boy but a girl…" Shin Jiao thought as he slowly stood up and covered the little fellow's body with his.

This made the soldier coming towards their area miss the little fellow and passes by.

Shin Jiao didn't move and just waited for them to pass by. However, his luck was too bad this time as another soldier seem to have sensed something and immediately turn his gaze towards Shin Jiao's location. Then the soldier saw the dirty and scrawny boy hiding behind a young man.

The soldier wanted to shake it, but something is telling him to check the boy behind Shin Jiao. And so the soldier trusted his senses and walked towards Shin Jiao.

He sneers at Shin Jiao's appearance because he looks like a beggar on the street with his clothes and the dirt on his face.

When Shin Jiao saw the soldier's mocking expression, he looks down on himself and found that his clothes were actually not the robe he was wearing when he arrived. He was actually wearing a dark gray rag that seems to be sewn together to make a simple robe.

"What are you looking at?! Sit to the side, let me see the boy behind you!" shouted the guard.

His words gained snickers coming from the rest of his companions as they shifted their heads towards Shin Jiao's direction.

Shin Jiao didn't move and tried to assess the situation. He has already spread his absolute sense and found that there is another group that is doing what these guards are doing. They are taking liberties with the women and children and also taking them in a huge carriage.

"Black market…" Shin Jiao muttered.

The soldier smirked upon hearing beggar looking young man's words. This is because what that beggar looking lad said is the truth. After the war, they are here to collect some money as there are many slave traders willing to buy these people.

Seeing that Shin Jiao is unmoving, the man suddenly extended his hand to grab the boy hiding behind Shin Jiao. Seeing the soldier's action the cross-dressing little girl suddenly grabs Shin Jiao's robe and in a small voice muttered.

"Help…" the mosquito-like tone made Shin Jiao felt compassion deep in his heart.

Why would he need to hide when he is strong enough to actually kill these people in one hit? But of course, it would still cause too much trouble if he causes commotion in this part, he also didn't know if there are nascent realm cultivators in this area.

But of course, he also could not let the soldier take the kid. So he decided to act low key and use another tactic… poison.

Shin Jiao acted like he was scared and casually wipes his hand as if he was scared and an invisible whiff of smoke was directly sent to the man's nose. The man showed a disgruntled look on his face and noticed something, but upon seeing Shin Jiao's scared expression, he sneered.

He casually flicks Shin Jiao's figure to the side and suddenly held the kid's hand. The little thing struggled and wanted to fight back but she was powerless against a soldier in the gold core realm. With indignation in her face, she relents to her fate. Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes as she can already see what will happen to her once she is discovered to be a girl.

Nao Guo was born in a small merchant family. Although their family lives a simple life, they are actually happy. Their family came from a small village and went to the capital to have a new life after her mother died. After a while, they were able to live a good life due to her father and older sister's perseverance.

She was found to have a talent in cultivation unlike her sister and so she began to train. This week was supposed to be the day she should be tested of her spiritual roots, but who would have known that a festive day would turn out to be the day that she will become an orphan.

She saw what happened to her older sister after the soldiers killed her father. She could not forget the expression of pain from her older sister and the hopelessness in her eyes. Then after they are done with her, the soldiers actually killed her.

Nao Guo closed her eyes and let the man drag her to his front. She was too scared to do even fight back as she felt her body neared the man. At this time her mind was blank, she didn't know what to think anymore.

However, before she knows it, she felt her body being flung to the side and a strong and gentle arm caught her before she can hit the wall.

The man grunted and with a disdainful tone, he stood up and walked away.

"What a waste… nothing but an ugly bastard." The man said as he walked towards his companions.

The soldiers began laughing at the man's words.

"Haha… what do you think you can find in this place. All of these people are just the dregs. Those high-quality goods have already been taken by others."

"Yeah, let's hurry this up… I'm wanted to have fun already…"

"What a perverted bast*rd… alright, let's get going…"

The soldiers shouted as they walked away along with the wagon filled with crying women and children. Suddenly, the soldier that tried to grab Nao Guo staggered as he shook his head.

One of his companions saw this and asked.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Nah… I just felt a bit dizzy. I guess this stench is getting me feeling uncomfortable…"

"Haha… you just need to woman… Let's hurry it up!"

The group of people continues walking and some other soldiers continuously gather more women and children.

While this is happening, Shin Jiao just watches and a sly smirk appears in his face. He actually uses two types of poison to that guy. The first one is a hallucinogen and the other one is a slow-acting poison that would only become active once one ingested alcohol.

However, this poison is actually contagious and would spread through person to person contact. But of course, it is dormant until one would ingest alcohol into one's system.

This is the product of Shin Jiao's experiment in his free time after poisoning the crew and the mercenaries traveling with Fifi Lao.

"Hey, are you okay?" Shin Jiao asked the child in his arms.

The little girl nodded her head and this time she could not hold her tears anymore and began crying. When Shin Jiao saw this, he immediately waves his hand and a sound barrier was set up.

"Don't be afraid… those guys will not come back." Shin Jiao said with a gentle smile on his face.