70: Chapter 70 Unexpected Calamity, Blood Tribute List

The world was filthy, but Su Yu felt powerless to change it.

After all, he was only a five-year-old child; he hadn't grown up yet, and it was hard to get things done.

Moreover, in this Black City, any random demon had the strength of the late stage of Qi Refining.

So, Su Yu's plan was simple.

Lay low.

Just stay low-key, cultivate with his head down, and don't provoke anyone.

Once his cultivation was sufficient, he would think about those grand matters of changing the world.

But heaven did not grant his wish.

Sometimes, you don't need to go looking for trouble; it will grow legs and come to you on its own.

...

Northern District of the Outer City.

Administrative Office.

In a low, stone-built room, Baozhang Wang Wu was worrying about the quota for the Blood Tribute.

A "Baozhang" was the lowest-level official in the Great Li Dynasty.

Each Baozhang was responsible for about a hundred households of Mortal, handling household registration, tax collection, and the most important task of the year: the collection of the Blood Tribute.

But this year, the Blood Tribute quota was short one boy between five and eight years old.

Wang Wu had been worrying about this for several days.

The families in the Northern District that could be used to make up the numbers had long since been squeezed dry by him.

Those with some family wealth had slipped him silver at the beginning of the year to have their children removed from the backup list.

Those without family wealth either had no boys of the appropriate age, or their children were so sick that they wouldn't pass the inspection if sent to the Blood Refining Workshop.

Sending a useless person up wouldn't count, and instead, he would get a bad review from the deacon above.

If there were too many bad reviews, it wouldn't just be his job that he lost—it would be his life!

Wang Wu knew very well that if he couldn't hand over this last boy before the end of the month, the deacon at the District Office wouldn't listen to his excuses.

A Baozhang who failed to meet the quota would himself be treated as consumable material and thrown into the Blood Tribute transport convoy.

This rule had never changed since the Great Li Dynasty was founded.

In previous years, it wasn't as if there hadn't been precedents of Baozhangs being tied to the black iron prison carts because they couldn't gather enough people.

Wang Wu didn't want to follow in the footsteps of those unlucky souls.

He flipped through the household register, his gaze stopping on a line of text.

"Old Beggar, male, sixty-three years old. Household members: one. Foster child, named Gouwazi, male, five years old."

Wang Wu's gaze swept back and forth over this line twice.

Old Beggar.

Of course, he knew Old Beggar.

A few years ago, he was just the most inconspicuous Old Beggar in the slums, barely surviving on the feeding subsidies from the pens.

But in the last two years, he didn't know what kind of good luck he had stumbled upon; he suddenly learned to identify herbs and earned some money selling herbal soups in the slums.

He moved out of the slums and into a small blue-brick courtyard on the edge of the Northern District.

He even spent money to have someone register that child he had picked up as a commoner.

Wang Wu didn't have much of an impression of Old Beggar.

An Old Beggar with one foot in the grave had neither silver to offer as a bribe nor any value to be exploited.

But he had casually glanced at the child called Gouwazi.

Su Yu's appearance became exceptionally clear in his mind.

Five years old, boy, decent complexion.

If sent to the Blood Refining Workshop, there shouldn't be any problems with the inspection.

Wang Wu put down the register, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously.

He knew the situation of Old Beggar's family perfectly well.

One old man and one young child, no clan, no gang, no power to back them up.

Although Old Beggar had earned a little money in the last two years, he was just a beggar turned peddler; even the thugs on the streets of the Northern District couldn't be provoked by him.

For a family like this, even if they were conscripted, they wouldn't be able to make a single ripple.

What's more.

This morning, Wang Wu had just received a five-tael silver bribe from the butcher Zhang's family on the same street.

Butcher Zhang had a five-year-old fat son who was originally on this street's backup list.

Wang Wu took the money and promised to cross out the name of Butcher Zhang's son.

This vacated spot naturally needed an unlucky person with no background to fill it.

In the world of bottom-tier Mortal, the logic of malice was often just that simple.

For the sake of their own lives, for a few taels of silver.

They would push their own kind into the abyss without hesitation.

...

Two days later, in the evening.

"Bang!"

The gate of Old Beggar's courtyard was kicked off its hinges.

Wang Wu walked in with two bailiffs, his gaze locking directly onto Su Yu, who was sitting in the corner.

Ruddy complexion, four limbs intact, no obvious signs of illness.

"Hmm, good."

Wang Wu nodded with satisfaction and turned to say something to the scribe.

"Register him."

Only then did Old Beggar react; he rushed out from behind the stove and grabbed Wang Wu's sleeve.

"Manager Wang, what is this?"

"Your child has been selected for this year's Blood Tribute quota for young children."

Wang Wu shook off Old Beggar's hand, his tone casual.

"Bring him to the collection station in three days to report. Once he passes the inspection, the obligation is fulfilled."

Old Beggar stood frozen on the spot, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Manager Wang, this... this isn't right, is it?"

"My Gouwazi just got his household registration last year. According to the rules, new registrations are exempt from the levy for the first year..."

"Exempt?"

Wang Wu looked back at Old Beggar and laughed.

"Old Beggar, when you registered him, whose connections did you use?"

Old Beggar opened his mouth, unable to speak.

When he registered Su Yu, he had indeed used connections and spent silver.

But he had taken a crooked path.

The formal registration process required two local residents to act as guarantors and pass the District Office's review.

As a former beggar, where could he find legitimate guarantors?

He had spent three taels of silver to find a broker who specialized in forging documents and got a fake guarantee letter to get the registration done.

Wang Wu clearly had already investigated this layer.

"Your household registration's guarantee letter is fake, so naturally, it isn't protected by the exemption."

"Of course, if you're not convinced, you can go to the District Office to report it."

He looked at Old Beggar, whose legs were weak, and added unhurriedly.

"However, according to the laws of the Great Li, for forging a household registration, both the person and the child will be conscripted into the Blood Tribute together."

"You weigh it yourself."

After dropping this sentence, Wang Wu turned and left with his men.

The courtyard was deathly silent.

Old Beggar looked as if his bones had been removed, his whole body trembling.

After a long while, he suddenly squatted down, pulled Su Yu tightly into his arms, and wailed.

He didn't suppress his voice as he usually did, but cried out in desperate collapse.

Crying for his own life, which was like mud.

Crying for this cannibalistic world.

And even more so for this child, whom he held in the palm of his hand, but who didn't even have the chance to grow up.

"Gouwazi... it's Grandpa who is useless..."

"Grandpa doesn't have the ability to protect you..."

Old Beggar's wailing was heart-wrenching, echoing in the narrow alley.

But he didn't hear any comfort from any neighbors.

Those neighbors who had once greeted them with smiling faces because they were living well.

At this moment, all of them had shut their doors and windows tightly, fearing that they would be tainted by bad luck, and even more afraid that this unlucky task would fall on their own heads.

Su Yu let Old Beggar hold him.

"It's okay, Grandpa."

Facing the desperate situation, the five-year-old Su Yu was exceptionally calm; instead, he stretched out his small hand and patted Old Beggar's back.

Old Beggar stiffened.

What a sensible child; why was this damned heaven so blind!

After crying, Old Beggar suddenly wiped away the tears and snot on his face, a flash of determination in his cloudy eyes.

"Gouwazi, don't be afraid. Grandpa will never let you be eaten by those monsters."

Old Beggar lowered his voice, speaking urgently.

"The Blood Tribute convoy isn't sent directly to the Blood Refining Workshop, but first gathers at the Great Transfer Station in the dynasty's capital."

"We're going to the capital."

"There are many officials in the capital, and many rules too."

"As long as we get there, I will spend money to pull strings, and I will definitely be able to replace your name from the list."

As Old Beggar spoke, he began to rummage through cabinets and boxes.

Su Yu stood to the side, quietly watching Old Beggar's busy back.

The insight from having lived three lifetimes allowed Su Yu to instantly see through Old Beggar's clumsy lie.

How could a Mortal's silver possibly buy off the Blood Tribute list set by the dynasty?

In the eyes of those demons and officials who viewed Mortal as livestock, this amount of money didn't even qualify to buy a single word from them.

Su Yu looked at Old Beggar's eyes, which revealed a death wish, and a very complex sigh arose from the bottom of his heart.

Old Beggar had no intention of spending money to pull strings at all.

He was taking all his travel funds, intending that once they reached that massive transfer station in the dynasty's capital.

He would use his own life to replace Su Yu's.

This was the desperate path of exchanging lives that Old Beggar could think of!

"This old man..."

Su Yu withdrew his gaze, and a warmth couldn't help but rise in his heart.