Chapter 1614 - 1588: Wu Dai's Family (8 Updates)

In the southern outskirts of the Wuheng Clan's Capital City, there's a large slum where one to two million impoverished people are gathered.

In a simple house, there are over a dozen people, mostly women, the elderly, and children, having dinner.

The dinner is very basic, just a pot of porridge with some wild vegetables, some coarse grain cakes, and a small dish of meat.

A middle-aged woman presides over the dinner, distributing the meat from the dish to four children and two elderly people, while the others can only have porridge and coarse grain cakes.

The dinner is devoid of any joy or excitement, and is very oppressive.

Compared to their once extravagant and prosperous life, their current existence is indeed bitter.

To put it vividly, even the pets they used to keep lived a hundred or a thousand times better than now.

"Mom, I want some meat."

A child finished the few pieces of meat in his bowl, licked his lips, and looked at his mother.

The mother gently touched the child's forehead and said:

"Child, today's meat is finished; tomorrow mom will go out into the wild to catch some animals for you."

"If only brother were here, with his skills so high, in the past when going hunting with him, he could kill thousands of pounds of demon beasts. We couldn't finish the meat, always just eating a bit and throwing away the leftover demon beast carcasses."

The child's words unconsciously triggered everyone's memories of their past life.

An elderly person sighed, slipped off a golden round ring from his arm, and said to the woman:

"Xiaozhen, tomorrow you sell this bracelet of mine and buy some meat for the kids."

When the Wu Dai family was raided, all valuable items in the household were confiscated. The women could only take two sets of clothes when leaving, while men could not take anything, and items like space rings had to be handed over.

This golden arm bracelet was hidden by the elderly man in his sleeve and was not discovered.

The woman glanced at the bracelet in the old man's hand and said:

"Father, this was bought for you by Wu Dai on your birthday, considered a memento left to you by Wu Dai. Let's not sell it; tomorrow, I will try hunting in the forest outside. If I'm lucky, I might catch a few bigger demon beasts."

"Sigh, your cultivation is so low, how can you catch big demon beasts?

The slum of two million people in the southern outskirts of the capital city has long emptied the nearby forests of beasts, even the leaves have been almost eaten; where would there be any stray beasts for you to catch?

Sigh, Wu Dai is probably dead, our Wu Family's main men are imprisoned, clan members scattered, each fleeing for their lives,

these four children are our Wu Family's future hope. They are growing and can't lack nutrition. This bracelet has some magical skills that can be sold for money; go sell it,

Sigh, the living can't manage to live, never mind some sentiment or not."

The woman listened silently and took the bracelet.

...

Yang Xiao came to the southern outskirts of the city and began inquiring with the people here, based on several names given by Wu Dai.

However, everyone seemed unaware of where Wu Dai's family lived.

After questioning several streets, finally, from a street vendor's mouth came the whereabouts of Wu Dai's family.

Guided by the vendor, Yang Xiao arrived at a low shack and knocked on the door.

The family of Wu Dai was having dinner when they suddenly heard the knock on the door.

"At this time, who could be knocking?"

"Could it be that hooligan A'ang coming to harass us?"

A pretty young girl said:

"If A'ang comes to harass me, I'll kill him."

This is Wu Dai's daughter, Wu Min.

Mother Zhuo Xiaozhen immediately said:

"Wu Min, don't be impulsive; things have changed. We are no longer the old Wu Family; don't provoke trouble; just ignore them. I'll go see who it is."

The house is filled with the elderly, women, and children; Wu Dai's wife Zhuo Xiaozhen has become the sole pillar of the family.

Zhuo Xiaozhen opened the wooden door of the shack, using the dim light, she saw a handsome face.

"Who are you?"

Yang Xiao immediately said:

"Hello, is this the family of Wu Dai?"

Zhuo Xiaozhen was stunned, looking blankly at Yang Xiao, in her memory, she didn't recognize Yang Xiao, so to be cautious, she asked carefully:

"Who are you?"

"I am a friend of Wu Dai; I once owed him a favor and heard that the Wu Dai family encountered trouble, so I came to check."

"You're a friend of Wu Dai?"

Zhuo Xiaozhen was somewhat skeptical, after all, Yang Xiao was young, how could he be friends with the once Wuheng Clan Deputy Commander?

Yang Xiao smiled and talked about some rather private matters regarding Wu Dai, making Zhuo Xiaozhen nod in half belief.

"Since you are a friend of Wu Dai, please come inside."

Zhuo Xiaozhen led Yang Xiao inside, where the family was gathered around the table for dinner. Seeing a strange man stepping in, everyone stared at Yang Xiao.

Zhuo Xiaozhen quickly introduced:

"He said he was a friend of Wu Dai when he was alive, so he came to see us."

An elderly woman looked at Yang Xiao and asked coldly:

"You knew my son, Wu Dai?"

"Of course, Brother Wu Dai was my good friend. When I faced difficulties, I received his help. Brother Wu Dai loved to drink, was generous and chivalrous. His left upper arm has a scar over ten centimeters long, and he has two scars of similar length on his abdomen.

Oh, he also has a black birthmark on his right thigh, right?"

The family of Wu Dai was taken aback; the last two pieces of information were rather private, generally known only to close family and friends.

The old woman nodded and pleasantly said:

"It seems you are indeed my son's friend. Please have a seat, young man. Alas, our family has fallen, and we have nothing decent to offer. If you're not too bothered, have a bowl of porridge."

Yang Xiao glanced at the food on the table, inwardly lamenting the harsh life of the slum dwellers.

Yang Xiao smiled gently and said:

"I happen not to have eaten, so please serve me a bowl of porridge. However, I brought some dry food; let's share it together."

Before leaving Shendu College, Yang Xiao bought a lot of dry food, stored in his space ring, consisting of various high-level demon beast jerky and some exquisite snacks.

Yang Xiao touched his space ring and took out various types of demon beast jerky and exquisite snacks, stacking them on the table.

The total weight of the demon beast jerky amounted to at least a hundred pounds, and given the culinary skills of Shendu College chefs, the taste was particularly savory.

The dozen people in the room looked at the table full of food, each one visibly excited, saliva flowing secretly.

These foods were once their daily fare, but over the past year or so, each meal left them hungry and unsatisfied. The delicious food before their eyes was overwhelmingly tempting and irresistible.

Even Wu Dai's old mother twitched her nose a few times and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Several children couldn't control themselves and reached out their hands.

"Stop!"

Zhuo Xiaozhen commanded softly, and the four children froze their hands in mid-air.

No matter how difficult, the Wu Dai family was once a famous noble family in the Wuheng Clan.

Zhuo Xiaozhen had to summon her former noblewoman's demeanor to resist the temptation of the spread of food.

"Yang Gongzi, we cannot accept gifts without merit, and we can't accept your generosity."