Hidden Blade

The snow in Shangyun City came very early this year, and it was also very heavy.

Before the people could recover from the earlier drought, they caught up with the snow disaster that rarely happened in a hundred years.

The royal court's food and pay for disaster relief were lowered layer upon layer. Anyone who handled it would naturally have to reap some benefits. In the end, only a tiny bit of rice bran remained in the hands of this common people.

Ever since the emperor ascended to the throne, the Great Zhou Dynasty's situation had deteriorated year by year. It was widely rumored that this was the emperor's karma for killing his father to ascend to the throne.

However, Xu Han could not understand why the people had to bear the consequences of the emperor's wrongdoing.

However, compared to this, he was more concerned about how to survive the cold night in front of him and how to deal with the overwhelming hunger coming from his lower abdomen.

"Cough cough cough!"

At this moment, a violent cough came from the side, pulling Xu Han back to reality from his thoughts.

He turned around worriedly to look at the shabby old man beside him.

The old man's surname was Xu Qianrui.

Of course, a name was a good name. According to him, he was also born into a wealthy family. When he was young, he had read some books, but he didn't have time to take a test for fame. His parents died in an accident. Without restraint, his solid family's wealth was completely wiped out, and his soul had fallen to its current state.

"Father, are you alright?" Xu Han stretched out his hand and patted Xu Qianrui's back gently, trying to relieve the old man's violent cough.

"Cough cough cough!"

However, this method had little effect. The old beggar coughed for a while before slowly stopping.

"No problem." At this moment, the old beggar shook his head, his muddy eyes filled with the gloomy twilight.

He looked up at the dim sky and sighed.

"Hurry up and go home. It's going to snow again."

After the old beggar finished speaking, he trembled again and took his own steps. Seeing this, Xu Han hurriedly extended his hand to support him.

Xu Han's father was an old beggar, so Xu Han was naturally a little beggar.

However, Xu Han was not from this old beggar.

Twelve years ago, it was also a windy and snowy night. The old beggar picked up Xu Han who had been abandoned in a broken temple on the outskirts of the city. The old and descendant old beggar couldn't bear to watch Xu Han freeze to death in this icy world while he was still in his infancy. After thinking for a long time, he adopted him.

The old beggar hadn't read much in the end. He thought about it and felt that the weather that night was exceptionally cold. Therefore, he named him Xu Han.

Twelve years passed in a blink of an eye. Although the days were hard, the old beggar still managed to pull Xu Han up.

However, this year's natural and man-made calamities were already beyond the reach of ordinary people, so how could there be any surplus food to give them?

Counting up, it had been two days since the two of them had gotten any food. If they were really hungry, they could only eat some tree roots with snow water to satisfy their hunger. Xu Han was young, so he could still endure for a few days. However, the old beggar was not so lucky. His body had gotten worse and worse these past few days. No one knew if he could survive this winter.

It was already late. One day, the two of them walked home without any harvest. The wind and snow were about to arrive. If they did not return home before then and starve to death, they would probably be frozen to death by the wind and snow.

"Look at this girl, big eyeballs and strong body. You can give her more." At this time, a conversation on the side of the street attracted Xu Han's attention, who was lowering his head and hurrying on his way.

He turned around and saw a woman pointing at the girl beside him and saying to a man.

The little girl looked the same age as Xu Han, but at this moment, she lowered her head like a frightened elk. She stood there in a daze, allowing the woman and the man to judge her like a commodity.

Xu Han had never read a book, but his memory was very good. He recognized the girl in front of him.

It was about May this year, the summer was blazing, and there were many starving people in Shangyun City. Xu Han, who was also hungry, was begging on the roadside. Similarly, he hadn't eaten for several days and was almost on the verge of death. It was the girl who gave Xu Han the only half of the steamed buns in her hand that allowed Xu Han to survive for a few days until the day when the rations from the Imperial Court arrived.

"It's not a good year. I can't buy any more dishes and chopsticks? Eight taels of silver is already plenty." The man obviously did not agree with the woman's point of view. He shook his head and said.

"Sir, you also know that this year is not good. Otherwise, how could I have sold my daughter mercilessly? Please do me a favor and add another two taels." Of course, the woman was unwilling to give up and continued.

"Only these eight taels of silver, I can't give you much. Look …" The man distinguished between them. The two of them began to bargain like they were buying vegetables at the end of the street.

"Let's go, don't look." The old beggar pulled the divine Xu Han, feeling a little unhappy.

Xu Han, who had always been obedient, broke free from the old beggar's hand and stubbornly looked at the scene not far away. The expression on his face was so dirty that it could not be seen clearly, but his tiny fist was clenched tightly at that moment.

The old beggar had nurtured Xu Han for so many years, and this was the first time he had seen Xu Han so faintly uneasy.

"That's her life. Now that there are natural and man-made disasters, it's a great fortune to be able to save her life. What else do you want if a beggar can't give her any food?" The old beggar obviously didn't want to stir up trouble. He was already too old to speak, and his tone was gloomy.

Xu Han was stunned. He naturally realized this at this moment. A beggar, what can he use to save others? For the first time in his life, he had some sort of dissatisfaction with his identity.

"Here, I want this girl." At this moment, an aged voice suddenly sounded.

This change exceeded everyone's expectations.

Xu Han and the old beggar looked over, only to see an old man appear between the woman and the man at some unknown time. He held a heavy money bag in his hand and handed it to the woman.

"This" The woman was stunned for a moment. She subconsciously took the purse and weighed the weight in her hand. It was at least twenty taels.

"You!" The man whose business had been ruined was naturally dissatisfied. He turned to look at the old man and wanted to say something, but just as he spoke, he discovered that behind the old man were two extremely strong men with long knives on their waists.

Obviously, this old man was not someone he could afford to provoke.

He withdrew his words and looked at the old man fiercely before leaving resentfully.

The woman accepted the money and smiled happily, "But Qing, in the future, you must live a filial life. Don't blame mother for being ruthless! This world doesn't give anyone a chance to survive!" After saying that, the woman thanked the old man for his kindness before turning around and leaving.

"Let's go. That old man seems to be a wealthy man. Follow him, at least he won't suffer." The old beggar said. 𝘧𝘳𝐞𝚎𝑤ℯ𝘣𝗻𝘰ѵℯl.c𝐨𝚖

Only then did Xu Han regain his senses. He looked deeply at the girl who lowered her head and the kind-eyed old man. In the end, he silently followed the old beggar's footsteps.

…

Xu Han and the old beggar's home were not writers.

It was just a broken temple on the outskirts of the city. It was untrue when it was built, but it had already been abandoned for some years.

It could not block the wind and rain, nor could it avoid the cold, but it was better than sleeping in the open. Most of the beggars in Shangyun City used to live here. However, as the situation worsened year by year, some of those beggars left Shangyun City, while others stayed in this small town on the border of Qingzhou forever. At present, only Xu Han and the other two were left in the ruined temple.

Returning to the ruined temple, the old beggar took out his mouldy quilt hidden under the thatched grass and wrapped it around his body. He found another place that was not damp yet and lay down. The best way to resist the cold and hunger was naturally to sleep.

Xu Han also understood this reasoning. He covered his body with thatch and laid down beside the old beggar, but he couldn't sleep after tossing and turning.

The scene of the man bargaining with the woman and selling his children kept appearing in his mind. The girl's panicked and uneasy face flashed in his mind like a streak of light.

He finally couldn't suppress the unspeakable depression in his heart. He turned around and looked at the old beggar who was about to fall asleep.

"Father." He called out.

"Huh?" The old beggar, who was half awake and half asleep, replied.

"Just now" Xu Han asked.

"In a drought year, selling children is very common. The life of a girl is thinner and she is better off. She was bought by someone. No matter what she did in the future, she will not starve to death now. With the money for selling girls, the family may be able to survive the cold winter. When spring comes next year and the year is good, it will be fine to have another baby. It was better than a family gathering together and waiting for death to come. "The old beggar pulled Xu Han up with one hand. How could he not understand his thoughts? Without waiting for Xu Han to ask, he said.

"Life is thin?" Xu Han frowned. He naturally knew that the old beggar wasn't wrong, but he couldn't explain why. He just felt dissatisfied, and he didn't understand what a so-called life-threatening was.

"A poor life is a bad one. Everyone has their own life. Some people are born in wealthy families. It's their life to be a beggar. Being a beggar without food is my life. You were picked up by me and became a beggar with me. This is also your life." The old beggar said slowly, but his voice became softer and softer.

Before Xu Han could completely digest the old beggar's words, he saw that he had suddenly lost his voice and raised his head to look, only to see that the old beggar had already fallen asleep.

After all, the old beggar was old, and he hadn't entered the granule for two days, so he naturally wasn't in good spirits.

Seeing this, Xu Han did not have the heart to ask any further. He only frowned bitterly and thought about the old beggar's words. It was difficult for him to fall asleep.

…

The old beggar closed his eyes last night and never woke up.

In the end, he still hadn't survived the winter.

His death came very suddenly.

Suddenly, Xu Han did not have the slightest bit of preparation for this.

The blizzard outside was getting heavier and heavier, and there was no intention of stopping at all.

Xu Han sat beside the old beggar's corpse for an hour before he slowly stood up.

He silently wrapped the old beggar's body in the quilt that had accompanied him for several years, and then found a hemp rope in the thatch, trapping the quilt firmly. Then, he took a deep breath, put one end of the rope on his shoulder, bent his body, and walked out of the broken temple in the face of the wind and snow, pulling the old beggar's corpse.

Xu Han was only twelve years old this year, and his perennial life as a beggar made him look much thinner than his peers. In addition, he hadn't eaten for a few days and dragged the corpse of the old beggar away. This wasn't an easy task for Xu Han.

However, he gritted his teeth and allowed the cold wind and snow to blow across his face, while he stubbornly and slowly walked forward in the snow and wind that filled the sky.

For a long time.

The rope left bloodstains on his shoulders, his knuckles were a little pale, and his face was completely red from the snow.

He stepped on the snow step by step and dragged the old beggar's corpse into Shangyun City.

A boy was dragging a heavy blanket.

Such a scene was not uncommon in Shangyun City this year, and their motives weren't hard to guess.

Only when a person dies can he be safe in the earth.

Selling your body to bury your father was a rare scene in the past, but this year, with so many disasters, not many pedestrians on the streets were unable to raise the slightest bit of interest.

The lives of the small families were naturally miserable, but the large families had quite a bit of food. They were very happy to accept these children who sold themselves to bury their fathers. They were smart enough to stay behind and become servants or maids. It was also a business to sell them elsewhere unhappily. A gambling house in the west of the city had even put up a signboard to buy off these children. There were no restrictions on men or women, but they couldn't be too old. The price was clearly marked.

The owner of the gambling house seemed to have a lot of background, and the yamen in the city also turned a blind eye to it, never asking. However, there were some rumors that the gambling house had bribed so many children for some sort of magic. Someone had once said with certainty in the tavern that he had personally witnessed the corpses of children being carried out in the middle of the night in the gambling house.

However, after that day, no one had seen the drinkers who had said those words.

When Xu Han arrived at the gambling house, the sturdy man guarding the door was leaning against the threshold and was about to fall asleep.

The sound of the old beggar's corpse dragging on the snow pulled the strong man back from his sleep. He lowered his eyebrows and looked at the ragged Xu Han. He waved his hand and said impatiently, "Go to the side of the little beggar. Grandpa doesn't have any money for you."

However, Xu Han did not care. He put down the rope in his hand as if he was relieved of his burden. Standing upright in the snow, he looked at the strong man and said in his tender voice, "I'll sell myself."

"Huh? Selling yourself?" The sturdy man was stunned. Only then did he see the thing wrapped in a quilt behind the boy.

This made him a little surprised. There were naturally many children who sold to the casino, but most of them were led by their parents or came from other places. This was the first time he had met someone who ran to the casino to sell his body.

He looked at Xu Han again and looked at the boy in front of him seriously.

He was very thin and weak, as if he could be blown down by a gust of wind. His face was covered with dirt, making it difficult to see his appearance clearly, but his dirty face had a pair of bright eyes.

At this moment, those eyes were staring at the sturdy man. There was something indescribable wrapped within them.

The sturdy man was shocked. He was moved by that gaze and asked, "Sell yourself to bury your father. There are many places to go. Why didn't you choose this place?"

He was very clear about what this gambling house behind him was, and he knew more about the fate of those children who had sold themselves.

"Others will sell their bodies for the rest of their lives. I've heard from you that as long as you do it for five years, you can let me go free."

Xu Han looked at the strong man and said calmly.

The sturdy man was stunned again. He secretly felt that it was funny. Indeed, they had such a rule here. But so far, he had never heard of such a child.

"Five years? That's risky business." The sturdy man said.

After saying that, he was already suspected of exceeding his authority. But perhaps it was the boy in front of him that made him feel a little special, so he couldn't bear to tell the truth behind it.

"Others will pay seven or eight taels of silver for a lifetime. You will only pay fifteen taels of silver for five years. Naturally, the things you have to do will not be simple." Xu Han nodded, but his gaze remained calm.

Hearing this, the sturdy man's expression instantly changed.

From Xu Han's words, it wasn't hard for him to tell that the boy had already prepared for this before coming. Not to mention that he could deduce all of this from this. The boy's temperament was extremely good, but he already understood the difference. He still chose to sell his body in their casino. This was enough to puzzle him.

"Why?" He asked in a daze. For some reason, his voice was somewhat bitter.

"The old man said that if he died, he would let me sell my body to a wealthy family and live. If I were smart enough to win the favor of the host family, I might even be able to get a good job and live a carefree life."

"He said, this should be my best life."

"But …"

The boy's eyebrows furrowed at that moment. There seemed to be a flash of determination in his eyes. At that moment, he straightened his back in the snowstorm, like a dying warrior or a phoenix waiting for its nirvana.

He said. "I don't accept my fate."