Chapter 52: The Slave

They ran alongside each other following the directions the inn owner gave them. They were surprised to be led to many tight areas and shady places that made them feel uncomfortable. Finally, an underground staircase led to a large opening of a gladiator arena.

The arena was a humongous circular pit about three stories deep into the earth and an open ceiling. The walls were made of dirt and clay, protruding three levels of balcony all around the arena. All three levels were already filled with all sorts of people. As they made their way through, the people stank of dirt or garlic. There was one guy who smelled like steamed buns and that was the best smell so far. Everyone was shouting and pushing for some reason

They found Silang on the middle level, looking down to the ground where a man was fighting to the death with a tiger. Her brother was cheering excitedly, throwing his fists in the air with enthusiasm and thrill.

Xiu'er approached him and punched him in the face, completely throwing her brother off guard. He fell backwards and rose again with his fist in the air, unaware of who had attacked him. When he saw that it was his sister who came with Kun Shang, he was struck with guilt and shame. He gave a rough laugh and lowered his fist.

When Kun Shang asked him where his money went, he told him he'd already bet all the money on the fight. This was a gambling den but instead of playing, players gamble their money on the fight below, and he had betted on the tiger.

Xiu'er punched him in the stomach again.

"I don't care!" He grunted. "I had never seen a gambling den as impressive as this one. Man versus wild beasts. Just take a look at the intensity of the fight." He pointed it out.

With the money gone, they could only do nothing but watch the fight to see who the winner was. And it was almost too cruel that Silang had bet on the tiger. That meant the tiger would have to kill the man for them to earn their money back.

When Silang saw that Kun Shang's attention was completely occupied by the battle down there, he nudged his sister and whispered into her ear.

"That man is no ordinary person."

Sure enough, Xiu'er thought, her brother didn't come here just to gamble but to collect information as well.

She looked more closely at the man fighting with the tiger. He was wearing a torn robe that exposed his entire chest muscles, the sleeves were rolled up to reveal thick, muscular arms but were bloody. His pants were tattered to the knee, exposing scarred calves and bare feet. Most interestingly, the way he fought with the tiger, he was using very strong earth element powers such as cracking the ground, making a giant boulder roll, and creating a rock barrier.

Xiu'er nudged Kun Shang on the arm. He looked down at her with an accidental intimate moment until she broke eye contact. He too, noticed the man's earth element powers. Kun Shang had paid more attention to the man's clothes, and soon realized that this gambling den ran on the entertainment of slaves fighting with wild beasts. This meant the man down there was a slave, and slaves are a sensitive topic to touch that involved a lot of money and politics. If there was a chance the man had the earth element, Kun Shang would need to go through a lot of trouble to acquire him. The first one being losing all his money for him to win the fight.

Fortunately, the slave man did kill the tiger by smashing a rock repeatedly on its skull. By now Kun Shang had lost all interest in his money, the slave man was the only thing in his mind. As soon as the tiger was confirmed dead, the slave man was dragged off the arena by some workers.

Running to the back stage, the three of them were just in time to see the slave owner counting the gambled money with a satisfied face. The slave owner was plumb with a long braided beard who looked like he hadn't taken a bath in five years. His stomach was held by a tight belt that could burst at any moment.

The slave man came out of a door and walked unsteadily past his owner. The slave owner gave some quick words of praise to his slave but didn't even raise his head to greet him to see how much blood was covering his body. The slave man seemed exhausted and trudged past the owner and Xiu'er and them without batting an eye in their direction.

Xiu'er approached the slave owner after seeing the man leave a trail of blood behind him. Out of the blue, she introduced herself as a local physician and offered the slave owner an irresistible free treatment for the slave man's wounds. Before leaving, she took out Gou Qingzhao's money bag and gave whatever was left to Kun Shang.

"Buy him," she whispered, and left her brother and him with the slave owner.

Xiu'er quickly followed the trail of blood but it stopped in a dirt tunnel. The tunnel was small and tight, almost like rabbit tunnels and lit with candles but it was still very dim. She found that the tunnel held bunkers for the slaves. Each bunker was a small one room area with a short clay bed in the corner. Each room was built to hold a slave. Other rooms were found empty, making her wonder how many of them didn't survive to return to their rooms. She was lucky that none of the rooms have doors, which led her to see the slave man sitting on the clay bed with his head lowered into his hands.

She stood by the doorway and called out. "Your owner sent me to look after your wounds."

There was no response from him so she invited herself in, sat next to him and tapped on his uninjured shoulder.

When he lifted his head, she could see that he was a handsome man and well built with defined muscle tones. He had pleasant eyes, a tall nose bridge, large soft lips and a square chin. Even though he looked like a caveman, his handsomeness overcame that characteristic. His skin was tan, his hair tangled beyond fixable and he smelled like a mixture of dirt and animals. He didn't say anything as he turned his bloody shoulder to her. There were three deep cuts from the tiger's claw that almost reached the bone.

"Can you speak?" Xiu'er asked him in case he's a mute.

He looked at her and held the gaze for a while before nodding.

"Miss," he said in a deep husky voice.

Xiu'er smiled and told him that this was going to hurt. She took out a fresh handkerchief from her belt to wipe the blood. To her surprise, he didn't grunt, flinch or even blink when she touched his skin with her finger. Normally, a wound this size would be excruciating and agonizing, but all he did was clench his jaw. She had never seen a man handle so much pain before. This must require at least 70 stitches for all three cuts and need extensive care, but he made it feel like a scratch to him. She couldn't afford time for the healing period. She doesn't have any equipment to sew him up and it would take at least three months to heal. This was time she couldn't afford.

In order to heal him fast, Xiu'er decided to resort to one of her last ideas.

"Your wound is too deep and requires a lot of stitching. Unfortunately, I don't have any medical threads with me at the moment." She peeked her head over at his silence. He didn't look to be a talkative person and was probably drowned in thoughts, but at least she could tell he wanted to be saved and was let down by her resources.

"What is your name?" Xiu'er asked him softly.

It seemed like he was thinking about it for a while before muttering.

"Jiyi. Sangshi." He locked eyes with her. "My name is Jiyi Sangshi."

Xiu'er was shocked. Her eyes widened slightly and she blinked. Jiyi Sangshi meant Memory Loss. Does that mean he lost his memories and forgot his name?

Xiu'er smiled. "Jiyi Sangshi, don't look so disappointed at me. I do have another way to help you and it may even be a better way. In a little bit, there's going to be two other men coming in here. They're my friends. What I'm about to do to you, please don't let them know. Only if you promise me this, can I help heal your wounds, understand?"

The tousled hair slave nodded his head. Xiu'er smiled warmly to reassure him first. She then took out her hairpin, broke off the green gem and put it in the palm of her hand.

"Xiao Lulu!" She whispered to the gem. The slave man was astonished to see the stone lifted from her hand and turned into a magical person the size of an index finger. The little person had green butterfly wings, she was wearing a cute little green dress and hovered in front of them.

"Xiao Lulu, can you heal this man's wound?"

Xiu'er smiled at the tiny fairy, in which the fairy nodded before flying over to the man's shoulder. She faced her tiny palms at the wound and a green energy was seen leaving her hands. Though the size of her powers were small compared to the three large cuts, in an instant, the deep open wound was healed completely with no scars, as if the wound was just an illusion. After finishing the job, the fairy's head tipped back and forth as if she was going to faint. Her wings stopped working and she fell into Xiu'er's palm, transforming into a green gem once more.

"Is she going to be ok?" Jiyi Sangshi asked Xiu'er with concerned eyes.

"I'll give her an orange later," she said as she stuck the gem back into the hairpin, and put the pin in her hair. "That'll fix things up for the little one. Remember, you mustn't tell anyone about this. Absolutely no one, okay? It looks like Xiao Lulu likes you, and she doesn't want anyone to know she exists. This will be our little secret."