"Bite this piece of wood tightly and you will feel better. I'm sorry, I-I could only think of this method."
Thales frowned and knelt in front of Ryan.
The crippled child beggar leaned against the wall, half-lying on the ground. He raised his right hand, which was still bleeding. He stared blankly at Thales, who was sharpening a dagger on a blunt stone. He let Thales stuff a piece of wood into his mouth.
Behind Thales, the girl, Coria, was sitting on the steps of the courtyard and the house with a dull expression. The burn on the left side of her face, which had been treated and applied medicine, was now covered with a piece of cloth.
And that charred silver coin was now tightly grasped in her hand.
The girl widened her eyes and looked around. She even looked up at the moon and laughed hysterically.
Behind her, Quide's corpse was leaning against the broken wall.
A wave of nausea assaulted Thales.
Thales could vaguely feel the sensation of metal piercing into flesh and blood from time to time when he wielded the blade.
Thales sighed and endured the discomfort of killing for the first time. The burn on his chest was still hurting, and it took away a lot of his attention.
He had to kill Quide. Thales did not regret it. However, he had taken a life. No matter what Quide had done, whether he deserved to die or not, in a sense, he was equal to his own kind. He was a two-legged living being.
And Thales had stabbed the dagger into his neck.
More importantly, Thales turned his head and looked at Coria. He sharpened the dagger in his hand faster and faster.
These children had probably experienced the most crucial scene in their lives.
An illusory scene appeared in front of his eyes. The light from the projector and the words on the slide appeared like breaking waves.
"… The paper I will be reporting for today's class is mainly focused on the field of psychology. From the perspective of developmental psychology, childhood and adolescence are the most crucial period for the formation of a person's mind and personality. Bloom's follow-up research found that the environment, interaction, and behavior experienced during this period are strongly related to the future personality and psychological development. Many theoretical studies also believe that this influence may last for a lifetime … "
Thales shook his head and buried another piece of memory that had been retrieved deep in his heart.
The mental health of the child beggars was secondary. The problem at hand was how to survive.
Thales suppressed the disgust in his heart and shifted his attention to the dagger in his hand.
The dagger was not even as long as an adult's forearm. It was single-edged, and the tip of the blade was slightly curved. The wooden handle was wrapped with a black leather belt to prevent slippage, and the two sides of the blade were smooth. Huh?
Thales suddenly noticed that the word 'JC' was engraved on one side of the blade after being washed by the fresh blood.
jc?
Thales' gaze changed slightly, and a thought struck him.
'Haha, no matter how many tricks, how many schemes, and how clever they are, they are not as useful as JC's dagger,' Thales thought.
Then, Thales' gaze turned cold. A moment ago, he was still sharpening the blade, but in the next moment, it appeared beside Ryan's severed hand!
"Chi!"
Thales cut down without hesitation!
The blade cut off the last bit of flesh between Ryan's palm and wrist.
"Yes! Mm! Humph! "
Ryan's body spasmed violently like a prawn in the Asir River that had fallen into boiling water.
He bit the firewood tightly, and a frightening sound came from his throat. His eyes were tightly shut in pain, and his face was distorted into an exaggerated shape. Tears and snot flowed down his face.
Thales quickly pulled over a strip of cloth with medicine (it was actually just some Urde Dragon Grass), wrapped it around Ryan's severed hand, and tied it back and forth violently.
'Hopefully this will work, stop the bleeding, and prevent infection, or else …' Thales looked at the fire and shook his head.
Ryan was still convulsing in pain. Thales pressed down on his severed hand with one hand, and pulled him into his embrace with the other.
"Hang in there, Ryan. It'll be over soon. Hang in there!" Thales comforted him softly with his eyes closed. The burn on his chest was grazed by Ryan's hair, and he felt a piercing pain.
Thales looked to the other side. Kellet, Ned, and Ursula were lying quietly under the moonlight.
It was as if they were asleep.
Ryan's breathing gradually became regular, but Coria began to sob softly again.
"Thales, sob, I'm so scared. Coria doesn't have typhoid. Coria is already healed —"
Thales put Ryan down, turned around, and held Coria in his arms. He carefully avoided the burn on her face, and patted her gently.
"It's okay, Coria. It's okay now."
'I'm sorry.
I didn't protect everyone. '
"Thales!"
Thales opened his eyes and looked at Sinti, who ran back, panting. He asked calmly, "How's the situation outside?"
Sinti was the least injured among the children in the sixth house. After Thales helped him reattach his dislocated leg, he was sent out by Thales to gather information and spread the word about the possible arrival of the members of the Brotherhood. Sinti's life as a child beggar allowed them to master a lot of self-saving knowledge, such as reattaching bones, or dismantling bones.
No Rick, no thugs, no one from the Brotherhood. It seems that the people outside the Abandoned Houses don't know anything. "
Sinti was the oldest and had a tacit understanding with Thales for a long time. He directly told Thales what he was most concerned about.
"Quide seems to have gone to many houses. Some people managed to escape. However, excluding us and the seventeenth house, there are at least six or seven houses with no movement."
Thales' eyes dimmed. The sixth house was not the Abandoned House closest to the main door. He could roughly guess the fate of the child beggars in those houses.
"Now the child beggars know what happened. Everyone is spreading the news that the Brotherhood wants to kill all of us. Some people are hiding in their houses and dare not come out. However, most of them ran to the streets. Some even want to escape. "
Thales' eyes brightened. "Wait, you said that the thugs are gone?"
Sinti knew what Thales was thinking. He shook his head and said bitterly, "It's useless. The main door is locked from the outside. Karak led the people in his house and shouted at the door, but no one came. Unless we can cross the trench and the spikes inside, we can't escape. "
"We …" Ryan struggled. He hugged his right hand and sat up from the ground. His face was pale. "Do we have to escape? We can wait here until morning. When Rick and the others come, we can tell them that Quide went crazy … "
"No!" Thales firmly interrupted Ryan. "Quide died in the Abandoned House. If they find the murderer, we will definitely die. Even if they can't find the murderer, they will use the child beggars as an explanation. Moreover, Quide's father is a big shot in the Brotherhood. They will not let this go. "
"Moreover," Thales looked at Ryan coldly, "do you still want to wait for them to send the next Quide? Even if the next leader is not someone like Quide, once he finds out that his predecessor died in the hands of the child beggars, do you still expect him to feed you well and kneel down to beg you not to kill him? "
Ryan, Coria, and Sinti could not understand what Thales was saying. The three of them blinked their eyes and looked as if they did not understand.
Thales looked at the three of them and helplessly lowered his head. He sighed and said, "Sigh … Simply put, we have to escape."
"Oh."
The three children nodded in unison as if they were suddenly enlightened.
Thales shook his head helplessly.
Suddenly, a scene appeared in front of his eyes.
Heavy snow swirled on the scattered streets. A graceful figure hopped and skipped as she walked in front of him, mumbling incessantly.
"So, Weber used his observations and historical data to summarize the origin of capitalism in Europe. In his book, he mocked Old Ma for saying that the economic base determines the superstructure …"
"Although I don't understand what you are talking about, it sounds very powerful."
"Sigh … Simply put, Weber is using his intelligence to crush Old Ma."
"Oh, is that so? Then let's go eat hotpot!"
"Obviously, you are the one who asked me what lessons I had today. Can you not change the topic so quickly? And why are you changing the topic so naturally?! "
"Then it's decided. Korean-style barbecue! Assault Freedom, attack! "
"Wasn't it about hotpot just now … Hey, don't push me … And what assault freedom? I already said don't push me …"
Thales closed his eyes tightly and dispelled the illusion of the memories that surged back to him from the void.
Recently, the memories were surging back more frequently. 'Past events' appeared one by one.
'But not now.
It cannot be now.
There are more important things to do now. '
Thales opened his eyes and found that the three children were waiting for his decision.
He stood up gently and pulled Ryan up as well. He took a deep breath.
"First of all, when there is no one outside, move Quide out of the sixth house. Although he is very heavy, we cannot let anyone know that his death is related to us in the short term.
"Then, Sinti, go and secretly pass the message to everyone. You must do it secretly. Don't let anyone know that you deliberately passed the message. Tell them that there are five loose spikes at the bottom of the trench on the left of the fourth house. Remove them and cover the remaining two spikes with a stone slab or something. Then, they can escape from the Abandoned House. "
Sinti was shocked. "You, you found the secret passage in the deep trench?"
"Secret passage?" Ryan and Coria seemed to be shocked as well.
Thales did not say anything. He only patted Sinti's shoulder. "Go."
That was not a secret passage dug by a powerful senior child beggar.
The so-called secret passage was dug by him using the excuse that he could return at night by begging at the West City Gate twice a week. He took a dagger, tree vines, linen, and a corrosive agent from the pharmacy and secretly dug it over the past four years.
It was like Errol's "Shawshank's Redemption".
As for the legend, it was simply a fantasy.
There was never a savior, was there?
Thales patted Sinti's shoulder again. The latter nodded and was about to turn around when he scratched his head. He seemed to have thought of something and asked doubtfully,
"Why do we have to tell everyone? Can't we escape by ourselves? The more people there are, the harder it will be for us to escape, and the slower we will be. "
'No,' Thales said in his heart. 'The Brotherhood is not to be trifled with. They have spies in every street, every road, and every corner of the three lower districts. The outskirts of the West City Gate are also filled with their lackeys. For a few child beggars who were not even ten years old, even if they escaped from the Abandoned House, it would be difficult to escape from the Brotherhood.'
Thales' original escape plan required another half a year. He would then be able to completely figure out the pattern and rhythm of the Brotherhood's spies between the Third District of the lower city and Red Street Market. Then, he would be able to prepare supplies from Sunset Pub and Grove Pharmacy. Then, the possibility of their escape would greatly increase.
As long as they could escape to Red Street Market.
But now, now was not the best time.
But in order to survive, they had to escape. Accidents always came suddenly, right?
So, he had to turn the escape of the sixth house into a mass commotion among the child beggars.
If only the sixth house was missing, it would be too obvious. The Brotherhood would soon find them. Secondly, the more people there were, the slower they would escape, but the safer and more inconspicuous they would be.
However, if he had to list out these reasons one by one …
Thales raised his head and looked at Sinti. His piercing gaze made the latter feel uncomfortable.
"Sinti, do you still remember the promise we made four years ago?"
Sinti was stunned for a moment. He lowered his head and pondered for a moment.
When he raised his head, his gaze had already become firm.
"Of course." Sinti looked at Thales, at the boy who was a head shorter than him, and slowly said, "You are in charge of thinking, I am in charge of doing."
Thales nodded solemnly.
"Let's escape together!"
Jala Charleton watched in boredom as the last customer walked out of Sunset Pub. She then stood up lazily and kept his cup.
There weren't many customers today, especially the Brotherhood's own people. Many of them had been transferred to participate in that "big operation." Even the cook, Edmund, had gone with a machete. It was said that he was going to return a favor.
The old man had not been back for a long time.
'Boring.'
Jala glanced at the clock on the wall. It was half past three in the morning. It was a little early.
However, that clock was also a little slow.
'That clock is already very old,' Jala thought. 'Even the back groove of the Eternal Oil is rusty. The rust has mixed into the Eternal Oil and greatly reduced the efficiency of work.
'I have to think of a way to make the old man pay some money and change the clock.'
Sunset Pub had so much business, but there was no tax collector from the City Hall to collect taxes ("For the king's sake, I will give him two middle fingers!" – Jala). There were also no idiots who came to ask for protection fees ("A hundred coppers per person, and I will protect your fingers from being chopped off by me. How about that?" – Jala). Even the stock of goods was obtained from the Black Street Brotherhood's own channel at a discounted price ("Naer Rick, you are in charge of the accounts. Hurry up and tell these brothers on the ground, and also my knife, what price should you give me when I purchase the goods?" – Jala). It should be possible to pay some money to change the bar's clock, right?
'That stingy old man.'
After closing the main door and dealing with the matters at the bar counter, Jala put down her apron and rag, tightened her leather pants, extinguished the Everlasting Lamp at the front desk (what an ironic name), and walked into the kitchen.
It was a little early today. According to the old rules, after she finished her training, there was still —
The next moment, Jala's expression became cold and fierce!
She instantly lowered her body and bent her knees to a position where she could easily exert force. The Wolf Limb Blade, which was famous in Black Street, instantly moved to her left hand.
The blade flew out like a bolt of lightning!
* Thud! *
The Wolf Limb Blade fiercely stabbed into a wine barrel!
Only a small part of the blade was exposed, and the hilt was still trembling.
"Ah!" It was a little girl's terrified scream.
Jala slowly straightened her body and sheathed the other Wolf Limb Blade in her right hand back into her boot. Then, she lit the Everlasting Lamp beside her.
The lamp illuminated the dark kitchen, and a few small figures appeared.
"Jala … Um …" Thales, the boy who was frightened by the Wolf Limb Blade, forced a smile. He raised his slightly trembling right hand and shook it unnaturally. "Hi … It's me."
Jala stared at him coldly and did not say a word.
Her gaze was sharp and terrifying. Coria shrank her body towards Thales in fear.
Jala suddenly walked over.
Thales felt the three child beggars behind him take a step back unnaturally.
"I know," Jala said coldly. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been aiming at a wine barrel."
Jala walked in front of him and pulled out the Wolf Limb Blade from the wine barrel that was two inches away from Thales' left ear. She twirled the blade in front of him as if to demonstrate her strength before she sheathed it into her boot.
"And, you brat …"
Thales rolled his eyes in his heart. He instinctively raised his hand to protect his forehead.
But a slender finger had already poked him!
"Ah! It hurts!
You must call me Sister Jala! "
—
"When I came in from the back door, I didn't see Edmund, so I wanted to go to the kitchen to take a look …"
They were now in the cellar of Sunset Pub. The three child beggars, aside from Thales, were leaning against the large sack of food. They were restless and chewing on the white bread in their hands with great difficulty. They had not eaten such good food for a long time.
A little further away from them, Thales sat on a wine barrel that was twice his height. He looked straight ahead at Jala Charleton, who had her arms crossed in front of her chest and one leg leaning against the wall. She looked languid but valiant.
If this was his previous life, Thales would probably look at her from head to toe with an appreciative gaze. Then, he would look up at the sky and reminisce about the beauty of this world.
'Huh? What would Thales do after that? Nonsense. Of course, he would go home and do whatever he needed to do.
'As for now … Sorry, this body is still young.'
"Tell me directly. Why did you come to me?" Jala still had that cold expression on her face. She went straight to the point.
But Thales was already used to it. Ever since he first met this "big sister" who was only sixteen or seventeen years old in the trash behind Sunset Pub four years ago, she had always spoken and acted in this manner.
He knew that this was the kind of person she was.
"Quide has gone mad. He killed almost half of the child beggars in the Abandoned Houses."
Thales said with a solemn expression. At the same time, he silently clenched his fists.
'Motherf * cker.'
From the moment Jala saw the scarred child beggars, she had a faint suspicion about what happened earlier that day.
Jala's expression did not change, but she began to curse Rick in her heart. 'That accountant, I knew that you did not have any good intentions when you poured Chaka wine into Quide's mouth.
'Why did I agree to his request just for ten gold coins? Ten gold coins, ten gold coins!
This kind of thing would definitely anger the Brotherhood. Ten gold coins … I should have at least taken twenty gold coins from him!
Furthermore … '
"No one came to stop him, and no one came to save us. We could only escape on our own," Thales said dejectedly. The scene from a few hours ago seemed to have replayed itself.
'And, sigh, half of them are child beggars.'
Jala closed her eyes and sighed.
"I understand. You guys can hide here for a day. Don't worry, with me here, that gorilla will not dare to come. If he comes, I will chop off his … cough cough … hand. "
Jala looked at the other three child beggars and frowned. She could recognize the new injuries, especially the child whose right hand was wrapped in cloth.
"When Edmund comes back, I will ask him to look for Rick and the people above. Quide did such a thing, he will not be able to escape. This guy, why didn't he die earlier? "
Jala was a little dispirited. She put down her leg that was leaning against the wall and stood up.
Thales' eyes darkened. He looked at the three child beggars and let out a deep breath. Then, he looked at Jala.
"The Brotherhood has a big mission today. That's why the guards and patrols are lax. If you guys can escape, it must be … Sigh, forget it. I will go get some medicine. If you want a doctor … Wait, brat, what happened to you? "
While Jala was talking to herself, she suddenly realized that there was something wrong with Thales. His body was also covered in wounds, and the clothes in front of his chest were torn to shreds. His right sleeve was even covered in blood.
'That's not right. This brat's gaze …'
Jala suddenly walked in front of Thales and dragged him down the wine barrel. Then, she squatted down and held Thales' shoulders with both hands. She looked straight into his eyes.
Jala's gaze suddenly became very serious and anxious.
"Brat … You, could it be that you?"
Thales did not dare to look into Jala's eyes. However, after a few seconds, he adjusted himself and raised his head with determination.
Thales heard his voice was calm and unshakable.
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