The Godmother

By the time dawn of the next day arrived, Lü Xiucai was awake from the pain of his injuries and the cold. Without money for an inn, he had spent the night holding Tao’er under some eaves. Now he felt both cold and hungry.

He was beginning to regret why he had squandered all the money he had won. If only he had held onto a little bit, he wouldn’t be in this situation now.

And what was even more despairing was: where was he supposed to go next? He couldn’t go to Ox-Heart Village. He had nowhere else to go.

“Husband, how about you lease me out as a concubine?”

“No!” Lü Xiucai refused without any hesitation. “Let you go bear sons for another man? Where would I even put my face!”

A rare look of sadness crossed Tao’er’s face. “I don’t want to be sold either, but if we have no money to eat, we’ll starve. My father sold me because he had no money for food…”

He turned his head and looked at her face, already sallow from hunger, gritted his teeth, and punched the ground in frustration. If he had strength like Li Huowang’s, how could he have ended up in a situation like this!

But regardless, he finally pulled Tao’er to her feet and walked toward the inn where Bai Lingmiao was staying.

Just as Bai Lingmiao and Chun Xiaoman were about to set out, Lü Xiucai appeared before them again.

He really didn’t want to beg a woman for mercy. But when he thought of Tao’er being pinned down by another man, Lü Xiucai clenched his fists so hard his nails bit into his palms and ground out through gritted teeth: “Miss Bai, I was out of line before. I was wrong. Please, let me return to Ox-Heart Mountain!”

“Is that how you ask for something? What do you call Li Huowang, and what do you call me?” Bai Lingmiao studied the young man before her with a trace of amusement.

“He is my master, Li Huowang, so I should call you… Mistress!”

“That’s right. Other than your own father, nobody in this world is obligated to treat you well. If you want something from someone else, you have to pay for it.”

Lü Xiucai nodded vigorously. “Yes! The mistress speaks the truth!”

“Alright, follow along then. Oh, and where did that wife of yours come from?” Bai Lingmiao’s attention shifted to the woman beside him.

“I bought her, Mistress. See over there? Just like those ones, bought from a human trafficker.”

Bai Lingmiao followed his gaze. Several half-grown children with sallow faces knelt by the roadside, their collars stuffed with dried straw. A tall, gaunt man beside them was haggling with a customer.

Seeing this, Chun Xiaoman was reminded of something, and her expression turned extremely sour.

Bai Lingmiao patted her on the back of her hand, then asked Lü Xiucai, “How much silver per person?”

“Depends on the face and build. When I bought Tao’er, she was five taels.”

Bai Lingmiao narrowed her eyes in thought. “There really aren’t enough people in Ox-Heart Village… And training some of the techniques from under the ancestral hall… just relying on the other disciples is probably too slow. If we want to get strong enough, we need to build up numbers. Just like my grandfather and parents did back then.”

Getting people from outside ran the risk of leaks. These homeless boys and girls had nowhere to run to, and would be easy for her to control.

Although she couldn’t remember much from when she was little and had no idea what the Bai family was really doing behind closed doors, Bai Lingmiao recalled that for a very long time, her clan had lived quite comfortably. When she was a child, she never lacked for meat and eggs, and she even wore a gold anklet.

And the fact that they had forced Li Huowang to burn off all his own skin was proof enough of how formidable they were.

Thinking of this, Bai Lingmiao walked over and immediately began negotiating a price with the trafficker.

When the man saw that Bai Lingmiao was buying everyone, regardless of height or looks, his face split into a grin that he couldn’t hide.

“These people are all my household slaves now, right?” Bai Lingmiao asked the trafficker, who was weighing silver on a small scale.

“Ai! What kind of talk is that, miss? We’re not those barbarians from Qingqiu! His Imperial Majesty himself issued an imperial edict—within Great Liang’s borders, slave-keeping and slave-selling is strictly forbidden!” After saying this, the man’s face broke into another greasy smile.

“These aren’t your household slaves at all, miss. They’re plainly your adopted sons and daughters! Now, now! Quickly, kowtow to your godmother!”

Those gaunt boys and girls, so starved their skin looked yellow, seemed long since numbed. They dropped to their knees and prostrated themselves before Bai Lingmiao. “Godmother!”

“Hehehe, young miss, here are the deeds for your god-sons and god-daughters. The money and people are all settled now.” The delighted trafficker finished speaking, entirely oblivious to the cold gleam in Bai Lingmiao’s eyes behind his back.

The sound of a drum began to beat. As Bai Lingmiao sang the Spirit-Summoning Verse, accompanied by the rhythm, the Second Spirit slowly walked toward the empty street to one side.

“I know you hate men like him. Don’t worry. He won’t live to see tomorrow.” Bai Lingmiao patted Chun Xiaoman’s hand again.

“Thank you…” Chun Xiaoman slowly withdrew the Daoist bell she had been holding inside her sleeve.

“Now that’s getting distant, isn’t it? Do we still need to thank each other?”

Bai Lingmiao turned around and looked at the group of sallow-faced boys and girls before her. To be honest, they really weren’t much to look at—a motley bunch, some with buck teeth, others with bulging eyes.

Well, if they had been better-looking or stronger, they would have been picked up by others long ago. These were the leftovers no one wanted. Fortunately, Bai Lingmiao didn’t care about any of that. As long as they were human, it was enough.

“Don’t be afraid, everyone. I bought you all because the village has plenty of land and needs tenants to farm it. Of the grain you grow, you keep sixty percent for yourselves and pay forty percent.”

Hearing this, a light immediately lit up in their eyes. After all, they were supposed to be her adopted children! Even if they got nothing at all, it would be considered proper. They had run into a good person!

“Let’s go. Ox-Heart Mountain is still a long way off.” Bai Lingmiao finished speaking and climbed directly onto the carriage. The group stumbled after her in a hurry.

One of the women, who had a mole at the corner of her mouth, couldn’t hold back her hunger any longer. “Godmother… could we have a bite to eat before we set out? Yesterday we only had a sip of millet porridge. Nothing too much—just a handful of rice would do.”

The trafficker, of course, had cut every possible corner with these people, starving them as long as they didn’t actually die.

“A sip? So stingy! If we’re going to eat, we’ll eat our fill!” Bai Lingmiao tossed a large sack of dry rations straight out.

Seeing this, Chun Xiaoman smiled knowingly to herself. Although Miao Miao’s personality had become more assertive, she was still just as kind as ever.

When they saw the mixed-grain mantou and the potted flatbread with dried meat inside, they could barely contain their excitement and crowded around, wolfing it down.

“I was here first! Move it!” Lü Xiucai shoved his way in. When he came out, he stuffed four mixed-grain mantou into Tao’er’s arms and started tearing into the dried meat himself.

He chewed as he looked up at Bai Lingmiao in the carriage. “Mistress, these little brats are a mess—no discipline at all. How about letting me take charge on the road?”

After calling her “Mistress” the first time, the next times came more smoothly.

He had figured it out by now. She was right. Without strength, you were worthless. When you had to bend, you bent. It wasn’t like it would cost you a piece of flesh.

“No. You can’t get anything done. You can’t even hide the resentment you feel toward me.”

Lü Xiucai’s heart jolted. “Mistress, how could I possibly resent you? You are my master’s wife.”

“Exactly. You’re afraid that if you actually did anything, Li Huowang would make your life a living hell.”

His body trembled at those words. Some bloody images that rose in his mind made it impossible for him to swallow the dried meat in his mouth.

Bai Lingmiao rested her head against the carriage window and looked down at him. “Completely useless, aren’t you? Does that feel unfair? I have a way for you to cultivate a supernatural power. Want to give it a try?”

Lü Xiucai lifted his head and looked at her. He remembered that night when the blind woman had taken a life so easily, and he nodded firmly. “Yes!”

“That bitch is looking down on me! What does she mean, ‘completely useless’? I just haven’t had my chance! If I get even a little opportunity, I’ll become stronger than Li Huowang!”