Chapter 281 - Slave Markets
In places like this, the upper cla.s.ses don"t bother coming.
Only migrants from the provinces and other countries do so.
They don"t have the right to vote in the town hall or go to ma.s.s in the cathedral.
When the sun shines on the Tiber river, it"s the liveliest place in the city.
Children wake up and cry, and women carry the batons to the river to be washed.
The narrow, winding streets were filled with the stench of toilets and the smell of toast.
The girls in the attic put away the dry petticoats.
The hard-working men, clutching their disheveled hair, walked together to the dock.
It was also the liveliest place in the city when night fell.
The sweaty Anna gathered drunkenly in the small bar.
The small merchants who had just come from the capital with their goods were washing the animals in front of the inn.
The woman with the seductive figure and the charming face was twisting her soft waist, looking at whether there were any men in expensive clothes pa.s.sing by the door, trying to pull them in.
When night fell, the place was completely dark.
There were almost no street lights, and the street was rough.
Very few people could walk in the dark without stumbling.
Every house and every door was locked.
No one answered no matter how many people knocked on the door.
Trust did not dare to leave the road and walk into the alley.
Occasionally, there would be a pair of bright eyes in the darkness of the street corner, but when you looked carefully, there was nothing.
There were often legends of people being killed and their bodies being dumped here.
Every time, the bodies would be thrown into the river.
The city hall also did not want the big shots to accidentally see a body rising and falling with the river in the early morning.
Hence, they paid a boatman to search the river in the middle of the night. When he encountered a body, he would bring it into the cabin.
The moment Lei Luo, Bing, and Naili arrived, an unpleasant stench a.s.saulted their nostrils.
Lei Luo and the other two immediately covered their noses.
They had come in a carriage.
The carriage stopped by the stone bridge by the river. It was not far from the bustling streets.
However, there were very few pedestrians.
The angel sculptures that stood on both sides of the stone bridge were already old, and their surfaces were peeling off layer by layer.
The areas that had been eroded by the rain had turned grayish-black.
A towering stone wall separated this area from the bustling streets.
Not far away was the bustling avenue of life.
It was cold here, and even the wind felt cold.
A skinny man at the door walked up and said respectfully, "Sir, what do you want to buy?"
Lei Luo impatiently said, "Quickly take us to a clean place! It stinks here!"
At the same time, Lei Luo took out the amethyst card and shook it.
The man was stunned, and then he said even more respectfully, "I"m sorry, I"m sorry. Please follow me, three distinguished guests."
The man led the way, taking Lei Luo, Naili, and Bing across the stone bridge.
The opposite side of the bridge was lined with tall walls.
The sky was clipped into long thin strips.
It was an abandoned house.
Before this area became a cemetery, there were people living here.
Then they all died of a plague.
The most convenient way to clean up was to bury them on the spot.
So this area was turned into a cemetery.
The survivors were all moved away.
The only people who occasionally appeared here were the poor and dest.i.tute vagrants because the abandoned houses could be lived in for free. They had no rent to pay.
After walking past the high walls, the dusty iron windows that had not been opened for hundreds of years silently opened up a small crack.
Behind every crack, there was a look of unease.
The man leading the way was very familiar with this area.
He took Lei Luo, Naili, and Bing through a narrow alley without any signposts.
They turned into a fork at a corner that was easily overlooked.
Just as Naili felt like she was about to lose her way completely, they stopped in front of a huge abandoned building.
"It"s practically a castle!" Naili exclaimed.
"More accurately, it looks like a deformed monster," Bing said.
To be more precise, Bing"s description suited the overall feel of this building.
It was huge, complex. It was twisted and wanton. It was built from irregular limestone.
It was not a building.
Rather, it was a village made of many stone houses.
At a glance, there were countless roofs, countless entrances, countless windows, and countless external walls.
When the sun shone on it, there were countless shadows.
It was definitely not the work of any esteemed designer.
This was because no designer could bear this kind of madness. Its pattern was completely unrestricted.
An arc-shaped iron window appeared out of thin air in this direction, and a small house appeared out of thin air from the external wall in mid-air.
The winding staircase was like a long snake resting in this building, but one could not see the end.
This was a crazy thing. It looked like a deformed baby with many arms, many legs, and many eyes.
It was very uncomfortable to look at, but it was also very awe-inspiring.
This was the largest slave market.
Lei Luo and the other two followed the skinny man into the slave market, and the outermost area was filled with men.
The slaves there were all naked.
Naili and Bing held on to Lei Luo"s hand tightly. They did not dare to look at him. They only lowered their heads and walked forward with blushing faces.
After crossing a threshold, the people who appeared in front of Lei Luo were no longer humans.
Most of them were beasts. Naili and Bing looked around curiously.
They had never seen beast slaves before.
It was inevitable for them to be curious here, so they could not help but look around.
At this point in time, Lei Luo could not see any signs of resistance from the slaves. All of the slaves were willing to accept their current situation and did not have any thoughts of resistance.
They worked diligently and carried out their mission dutifully.
Here, the slaves who had been enslaved had already lost their sense of self.
There was no hope in their eyes, and they were just like marionettes.
After pa.s.sing through a few more doorsills, Lei Luo and his two companions soon entered a room.
In a fan-shaped room, Lei Luo, Naili, and Bing were sitting on a comfortable sofa.
Opposite them was a fan-shaped table. At the outermost circle was a bright platform.
Many slaves would come in a moment, and they would be offered to Lei Luo for him to choose from.
After sitting down, the slave market service staff warmly welcomed them.
After asking Lei Luo what kind of goods he wanted, they directly left.
First of all, Lei Luo selected the maids, of course.
Household hygiene, cooking, running bath water, washing clothes, and so on were all top priorities.
These things could not be put off, and Lei Luo could not be bothered to do them.