On the Seven Towers

The next day, when Silla invited several partners to inspect the goods, Xiao Chen and Luo Ling took Kalanda to the slave market. Suero's slave market is naturally not in the inner city, but is located about one kilometer east of the outer city.

The slave market is different from other markets. It is separated by a tall and thick fence. There are only two doors on the east and west sides. Each door is guarded by a team of fully armed mercenaries. There are many towers around the market, and the mercenaries on them are holding bows and arrows, vigilantly inspecting the surrounding activities. This place is more like a walled city than a market.

When entering, the mercenary stationed on guard obviously knew Karanda, nodded and greeted her, and looked at Xiao Chen and the two carefully before making way and letting them in.

"The slave market is very strictly inspected. If you are not brought by an acquaintance, or you are of high status, you sometimes need to search yourself. Those greedy and timid slave traders are afraid of slave uprisings." Kalanda said, she has lived here for several years. Naturally, I know some anecdotes.

"Has this happened before?" Xiao Chen carefully looked at the mercenaries coming and going at the door. He saw that they were wearing scale armor, with long knives hanging on their waists, and carrying crossbows on their backs. They were a bit more elite than the soldiers he had hired before.

"Some people are willing to accept their fate as slaves, but some people would rather die for a chance of freedom." Kalanda said in a low voice as he led the two people inside, "Ten years ago, someone collaborated with others to stage a conspiracy. During the riot, all the slaves in the slave market escaped, all the guards and merchants in the market were killed, and the outer city of Suero was looted. Even the current guard in the inner city was almost defeated. The father of the city official, Baron Gregory, died in the battle at that time.”

"What happened next?" Luo Ling saw Karanda's serious expression and secretly guessed that this matter would not have a good outcome.

Calanda forgot to glance at the tall tower on the hillside of the inner city in the distance. "Master Icasa of the Tower of Spiritual Eyes took action and killed the leader of the slaves, so that the slaves could not rush into the inner city. It is said that those people were under the influence of magic. They suddenly attacked each other, and were later surrounded and suppressed by the private armies of nobles from surrounding cities. As a result, they all died miserably. "

"Do you have some sympathy for those slaves?" Luo Ling asked.

Kalanda hesitated, "I can't say I sympathize... They did a lot of terrible things after the uprising. If I had been there at that time, I would definitely have fought with them. But if it weren't for those slave traders, they wouldn't have faced it. Such a fate."

"The battle between two classes is always the most cruel. In comparison, the war between nobles is like a game." Luo Ling sighed.

"What did you say?" Kalanda asked confused.

"They are on a life-and-death stand with each other, and there are no so-called 'rules of war.' So once the slaves break free of their shackles, the slave owners will not get good results." Luo Ling explained.

"Okay, why are you still talking about the same old thing now? We are not slave owners. Don't forget, we also have modern management technology." Xiao Chen interrupted the conversation.

Luo Ling raised her chin slightly and smiled at Xiao Chen. There was provocation in her smile, but there was no defensive language. Instead, she asked Karanda: "What happened to the slaves later?"

"They were separated. Those people had marks on their faces and they couldn't go inside the kingdom. Some became horse thieves, some crossed the border and joined the empire, and some... I heard that they entered the temple of the false god."

"False God? I only heard that people here believe in the God of Nature." Xiao Chen said in surprise.

"Pseudo..." Karanda was about to explain, but suddenly looked ahead and changed his words, "I made a mistake. Let's talk about something else."

Xiao Chen followed her line of sight and saw three people wearing green robes walking towards them. The robes were very strange, as if they were woven with vines and leaves. Although they looked crude, they looked very different when worn on these people. Very harmonious.

"People from the Natural Temple?" Xiao Chen asked in a low voice.

Karanda nodded silently.

Xiao Chen had never interacted with people from the Natural Temple, and was looking at their clothes with great interest. But unexpectedly, when these three people saw their group, they took the initiative to greet them.

"Nature has given us plenty, Miss Luo. I didn't expect to see you here." The middle-aged man in the lead is about fifty, slightly fatter, with a round head, thick eyebrows, and a smile on his lips. He looks like Is a businessman. He stretched his arms diagonally downwards, spread his palms flat, palms facing upward, performing the etiquette of a natural temple.

"Heaven and earth protect the world, Priest Roland, what a coincidence, why are you here?" Luo Ling showed a suitably surprised look, touched her forehead with her hand, and returned the mage's gift to the other party.

"Nature's servants are always busy with things. There are too many people in the slave market, and there is an epidemic in the north recently. We have to come and take a look." Roland explained while looking at Luo Ling's companion, "Ah, this I know him, the leader of the Blue Flame Mercenary Group. Who is this handsome young man?"

"He is the Master Xiao Chen I mentioned."

"Ah, disrespectful. I have heard many people mention your name." Priest Roland nodded to him, "This place in Suero needs some fresh blood, otherwise even if people come and go, it will still be full of people. Smells stale.”

"Do you think Suero needs some changes?" Xiao Chen felt that there was some hidden meaning in the priest's words.

"The river will not stay on the river bed forever, and the mountain wind will not miss the valley. The sage's 'clear words' tell us that change is the way of nature." After saying these words, Priest Roland did not explain, but asked Luo Ling again He said, "I heard that Miss Luo treats the slaves who are bought back very kindly. This is really a good thing. It is rare to see such masters in Suero."

"I just don't like to face people with sad faces every day." Luo Ling said with a smile.

"Anyway, I hope to see more people like you." Roland praised.

"You may be able to do better, for example, don't come here to buy slaves, and don't give slave traders a chance to make a fortune! Tigers and leopards hunt lambs, and owls prey on crows. The law of the jungle has always been natural, but I have never seen an animal There are those who enslave the same kind! Slavery is not the way of nature, it is sin,” the young man next to Priest Roland suddenly said.

"Gano, you shouldn't have said these words. You should apologize to Miss Luo." Roland said dissatisfied.

"Lord Roland, wouldn't it be better to have fewer transactions? We are here..." the young man argued.

"Shut up, you don't say this to the people in the slave market, but you only say this to Miss Luo, who does the best job. Are you trying to make her easy to talk to?" Roland seemed really angry, "Think about your father. Don't embarrass him. Apologize to Miss Luo."

The young man blushed and looked around to see no one to help him. He could only lower his head and bow to Luo Ling, "I'm sorry."

Luo Ling nodded, as a mage should.

"Gano, remember: the quiet tree has a long life, and the gorgeous flowers only bloom for one season. It's time for us to leave." Priest Roland greeted several people again and left with them.

Xiao Chen watched several people leave and asked Luo Ling: "How do you know these people?"

"Roland is the Silver Leaf Priest of Suero City, and his status in the Nature Temple is second only to the Golden Bough Priests of the Elders. We have had some dealings with each other."

"Why do they talk so strangely?"

Luo Ling chuckled, "I just like to drop school bags. The priests of the Temple of Nature are rare literate people in this world. Why don't you allow others to be more artistic?"

"When these words are translated into Chinese, they sound a bit like poetry." Xiao Chen pondered, "But when included in a normal conversation, it feels like eating pebbles mixed with rice."

"There are no classics in the natural temple. Many of the so-called 'clear sentences' are just phrases passed down by the previous priests. In our case, it is called citing scriptures."

"Ha, they are some nerds."

"Don't say that. Mr. Roland is my big customer, and all my fertilizer business depends on him."

"Are you still in the fertilizer business?! It's not on the report!"

"All the high-stakes property has been left to the school. It's really boring for you to worry about how much money someone can make."

While the two were running on the train, Calanda reminded: "Miss Luo, it's strange that they appear here."

"How to say?"

"The young man named Gano seems to be the son of another Silver Leaf Priest. When he was a trainee priest here, I heard that he got into a lot of trouble. He seemed to have had conflicts with slave traders." Kalanda recalled. road.

"You mean..., they shouldn't be here?"

"Maybe I'm being overly concerned, but I've never heard that the priests of the Nature Temple like to help slave traders."

————————————————

This is an overly luxurious reception room, and all the furnishings seem to make gold coins fall out if you shake them up. The windows opened along the street, and the busy traffic and the sound of bargaining outside could be heard in the room, adding a bit of a philistine atmosphere to the owner of the house.

"Well, Roland and the others are just here to check for the epidemic. They have gone to all the places where slaves are kept." Inda, a fat slave trader, sank into a back chair, fidgeting with the ruby ​​ring on his thick finger, and there was something in his smile. In a very mocking tone, he said, "However, this has never happened before. If it did, it would have happened at the time of my damn old man. It was really a big epidemic. Many slaves died, and several slave traders were poor. They couldn't get rid of them, so they sold themselves into slaves." Inda shook his head and laughed, "Haha, some of them were sold by my father."

Xiao Chen and Luo Ling sat across from Inda, and Kalanda stood beside him vigilantly, observing the four tall and fully armed warriors behind Inda.

"Captain Qalanda, don't be nervous. We are always hated by people for no reason, so we are naturally used to being careful, but I can trust you all." Dyne turned around and waved his hand, letting the four soldiers walk out, "Actually, We are also giving people a way to survive, aren't they? Who are these slaves? They are captured soldiers and hungry people. Without us, these people would not be able to live for more than three days, but there is one saying that is really right. : What we do is a good thing to save people!”

Luo Ling saw that Dyne was telling lies without a red face, and she admired him a little. However, she didn't want to waste time on the kindness of the slave trader, so she asked: "Priest Roland did an examination?"

"They also distributed medicine to everyone, and even I took a portion. It is said that the epidemic spread from the empire. Although not many people died, those who were sick had to pull diarrhea for several days and lay on the bed for half a day. Months. No one wants a limp bastard."

"Then why don't they check it with the merchants in the city first?" Xiao Chen asked doubtfully.

"They are going there now. Master Xiao, who is this in Suero City?" Dain gave a thumbs up, "It depends on us. The guys in the Temple of Nature have finally learned to distinguish the priorities. Poor old Roland, if he had been so sensible last year, he would have lived a comfortable life long ago."

Dain laughed again. After laughing for a while, he knocked the coffee table with his knuckles with some pride, and emphasized, "The slave business is not something that everyone can do. It's very troublesome! If ordinary people dare to touch it, they will probably become slaves in less than a month."

"Mr. Dain seems to be someone who can solve problems." Luo Ling said with a faint smile.

"That's natural, but although it's troublesome, once this kind of business is started, any other business will be meaningless."

This face that deserves a slap really satisfies all my imaginations of slave traders, Xiao Chen thought to himself.

Dain yawned and seemed a little tired. He snapped his fingers, and a thin and serious middle-aged man walked in from the door. "Let's not talk about that old guy. The two wizards came at the right time today. A group of slaves have just been escorted from the border. You all know what kind of good stuff those who can survive the battlefield are. Apart from other things, if they are not strong and virile, they would have turned into ashes long ago. Let Manager Cohen take you around. If you see something you like, take it back."

Thanks to the book friend Jingdong's sycamore leaves for the reward.