Chapter 3
"Ah!!!" The girl cried out in pain once more, hurting so much that tears streamed down her face.
The burly man was not appeased by this. He directly grabbed the girl and threw her heavily to the ground. Then, he picked up a whip from the side and began lashing it towards the girl. The girl immediately let out a scream. The people watching nearby not only showed no trace of sympathy but instead watched the spectacle, some even making critical comments.
With a "crack," as the whip continued to lash towards the girl, a pale, delicate hand directly grasped the whip aimed at her.
"What wrong has she done? That you would treat her like this?" Lia asked coldly, her face stern as she looked at the burly man.
She simply couldn't bear to watch any longer. How could people be so heartless? And that group dressed in fine, bright clothes were simply a bunch of cold-blooded demons.
"Miss, this is a matter of our Pasha House. If you don't want to get burned, you'd best not interfere in our affairs." The burly man tried to yank the whip back but found he couldn't pull it free. His face immediately turned cold. How dare he threaten me?
Lia also responded with displeasure, "Hmph, aren't you just running a brothel? Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
Seeing Lia acting completely like a reckless novice, the burly man frowned. "This is a 'Slave' we bought with our money. How we deal with her is our business. Miss, you're overstepping a bit too much!" The man emphasized the word "Slave" heavily. Slaves have no human rights; killing them arbitrarily is of no consequence, let alone just a beating.
"I don't care about these garbage laws. I'm taking this girl. If you're not satisfied, you can come and try to stop me?" Lia flicked the whip backhand, striking the burly man's forehead directly. "Ah!" The man cried out in pain, covering his face and stumbling back several steps. When he lowered his hand, a vivid, bloody whip mark was clearly visible.
Lia ignored him. Instead, she turned, knelt on the ground, and helped the girl up, speaking softly, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
The girl just looked at Lia without speaking, but her hands tightly grasped Lia's clothes. Perhaps the girl also knew Lia was the only one here who could save her. "You actually dare hit me! Brothers, grab this woman!" The burly man finally snapped back to his senses. The intense pain on his face made his expression even more hateful. Regardless of Lia's possible status, he directly called for the other thugs. At his shout, five or six thugs immediately surrounded them.
Lia acted as if she didn't see them at all. She just gently stroked the little girl's hair with a tender hand and said softly, "I'll take you away from here, okay?"
The little girl looked at Lia's gentle expression and nodded.
Seeing Lia so blatantly ignore them, the thugs grew angry. The first thug charged forward, throwing a punch straight at Lia's body, not a hint of chivalry to be seen. Faced with the thugs' attacks, Lia just let out a soft, cold snort. With one hand, she caught the thug's fist. With a twist of her wrist, she broke it. The thug cried out in pain, then received a kick to his abdomen from Lia, sending him crashing into a spectator behind him who had been watching the show. Both fell flat on their faces. Then, Lia picked up the little girl with one arm, leaped up, and proceeded to kick each of the surrounding thugs flying backward, incidentally also knocking over the group of bystanders who had been watching the spectacle from start to finish. Lia thought with schadenfreude, "Did you think watching the show meant you were safe? Didn't your families tell you when you were little to stand far away when watching a fight, lest blood splatter on your faces?"
Chapter 5 Alice
After knocking down all the thugs, Lia picked up the girl and left the place directly.
Watching Lia's retreating figure, the group didn't dare to pursue her at all.
"Oh dear, to avoid so much trouble in the coming days, I suppose I'll have to handle the cleanup for you a bit." At this moment, Merlin, who had been hiding in the shadows all along, saw that the matter was resolved and showed a hint of helplessness on his face.
To be honest, although this kind of thing looks infuriating, for Merlin, he wouldn't go out of his way to meddle.
After all, for him, a Dream Eater, humans are just his daily amusement. He doesn't care whether humans are good or bad.
Sometimes, for his own twisted amusement, he might even add insult to injury.
Seeing that she had truly escaped from that den of iniquity, the girl's tense nerves finally relaxed. However, the girl still didn't speak, just buried her head deeply in Lia's chest.
"It's alright now. If you feel tired, sleep for a while." Lia gently patted the girl's back. Her soft voice brought the girl a great sense of security. Under Lia's words, the girl gradually began to breathe softly, falling asleep.
Lia brought the girl back to the inn and placed her directly on the bed.
Seeing the girl was still asleep, Lia thought for a moment, then lay down beside the girl. Just as she was about to sleep, the voice of the system sounded in her mind again.
"Detected suitable scenario. Intimacy System activated. Host, please seize this opportunity!"
Hearing this ill-timed voice, Lia immediately became furious!
"F*cking useless dog system! Completely useless!"
If it weren't for this guy suddenly popping up, Lia would have almost forgotten its existence. Now it actually wants me to take advantage of a little girl? The system has no morals at all!
Even if I really did something, what skills could a little girl possibly give me?
Acting cute?
Lia ignored the system and closed her eyes.
By the time Lia woke up, it was almost evening. The faint scent of sandalwood in the room was quite pleasant, but she felt something heavy on her, as if something was pressing down.
Lia opened her eyes to find a little girl lying on top of her, though the little girl's face carried a trace of sorrow and worry.
After a moment's thought, Lia remembered what had happened at noon—she had saved a little girl and brought her back to the inn where she was staying.
Thinking this, Lia decided to get up first.
Lia moved slightly, and this tiny sensation caused the little girl to open her eyes. Seeing Lia looking at her, the little girl's face showed excitement and joy, and her eyes gradually welled up with tears.
"What's wrong? Hey, don't cry, don't cry."
Seeing the little girl actually start to cry, Lia also felt a bit flustered and quickly used her fingers to wipe the tears from the girl's face.
"She might see you as her savior, or perhaps even family. After all, you rescued her from that place." Just then, Merlin, hearing the commotion, pushed open the room door. Seeing the scene inside, he smiled slightly.
Hearing this, Lia looked at the little girl, whose eyes already held a look of dependence on her, and for a moment, didn't know what to say.
"What an adorable little girl. She'll definitely grow into a beautiful woman." Merlin looked at the little girl clinging tightly to Lia and revealed a smile.
He immediately reached out, wanting to pat the little girl's head.
The little girl immediately showed a nervous expression. Seeing Merlin's hand getting closer and closer, she suddenly bit down on the hand he had extended. After Merlin cried out in pain and let go, she tightly hugged Lia again, burying her face in Lia's embrace.
"Ouch, she actually bit me!"
Merlin looked at the two tooth marks on his wrist, his face instantly turning woeful, full of grievance. He just wanted to show a little kindness, and he got bitten.
Lia ignored Merlin. After thinking for a moment, she gently pushed the girl in her arms away a little. Seeing the girl's expression immediately become tense again, she asked softly, "Can you tell me your name? Where is your family?"
Hearing this, the little girl's face showed sadness, but she still tried her best to speak. "I... am called Al... Alice. My family... were all killed by a group of bandits."
Hearing the little girl's words, Lia let out a soft sigh. She had originally thought that if the girl's home was nearby, she would send her back. Now it seemed there was nowhere for her to go.
"What do you plan to do with this little girl?" Merlin on the side asked upon seeing this.
Although this little girl is still young, after experiencing such things, she should more or less understand her own situation.
"This..." Lia also lowered her head in thought.
"Miss, please don't make me leave. Don't sell me." Upon hearing this, Alice's eyes immediately reddened, and she tightly grasped Lia's hand.
Seeing Alice's nervous expression, Lia was also a bit surprised, but she soon chuckled softly: 'How heavy are you anyway? Even if sold as meat, you wouldn't fetch much. Forget it, you'd better stick with me for now.'
'Okay, Mas...Master.' Hearing Lia's words, the expression on Alice's face relaxed a little. As long as she wasn't being sold, staying by her master's side was fine.
'Master? You don't need to call me that. Call me sister. Just think of me as your older sister.' Upon hearing this, Lia shook her head.
She absolutely loathed that kind of Slave-owner-like form of address.
'Sister?' Alice was somewhat shocked. Why was this young lady being so kind to commoners like them? Looking at this sister before her, so beautiful, she must be a great noble, right?
'Mm, let's do that.' Lia nodded.
'Why?' Alice still didn't understand.
'Because I believe people shouldn't be divided into ranks. Everyone is equal, so I plan to build a world like that in the future. So, can you be my little sister?' Lia gently took Alice's hand and said.
Although Alice didn't fully understand the meaning behind Lia's words, the unease in her heart lessened considerably. But as someone born a commoner, did she really have the right to become sisters with this young lady?
Alice stole a glance at Lia, and seeing Alice's look, Lia also smiled gently.
Looking at Lia's reassuring smile, Alice felt a surge of security and warmth in her heart.
Regarding adopting Alice, Lia had her own considerations.
This society was too unfriendly towards women, almost treating them as commodities. Lia also didn't have the time to find a family and then integrate Alice with them.
Chapter 6: The Three Travelers on the Road
So adopting Alice was better. Most importantly, Lia wanted to find something for Merlin to do. That was Lia's real purpose.
That guy was always running around recklessly, so Lia planned to have Alice follow him constantly, becoming his little tail, and ruining his 'good times' whenever possible!
She was truly a 'respectful and virtuous' good disciple!
A few days later, on a merchant ship.
'Magic power is a force everyone possesses. It exists in all things, but very few people discover its presence...'
In a room, Merlin was teaching Alice how to acquire knowledge about magic power.
Alice looked bewildered, but she still tried hard to understand these things because she knew Merlin was teaching her something very important.
Fortunately, Merlin was a relatively patient teacher. Or rather, he finally found a sense of being a teacher from Alice.
Heaven knows, when he taught Lia, she scoffed at everything he taught. And the things Lia was willing to learn, she grasped immediately, which made him quite sad, as he felt none of a teacher's gratification.
Now, seeing Alice's somewhat clumsy demeanor—this was how a normal disciple should be—he was very willing to explain all the things she didn't understand.
Lia glanced at Merlin and Alice, then left the room, intending to get some fresh air. Being cooped up in the cabin for two days was getting a bit uncomfortable.
Arriving on the deck and breathing in the fresh air outside, Lia's mood finally improved considerably.
Some of the merchants and nobles on the deck saw Lia but didn't approach to strike up a conversation.
After all, the incident two days ago was still fresh in their minds. A clueless noble had wanted Lia to 'play' with him. Lia did 'play' with him—just gave him a full-body bone and muscle massage.
This led others to quickly steer clear of Lia upon seeing her, lest they invite trouble.
Lia was quite content with the peace. Regarding these disgusting nobles, if not for fearing trouble, she'd have wanted to throw them into the sea to feed the fish.
It would still be a few days before reaching that continent, but staying on this ship was too boring.
After standing outside for an hour, Lia returned to the room. By then, under Merlin's guidance, Alice was sitting with her eyes closed, sensing magic power.
Seeing Lia enter, Merlin smiled at her, but Lia ignored him, simply sitting on the bunk and closing her eyes.
She wasn't meditating or anything; for her, it was unnecessary.
Her body was a fusion of human and dragon, possessing a strong affinity for magic power. Even doing nothing, she could automatically absorb ambient magic power.
Moreover, this efficiency was much faster than meditation.
A few days later.
A very quiet, deep mountain suddenly echoed with a loud 'Wah!' cry, startling countless birds into flight.
The person who made the 'Wah' sound was a young man with a cheeky, grinning face. Beside him was a delicate-looking little girl around seven or eight years old, and next to the girl was a young woman dressed like a knight.
Faced with Merlin's cry, Alice's expression was now full of helplessness. 'Merlin, you idiot!'
The young man called Merlin by Alice just grinned and said, 'Little Alice, don't be so serious. So we're lost, no need to worry so much, right?'
'Hmph!' Hearing Merlin's words, Alice wrinkled her cute little nose and said, 'It's all because you insisted on taking the mountain forest path, saying the scenery was good? And now we're lost. Ah, when will you ever grow up?'
Hearing this, Lia, who was beside them, couldn't help but chuckle. Merlin being told by a little girl when he would grow up—this was really too funny.
Even Lia couldn't hold back at Alice's words.
However, Merlin didn't mind Alice's words, just smiled slightly while looking at the surrounding forest scenery.
Then, turning to Alice, who was pouting and ignoring him, he asked, 'Little Alice, what do you want for lunch?'
Hearing it was time for lunch, Alice's eyes immediately lit up. After pondering for a moment, she said, 'I want meat.'
'Little Alice wants meat. Over to you, Lia!' Even though Merlin asked the question, he tossed the problem to Lia. What a great master!
But Lia didn't mind this issue; instead, she looked into the forest.
'Meat.' One could say this forest was the last place lacking meat, especially the wild chickens, which Lia easily caught.
After cleaning the chicken, Lia found a large leaf, wrapped the chicken in mud, and placed it on the ground.
Seeing the surprised expressions on Alice and Merlin's faces, Lia smiled slightly. This method was probably something only she would do, right?
Lia then gathered some branches, dry leaves, and the like from around. A fireball appeared in her hand, which she tossed onto the pile of leaves and branches prepared as firewood, igniting them.
After half an hour, Lia broke open the mud, now baked as hard as stone, revealing the extremely tender chicken inside.
The aroma of the chicken spread around, wafting through the forest. Smelling this fragrance, both Alice and Merlin couldn't help but drool.
In just a while, the three of them finished the roast chicken. But Merlin felt it wasn't enough and wanted more. Seeing a flock of geese flying overhead, he directly shot down a bunch.
Lia couldn't help but break into a cold sweat. What a 'pluck every feather from a passing goose' move! Worthy of you, Merlin. This kind of thing is best left to you! Only you could really pull it off.
But Lia herself also felt she hadn't eaten her fill, so most of the geese Merlin shot down ended up in Lia's stomach.
After solving lunch, it was time to consider how to get out of the forest. Alice started complaining to Merlin again.
'Alice, let me teach you how to find your way out of the forest if you get lost.' At this point, Lia spoke up.
Merlin and Alice both looked at Lia curiously.
Lia naturally had her own method for finding directions. Looking at the two of them, she pointed at the foliage and said, 'From the density of the leaves, you can discern the north-south direction, and... the sun's position in the sky, and at night, you can look for the North Star, etc.'
After explaining a bunch of methods for finding direction, Lia picked up a few branches. After determining the direction, she knew which way to go.
Their current location should be in the Netherlands. They needed to travel through Poland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and then enter Xinjiang to reach Chinese territory.
PS: Is anyone reading? Can I get some votes?