Plane Supermarket Plane 1: Da Liang Dynasty C16
It was rare for the computer to discover ‘conscience.’ Ye Zhou had only flipped through a few pages when he was amazed by the rich selection of bodyguards.
Although these bodyguards in the photos all appeared to be human, clicking on the images would reveal the person’s age, gender, race, and personality preferences.
Yes—there was also race.
But this race was different from what Ye Zhou understood.
Out of curiosity, he clicked on a photo of a little girl, and when the data appeared, he was shocked by her age.
The girl appeared to be less than ten years old with a chubby round face. Her skin seemed overly pale, possibly due to using a lot of filter. But her eyes were large, and her pupils seemed to have a hint of redness. She grinned at the camera, and her fangs were somewhat prominent.
Four hundred and twenty years old?
Ye Zhou: “…”
Checking the race—vampire.
Ye Zhou swallowed hard.
Aside from vampires, there were also werewolves, magicians, cyborgs, and even what appeared to be ‘aliens’ based on their racial names.
Finding a true ‘human’ among all this was indeed a difficult task.
Ye Zhou’s worldview was shattered.
This was possible?
Fortunately, hiring bodyguards required signing contracts. These contracts ensured the interests and personal safety of both the employer and the hired bodyguard.
In other words, Ye Zhou didn’t have to worry about the hired bodyguards turning against him.
Regardless of the bodyguard’s personality, at least they wouldn’t harm him or rob his supermarket.
And no matter the circumstances, they wouldn’t abandon him to save themselves.
He couldn’t interview any of these individuals. Once he clicked ‘hire’ after making a choice, that was it. So, he had to distinguish the cost-effectiveness from the brief descriptions in their profiles.
The most expensive one had a monthly salary of two million, and Ye Zhou immediately ruled that out.
No matter how skilled they were, even if they could take on a hundred or even a thousand adversaries, he couldn’t afford it.
There were cheaper options, like the vampire girl, whose monthly salary was only three thousand.
But the price was too low for Ye Zhou’s comfort. He feared that the price correlated with their abilities. He needed a bodyguard, not a daughter.
Three thousand, no matter how he looked at it, didn’t seem like someone with skills.
Besides, what do vampires eat in their daily lives? He couldn’t be rescuing people while providing her with blood, could he?
This wasn’t an option either.
Ye Zhou could only look for bodyguards in the mid-range price bracket.
He still leaned towards having a ‘human’ bodyguard, as they would likely be more comfortable with each other. Ideally, they would be Chinese, or at the very least, Asian, and they must be able to speak Chinese.
In this way, his pool of choices became even smaller.
But with fewer choices, the decision-making process became somewhat simpler.
Ye Zhou focused on mid-range-priced bodyguards with Asian faces, although the profiles displayed their races but not their nationalities.
Now, Ye Zhou had to rely on his instincts.
After spending three hours, Ye Zhou narrowed it down to three people. He then spent another hour agonizing over the decision and finally settled on two.
Hiring three people would be too expensive, but two would be just right. Once he earned a bit more money, he could hire a security guard, a chef, and a doctor.
“I hope there’s no need for a summoning ritual,” Ye Zhou muttered as he leaned back in his chair after clicking the hire button.
He was now curious about how the bodyguards would arrive.
·
“What do we do now?” Li Si couldn’t stop shaking when he reported the letter.
Even though they had magical tools given by the immortal, the fear of mountain bandits was deeply ingrained in the hearts of ordinary people.
These people are monsters who kill without blinking an eye, and they don’t take human life seriously.
Li Si had lived to this age that he had killed only a handful of chickens. The chickens at home were kept for laying eggs and exchanging them for salt. Only when a chicken was sick or too old to lay eggs would it be slaughtered.
Wu Yan was scared too, but he tried to reassure everyone, saying, “Don’t be afraid. Let’s wait and see, and we’ll speak after they leave.”
At this moment, it was difficult to bypass them, unless they turned back, but there was nothing behind them.
To fulfill the immortal’s task, they could only continue south.
“No matter what they are, they are ordinary people.” Wu Yan comforted the employees, “We have the immortal’s magical tools, do we still need to fear them?”
These words barely calmed the employees, but they still appeared anxious.
Li Si whispered, “Why are the Yellow Bandits here? They’re powerful. Shouldn’t they have headed south earlier?”
Chen Liu suddenly said, “I’ve heard from the old hunters on the mountain that the Yellow Bandits never harm the elderly, women, and children. They only kill corrupt officials and wealthy landlords who mistreat the poor.”
Li Si glared at him, “If the Yellow Bandits are so reasonable, why do they have such a notorious reputation?”
“The hunter must have lied to fool you!”
Chen Liu retorted, “How do you know for sure if the rumors about the Yellow Bandits are true? Maybe it’s because they kill corrupt officials that they’ve gained such a reputation.”
“Enough!” Wu Yan scolded in a low voice, “Regardless of whether they’re good or bad, right now, we can only hide.”
“We’ll follow them once they leave.”
“Let’s all come out together. We should avoid internal strife.”
Li Si and Chen Liu stopped arguing, but neither of them yielded. They both believed that they were the ones who truly understood the situation.
Wu Yan called Chen Liu aside and asked quietly, “Have you thought about it?”
Wu Yan had sensed from Chen Liu’s words that he was defending the Yellow Bandits either because he had joined them or wanted to join them.
Chen Liu didn’t hide it and said confidently, “If the Yellow Bandits didn’t spare the elderly and children, I would have joined them long ago!”
He had been holding back his anger, but now he let it out, saying, “A few years ago, my parents almost starved to death! We planted wheat on our land, and after the autumn harvest, the government sent people to collect grain. We grew the grain ourselves but almost starved. Why?!”
“These dog officials should have been killed long ago!” Chen Liu’s eyes turned red, as if he had returned to that time.
The wind blew through the wheat fields, creating a sea of gold during a rare bumper harvest year.
Back then, he had planned to pay the taxes, keep a year’s worth of food, and build a small house to marry a wife.
But then the grain collectors arrived.
They took away most of the grain from their home, and the remaining food was not even enough to last their family until the next autumn.
Chen Liu gasped for breath, saying, “Later, I heard from the old hunter that the Yellow Bandits are in need of people now. As long as I’m willing to join them, they’ll provide us with a settlement fee.”
“The Yellow Bandits don’t kill good people, they spare the elderly, women, and children. Compared to the government, the Yellow Bandits are more like the government!”
Wu Yan looked at him and didn’t see any signs of lying on his face. So he asked, “How certain are you?”
Chen Liu replied, “I’m a hundred percent sure.”
He continued anxiouslt, “All those rumors about the Yellow Bandits being ruthless killers are just stories. If the Yellow Bandits were really that evil, would they leave survivors?”
Wu Yan frowned and thought for a while before looking at Chen Liu. “Let’s go there first.”
Chen Liu said, “Wu Ge, let me go and talk to them!”
Wu Yan said, “What are you going to say? Tell them we have the help of an immortal and want to save good people? And then what? Bring them back with us? If these people are criminals, how do you think the immortal will view us?!”
Chen Liu insisted, “They can’t be villains!”
Wu Yan no longer looked at him and replied, “Your words don’t matter unless you’re an immortal who knows all things and can see into people’s hearts.”
Chen Liu wasn’t ready to give up yet. He said, “If they’re criminals, I’ll go and bang my head on a tree to death!”
“You don’t even know them, and you’re basing your judgment on the fact that they’re wearing yellow belts,” Wu Yan couldn’t understand where Chen Liu’s confidence was coming from. “Even if they weren’t criminals in the past, what about now?”
Chen Liu anxiously said, “Wu Ge! I’ve been to the mountain before!”
Wu Yan was shocked, and his eyes widened. “You’ve been with the Yellow Bandits?!”
Chen Liu realized he had slipped up, but once those words were out, there was no taking them back. He gritted his teeth and nodded.
“When my parents were starving to death I went to the mountains,” Chen Liu said with a bitter smile. “The government wanted our family’s lives, but the rumored ruthless Yellow Bandits saved our family. After that, I started working with the Yellow Bandits. My parents even told the villagers that I was apprenticing in town.”
“When there was a severe drought, I couldn’t bear to leave my parents, so I returned home,” Chen Liu patted his chest and continued, “I spent three years in the mountains. You can’t just join the Yellow Bandits at will. All of us brothers had to pass a test, and we took an oath.”
He continued, “The leader set rules. We don’t rob ordinary people, we don’t rob landlords who treat their tenants well, we don’t rob the elderly or women, and we don’t rob honest officials.”
“We only rob the local bullies in the village, wealthy landlords who mistreat others, and corrupt officials.”
Wu Yan couldn’t help asking, “Do you recognize the people by the campfire?”
Chen Liu nodded again and again. “I recognize them. All of them are my brothers who took the oath with me before Master Guan. Wu Ge! They haven’t harmed innocent people. Please save their lives!”
“Chen Liu, it’s not that I don’t trust you,” Wu Yan patted his shoulder, “but this is a serious matter. We are only five people, and our comrades who have come with us have never been in a fight. No matter how much you vouch for them, they are still bandits.”
“A person who has killed someone cannot be called a good person.”
Chen Liu replied in dazed, “They killed bad people.”
Wu Yan spoke sternly, “Even so, they have blood on their hands, and they carry the burden of taking lives!”
Wu Yan pursed his lips. “The immortal can forgive you and save you, but I’m not an immortal, and I can’t make that decision.”
Chen Liu didn’t know how to argue further.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he said, “Wu Ge, they really aren’t bad people…”
The hardest time for Chen Liu was when his brothers evenly divided their provisions and asked him to take them back to his parents.
During his first job with the bandits, when they saw he was scared, they told him to stay behind, and afterward, they didn’t hesitate to give him a share.
Chen Liu’s body swayed, and suddenly he dropped to his knees with a resounding “thud,” kneeling before Wu Yan.
“Wu Ge, Wu Ge! Please save them!”
“Give my rations to them!”
Chen Liu continued, “Don’t bring them back! Give my rations to them!”
Chen Liu cried softly, “I never went to school, I don’t understand big principles. All I know is that they saved me. The sage said that when someone shows you great kindness, you should repay it like a gushing spring. If I don’t repay this kindness, I’m not a human being!”
Wu Yan anxiously pulled him up, saying, “Stop kneeling! I’ll do it for you!”
“When it’s darker, you can throw your rations over to them.”
“But you can’t reveal your identity, and you can’t take them with us!”
“Chen Liu, it’s not that I’m heartless, but we can’t afford to gamble.”
He knew Chen Liu was telling the truth, but they had nothing of their own. They depended on the immortal for everything. How could they be generous like the immortal?
Allowing Chen Liu to share his own rations was already the best Wu Yan could do.
If these people were good, then the heavens wouldn’t forsake them.
But with blood on their hands, Wu Yan couldn’t possibly bring them back.
Chen Liu wiped away his tears and stood up, bracing himself on his knees. “I understand.”
Everyone has their own fate, and sometimes it can’t be forced.
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