Chapter 138: 155. The Benevolent King Ning Fengzhi
The girl in the cage looked toward the corner where her future master stood. She recognized him, a flicker of surprise and hatred flashing in her eyes, but she concealed it well.
Elsewhere, in the audience, Huo Qiqiang sat beside Ning Fengzhi.
Seeing Ning Fengzhi end the auction, Huo Qiqiang joked, "Who would have thought, Sect Master Ning, that your tastes are so unique? You actually like beast-eared girls? Not bad, very good."
Ning Fengzhi quickly explained, "No, Sect Master Huo, you misunderstand me. My purpose in buying her was not for that."
"Oh? Then what was it?" Huo Qiqiang asked curiously.
Gu Rong explained on Ning Fengzhi's behalf, "The Sect Master never buys slaves for himself. It's out of compassion—he always spends money to buy these slaves and then grants them freedom."
Huo Qiqiang nodded. "I see. But this world cannot be changed by saving one or two slaves."
Ning Fengzhi replied calmly, "I have no ability to change much. I only seek to make some changes within my power, to honor my conscience."
Huo Qiqiang praised, "Sect Master Ning truly has a compassionate heart. For this girl to meet you is truly the fortune of several lifetimes."
For people of Huo Yuhao and Ning Fengzhi's level, the royal auction held nothing worthwhile.
Occasionally, there might be one or two attractive items, like soul bones, but never of high age.
Thus, the auction passed.
Ning Fengzhi brought the slave with him. He personally unlocked her handcuffs and leg irons, then took out a bag of gold soul coins and handed it to her.
The female slave stared blankly at Ning Fengzhi, somewhat puzzled.
"Child, you are free now. Take this money and go do what you want," Ning Fengzhi said gently.
The girl suddenly asked, "Why? Why did you save me?"
"The Sect Master saved you because he is a benevolent gentleman who cannot bear the world's suffering. You should be grateful to him, not ask why," Gu Rong scolded.
"Thank you." After thanking him, the girl took the money bag and left.
The surrounding nobles saw this and all gave Ning Fengzhi thumbs up: "Sect Master Ning truly is the benevolent king."
"This little slave meeting you, Sect Master, is truly the fortune of several lifetimes."
Huo Qiqiang also praised, "Seeing Sect Master Ning's benevolent act today truly fills me with admiration." With that, Huo Qiqiang also gave Ning Fengzhi a thumbs up.
"No, no," Ning Fengzhi quickly said. "I only do what I can within my power."
After completing his daily good deed, Ning Fengzhi invited Huo Qiqiang to discuss matters at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—this is a later story, to be set aside for now.
Meanwhile,
After leaving Ning Fengzhi, the slave girl found an abandoned black cloth to cover her cat ears and tail, then ran without stopping, fleeing the city, wanting to get as far from Heavenly Dou City as possible.
During her time as a slave, she knew they were auctioned as playthings to satisfy the special desires of Heavenly Dou City's nobles. She knew the empire's nobles played in very extravagant and depraved ways—some liked young boys, some enjoyed listening to girls' screams of pain, some indulged in human body sculpting. Her kind was within their hunting scope.
She didn't think Ning Fengzhi's mercy guaranteed her safety, because from the moment she gained "freedom," the slave hunting team had already targeted her.
In an alley of Heavenly Dou City, she was caught up to again.
"Your time of freedom is over now. Come back with us," a slave hunter said coldly to the slave girl.
The slave girl said nothing and turned to run in another direction, but several more hunters were waiting in that alley.
The girl turned to leave, only to discover hunters surrounding her from all sides—she was encircled.
The girl finally spoke: "Sect Master Ning granted me freedom—you cannot capture me."
The slave hunters' members froze at her words, then burst into laughter: "Hahahahaha."
"You really are a fool. Sect Master Ning freed you, sure, but did he promise to protect your freedom? No, right?" The leader of the slave hunters sneered. "Over these years, Sect Master Ning has been kind, buying slaves and freeing them, but once a slave, always a slave. He's freed many over the years, but we've caught them all back in the end. One slave earns double the money—Sect Master Ning gets the fame, we get the real profit. It's a win-win."
"Foolish thing, don't hold onto unrealistic fantasies. Sect Master Ning has freed plenty of slaves, but I can tell you straight—they all got caught and resold in the end. Hahahahaha." Another slave hunter laughed maniacally. "Including you."
"Just come back obediently with us, clean yourself up a bit. The prince is waiting for you to serve him," a third slave hunter said.
Their laughter was full of mockery as their footsteps closed in step by step on the slave girl.
The slave girl closed her eyes in despair and gave up.
However, after closing her eyes for a long time, she didn't feel the expected handcuffs and leg irons. Her delicate skin sensed a flow of cold air in the surrounding atmosphere.
She instinctively opened her eyes, only to see the previously arrogant slave hunters who had intended to drag her back to serve the prince now frozen solid in ice.
Their smug smiles remained vivid and lifelike within the translucent ice blocks.
What... happened? The girl couldn't react for a moment.
"You are called Luo Xingqi." A ethereal voice came from behind her.
The girl turned her head and saw an exquisitely beautiful silver-haired woman standing in the center between two ice blocks, looking at her. She was the source of the surrounding cold—the entire slave hunting team had been frozen to death on the spot by her.
She must be an extremely powerful soul master. What is her purpose?
The slave girl warily watched the woman before her.
"Rest assured, I am different from them. I am here to save you."
"Thank you!" The slave girl, having been saved once before, was already immune to such charitable "kindness."
"Though your background wasn't the best, you once lived without want, witnessing the glamorous side of this world, only to fall into the abyss and see its darkness. I ask you—do you not wish to change something?" the woman asked.
The girl shook her head, her eyes dim and lusterless, bitterly saying, "What do you want me to change? What can I change?"
"What you most want to change deep in your heart is something only you can answer, but I can grant you the power to change everything."
(END CHAPTER)
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