Seeking Immortality 03

Fang Zhiyi had roughly calculated the time. She had arrived on the very day Mengdie vanished, just when the original owner had gone out to work, and Widow Li had sold Mengdie away.

Widow Li’s face was full of fawning flattery as she yelled for Mengdie to come out from the side room.

A timid little girl stepped out, dressed completely differently from the villagers. Her face was fair and clean, her big eyes dark and glossy, like a porcelain doll.

A slick-faced young master stood behind with three attendants, their eyes gleaming greedily at the little girl.

Widow Li smiled obsequiously: “Esteemed sir, everyone in Liuli Town knows that everyone who goes through my hands is top-notch!” She raised her thumb.

“Not bad, not bad,” the dandy young master said, liking Mengdie more with each glance.

Widow Li immediately pressed on: “If you like her, young master—” She revealed a greedy expression, having trained the girl just to fetch a high price. Now that a buyer had shown up, she naturally wanted to demand more.

But the young master completely ignored her. Instead, he reached out and pinched Mengdie’s soft little cheek. Seeing that she was about to cry from the pain, he burst into loud laughter.

This made Widow Li a bit uncomfortable, but a man who seemed like a steward, standing behind the young master, spoke up.

“Widow Li, if I remember correctly, all the children here are kidnapped, right?”

Widow Li’s expression shifted: “Steward Zhao, you can’t say that! I took them in out of pity, raised them, and now I’m just finding them good homes, isn’t that right?”

“Fine words!” Steward Zhao said indignantly. “Do you know the crime of human trafficking? My master’s uncle is the current county magistrate!”

Widow Li’s face turned ashen: “Steward Zhao, you can’t—”

“Old Zhao!” The young master finally tore his gaze away from Mengdie and gave the steward a meaningful look.

Steward Zhao nodded. “It’s just that our master can’t bear to see this little girl suffer. People like you are utterly heartless.”

Widow Li’s eyes lit up as she watched Steward Zhao pull a banknote from his bosom. She immediately began echoing all the flattering remarks about the dandy’s benevolence.

Fang Zhiyi watched coldly from atop the wall until they left with Mengdie. Only then did she slide down from the wall, glanced around, and crept along the wall in the direction they had gone.

Putting aside any thoughts of immortality, she had to first settle the original owner’s matters—considering it rent for borrowing the body.

But what Fang Zhiyi hadn’t expected was that she couldn’t keep up with their carriage at all. She could only mutter curses as she trudged along the main road, arriving in town only as the sun dipped toward dusk.

Inquiring about Young Master Gao’s mansion was easy enough.

Through this, Fang Zhiyi came to understand more about this world: social hierarchy was rigid, the people suffered bitterly, and official corruption ran rampant—it couldn’t have been worse.

Even while asking around, she was yelled at by two tax collectors and could only silently step aside.

Though Fang Zhiyi hadn’t succeeded in stepping onto the path of immortality, she still had a foundation, and the original owner’s physique wasn’t bad. When night fell completely, Fang Zhiyi stealthily found a low wall and climbed into the Gao mansion.

Unlike the street outside, where darkness made it impossible to see your hand in front of your face, the Gao mansion was brightly lit, and faint laughter of women could be heard from within.

Fang Zhiyi crept toward the sound and peered through a window. As soon as she saw inside, she narrowed her eyes.

“Tsk tsk tsk, they sure know how to have fun.”

She didn’t see Mengdie in the room and was about to turn away and search further when she overheard a conversation between Young Master Gao and his lackey.

“Master, that little girl we brought back today—can we…” The man’s voice was lecherous.

A sharp slap rang out, and the others in the room were obviously startled.

Young Master Gao said darkly: “Tired of living, are you? She has a major use! I’m warning all of you, put away those little thoughts—if you ruin a big plan, I’ll skin you alive!”

“Master, what big plan?” The man who had been slapped pressed his cheek but still grinned fawningly.

Young Master Gao took a sip of wine, clearly proud: “You all don’t know yet, do you? In a while, it’s Governor Huang’s birthday.”

“The governor?”

“Old man Huang isn’t exactly a good sort,” Young Master Gao said, playing with his wine cup. “He has a peculiar taste. Why else do you think I went through the trouble of finding this little girl?”

Everyone suddenly understood.

“Tell the servants to keep a close eye on her—no mistakes! This is about my Gao family’s future.”

Fang Zhiyi crouched under the wall, genuinely shocked. She hadn’t expected there was another layer to this.

She quickly pieced together the story in her mind but felt something was missing. She glanced at Xiaoxiaohei and sighed inwardly. Although Xiao Xiaohei wasn’t very useful, it could at least act as a kind of surveillance. Now, everything depended on herself.

But she had no idea where Mengdie was locked up—another headache.

She stared at Xiao Xiaohei for a moment, then suddenly cleared her throat.

“Something terrible is happening! That little girl the young master brought back today has escaped!”

Having yelled at the top of her lungs, Fang Zhiyi nimbly hid behind a rockery. Sure enough, those who had been drinking and making merry rushed out, followed by Young Master Gao himself, his clothes disheveled.

“What are you standing around for? Go check immediately!”

At his command, they ran toward a certain direction. Turning left and right, they reached a side room in the back courtyard. The servant guarding the door was bewildered by the crowd’s sudden arrival, but after getting slapped, he hurriedly unlocked the door.

Seeing Mengdie curled up asleep on the bed, Young Master Gao let out a sigh of relief. The commotion had woken her, and she curled up tighter, staring wide-eyed at the crowd.

“Which asshole shouted that?”

Everyone chattered noisily. After a while, someone suggested going back to drink, and Young Master Gao grudgingly dropped the matter. After all, few on his own turf would dare provoke him. But before leaving, he scolded the door guard once more.

The guard looked deeply aggrieved—he had just been sitting there, done nothing, yet ended up slapped and cursed. Where was the justice in that?

But just as everyone left, a figure staggered up to him, a ragged cloth covering the face. The guard stared in confusion.

“Who are you?” he asked suspiciously.

“Your daddy!” Fang Zhiyi quickly covered his mouth, then smashed a fist into his chest. The door guard slowly collapsed—likely to have a good long sleep.

When the door opened again, the Mengdie, who had been awakened before, trembled uncontrollably. Though she was young, she understood roughly what had happened. She had resigned herself to her fate.