"Granny Bai... then, is Lin Shuya the same as us?"
I was a bit confused. If what Granny Bai said was true, Lin Shuya should have been injured to develop the desire to eat people. However, it seemed that she hadn't been injured before!
"Her?!"
Granny Bai glanced at the small building where Lin Shuya had disappeared, then sighed. "She has other desires. If they're not satisfied, it'll be like scratching at her heart and liver..."
I had no idea what Lin Shuya's desires were. Didn't she have better food and a better life here than when she was a prostitute?
But... I suddenly remembered that I had broken her little finger today. I'm afraid this would give her a legitimate reason to harm others!
"Granny Bai, her injury!"
I couldn't help but look up at the building. Granny Bai understood what I meant and slowly shook her head. "She has brought this upon herself. Heaven will surely punish her."
"But..."
I was the one who injured Lin Shuya. How could I just stand by as the one who started it all?
"So, Xiao He! Think twice before you act in the future. When protecting yourself, if you can avoid hurting others, then don't."
Granny Bai gently tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. "I'm teaching you the ways of Taoism so that you can temper your character. After all, you still have a long way to go in life..."
After saying that, she still carried her medical kit and walked outside.
"Granny Bai, where are you going?" I anxiously followed her. "I'll go with you."
My body was already fine now. Lin Shuya was the only one in the small building. I was afraid that if she caused me trouble again, I would still couldn't help but fight back.
"You stay at home and rest."
Granny Bai looked at my complexion in the sunlight. "Lord Mu Yuan may come to find you in the next few days. Although he hates the killing of humans the most, if you have a legitimate reason, I believe he will make an exception."
Lord Mu Yuan was that white wolf.
Although he was a wild animal, I felt that he was more like a god, looking down on the ants in the world from a high position.
...
Maybe Lin Shuya was in pain from her hand, or maybe she was really watched closely by the two lieutenants. She didn't cause any more trouble for the whole noon.
After lunch, the shade in the small courtyard was nice. I took a book and leaned on the lounge chair as I had done in the previous days, flipping through it boredly.
This was Si Jiangchen's villa, which was just a temporary residence. He was too lazy to hire a doorman. He just sent two soldiers from the barracks to guard outside the door.
At this time, one of them trotted in and led three men into the courtyard.
"Madam, the policemen on the street and someone from the orphanage are here."
The guard saluted me.
I had been lying in a half - dead state for these days and didn't even know that everyone in the courtyard had been calling me like this.
Madam...
It sounded much more pleasant than "Miss".
The guard pointed to the three men he had brought.
Two of them were policemen in black military and police uniforms. A young man in a long gown and holding a felt hat was sandwiched between them.
"Good day, Madam."
The three of them bowed to greet me.
The two policemen were okay, but the man from the orphanage was a tall and thin pretty boy. When he bowed to me with the felt hat on his chest, I could feel that he was secretly glancing at me from the corner of his eye.
This feeling was very unpleasant. When I was fleeing from famine with the refugees, every time someone looked at me like this, something bad would happen in a few days.
Either I would be robbed or beaten.
This kind of look was full of intentions...
The orphanage was actually like a rescue station, providing shelter for children who had lost their relatives in the war or babies who were unwanted at birth. They would be raised until the children could support themselves or be adopted by kind - hearted people.
This was one of the few warm places in this chaotic and displaced world. I didn't expect the person in charge here to have such a look that I hated.
I immediately lost my good impression of the man from the orphanage.
"Madam, we are the policemen in charge of patrolling the street."
The two policemen said to me, "Last night when we were patrolling the street, we heard the screams of children in the backyard of the orphanage. So we broke in and saw three or four children lying in the yard with their bellies cut open. A woman in red was jumping over the wall."
"How do you know it was someone from our yard?"
I didn't mean to protect Lin Shuya.
From the policemen's words, I was already sure that it was Lin Shuya who had done this evil deed, because the scene was almost the same as what Granny Bai and I had seen in the City God Temple.
"We chased the person all the way until we saw her climb in here."
The policeman pointed at the vine - covered wall of the yard as he spoke.
... What an idiot.
I thought to myself. She couldn't even steal without leaving evidence. I didn't know if Lin Shuya was stupid or just fearless because of Si Jiangchen.
"Go and call Lin Shuya down."
I said to the guard standing beside me.
"Wait... please wait a moment."
Unexpectedly, the man from the orphanage who was holding the hat suddenly spoke up and interrupted me. "Madam, we're actually here to negotiate today..."
"Negotiate?"
I was a bit surprised.
"Yes."
The man smiled and bowed again. Then he lowered his voice slightly. "Actually, our orphanage can also provide some services. There's no need for the ladies in your mansion to sneak over at night."
"What... what do you mean by that?"
I already had a chilling feeling in my heart, but I still couldn't help asking, "What services?"
"Er..."
The man had already leaned in front of me. "Madam, our orphanage offers an adoption service. You can just pick the child you like and take them away."
"..."
I stared at the man with wide - open eyes.
"It only costs five silver dollars to adopt a child in our orphanage. The younger ones are a bit more expensive, eight silver dollars each. For the three five - year - old boys last night, we'll give you a discount. Just give us 20 silver dollars. You can ask around. The children in our orphanage are definitely fairly priced and healthy... If you need more in the future, you can just come to me."
"... So, you've been doing this kind of service for a long time?"
My fingers holding the book had turned a bit white. I still had to suppress my anger and asked, "Are there many people in Luocheng adopting children?"
"Yes!!"
The man didn't notice my expression and still said rather proudly, "I thought you knew... Among the wealthy ladies in Luocheng, there's a secret beauty - preserving technique that uses the hearts and livers of children as an ingredient. The younger the child, the more popular it is. In the past two months, many refugees have fled to Luocheng. Our orphanage has taken in a lot of orphans..."