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墨書 Inktalez
Weiyang and Zhang Ren might not know why Ye Huan came to Liangzhou, but both Ye Huan and the little princess were very clear about the purpose of their visit. Therefore, when they learned that more than half of the ordinary people on the streets of Northern Liang City were Professionals, they exchanged stunned glances, unable to comprehend the magnitude of this revelation.
How many people are there in the entire Huaxia Nation? About forty million.
How many people live in Liangzhou? According to the last census fifteen years ago, due to generations of development protected by the Liangzhou Mountains, Liangzhou's population had reached an astonishing four million, accounting for one-tenth of Huaxia Nation's total population.
In other words, based on the ratio on the streets, at least two million people in Liangzhou City must be Professionals! What does this mean? There are only three million Professionals in all of Huaxia Nation, and Northern Liang City alone accounts for two-thirds of that!
Upon receiving this terrifying figure, Ye Huan and the little princess were momentarily shocked and still found it hard to believe. They resolved to thoroughly investigate Liangzhou City, a decision that was also supported by Zhang Ren and Weiyang.
Two million Professionals—if someone incited them, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to storm the Royal Capital given their numerical advantage. As citizens of Huaxia Nation, Ye Huan and his companions felt it was necessary to understand the situation in Northern Liang City and report their findings to Zhao Wujie.
Having made up their minds, they found a fabric shop on the street to buy new clothes and then located an inn where they took a hot bath before reappearing on the bustling streets of Liangzhou City.
To gather information, Ye Huan and his companions relied on Zhang Ren, who had worked with Town Enforcers for several years and was more familiar with the process. After winding through many alleys in the city, Zhang Ren quickly led them to a place that emanated a foul stench.
Every world has its hierarchy, and the Nine Provinces Continent is no exception. Aside from a few Noble Lords and barely surviving commoners, most were impoverished individuals who could hardly afford food.
In Liangzhou City, for the sake of maintaining the city's image, these starving poor people had been driven by ruthless Noble Lords to a single location—the slum where Ye Huan and his companions now found themselves.
All around them were makeshift straw huts. Beneath these huts sat many disheveled individuals who seemed as if they hadn’t bathed in days. Covered in insects and oblivious to their plight, they sat blankly on the ground with vacant eyes devoid of focus or spirit.
Seeing all this made Ye Huan feel uneasy. He turned his gaze toward Zhang Ren, wanting to understand why he had brought them here—to gather information from those who had lost all hope in life?
Noticing that Ye Huan was looking at him, Zhang Ren smiled and gestured towards Ye Huan's left side. Following Zhang Ren's indication, Ye Huan discovered that not far away, a beggar dressed in rags had appeared, his face covered in dirt, hair tangled like a bird's nest, and his eyes filled with fear as he looked at Ye Huan and the others.
Realizing that Ye Huan was watching him, the beggar seemed to have made up his mind. He stomped his bare foot angrily on the ground and walked toward Ye Huan. When he was only about a meter away from Ye Huan, the beggar stopped and spoke in a clear voice, "Noble sirs, what brings you here to inquire?"
Noble? Hearing this title made Ye Huan feel somewhat uncomfortable. What he was more concerned about was what this beggar was doing and how he knew their purpose for coming here.
Before Ye Huan could ask Zhang Ren, who was more familiar with these matters, Zhang Ren stepped forward at that moment, holding some silver coins in his hand. He directly stuffed them into the beggar's hand and softly said, "Take this money back to your family and then come back to follow us!"
The beggar cautiously glanced at the silver coins in his hand. After confirming they were indeed real silver, he couldn't help but grin. However, the beggar's face was so dirty that Ye Huan couldn't tell if he was crying or smiling.
After the beggar took the silver coins and walked away with his thin legs, Zhang Ren finally spoke about why they had come here.
A slum, as the name suggests, is inhabited by the poor. It is nothing like what outsiders describe; there are no tiled houses to sleep in or food to eat. Many of the residents are former soldiers who have returned from battle but lost their ability to work due to physical disabilities. In extreme hunger, they might even resort to cannibalism. The large number of missing persons in the slums is closely related to this issue.
Over time, in order to ensure their children could survive, many ordinary disabled citizens taught their children a way of life: trading!
Living at the bottom of society, many people in the slums possess information unknown to the outside world, which has become one of the ways to exchange for money.
At the same time, those living in poverty would send their children away when others came asking for information to prevent them from becoming prey in the slums. This gradually fostered a culture: pay money, take a beggar away, and the beggar would provide the buyer with the needed information...
After Zhang Ren finished explaining, Ye Huan felt deeply shocked by this kind of transaction. A handful of silver coins for a human life—Ye Huan's mind told him that clearly a life should be more important. But what about what was happening right before him? The value of money seemed greater than that of life; why was this so?
Suppressing an inexplicable surge of anger within him, Ye Huan kicked the ground hard. He felt an overwhelming urge to vent his frustrations and didn't want to stay there for another second.
Turning around in frustration, Ye Huan was surprised to see the beggar who had previously held the broken silver coins standing right behind him, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"Don't be surprised. There aren't any real roads in the slums, so it's perfectly normal for me to appear behind you," Zhang Ren said, as if he could read Ye Huan's thoughts. He gently patted Ye Huan on the shoulder and continued, "Alright, let's go!"
With that, Zhang Ren led the beggar out of the slums, and Ye Huan had no choice but to follow. As for Weiyang and the little princess? They had already refused to step any further once they reached the outskirts of the slums and were quietly waiting outside.
After regrouping with the little princess and Weiyang, it was clear that both were very curious about why Ye Huan had brought a beggar along, their eyes filled with questions.
Without explaining on the street, they quickly returned to the inn. Zhang Ren then shared the reasons with the little princess and Weiyang while Ye Huan grabbed a stool and sat in front of the beggar. However, within three seconds, the foul stench emanating from the beggar overwhelmed Ye Huan, leaving him unable to ask anything. He could only rush off to have the waiter prepare some hot water, intending to clean up the beggar first before continuing.
Having money made things easier. After tossing some broken silver coins to the inn's waiter, a wooden tub filled with hot water was soon brought into the room where Ye Huan and the others were.
"Hey, go take a bath first; I'll ask you questions afterward," Ye Huan said, nodding in satisfaction at the sight of the tub filled with hot water as he addressed the beggar.
Under normal circumstances, one would expect that after not bathing for a long time, there would be a sticky feeling that made one eager to wash off. However, what Ye Huan and his companions saw was quite different: the beggar was trembling and slowly moving backward until he found himself in a corner of the room. His bright eyes blinked rapidly, clearly filled with fear of the hot water.
Shaking his head helplessly, Ye Huan turned to Zhang Ren beside him and said, "Zhang Ren, why don't you help him take a bath?"
"Huh? No way! I've never done anything like that before. Besides, I was just with you in the slums; it's Weiyang's turn this time..."
Upon hearing that he would have to help someone bathe, Zhang Ren immediately became reluctant, hurriedly waving his hands and pointing at Weiyang.
Like Zhang Ren, Weiyang was even less likely to agree to such a task. Not only did the beggar smell bad, but even if he had been the fragrant grandson of the Mage Association president, Weiyang would still have scoffed at helping someone else bathe.
As for the little princess, that was something he could only dream about...
With a frustrated glance at everyone, Ye Huan rolled up his sleeves and strode confidently toward the Beggar. He had made up his mind that no matter how big the problem was, it would have to wait until he helped this little one take a bath; otherwise, he would soon be overwhelmed by the stench emanating from the Beggar.
Before long, Ye Huan stood in front of the Beggar and reached out to grab him, but he missed entirely as the Beggar dodged to the side, looking back at Ye Huan with a hint of pleading in his eyes.
Gazing into the Beggar's eyes, Ye Huan understood what he meant, but he still decided that he had to help the Beggar bathe no matter what. He really couldn't endure that smell any longer. He reached out again, but once more he grabbed nothing as the little Beggar evaded him.
Reach out, miss; reach out, miss...
After several attempts, the Beggar continued to evade Ye Huan's grasp. Frustrated and unable to tolerate the foul odor any longer, Ye Huan lunged like a hungry tiger and scooped up the Beggar.
Perhaps due to not paying attention to his posture when he lunged earlier, Ye Huan found his right hand awkwardly positioned between the Beggar's legs after lifting him up, which made him feel quite embarrassed.
However, just as he thought about moving his hand away, he suddenly sensed something was off. He touched again between the Beggar's legs and found it unusually flat...
"No little brother?"
Like being struck by lightning, Ye Huan froze in place like a dead tree, unable to move...
Around them, the little princess and others initially planned to watch the show, but upon hearing Ye Huan's exclamation, they all paused in unison, a single question popping into their minds: 'A girl?'
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