Chapter 47 - 44: Within the Shantytown

The dawn had just enveloped Plum Blossom Marketplace when Lin Le awoke.

He carefully climbed off his crooked wooden bed, trying not to wake his mother sleeping in the inner room.

Holding a pile of dirty clothes and a bloodstained sheet, Lin Le left the room and went out to the courtyard to wash them.

This was a small brick-and-wood house with a broken window frame and a roof covered in thick thatch. There were three such houses in the courtyard, their wooden doors tightly shut, indicating that the residents were still asleep.

Carrying two empty buckets, Lin Le walked out of the courtyard and along a narrow alley littered with debris. The alley twisted behind him, with houses on either side shrouded in layers of shadow.

In this tiny alley, there were over four hundred mortal households. This chaotic slum was crisscrossed with alleys like this, spreading like a web to unknown destinations. Even though Lin Le had grown up here, he couldn’t confidently claim to know every road.

The cultivators passing by only cast their eyes towards the lavishly decorated shops along the main roads of the five major workshop districts. Few cultivators entered here, into this mortal world.

Plum Blossom Marketplace had over a hundred thousand mortals, most of whom lived in the slums within the workshop districts. From birth, their mission was to serve the cultivators here.

Those with better luck might encounter a good master and rise to a rich life, leaving the slum behind. Those with poor luck often wasted their youth, unable to even become an old dog, and returned desperately to the slum to await death.

Among the tens of thousands of people, each generation a few chosen ones appear. They possess a Spiritual Root, and once discovered by cultivators, they can enter the Immortal Sect, leap through the Dragon Gate, transforming from a mortal rolling in the mud to a high-on-the-clouds cultivator.

Once, Lin Le thought he was such a Child of Celestial Mandate, until...

The clatter of sloshing buckets interrupted his thoughts. He carefully adjusted the bucket on his shoulder and quickly walked back to the courtyard. He stood before his rickety wooden door and began washing the clothes and sheets.

As he added more soap to the water, scrubbing at the bloodstains on the sheet, a sudden fit of coughing came from the room.

Lin Le dropped the sheet, rubbing his foam-covered hands on his clothes, and rushed into the inner room.

There, a sallow-faced woman was clinging to the edge of the bed, coughing loudly. Specks of blood sprayed from between her fingers onto the sheets and ground, leaving shocking marks.

"Mother! Mother!" Lin Le called anxiously, holding her shoulder with one hand and gently placing the other on her back, sending faint spiritual power into her body, "Mother, breathe slowly, don’t rush, take it easy..."

After a while, the woman felt a bit better. Lin Le handed her a clean towel and carefully helped her swallow a few pills from a pot of hot water he had fetched.

Just as he was about to tidy things up, the woman grabbed him with her dry hand: "Le... I’m sorry, it’s because of me that you..."

The woman’s eyes were full of guilt, but Lin Le shook his head: "Mother, don’t be silly. Don’t worry, I will soon save up three hundred Spirit Stones. Once I buy the Spirit Pill, your illness can be cured."

The woman shook her head: "Le, listen to me, my illness can’t be cured. Don’t waste Spirit Stones on me. Use them to honor the Immortal Master; maybe you can enter the Immortal Sect—"

"Mother, don’t say that!" Lin Le interrupted her loudly, holding her hand tightly, "If I can’t save your life, what’s the use of becoming a cultivator? I don’t care at all!"

Tears rolled down the woman’s cheeks as she tried to caress Lin Le’s face with her rough hand.

They sat quietly for a while before the woman forced a smile and changed the topic: "Le, the Immortal Master you mentioned, hasn’t come looking for you yet?"

Lin Le shook his head, a bit disappointed, though trying to appear calm: "There’s no rush. It’s only been three days. The Immortal Master surely has important business, but once he’s done, he’ll certainly come to find me."

The woman observed his expression cautiously: "Le, by the words and actions of this Immortal Master, he is no ordinary person. You should do your utmost to assist him. If he’s satisfied, perhaps you could ask him if he would accept you as a disciple?"

Lin Le sighed: "Mother, you don’t understand. The reason I can’t enter the Immortal Sect is because of my Spiritual Root..."

Just then, a scream echoed from outside, followed by cries and shouts.

A female voice pleaded: "Don’t hit my father! Please, I beg you all grandmasters, spare my father!"

A male voice roared: "Debts must be repaid; it’s only right! If we spare your father, who will repay this gambling debt? Get out of the way!"

Another man’s voice said: "Little girl, your father owes us one hundred Spirit Stones. If he doesn’t pay up today, we’ll skin him alive. If you don’t want to watch your father die, you’d better find a way to get the money!"

Another round of punches and kicks ensued, accompanied by a man’s wails and a girl’s pleas. The woman sighed heavily: "It’s that bastard Old Wu again. Le, go see what’s happening; Miss Wu is innocent, protect her, don’t let her be beaten too."

Lin Le nodded and quickly headed outside.

As soon as he assessed the situation in the open area, he heard the middle-aged man on the ground being beaten shout: "I’ll sell my daughter to you to pay the debt! Please spare me!"

The girl, who was trying to shield her father with her frail body, was thunderstruck, staring in disbelief at the man on the ground.

The man smiled ingratiatingly: "Dear sirs, help me out. My daughter is just thirteen, look how beautiful she is, she’s worth at least a hundred or two Spirit Stones. Today I’ll sell her to you at a discount—please, let me go."

"Pfft!" Among the circle of thugs, a man with a face like a pig reached out and pinched the girl’s cheek forcefully, "One or two hundred? Dreaming! Scrawny like a twig, in Peach Blossom Tower, she’d be lucky to fetch thirty Spirit Stones."

Another man with a scarred face scrutinized the girl from head to toe: "But her appearance is decent. With some grooming, she might be worth teaching. After all, she’s still a virgin. I’d say maybe fifty Spirit Stones."

The man looked delighted and hastily nodded: "Dear sirs, fifty then. Use twenty to offset some debt, and give me the other thirty. Give me a day, no, half a day, and I’ll turn my luck around!"

The scarred man laughed, grabbing the girl, who looked as though she had died inside: "Sure, you drive a hard bargain. I’ll give you another chance."