Trafford’s Trading Club

Licking the wound seemed to provide it with vitality, increasing healing. However, it was unpractical for it to cure the wound quickly.

Black Water put on the Han Chinese Clothing, retying the belt, turning about after totally covering her wound.

Then she walked onto the stairs.

Luo Qiu saw Black Water treated her wound, so he stepped back into the stone chamber behind… It seemed monsters didn’t care about this.

Such as the transmutation of the butterfly monster, who was very unperturbed— Maybe monsters had a weak awareness about hiding their bodies.

As the blush faded from Black Water’s face, her face turned pale. The exhausted expression never left.

“What’s the price if I’d like to kill Yang Taizi?” Black Water asked Luo Qiu suddenly.

She might have had a thorough consideration of her situation during the time she treated her wound.

One by one, patterned cards rose around Black Water then.

They were intertwining, rotating gradually.

The 350-year-old Boa Monster tried to understand the information contained in these cards rapidly. Then, shock could be seen written all over her face.

“The legend is true…” Black Water sized up Luo Qiu with surprise, losing herself in deep thought.

Luo Qiu would have the utmost patience while waiting for his customers’ choices—Since he became the club boss, he found that his hobbies increased.

For example, he could see the customers making decisions from beginning to the end.

They would show their true face that would touch him.

After a long time, Black Water heaved a sigh of relief, smiling bitterly, “No wonder you said Yang Taizi only asked to seriously injure me, then you’ll come to a halt after, and no longer stand on his side.”

Luo Qiu took it lightly, “Because we always stand with our customers.”

Black Water sneered, “On one hand, you help Yang Taizi hurt me; meanwhile, you entice me to make a contract with you… Doing businesses with both sides, what a shrewd consideration it is.”

Luo Qiu didn’t plan to refute her mockery— because, first, the club accepts everything without moral integrity; and second, Black Water, who was already in a troubled situation, did not know she was longing for something subconsciously.

“We are only on the side of our customers.” Luo Qiu emphasized a second time.

…

“Let me think it over.” Black Water suddenly said, “Wait a minute please.”

With that, the patterned cards floated back to his hand and then disappeared. Black Water walked down the stairs.

Seeing Black Water approaching, these preschool monster kids crowded around her. Deep dependence was expressed from their eyes.

Black Water sat down and held the youngest one into her arms. Luo Qiu then viewed a slight hint of a smile from her cool face.

She acted like their mother.

Black Water dabbed the monster, telling something to it, and a smile hung on its pink face.

The place had been dispossessed by Black Water for 10 years. During this time, she looked after these monster kids, who came from different kinds of monsters and were apparently not Black Water’s kids.

But where were their parents?

Luo Qiu didn’t find them. He knew he wouldn’t see their parents here or else Black Water would not be the only adult here.

“Sister Black Water, will we leave this place?”

The rabbit monster beside her raised her head, the sparkling eyes flickered and short rabbit tail was shaking.

Black Water patted Lingling’s face, asking, “Don’t you want to leave here?”

Lingling lowered her head, “No…Lingling made many new friends on the mountain, who haven’t grown up. They like Lingling, so Lingling doesn’t want to leave them.”

Black Water said bitterly, “This place doesn’t belong to us.”

Another monster asked then, “Sister Black Water, will we go home? Can we see our parents?”

The plump monster had a pink pig snout… It should be a wild boar monster.

Black Water patted its head too, with slight voice, “Not now… we’ll go to other places first.”

The little pig monster threw itself into Black Water’s arms, “I’ve not seen my parents for long, I miss them. Can you take me back to see them?”

“Me too. Sister Black Water!”

“Sister Black Water, I wanted to draw a picture of my grandfather, but I can’t…I, I almost forgot what he looks like…”

One and one monsters intertwined her. Looking at their wishful eyes, Black Water smiled, “Well… when you grow up, you can see them. I’ve told you guys that before.”

“But… we haven’t grown up after 10 years. When we can grow up?”

Black Water answered softly, “If you practice everyday to absorb vitality, you’ll grow taller soon. See, Lingling is taller than last year with longer hair? And you, Little Pig, you are 2kg heavier than last year; and Ah Fu too, you won’t drool when sleeping…”

She spoke everyone’s growth as if enumerating her family valuables. At last, she said in a low voice, “…These are the proofs that you are growing up. OK, you haven’t done today’s practice yet, right?”

After saying so, Black Water face turned serious, “Don’t you want to go home to see your parents?”

“Wow—!”

Little monsters rolled and crawled away from Black Water.

They went far and sat on the ground orderly. Then, they lay in different poses, closing their eyes.

When little monsters started to absorb vitality, Black Water inhaled deeply, and exhaled it to those kids.

It was golden air, separating and wrapping around their bodies.

The golden air went into their bodies with the air they inhaled.

“You’re sharing your vitality with them.”

Luo Qiu walked down the stairs to Black Water. He looked at her paler face, “In those 10 years.”

Black Water seemed not to care about it, “They are too young. If they cultivated themselves, they’ll gain the self-preservation ability after at least 50 years. If I help them, 30 years will be the maximum.”

Luo Qiu said after a while of silence, “Why did you choose the Taoist’s temple, instead of those deep mountains and forests that no one has ever been?”

Black Water explained, “Don’t think monsters’ world as heaven. We need to exist but other monsters need too. Every deep mountain has been occupied by its native-born monsters. If we go there, it is equal to invading their homelands. And the vitality of a mountain is limited, native-born kids need it as well. Can we take these kids to fight with other monsters? Even if I win, it’ll result in other kids losing their home.”

This experienced monster aroused Luo Qiu’s interest to understand the monsters circle. “As I know, many monsters choose to live in human society. Will they face the problem about vitality?”

Black Water sneered, “Adult monsters will be OK. As for kids, they can’t cultivate enough vitality, and have to absorb it from their parents, which means they overdraft their parents’ lives. It’s true some monsters long for the prosperity of the human society but more of them have no alternative. We’ll reproduce but if it goes beyond the accommodation of our land, some of the native monsters have to leave there— or cannibalism will happen.”

Black Water pointed one of those kids, “That is Little Pig, its parents were wild boar monster. 10 years ago, in my living place, the amount of monsters went over the limit the vitality that the mountain could provide. The little pig’s parents were killed by a tiger monster.”

She pointed others one by one then, “She’s Lingling… this is Ah Fu… that is Maimai… their parents died in the internal strife that year. I took them to escape to the edge of the mountain range ourselves. But we met human woodcutters later. We had to depart from our homeland. We were expelled from one place to another that other monsters controlled… What do you think the reason is? If forests were still there with clean rivers, we won’t lose our homeland.”

Until here, Black Water became agitated. She pointed at Luo Qiu, “You tell me, how many monsters like us are drifting from place to place in this world? And how many monsters are lingering out in cities, just for their kids’ future? Higher intelligence will result in the extinction of some beings. Hundreds of years ago, this world was full of green mountains and rivers. But now, how serious has it been destroyed by you human beings? Can you tell me that?”

Her voice contained a hint of desolation, “Little Pig asked me, Lingling asked me, Ah Fu asked me, they all asked me. Can you tell me how can I tell them the truth that their parents have gone away and they’ll live in this brutal world in the future? I have no idea!”

With a deep breath, Black Water gazed at Luo Qiu, saying in a low voice, “You said customers can buy anything from you and you’ll be on the side of customers! Now, I’ll pay everything of mine to buy that you stand on our side! Can you give our monsters a good future? Can you let us keep surviving?!”