Chapter 58 - The Lineup

The humans lined up in front of him. There were few men amongst them, but they looked even more beautiful compared to the woman.

Eyes shining bright, they gazed at him in rapt attention.

Xia Che cleared his throat and started his speech. "Ahem, is anyone hurt?"

The humans all shook their head uniformly.

"Umm, okay. I know that everyone had been through so much and just want to go home. I will help you with that. But all of you have to cooperate with me, yes?"

"We will saviour. We will," the women screamed as tears rolled down their cheeks.

"Um, please don't cry. Everything is over now, you guys are safe. So..." he stuttered, glancing at their tearing gang.

But his comforting words brought more tears in their eyes.

The woman in pink rushed over again and hugged him.

"Oh, my saviour without you this princess's life would have been over," she cried.

'I think I made it worse,' he thought with a wince.

He was unsettled by her physical contact. It had never been the case for Yukiya and Long, but with this woman he could not tolerate her touch. He pried her fingers open from his shirt and kept her at a hand's distance. She whimpered and ran closer.

Putting a hand on her forehead, he kept her further from him.

He cleared his throat again, and the humans quieted down.

"I want you all to organise yourself. Men come to the right and women to the left," he said.

The humans shuffled and moved to their respective quadrant. There were total twelve women and three men. Some were older, around thirty years old, but some were younger than ten.

Sighing, Xia pinched his tight nerve on his forehead.

'Those heartless traffickers, they even kidnapped a ten your old.' He thought grinding his teeth.

He did not know what would have happened to them after they were sold. But he did know that their fate would have been worse than humane.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down.

"We are presently in the outskirts of the nearby town Gutlan. Now tell me who and all have their home there," he said.

Four of the girls and one of the men stepped forward.

"Okay good, you five stand there," he said separating them from the group. "Now, who and all are from Suikal," he said.

Five of them stepped up again. He made them stand separately. Only five remained in the original group. They all had a worried look and kept peering at him anxiously.

"It's okay, don't worry, all of you guys stand by my right," he instructed them.

They looked instantly relieved at his confirmation.

All of them stood in groups and peered at him with curiosity.

With an awkward laugh, Xia said, "does anyone know how to fold paper cranes?"

The groups started to murmur amongst themselves, but no one went forward.

The one who called herself princess, rushed forward shouting. "I know how. I fold paper boxes to..."

Xia gave her an awkward smirk and said, "Anyone else,"

With hesitation a small girl came forward and whispered, "I know how to,"

"Great, come over here I might need your help," Xia said, beckoning her close.

The princess still insistently raised her hand up. "I know how. Pick me too. Pick me," she cried.

"Princess, your noble self should not any meagre tasks such as this," he said sarcastically.

The woman lowered her head and softly sniffed. "Why am I discriminated because of my status? WHY?" she cried. She kneeled on the ground; hugging his legs, she sobbed loudly.

Her howls echoed in the empty grass field. The other women started to sniff and sob, glancing at the sobbing woman.

Covering his ears, he glanced down at the woman that was hugging his legs and sobbing. 'Why is this woman so troublesome?'

After some difficulty, he removed her from his legs.

She sniffed and gave him a lost puppy dog look.

"Fine, you can help as well," he relented.

"Oh god thank you saviour," she hugged him again.

"NO, no hugging. I am averse to touched," he said pushing her softly away.

She gave him a silly smile. "Oh okay I won't hug you saviour,"

Her maid watched all this from a distance. Sighing, she shook her head in disappointment.

The princess who was renounced as the most poise was secretly a boy crazy lady. She had made sure to hide it perfectly when she was in the palace, or when she was travelling with her guards. But after meeting this young man, all her manners had vanished into thin air, leaving this debauch princess in its wake.

"Saviour, you never mentioned your name," the princess whispered softly to the man.

"Oh, I forgot to. My name is Xia. Xia Che," he said with a small smile. His beautiful face looked flawless even under the dawn light. His plump lips had a small wound on it making it appear even redder.

"Saviour... No Xia, you are hurt," princess whispered and held a small delicate handkerchief over to him.

Touching his lips, his fingers tuned up bloody. Then remembered how he got the wound in the first place. 'God, this is a wound from my tussle,' he thought as a deep blush rose from his neck.

"What is it Xia?" the princess whispered, watching his face redden gradually. 'Is he blushing looking at me? Oh My GOD, he looks so cute. Why is my saviour so cute!!!' she internally cried.

"Oh its nothing, it's from the 'FIGHT'," Xia whispered, wiping his sweat.

"Hmm, don't worry, I have an amazing medicine that will heal you in minutes," princess said shuffling her bag tied to her sash.

"No, no, I have my own medicine," Xia shook his head. In actuality, he did not want to heal the wound. He remembered that it was given to him by little Long. Like a tumble weed, his mind drifted over to their night session yesterday.

'Was I too rough on Long? Maybe I should have slowed down my pace.' He was deep in thought.