In the autumn of the 11th year in Jiande, the world of Dongqi was in chaos.
As soon as Cheng Ling awoke, she heard someone cry out loud.
"No! You guys must leave at once! Aunt, don't you sell off my sister. We won't exchange her for food! We won't!"
The other girl's voice said firmly, "Give me five buckets of rice, and I'll go with you."
Cheng Ling opened her eyes and felt pain all over her body. She didn't know what kind of injury she had suffered, but she couldn't care about that.
She first looked around and saw that there were several people around.
A short but strong-looking woman was cursing with her hands on her waist, "Five buckets of rice? Do you think of yourself as the golden sparrow who wants to ascend to the heavens? You are just a little girl who does not have much, and you dare ask for five buckets of rice? Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself? Our Master Jin is kind and merciful enough to give you a bucket!"
As she cursed, Cheng Ling's line of sight passed all people present in the room and landed on a man with a trim beard standing a few meters away.
The man had a small mustache and he was standing with his arms crossed. His eyes were tiny, and there was a glint in them.
Cheng Ling did not know how, but with one look, she immediately knew that this person must be Master Jin.
The girl standing in front of him was the second eldest sister, Cheng Erni. And the one who was willing to sell herself for five buckets of rice was the eldest sister, Cheng Dani. The woman who was cursing was their Aunt Liu.
As for the onlookers, they had both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Cheng Ling glanced over, but she did not have the time to identify them one by one. All she could feel was the feeling of being broken.
None of these people were neatly dressed. They were all in tattered, dirty, and grey clothes.
Except for Master Jin and a few people, who looked like thugs, standing beside him.
She also noticed that everyone around was dressed in ancient costumes.
Cheng Ling covered her head and suddenly realized; she had transmigrated!
After yelling at Cheng Dani, Aunt Liu was currently smiling as she said to Master Jin, "Master Jin, this is the girl. One bucket of rice is enough. You can take her with you."
She then reached out to pull Cheng Dani.
Cheng Dani dodged, but after a few steps, Master Jin, who had been crossing his arms without saying a word, suddenly raised his hand.
The thugs beside him swarmed over, when someone even laughed and said, "Little girl, there's no need to hide. Come back with our Master Jin. After entering the city, you will at least have a full meal to eat, so what are you doing outside? Are you waiting to starve to death?"
Someone then remarked, "Five buckets? That was yesterday's price, and today it's one bucket! You are the one who came to the city gate to spread the word that you're willing to sell yourself. We're not snatching you away against your will. Our Master Jin is a kind man. He doesn't do that kind of thing!"
The bouncers were all over the place, but their price was one bucket, so how could Cheng Dani agree?
"I won't sell myself off to you if it's just for a bucket of rice!" She struggled.
Cheng Erni wanted to protect her sister, but a thug pushed her away, while the other raised a stick and smashed it at her head.
Just as blood was about to splatter on the spot, a person suddenly rushed over from the side.
The person pulled Cheng Erni away and stuck out two fingers at the same time. Like a poisonous dragon, they poked at the thug's eyes.
What good would it do if he was poked?
The thug was so shocked that his heart started beating wildly, and he subsequently turned around and closed his eyes. However, he was clearly swinging the stick with all his might. He struggled with the stick when he twisted his body, and it swung back wildly.
Bang! Bang!
It immediately hit a thug beside him, causing him to scream in pain. Blood spurted out from his nose, and he fell to the ground.
It was as if the pause button was pressed. All the men carrying hatchets, who were in the middle of tussling, turned their gaze over.
Cheng Erni was overjoyed. She looked at Cheng Ling, who had just pulled her away, and tears of joy came out. "Brother Ling, Brother Ling, you're awake!"
Cheng Ling's head was still a little dizzy, and her whole body was in pain, but she knew that she had to stand up in this situation. A bucket of rice to buy a big girl, what kind of world is this?
Cheng Ling raised her other hand. The broken pieces of porcelain in her hand were so sharp that they flashed.
She walked to Cheng Dani's side and pulled her behind, portraying a protective posture.
Perhaps her eyes were too sharp and terrifying, or perhaps her skills had just now made people fearful, or perhaps the broken porcelain pieces in her hands were more or less a deterrent.
Of course, it could also be that the thugs were a motley crew to begin with, and they were afraid of being stupid.
In short, no one stopped her.
A few of the thugs looked at Cheng Ling with sinister eyes, while Master Jin walked over with narrowed eyes.
"Little brother, are you trying to break the rules?"
Cheng Ling was dressed in men's clothes. Although she wasn't fully grown yet, just by standing there, she had the natural strength of a small pine tree, which made people look up to her.
This was not an exaggeration. One had to know that the people scattered outside the city were basically refugees who had no future. After suffering from the torture of fleeing, these people's essence, energy, and spirit were basically scattered.
Even if there were those who were not numb to it, the fear and uneasiness that came from the bottom of the society naturally existed and could not be hidden.
After all, temperament was something that could only be cultivated with environment and knowledge. Otherwise, why would there be a saying that "one's temperament changes with one's body"?
Cheng Ling's 'breaking willows at the edge of the courtyard can be used as a sword' spirit was enough to make her stand out among the refugees.
At this moment, Master Jin couldn't help but doubt his background.
This child couldn't actually be from some big family, right? If this was the case...
This was the bad habit of being too smart. If it was someone more reckless, then would Cheng Ling's different temperament even matter?
'No matter how energetic he is, he's still a poor dirty boy. Whoever cared about him?' Thought Master Jin to himself.
However, Master Jin had always been cautious and thoughtful. The more he looked at Cheng Ling, the more suspicious he became. Unconsciously, his bottom line was retreating.
"According to the rules, since I'm here, there's no reason for the neighboring Auntie to buy my sister," Cheng Ling said. "As for my sister herself, it's the same logic. Since I'm here, what can her words do?"
When she opened her mouth, her tone was neither fast nor slow, like the accent of the ancient vernacular novels, and she didn't seem like a vulgar person.
As for belittling Cheng Dani, there was no need to take it seriously.
Master Jin's brows raised slightly and he sneered, "Little brother, think carefully. You must know that in today's world, you protect people and think that you are good to them, but you would have never thought that the outside world is like wild sand. In just a few days, even the best people will wither. Why bother?"
He described the outside world as wild sand, and Cheng Ling slowly said, "I'd rather die hugging an incense stick than be blown into the north wind."
"Little brother, have you ever been to school?" Master Jin was stunned and asked solemnly.
On the side, Aunt Liu, watching the two of them talk slowly, couldn't stand it anymore. She held it in for a long time and finally screamed at the moment, "What's with the dead and alive! I'm going to kill you! Xiao Ling, you can't do this! If you don't sell Dani, how will you return my food? You can't do this. You're going to take my life..." She started wailing.
As she cried, she took a step forward, her short and strong figure stomping on the ground. It looked as though she was about to pounce on Cheng Ling.
Master Jin's eyes flickered, but Cheng Ling suddenly raised her hand.
A cold light suddenly flashed at this time. Aunt Liu, who had pounced over, only felt a gust of wind in her face and a pain in her neck.
A bone-piercing chill flowed down from her neck. Aunt Liu's legs trembled, and she could not move.
She subsequently raised her hand and wiped it across her neck, only to see a bright red stain on her finger.
Aunt Liu shrieked, "Ah! They're killing people!"
Her eyes rolled back as she fell to the ground.
At this time, the broken piece of porcelain that flew past Aunt Liu's neck had just landed a few meters away at Master Jin's feet.
With a clang, the porcelain pieces fell to the ground.
The remaining sharp horns on its head were still shaking slightly.