The Pair of Slaves

Her eyes narrowed at the sight.

People, young and old, male and female, chained together, trudged forward with grim faces. They were dressed plainly and looked filthy with their mud-stained and torn clothes. Some of them even had marks of tears on their faces.

An old man stumbled forward, losing his balance. The young man in front of him caught him before he hit the ground. He helped him up and the old man bowed to him in thanks. That moment caused their procession to be put in halt.

The man who looked like one of the people who works for the slave ring saw this and was irritated for being held up by the slaves.

He immediately took out his whip and proceeded to strike the two. However, the young man shielded the old man and received the striked on his behalf as well.

Instead of howling in pain, the young man only gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.

The old man tried to block the strikes, but the young man wouldn't budge.

Seeing no pleasure in a slave who doesn't scream in pain and beg for mercy, the man stopped striking him with his whip and put it away.

He spit at him before leaving. "Move!!!!"

The bystanders who saw the scene only moved to the side, finding this normal.

Song Jia was contemplating the situation.

How she wished she had the ability to abolish this practice. But she knew that even if she would protest, it wouldn't do anything to such business as long as the higher ups tolerate it. Even the empires would make slaves out of the citizens of the kingdoms they conquer.

An idea formed in her head.

"Big brother Sun Xun, can I ask you for a favor?"

Sun Xun looked at Song Jia wondering what favor she would ask of him. He had noticed her stare at the slaves and she even looked angered at the sight.

He wondered if she would ask his help to save those slaves.

"Speak.." Sun Xun waited for her words and was ready to speak in the affirmative. But what she said surprised him instead.

"I don't have a lot of money on me right now. Could you lend me some?"

".."

"I probably won't need a lot.."

"It's no problem. But what do you need it for?"

"I need to go to the slave ring.."

"You will buy a slave?" Wan Yan was only listening at first. But when the direction of the conversation turned this way, he couldn't help but voice out his surprise.

He was not a slave before he became Sun Xun's guard. He was from an ordinary family in their kingdom. They were not rich but they were not poor either. So he had no idea how it felt to be a slave. And yet, just looking at them was troubling.

"Yes."

He thought about it. 'Maybe he needs someone to do some errands for him?'

"Alright." Sun Xun gave his answer, surprising Wan Yan.

"Many thanks, big brother Sun Xun. I will pay you back as soon as I can."

"Then, can I help you pick?" Wan Yan offered. 'They should at least know how to cook or at least have some martial arts experience.'

Wan Yan felt that he became stupid for a second. 'How could a slave know martial arts? He wouldn't have become a slave in the first place then.'

"No need.."

"Eh?" Wan Yan knitted his brows.

"I already have my pick. Two of them to be exact."

"Two?" Wan Yan wondered how she even decided on a slave when she hadn't gone to the slave ring yet. A moment later, realization came over him and he almost slapped himself for not knowing right away. "Do you mean the pair of young and old men from earlier?"

Her lips curved in a smile, her eyes twinkling. "Yes."

"Can I ask why? I mean, I would understand that you pick the young man, but the old one?"

"Although he seemed frail, just the way he interacted with the young man showed that they got along."

"Just because of that? Maybe he gets along with the other ones too?"

"Not only that. If the old man had more strength, he would have been able to stop the young man from blocking the striked for him. He didn't want the young man to suffer on his behalf."

Wan Yan still didn't understand.

"I will be putting up a business in the future. I need people who can get along well with each other, and if need be, will take risks to protect the other. I wouldn't want one that would easily let others suffer or even push the others to suffer on their behalf without remorse."

"I see." Wan Yan finally saw her point. He agreed with this thought as well. He and the rest of Sun Xun's guards are like this as well. They're not only working for the same master, they treat each other like brothers. Their experiences strengthened their relationship. It could be the same for that pair too.

Sun Xun also understood her view on this.

"For a moment there, I thought that you'll ask my master to help save the slaves.."

"Ah.. haha.. If I could shoulder the debt then I would. I could only dare to borrow money, that one I could pay back sooner. But to save all of the slaves? Hehe.."

As the four had already finished their meal, they headed straight to the slave ring instead of the Agency of Market Commandants' office.

On their way there, dozens of pairs of eyes gazed in their direction, especially on the two Young Masters.

"Who are those people? I've never seen them around here..ah.. They're so handsome!"

"Eh.. looks like they're not from around here.. They're too handsome to not be noticed.."

Song Jia heard their mutterings. They did such a bad job at lowering their voice.

Since disguising herself as a young man, she has noticed that people would really stop to stare at her appearance.

It could be because she has only spent most of her life inside the Song Clan's residence and lacked interaction with the people outside that she didn't notice this.

Or that she was remembering the time when she was Cynthia Dorsey who lived in a country where people were in all shapes and sizes. Back there, some people would even be offended if they're being stared at. They were also too busy to even bother with other people.

Her ears burned as she heard them utter compliments her way. The man beside her, on the other hand, acted so nonchalantly as if he didn't hear them.