Chapter 67: Heavy Rain, a Stranger

"Lord Severed Blade, Elder Du, the Inner City of Wind and Cloud City is so chaotic, with countless fights and plundering every single day. What do the people living in the Inner City rely on to make a living?" Mentioning Wind and Cloud City, Su Da was full of doubts.

Not just him, the rest of the Su family shared the same confusion.

Old Poison gave a weird, grating laugh, picked up a fragrant piece of rabbit meat, and stuffed it into his mouth. "Didn't you go there once before? Chaotic as the Inner City is, shops are still open, business is still being conducted, and ordinary people still live in the city."

"There are ordinary people in the city? Aren't they afraid of being bullied by the city's thugs?"

"Let me put it this way for you. Wind and Cloud City is chaotic, but there is actually order within the chaos. The two overlords in the city are Bai Kui from the Bai family, and Bai Xiaofeng from the Watching Magpie Tower. Each occupies half of Wind and Cloud City. Normally, as long as those brawls and squabbles do not harm their factional interests, they don't bother to intervene much. However, to maintain the balance of people's livelihood in the city, if things are pushed too far, both factions will step in. Otherwise, if a city has no trade and no circulation of goods, wouldn't it become a dead, empty city? What kind of fucking overlord is there in an empty city?"

Su Er suddenly understood. "I get it. In other words, the two major factions actually protect the common folk within a certain range, replacing the regulatory duties of the government!"

Su Xiuer said, "If that's the case, why are people still so terrified when they mention Wind and Cloud City, and dare not go to the Inner City?"

Du Buqin rolled his eyes. "They're afraid of dying, obviously!"

"..." Su Da dryly coughed twice. "It-it's not that I'm afraid of dying. I went once, and the arrays and guards in the city are indeed very intimidating."

He wasn't afraid of dying.

Really not.

But back then, being chased through several streets by a gang shouting slogans to beat and kill him had genuinely nearly made him pee his pants.

You couldn't blame ordinary people for fearing death, right? When had ordinary people ever witnessed such a scene?

One had to experience things and see more of the world before their courage could grow.

"Ahem!" Su Da coughed again, and hesitantly negotiated, "Elder Du, Lord Severed Blade, if you're going to Wind and Cloud City tomorrow, why don't you take me along so I can take another look around the city?"

"Go see what? To watch fights or robberies?"

"...I want to take some dried meat to the Inner City to trade for things."

"Severed Blade and I can trade for you just the same, sparing me from having to carry you back like a dead pig when your legs turn to jelly."

Su Da lost face. "No need to carry me! I will definitely walk back on my own two feet!"

"Hmph, fine. Follow along if you want to go. Tell me, what are you planning to trade for? I'll lead you to a good shop!"

"I can't tell you in advance."

"What do you mean?"

"If I told you in advance, wouldn't that just be leading you straight to a robbery?"

Seeing the old man's mouth twitching, Su Da felt refreshed.

He had won one back.

The climate in Yongzhou's region was somewhat different from other places; the seasons were delayed, and the rainy season only arrived in July.

When it didn't rain, it didn't rain at all, but once it did, it poured down in torrents.

The raindrops slapped rapidly against the ground, instantly pounding out muddy little pits.

Rainwater cascaded down the thatched roof, merging into a curtain of rain.

Hiding in the thatched cottage, the sound of rain from all directions beat down like war drums, making one worry that the house would be washed away by the water in the next second.

"It's pouring outside and drizzling inside. When it comes to building a house, mud-brick houses are much sturdier and more comfortable." Old Man Su avoided the leaking spot, sat at the doorway of the main room, and sighed at the rain.

Old Madam Su, along with her daughters-in-law and daughter, hauled out every water-retaining container in the house and placed them under the leaks to catch the rainwater, but even that didn't help much.

Barely half an hour into the rain, a layer of water had already soaked the floor of the main room.

She pulled out a dry cloth towel and casually wiped the rain off her body. "What mud-brick house are you dreaming of? Back in Great Sophora Village, our family lived in a thatched cottage too. I'm just praying the house doesn't collapse and we have a place to put our heads; that's good enough."

A mud-brick house?

Was that something a family like theirs could afford to live in?

Unable to do any work on a rainy day, the family could only hide indoors to chat and pass the time.

Tianbao wasn't idle either. The little tot wasn't afraid of dirt, and taking advantage of the adults' distraction, she and her three older brothers crawled all over the floor to play with the rainwater caught in the containers.

By the time Old Madam Su noticed, the little one had almost turned into a little mud monkey.

"Oh, my little ancestor! Covered in water and mud, look how dirty you are!" The old woman scooped the child up, wiped her little face clean with a cloth towel, and looking at her smiling, crescent-eyed face, was both exasperated and amused. "You little rascal, when you grow up a bit more, you'll probably be mischievous enough to climb to the heavens."

While giggling and joking with her grandmother, Tianbao's little eyebrows suddenly twitched, and she turned her head to look outside the courtyard.

Soon, the courtyard gate was knocked upon.

Thump, thump, thump. Thump, thump, thump.

Each knock, muffled by the torrential rain, inexplicably weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.

"In this pouring rain, who's visiting at a time like this?" Old Madam Su muttered in confusion.

Su Er grabbed a reed rain cape and draped it over his head. "Dad, Mom, I'll go take a look. It might be Big Brother returning."

The door opened, revealing two figures in the curtain of rain—one tall, one short.

It was a middle-aged woman holding a toddler of a little over a year old. Lacking any rain-shielding gear, both of them were thoroughly drenched by the heavy rain, looking utterly wretched and miserable.

Su Er immediately averted his gaze and frowned, asking, "Who are you people? Who are you looking for?"

The woman's hair was plastered against her cheeks, rainwater streaming down as she trembled and asked, "Is—is this Su Xiang's home?"

Su Er's brow furrowed even tighter. This way of asking was very familiar; he had heard it not long ago.

"Who are you?" he asked again in a deep voice, a trace of vigilance rising in his eyes.

"The rain—the rain is too heavy—can you let us in to take shelter from the rain—and then we can talk? The child—can't take it anymore—I beg you..." The woman didn't know how long she had been standing in the rain; her complexion and lips had turned pale from the cold. The little toddler she held tightly in her arms was trembling all over, eyes squeezed tightly shut, looking in very bad shape.

"Er, who's at the door?" From the main room, Old Madam Su's inquiring voice came floating over.

"Mom, it's strangers, a mother and child. They want to come into the house!"

The main room fell silent for a moment. Old Madam Su poked her head out, peered through the curtain of rain at the wretched figures outside, and especially upon seeing the tiny child in the woman's arms, her heart softened in the end. "Let them in first."

The woman expressed her boundless gratitude as she stepped through the door.

Liu Yulan and He Dahang handed her a set of clean clothes to change into in the room and helped the little child she brought change into dry garments as well.

Before the woman emerged from the room, Liu Yulan looked at the little tot, whose eyes were tightly shut and whose face was gradually flushing with a feverish red. She reached out and touched the child's forehead, starting in alarm, "Mom, this child has a fever! Her forehead is burning hot!"

Old Madam Su pressed her lips together. "In this kind of rain, she must have caught a chill from being drenched for too long."

"What should we do?"

"Xiuer, go ask Madam Huo if her family has any ginger, and trade for some so we can brew ginger soup to help the adult and child ward off the cold. Our family has nothing else, so there's no other way. Once Elder Du comes back, we can beg him to examine the child."

Ever since the little Su family had arrived in this land of exile, they had long learned the principle of caution in all things.

If strangers suddenly showed up at their door without explaining their background or purpose, they wouldn't casually allow anyone inside.

Yet today, the visitor was a woman accompanied by such a tiny child.

Old Madam Su couldn't bear it, and neither could the rest of the Su family.

Their family had children too, especially since that toddler was hardly any older than their own Tianbao. Just imagining Tianbao being drenched like this in the torrential rain made their hearts ache as if being gripped tightly.