Liuhua Town

On the way to the town, Ling Xue remained silent and only spoke some words when asked something by others.

Through the conversation on the way, she got to know that the group of siblings were actually not all real siblings. Ah Heng and Ning'er were husband and wife, Ah Mo and Ah Feng were real brothers while Xiao Li was Ning'er's little cousin sister.

They also told her their identity. They couldn't help but feel safe around her which made them feel surprised. Maybe it was because they found her pleasing or thought of her as their own, they couldn't hold their tongue and told her their past.

Ling Xue was willing to lend her ear to their story since they were her saviours and she would do anything to repay a debt since she didn't like owing anyone.

The siblings came from the Luo kingdom which was now a part of Hou kingdom that was located at the south of Great Yan. They weren't normal citizens in there but slaves.

They weren't originally slaves but people who were captured by the barbarians as war loot and sold to nobles for entertainment or labours as slaves.

Slaves, the people who don't have any rights of their own and are even lower than servants or animals. Slavery was legal in some countries while Great Yan was more open and slavery was taken as illegal. Those who broke the rules were charged with capital offense and sentenced to death. But the people still had the concept of looking down upon slaves so even if the slaves escaped to other country, they could only live like a commoner and never go up their ranks.

The Hou kingdom was a country for barbarians and all types of violence and cruelties could be heard happening in many places in the country. Slaves were treated like playthings and their life and death were nothing to the nobles.

Even the normal citizens didn't live well. The country was run with tyranny and wars would continue happening all the time.

Ah Heng and others were slaves in a noble's house and were treated very low. Ah Heng and Ah Mo did hard labours, Ning'er and Xiao Li were lowly cleaners, while Ah Feng was the servant of one of the young master in the house but was abused and bullied all the times. So he was timid in nature.

They had to fight with other slaves for food and clothings. They couldn't even see the sight of coins and money.

They were very close to each other and treated each other like blood siblings.

One day, Ning'er was nearly raped by the second young master of that house. Luckily, Ah Heng was nearby and he accidentally killed that young master after he hit his head with a rod.

Ah Heng had already been planning to leave that place since a long time ago and had prepared escape routes too but he didn't think that the time to escape would be so early.

Because of that incident, he took the other siblings together with him with only some baggages filled with small portion of food and clothes. They were chased after by the family guards but they could manage to slip away from their sight and escape to the Great Yan.

Many other slaves also escaped from other countries to Great Yan because of the illegality of slavery.

They were all innocent and kind people who seek warmth from others and share some of theirs in the cold and cruel place they escaped from.

Hearing their story of their past, Ling Xue had nothing she could say. It's not that she didn't want to say anything but just that it was of no use. Just by giving their opinions about some things couldn't really change it.

The Hou country was like that, so were the people. The deep concept of violence and tyranny couldn't be changed in a day nor could the pain the slaves and citizens endured could be forgotten.

Ling Xue's own past was also like that. Not as a slave but treated like a beggar, but she endured and rose from a low place to a high position where she could look down upon those who did the same before. So everything depended on one's perseverance as well as their ambition.

"What do you want to do from now on?" Ling Xue asked after a moment of silence.

The siblings looked at each other. Ah Heng smiled a bit and said.

"We just want to start a new life. We don't want to leave our lives on other's hands and only want a peaceful life. Even if it isn't a luxurious life, enough food, clothes and a place to call home would be all we want. I just hope Great Yan won't disappoint us like the Hou country." The smile full of hopes hung on his face which seemed to hide the bitterness of the past.

" I wish you luck then." Said Ling Xue.

" Thank you." Ah Heng smiled and thanked her.

....

After walking for 20 minutes more, they could finally see the gate to the town. There was a long line of people in different clothes waiting for their turn to get pass the gate.

Ling Xue didn't want much trouble so she had already changed her facial structure to an average one with the use of her face changing pill that she thought of as very important to take with her every time she went out.

Coupled with the shabby clothes, she looked like one of the commoners. The black robe was torn in many places and was dirty so it's true quality couldn't be found out without looking at it closely so it didn't look weird in her arms.

They went to line up at the back and waited for their turn. There would be a body check up at the gate where girls were done by female guards and boys were done by male guards. She wasn't worried about them finding out her sword and the hidden pocket inside the cloak because the cloak was designed in a unique way to make a pocket that could be concealed and could hold many stuffs inside without bulging out of the cloak due to the fabric used to make it.

They waited for a whole 30 minutes till their turn finally came. Nothing odd was found during the body check so they could go past the gate after paying a small fee of 10 coins for one person.

The currency was used in coins, silver and gold.

1000 coins= 1 silver

100 silver= 1 gold

So 10 coins for 6 people were 60 coins that Ling Xue paid with a small tear drop piece of silver. And as expected, she didn't get the change which she didn't care much about.

The town was called Liuhua town and was small but it was bustling with all the merchants and other commoners traveling from other countries having to pass from this town to get to other places in Great Yan.

All types of Inns, restaurants, stalls and shops were lined up in the market area. The hawkers were hawking their items for sale while many were looking around the items displayed in the stalls.

"Wait, let's first go and buy some clothes. We can then look for an Inn to stay temporarily." Ling Xue stopped the group in front of a clothing shop and said.

"Clothes?...But..we don't have enough money." Ah Heng hesitated when he heard what she said.

"It's okay. I have some. Go inside." Ling Xue then headed inside the shop with the others looking at each other, hesitating. They then followed her inside hurriedly.

The shop wasn't very big but there were varieties of fabrics and ready made clothes. Although the fabrics weren't of very high quality, they could pass as clothes for daily use.

Seeing that some customers had arrived in the shop, the shopkeeper looked at them with a smile but when he saw their very shabby and dirty clothes, he couldn't keep up his smile and his treatment also turned to indifference.

"Show us some good ready made clothes of our measurement." Ling Xue said to the shopkeeper who only gave a glance at them with disdain and turned his head away, ignoring.

Seeing his attitude, Ling Xue didn't even frown nor change her expression and just took out a tael of silver from the pocket and slammed it at the counter.

"So, show or not?" Ling Xue asked again after seeing the shocked and delightful face of the shopkeeper.

His face became full of smiles and his face changed quickly. Even the siblings were shocked to see such money. They hadn't even seen a tael of silver for their whole life before.

"Of course, of course. I will show you all types of good clothes for you. Please wait for a bit and have some tea as the servants bring out the clothes for you to choose." The shopkeeper even pulled out a wooden chair for her and others to sit on by himself and ordered the servants to take their measurements and show them the clothes.

Ling Xue sat on the chair calmly while the siblings didn't know what to do. They only sat down after Ling Xue looked at them in askance.

"Miss, look, these are all the good clothes of very good designs and the fabric used in them are very soft. They are of good quality." The shopkeeper began to explain about the clothes after they were brought out by the servants.

Ling Xue looked at the clothes and let others choose whatever they like. The siblings hesitated to pick some clothes but did as she said.

....

They finished picking their clothes and everyone took 2 sets of clothes of both outer and inner wear for themselves. They also bought shoes for them since they only had slippers. It cost them exactly one tael of silver after they were done buying.

Ling Xue and others then headed towards the inn with the clothes inside the bags. The inn had a dining hall at the first floor while the rooms were at the upper floors. The inn wasn't very big with only 2 storeys and had more than 20 rooms.

They booked four rooms where one was for Ah Heng, the other for Ah Mo and Ah Feng, the third was for Ning'er and Xiao Li and the fourth for Ling Xue.

They went to their rooms and asked for water to take a bath. After finishing their bath, they changed into the new clothes and came out of their rooms to eat some food.

They looked more decent in the new clothes after the sweat and dirt were washed away.

They took a seat at a table in the corner of the dining hall and ordered some food and tea.

Ling Xue was listening to the gossips of the people in the inn since this was the only way to get some information about the incidents happening around.

She found nothing interesting or new after she listened around so she focused in eating her food that was finally served when she suddenly saw something that made her eyes flash with a peculiar light.