Chapter 13
The Town; Asking a Tiger for Its Skin
Once the rain stopped, the bailiffs immediately prepared to set off and rushed to the next shelter before the rain fell again.
Su Ying placed Mama Zhao and the tiger skin on her back and stood in front of Xiao Jin. Bai Shuang had a good night’s rest and was in much better spirits today. She carried Ling on her back.
“Everybody, follow closely. Hurry up if you don’t want to get caught in the rain.” A bailiff waved his whip and shouted.
These prisoners were frail after the journey till now. In addition, they were caught in the rain yesterday. Many collapsed on the way.
The bailiffs cast the fallen on wooden carts and threw the bodies away when they stopped breathing.
“Be careful!” Su Ying suddenly reached out to support an elderly man who was about to collapse.
He put almost half his weight on Su Ying’s hand, but she still supported him without changing expression.
Su Ying saw that he couldn’t move anymore, stopped, and waited for him to catch his breath.
The elderly man felt better after taking a break. He weakly looked up at Su Ying and wanted to thank her, but he was too weak to say a word.
Su Ying took out an energy candy and stuffed it into his mouth. The man felt a sweet fragrance spread in his mouth, and even his cold body felt a trace of warmth.
“Thank you so much, young lady.”
“Save your strength for the road.”
The man was indeed weak. He could only hold on to his last breath and continued to follow the group with Su Ying.
Strangely, after eating the candy, the man felt more energetic as he walked. Even his cold hands and feet started to warm up. He looked at Su Ying in surprise and thought she looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen her before.
When he could walk by himself, the man left Su Ying’s help. He didn’t say anything and just walked beside her while he remembered Su Ying’s aide.
“If we continue like this, where will we stop?” Su Ying felt that blindly following the group wasn’t her style. She had to find a way to understand the situation so that she could prepare for the future.
Hearing Su Ying’s question, the man felt that it was his time to be useful. “Young lady, we’ve already reached the boundary of Yue City. If we are fast today, we should get to the outskirt of the following county town after Yue. We’ll probably have to rest outside the town tonight.
Su Ying’s eyes lit up. If she could sell the tiger skin in the county town, she could buy supplies there.
“It seems like you know a lot about these things.”
The man shook his head with a bitter smile. “I was born voracious. When I was young, I loved traveling everywhere to find food.” He never thought that this led to the destruction of his family.
“What’s your name?” The journey was tedious, and Su Ying started chatting with the man.
“I am He Shouyi.”
“I am Su Ying.”
He Shouyi was stunned for a moment. He was surprised to see Su Ying’s cold and stern eyes under the dark clouds. Was this the notorious Princess Qi? The real person didn’t quite match the rumors.
The bailiffs might be worried that it would rain again halfway, so they did not stop until they reached the outskirts of the county town and found an open space to reorganize the group. They also planned to send people into the town for dry food and other supplies.
Fortunately, the weather stayed stable. Although the sky was still gloomy, it did not rain again till now.
The bailiffs found an open space outside the town for everyone to rest.
Su Ying placed Mama Zhao under a big tree and went to Li Da with the tiger skin.
Li Da’s scalp went numb when he saw Su Ying. He couldn’t help it. The memory of her killing the tiger was still fresh in his mind.
“Sir, may I have a word?”
Li Da felt that he had nothing to say to her, but before he could refuse, his words were forced back by her frightful phoenix eyes.
Li Da had no choice but to follow her to a big tree.
“What do you want?”
Su Ying smiled, trying to make herself look friendly. However, she didn’t know that her smile only made Li Da panic even more.
“Don’t be afraid, Sir. What can a weak woman like me do to you?”
Li Da was speechless. “I thank you, you weak woman!” He thought.
“Sir, if you can take me into the town to sell the tiger skin, I can give you ten percent of the sale.” Su Ying stated her purpose.
Li Da stared blankly for a moment and looked at the tiger skin in her hand. This was indeed a great temptation. That white tiger was rare, and the massive skin was intact. If he were to sell it, he could get at least a thousand taels of silver. Ten percent would be a hundred taels!
Asking a tiger for its skin was nothing more than this!
Li Da agreed without hesitation. After all, if Su Ying wanted to run, he wouldn’t be able to stop her!
“Alright.”
To avoid attracting attention, Li Da got Su Ying a set of bailiff’s robes for her to change into. Then, he picked two other people to get into the town for supplies.
Li Da brought Su Ying to the gate of the town. As it was a county town, the entrance and exit weren’t too strictly checked, and they got in smoothly.
After they entered, Li Da asked the two bailiffs to buy some dry food while he took Su Ying to another street.
Su Ying looked at the hawkers on both sides of the street and found the walk very interesting. She used to live in the chaos of war post-apocalypse and had never seen such a scene.
Li Da brought Su Ying to a pawnshop and stopped.
“When we enter in a moment, let the shop make the first bid. For such a piece of tiger skin, any price lower than a thousand taels would be too low for sale.” Li Da said to Su Ying before they entered.
Su Ying nodded. The higher the price of the tiger skin, the more money Li Da would get. He had no reason to lie to her.
The shop assistant behind the counter greeted them as soon as the two got in. Seeing that they were dressed in bailiff’s clothing, he smiled and said, “Do the two Sirs want to buy or pawn?”
Su Ying placed the tiger skin on the table, and the folded skin took up the entire table. “I’m pawning this tiger skin. How much can you offer? ”
The shop assistant was also stunned by such a large piece of tiger skin. He couldn’t make a decision. “Please wait a moment, Sirs. I’ll get my manager to take a look.” With that, he went to the back of the shop.
Shortly after, a lazy and displeased voice rang out from the back. “You disturbed my sleep. You’d better show me the best thing in the world, or I won’t let you off.”
“Trust me, manager. I’ve never seen such a big tiger skin in my life.”
“There are so many things that you little brat haven’t seen before.”
The curtain behind the hall was lifted, and a handsome man with a hint of ruffian aura between his brows walked out.
The front of his green robe was slightly open, revealing his undergarments. His hair was only casually tied behind his head with a wooden hairpin, looking lazy and unrestrained.
Xu San’s delicate eyebrows rose, and his light-colored eyes fell on Su Ying. His shrewd eyes shined. “Well, you are Sirs from the capital.”