The next morning, Lv Xiucai woke up from the pain and injuries on his body. Without money to stay in an inn, he spent the night under a roof with Tao Er. At this moment, he felt cold and hungry.

He regretted now why he had wasted the money he won. If he had saved some, he wouldn't be in this situation.

What made him even more desperate was that he had nowhere to go next. He couldn't go to Niu Xin Village.

"Master, why don't you make me your concubine?" Tao Er said with a hint of sadness.

"No!" Lv Xiucai refused without hesitation. "If you have a child with another man, where should I put my face?!"

Tao Er's face showed a rare trace of sadness. "I don't want to be sold either, but if we don't have money to eat, we will starve. My father sold me because he didn't have money to eat."

Lv Xiucai glanced at Tao Er's pale face, clenched his fists, and angrily hit the ground. If only he had the strength of Li Huowang, he wouldn't be in this situation!

But no matter what, he finally stood up with Tao Er and walked towards the inn where Bai Lingmiao lived.

Just as Bai Lingmiao and Chun Xiaoman were about to set off, Lv Xiucai appeared in front of them again.

He really didn't want to submit to a woman, but when he thought of Tao Er being pressed down by another man, Lv Xiucai clenched his fists and teeth and said, "Miss Bai, I apologize for my previous behavior. I was wrong. Please let me return to Niu Xin Mountain!"

"Is this how you ask for help? What do you call Li Huowang, and what should you call me?" Bai Lingmiao stared at the young man with a hint of playfulness.

"Li Huowang is my master, and I should call you... call you Master's Wife!"

"That's right. Besides your father, no one else has an obligation to treat you well. If you want something from others, you have to give something in return."

Lv Xiucai nodded vigorously. "Yes! Master's Wife is right!"

"Alright, let's go. By the way, where did the woman next to you come from?" Bai Lingmiao focused her attention on the woman beside Lv Xiucai.

"I bought her. Master's Wife, look over there. I bought her from those people, just like those children kneeling on the roadside with dry straw inserted behind their collars. The tall and thin man next to them is bargaining with someone."

When Chun Xiaoman saw this scene, she suddenly remembered something, and her expression became extremely ugly.

Bai Lingmiao patted her hand and then turned to Lv Xiucai and asked, "How much silver for each person?"

"It depends on their appearance and size. I bought Tao Er for five taels."

Bai Lingmiao narrowed her eyes and thought of something. "There really are not many people in Niu Xin Village. And some of the techniques under the ancestral hall, it's probably not enough to rely on other senior brothers to practice. To be strong enough, it's best to form a scale, just like my grandfather and parents did."

There was a risk in directly finding others from outside. These homeless boys and girls had nowhere to run, and she could control them well.

Although she didn't remember what the Bai family was doing behind the scenes when she was a child, Bai Lingmiao remembered that for a long time, her people lived a very comfortable life. She never lacked meat and eggs as a child, and she wore a gold bracelet on her ankle.

And the fact that they could force Li Huowang to burn his skin proved their strength.

Thinking of this, Bai Lingmiao walked over and immediately negotiated the price with the person selling them.

Seeing that Bai Lingmiao bought all of them regardless of their appearance, the person selling them couldn't help but smile.

"These people are all my slaves now, right?" Bai Lingmiao asked the person weighing the silver coins.

"Hey! Miss, what are you talking about? We are not like those wild people in Qingqiu. The emperor personally issued a decree. It is not allowed to keep or sell slaves within the Da Liang territory!" The person selling them laughed.

"These are not your slaves, they are clearly your adopted sons and daughters! Hurry up and kowtow to your godmother!"

The thin and malnourished boys and girls seemed numb and immediately knelt down and bowed to Bai Lingmiao. "Godmother!"

"Hehehe, young lady, this is the contract for your adopted sons and daughters. We are even now." The person selling them happily said, completely unaware of the coldness in Bai Lingmiao's eyes behind him.

The sound of drums began to play, and with Bai Lingmiao singing the military song, Twin Soul slowly walked towards the deserted street.

"I know you hate these people. Don't worry, this guy won't live past tomorrow." Bai Lingmiao patted Chun Xiaoman's hand again.

"Thank you." Chun Xiaoman slowly put away the Dao bell in her sleeve.

"You're being too polite. Did we need to say thank you before?"

Bai Lingmiao turned around and looked at the group of thin and malnourished boys and girls in front of her. To be honest, these people didn't look good, with crooked teeth and bulging eyes.

If they were more attractive and stronger, they would have been picked by others long ago. These were the leftovers. Fortunately, Bai Lingmiao didn't mind. As long as they were human, it was enough."Don't be afraid, everyone. I bought you all back because there are many fields in the village that need tenants to farm. The crops you grow, you can keep sixty percent for yourselves and give forty percent to me."

Upon hearing this, their eyes instantly lit up. They were adopted children after all, not even entitled to a tenth of the produce, let alone sixty percent. They had met a kind person indeed!

"Let's go, we're still far from Niu Xin Mountain." Bai Lingmiao finished speaking and directly got on the carriage. The crowd hurriedly followed, stumbling along.

Among them, a woman with a mole on the corner of her mouth couldn't bear her hunger any longer and spoke up, "Mother, could we have something to eat before we continue our journey? We only had a sip of millet porridge yesterday. We don't need much, just a small handful of rice will do."

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

For these people, the human traffickers would naturally try to save as much as possible, as long as they didn't starve to death.

"What do you mean by 'a sip'? You're being stingy. If you want to eat, eat your fill!" Bai Lingmiao threw out a large bag of dry food.

Seeing this, Chun Xiaoman smiled knowingly. Although Lingmiao's personality had become more flamboyant, she was still as kind as before.

Seeing the mixed grain buns and meat pies inside, the crowd was instantly excited and couldn't help themselves. They all crowded around and began to eat ravenously.

"I was here first! Everyone, make way!" Lv Xiucai squeezed in. When he came out, he stuffed four mixed grain buns into Tao'er's arms and began to gnaw on a piece of meat in his hand.

As he gnawed, he said to Bai Lingmiao in the carriage, "Mother, these kids are very unruly. They have no manners at all. How about letting me take charge on the road?"

After the first shout, the following ones came more naturally.

He had come to understand that without strength, he was useless. He should yield when he needed to, after all, it wouldn't cost him anything.

"No way, you can't do anything right. You can't even hide your dissatisfaction with me."

Lv Xiucai was startled and quickly denied it. "Mother, how could I be dissatisfied with you? You are my master's wife."

"True, you're afraid that if you really do something, Li Huowang will make you wish you were dead."

These words made Lv Xiucai shudder. The bloody scenes that came to mind made it impossible for him to swallow the meat in his mouth.

Bai Lingmiao leaned her head against the carriage window and looked down at Lv Xiucai, "Feeling bitter about being so useless? I have a method here that can help you cultivate supernatural powers. Do you want to give it a try?"

Lv Xiucai looked up at Bai Lingmiao, recalling the scene that night when the blind man easily took a life. He immediately nodded vigorously. "Yes!"

"Who does this damn woman look down on? What does she mean by 'useless'? I'm just a talent not yet recognized! Just give me a chance, and I'll definitely become even more formidable than Li Huowang!!"

(End of Chapter)