Above the Great Dao
Chapter 270 - 141 You’ve Been Sold_2

Chapter 270: Chapter 141 You’ve Been Sold_2

He didn’t care about Chen Shi, shouting as he ran towards the upstairs, but no sooner had his foot touched the staircase when it suddenly broke with a crack.

The Shopkeeper stumbled and fell down, his head, which he was holding with both hands, suddenly separated from his neck, and blood spurted out.

"Damn it!"

His head rolled more than a yard away, coming to rest in a corner of the wall, still thinking, "When I summoned the Golden Core earlier, the Sword Qi released from the Golden Core hit the staircase, causing it to soften."

His headless body stood up, arms outstretched, groping aimlessly around.

Blood was still spurting from his neck, but the Golden Core flew over, pressing down on the surging plasma, significantly reducing the speed of the bleeding.

The Shopkeeper’s Wife and several clerks, hearing the commotion, hurriedly ran downstairs with Discontinuation Ointment, only to unexpectedly step into nothingness as the staircase gave way, tumbling down to the ground with the ointment scattering all over.

The Shopkeeper’s Wife frantically tried to gather the Discontinuation Ointment from the ground when suddenly the headless body couldn’t hold on any longer and collapsed with a thud. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

The Shopkeeper’s Wife froze, her face showing a look of terror, forgetting to care whether the Shopkeeper was dead or alive, she hurried outside as if she had encountered something extremely frightening!

The Shopkeeper’s Golden Core, no longer restrained by him, suddenly unleashed the power contained within!

"Buzz—"

Countless tiny black Sword Qi expanded outward, and in an instant, they engulfed the first floor of the tavern.

The Shopkeeper’s Wife and those clerks instantly became bloodied figures, pierced through by countless needle-like Sword Qi, whether it was flesh and bone or their internal organs, they were all penetrated!

Together with the burly men who had just attacked Chen Shi, including the Shopkeeper himself, were also reduced to bone and ash in the explosive disintegration of the Golden Core!

Around, the sound of cracking persisted, as the columns, walls, tables, chairs, and benches of the first floor of the tavern exploded under the influence of the Sword Qi!

Chen Shi stood on the street, watching as the tavern’s building collapsed, the first floor turning to fine dust under the Sword Qi, followed by the second floor crumbling mid-fall in the Sword Qi!

Broken wood pieces rained down, piling up amid the billowing dust.

The broken wood turned to sawdust, and the sawdust became powder.

When the power of that single Golden Core had fully dissipated, a large round pit appeared on the ground as if it had been smashed by a great iron sphere.

Cold sweat beaded on Chen Shi’s forehead.

The Spell cultivated by the Shopkeeper was exactly the counter to him, if he had been within the Golden Core Field, he probably would have been shattered beyond repair.

"Zhu Xiucai said to read thousands of books, travel thousands of miles. I’ve learned so much from the masters, I must put it into practice. A true man, at sixty years of age, with sixty attackers, should still be able to make their pleas for mercy sound exceptionally pleasing," Chen Shi thought to himself.

The Black Pot and wooden cart were outside the tavern, untouched by the mayhem. The tall fellow from his village was also there, pinned underneath the cart, with the Black Pot standing on his head, whether he was dead or alive was unknown.

It seemed that after selling Chen Shi, this fellow had come to take Chen Shi’s wooden cart and was planning to lead the Black Pot away to sell it, but instead, he got beaten up by Chen Shi’s wooden cart and Black Pot.

"Being beaten by the Black Pot and wooden cart, this chap wouldn’t die but he’d lose half his life."

Chen Shi walked over, about to check if anything was missing from the cart when a fragrant breeze hit him, a soft hand clasped his arm, followed by a plump girl pressing her body against him, her laughter ringing in Chen Shi’s ears.

"Brother Chen, you’ve killed people and still dare to stay on the street! Aren’t you afraid of dying?"

The one clasping his arm was none other than his schoolmate Hu Feifei from Wencai Academy, who pulled him along and whispered, "You’ve just arrived in Gongzhou and already caused trouble, the entire tavern died by your hand, don’t wait for the court’s officers to catch you, let’s go!"

Chen Shi quickly took out the Compass, tossed it to the Black Pot and whispered, "Black Pot, drive and follow us!"

The Black Pot hurriedly caught the Compass, stood up on its hind legs, grabbing the Compass with its front paws, and controlled the wooden cart to follow Chen Shi and Hu Feifei.

The explosion of the Golden Core and the collapse of the tavern made quite a noise, attracting the attention of people on the street, who all hurried in that direction.

"Black Pot," controlling the wooden cart, squeezed out from the crowd. People in Gongzhou province’s city had seen a lot and were broad-minded, thus found nothing unusual in it.

The wooden cart gradually sped up, following Chen Shi and Hu Feifei through the spacious streets and into the cramped and dim alleys.

One man, one fox, one dog, and one cart rapidly passed through the alley, sticking to the walls whenever they encountered pedestrians, bypassing them with precision.

However, the cart was somewhat wide, so when there was no room for the pedestrians to pass, the wooden cart would sprout six or seven thick arms, each about a zhang in length. They would lift the pedestrians high and then pass them from one pair of arms to the next, until they were delivered to the other side.

After running for two or three li, Hu Feifei slowed her pace and chuckled, "Brother Chen, were you sold by someone? How foolish can you be!"

She laughed as she caught her breath, fanning the edge of her lapel to create a breeze. The wind brought fleeting glimpses of spring - white and intermittently visible.

Chen Shi asked curiously, "How did you know I was sold?"

Hu Feifei’s eyes curved with her smile, her voice playful, "Because I’ve already sold seven or eight human traffickers."

She laughed proudly, "They saw me as a country girl and wanted to sell me to a brothel, but I turned the tables on them and sold them to a farm outside the city to do hard labor."

Chen Shi was dumbfounded.

After all, this was a species’ innate gift, not something he could envy.

Seeing his expression, Hu Feifei became even more proud, took his hand, and walked towards the main street, laughing, "When I saw you outside the tavern, killing everyone inside, I knew Brother Chen must have been sold..."

Chen Shi’s face flushed red, he retorted, "Feifei, we don’t need to talk about that incident again. And I didn’t kill everyone, I only killed the Shopkeeper. It was the Shopkeeper’s Golden Core that went out of control and killed the others."

Hu Feifei laughed, "Alright, we won’t mention it. You’re a Scholar aiming for the Imperial Examination. How could you get sold? Didn’t you know that when you come to take the exams, you need to first meet with the Academic Officer of Gongzhou province?"

Chen Shi shook his head, "What Academic Officer?"

Hu Feifei said with surprise, "Hasn’t your private schoolteacher taught you? Oh, your teacher is Mr. Fu, and he has gone to Bridge Bay Town. I guess you didn’t find him; no wonder you got sold."

Chen Shi protested, "You said you wouldn’t bring it up, and within this brief moment, you’ve mentioned it three times!"

Hu Feifei smiled broadly, "No more, no more."

"What is an Academic Officer?" Chen Shi inquired.

Hu Feifei explained, "The Academic Officer is appointed by the court to be in charge of the Imperial Examinations in each province and is responsible for selecting Scholars. Those with good moral conduct might receive appointments, while those with poor conduct could be deposed and have their Scholar titles revoked. We Scholars who come to the provincial city for the exams need to report to the Academic Officer first. He will arrange places like post houses for us to stay, so we don’t end up being sold while wandering outside."

"You brought it up again!" Chen Shi said, his belly puffing with irritation.

Hu Feifei, trying to contain her laughter, said, "No more, no more. I’ve been busy selling human traffickers these past few days to make money and haven’t had a chance to meet with the Academic Officer yet. It’s perfect; we’ll go together. You better not go out these next few days. The Shopkeeper you killed likely had connections with the top officials in Gongzhou. Otherwise, who would dare to trade people in a tavern?"

Chen Shi followed her and asked, "Are there many involved in human trafficking in the city? Why doesn’t the authorities intervene?"

Hu Feifei laughed, "Could the people who do this kind of business in the city be ordinary? Why would the officialdom investigate itself? Even if it’s not the officials’ own business, they are stuffing massive amounts of silver into the higher-ups’ pockets. They’re all in good relations."

Chen Shi fell silent, feeling disheartened, "Is that how it is? What’s the use of studying, then?"

"Of course there’s use. Studying can lead to becoming an official; you could join them,"

Hu Feifei said, "Studying can also allow one to remain pure and keep to oneself. At the very least, you could do as I plan: marry a talented scholar and become the wife of a county magistrate or Governor’s Wife!"

Chen Shi said softly, "Join them? Remain pure? I want neither. Can they be changed?"

"Change the ways of the world?"

Hu Feifei burst into laughter and, gripping his arm firmly, said, "Brother Chen, sometimes you seem so mature, yet at other times you’re so naïve. History is full of people who have tried to change the world, only to be taught a harsh lesson by it, leaving them struggling even to scrape a living! We’re at Admiral Academy!"

― Chapter two isn’t finished yet; it should be done around seven o’clock.

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