The frail young man's head was knocked to the side, his hidden face now turned towards Su Mu's direction.
It was him, Xie Yi.
Xie Yi also saw her. His eyes were lifeless, a sea of gray. A tear mixed with blood fell from the corner of his eye.
The scene of Xie Yi hugging her corpse and taking poison to end his life flashed through her mind again. "Elder Sister Mu, I couldn't wait until I was a hundred years old."
"It seems I've been too kind. In other households, trash like you would have been beaten long ago." The middle-aged man picked up a stick nearby.
"Stop!" Su Mu shouted almost instinctively.
"Who are you?" It was normal for these sheltered men to not recognize Su Mu, as they rarely saw women from outside.
Su Mu didn't answer him, but said instead, "Didn't you want to sell him? I'll buy him."
A ripple stirred in Xie Yi's dead eyes, but that ripple wasn't the light of salvation, but the sight of another abyss.
"You want to buy him?" The middle-aged man looked her up and down, then advised, "Young lady, I see you're young and pretty. Why not find a well-educated man to marry instead of buying this little slut?"
Su Mu ignored his words: "I just want to buy him."
"Fine." Seeing her insistence, the middle-aged man said, "Twenty taels of silver."
This little tramp might be a slut, but he was extremely beautiful, even more handsome than Yan Jiyue, the most beautiful man in Juen City.
He should have sold for a higher price, but unfortunately, last night in a fit of jealousy, he had used a branding iron to mark the character for 'lust' on his chest. Apart from male prostitutes in brothels, no woman would accept a man with such an insulting mark on his body.
His scholar wife-master, who had previously been so fond of this little slut Xie Yi, now despised him just as much after learning about the 'lust' character on his body, wanting to stay as far away as possible.
But because of this, the top-tier beauty Xie Yi could only be sold off cheaply.
"Alright." Su Mu had worked as a servant in the Yan family for half a year and had saved quite a bit of money. Fearing the man might change his mind, she immediately took out 20 taels of silver and gave it to him.
The man contentedly took the money and handed the deed of sale to Su Mu: "Young miss, this little slu— this person is yours from now on."
As the onlookers began to disperse, Su Mu crouched down and helped Xie Yi up, her heart aching.
She could clearly feel that the moment she touched Xie Yi, his body trembled.
"Are you alright?" Su Mu withdrew her hand and asked softly.
Xie Yi's face was now disheveled and swollen, his hands tightly guarding his collar, his eyes filled with fear and unease.
She suddenly remembered that at this moment, Xie Yi still couldn't understand much of the Central Plains language.
Su Mu pulled down her rolled-up sleeves, just enough to cover her palms.
Through the fabric, she gently gripped his wrist and spoke softly: "I'll take you away."
Xie Yi followed in a daze. He didn't quite understand what had happened, but seeing the man who had been bullying him give that piece of paper to the woman in front of him, he knew he had been sold again.
The last time he was sold, his life was worse than death. What about this time?
Xie Yi dared not think further.
But he also dared not run away. This was a strange world. Not running meant death, but running also meant death.
So he allowed his wrist to be held by the woman in front of him through the fabric. The fabric was very fine, and the woman's movements were gentle, rubbing against his hand without causing any pain.
Xie Yi silently watched the woman's back, her slender figure and long hair falling behind her like a waterfall of flowing sand.
She looked very beautiful, and the way she looked at him wasn't leering like his previous owner's, full of lust. If possible, he truly hoped she would be a good owner.
At least she wouldn't beat or scold him. Even if she did beat or scold him, it would be fine. He just hoped she wouldn't be like his previous owner's husband, using a branding iron with strange patterns to burn him. It was too painful. He would please her, using every method possible.
He followed Su Mu through winding alleys until they came to a small courtyard.
"This is where I used to live. The rent is paid for another half month. You can stay here for now." Su Mu brought him inside. Having been uninhabited for half a month, the room was covered in a thin layer of dust.
Su Mu coughed once from the dust.
The next moment, a folded handkerchief appeared before Su Mu's eyes.
Xie Yi held out the handkerchief, his dark green eyes with a Western Region flair looking at her. His bloodied lips forced a smile, a pleasing gesture masking the fear ingrained in his bones.
Su Mu sighed and tore the deed of sale to shreds in front of him: "Xie Yi, you don't need to try to please me."
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