Aogu City, a royal city surrounded by nine human principalities, has experienced the rise and fall of countless dynasties. Nobles, wealthy businessmen, powerful combat professionals, and some talented craftsmen, most of them have enough food and clothing, and are surrounded by servants. But they have nothing.
However, their lives are not as good as that of dogs, and even their pets are better than others. They have only three ways out, one is to beg on the street, or die with hatred, or the other is to become a criminal due to hunger and cold.
In the coldest month of the year, a skinny boy was hiding in a narrow alley, looking expressionlessly at the figures that occasionally passed by. The worn gray linen hood made it difficult to see clearly.
On his face, the little hand tucked into the cuff of his sleeve is holding a steel knife.
He is only ten years old and is an orphan born and raised in the royal city. His patched leather shoes come from a mass grave outside the city. His thin trousers cannot withstand the cold wind. His uneven hair is his masterpiece last week, but those pair of
The dark pupils reveal indifference and vicissitudes of life all the time.
It was these eyes that had long since lost their innocence and fantasy, and were now bloodshot and motionless. They were staring at the pedestrians passing by, at their wallets under their gold-encrusted coats, at their priceless bracelets and necklaces, and even
Staring at the cargo bag carried by the servant.
The consequences of many days of starvation struck again. His stomach was cramping and cramping, but his eyes became colder. At this moment, the boy could no longer be regarded as a human being. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to call him a beast. The laws of the royal city were forgotten.
In the end, moral principles have long been like a piece of grass. Those things cannot be exchanged for one's own dinner, nor can they be replaced by even a shred of warmth.
Finally, his prey appeared. She was a lady with heavy makeup, or a walking meatball. He saw this fat woman standing in front of the shop across the street, scolding two servants at the top of her voice. For a moment,
After a while, the right hand covered with gemstone rings reached into his arms and slowly pulled out the purse.
That's it now! The boy flew out of the alley silently, the gray linen hood that had been clinging to his body floating in the air!
The strolling groom hurriedly tightened the reins, and the couple who was whispering widened their eyes. The already noisy street became even more chaotic, and the fat woman's purse had already fallen into the hands of the young man.
Several piercing screams pierced the night sky, waking up the sleeping owl and attracting the imperial guards. The thin body was lifted in the air, and pairs of eyes came as expected, either with disdain or hypocrisy, which was full of fun.
The sense of anticipation before going on stage.
"Damn beggar, how dare you openly rob a nobleman without finding a place to sleep in the cold weather! Are you tired of living?" The guard hit the young man on the head with his other hand, and his force was merciless. However, the young man hanging in the air did not say a word. His eyes hidden under the hood contained endless hatred, but there was no trace of fear at all. The steel knife that was always held in the palm of his hand pierced the opponent's forearm, and the pain made him
He let go of his hand, and when he came back to his senses, the boy was already gone...
Although the area of Aogu City is not comparable to that of any principality, it is the largest city in the world. There are wide and narrow dark alleys between countless buildings. The young man is huddled behind a trash can and will be stained with blood.
He put the steel knife into his cuff, and then opened the snatched money bag.
There are no gold coins that we are looking forward to! There are no silver coins that are worth the trip! There are no copper coins that are better than nothing! The young man is holding the so-called noble identity card, a little dull, but more of it is the hunger that comes from his belly.
.
He threw away the money bag and turned around and walked to another neighborhood. After years of being hungry and cold, his will was stronger than fine gold. The precarious life is the best teacher, it taught the young man what is the way to survive.
, and more vividly expresses the most straightforward truth: if you want to survive, you must first learn to be cruel!
The steel knife in the cuff is attached to the inner side of the arm. So far, this knife has tasted countless blood. Among them were companions who fought with their lives for half a fish head, and also nobles who became angry when the theft was exposed. As for the only one.
A murder was a response to the other party's request, ending his troubles with a vicious disease.
A familiar bakery appeared not far away, and the city guards who occasionally passed by escorted some unlucky fellows. Among them were children about the same age as teenagers, as well as thin men and women with wrinkled faces, and even gray-haired old men.
Their bodies were marked with deep or shallow whip marks, and the woman hanging at the end was holding her own ears.
The young man stood indifferently in the shadows. He had already seen too many of these scenes, and what he needed most at the moment was not mercy, but calmness and carefulness. He calmly observed everyone carrying food, carefully waited for the opportunity to take action, and tried to survive
Tonight.
Cold and hunger are like a pair of inseparable twins, one brings despair, the other takes away life. I don’t know when, the black rain that only appears in the cold moon slowly falls, driving away the drunkards who are still lingering, forcing the patrols to
The city guards hid in buildings.
The young man looked up at the sky, then tightened his hood and walked out of the alley again.
"Lord Baron, I look forward to your next visit." A man wrapped in a rice dumpling walked out of the bakery. As the last members of the aristocratic system, most of them are not much better than businessmen, but they don't have to worry about eating every meal. The young man passing by had even steps, like a poor man who was eager to go home. But he inadvertently showed the steel knife and stabbed the other man accurately and viciously.
"Pfft!", the expected exclamation and blood did not appear. Although the steel knife reached the handle, the opponent's cotton coat was too thick. However, the power coming from his waist still made him stagger forward a few times.
Step.
However, in just a few steps, the young man caught a loaf of bread that was about to fall to the ground with quick eyes and hands, turned around and ran towards the darkness. But the God of Destiny raised doubts, and saw the baron pick up a brick after being stunned.
, and threw it at the young man with a curse.
A warm current wetted his hair, and eventually a palm-sized blood mark was printed on the hood. But the young man's expression was still cold, and he even ran a little faster. He didn't want to taste the whip again.
, let alone being imprisoned in a dark prison and starving to death.
The black rain gradually changed from ox hairs to silver needles, and finally poured down like soybeans. The young man held the stained loaf of bread and sat slumped under the stone bridge, panting like a dead dog. Dirty
It became the best shelter, and the sour and smelly garbage erased all traces. I survived again! The bread in my hand really existed, and the distance between it and my lips was only a few centimeters.
"Cough cough... cough cough cough..." Suddenly! A burst of rapid coughing sounded not far away. The boy put the bread into his arms like a conditioned reflex, and clenched the steel knife in his hand again. Only a sick and sick person could be seen.
The languid old man is leaning deeper under the stone bridge. His exquisite robe is covered with mud, and his light golden curly hair is scattered on his shoulders.
"Child, what's your name? If you haven't eaten, I still have a few gold coins here, take them." The old man turned his head with difficulty and said a little tiredly.
"Boom! If you want to die, I can help you!" After confirming the other person's condition, the boy stood up and walked over, but in the end he stopped two meters away.
"Okay! Very good! I didn't expect that what I saw before I died was not the bullshit from the Secret Magic Union, but a beggar in the royal city! Life! Everything is life!" The old man reached out and threw a blood-stained money bag to him.
Boom, mumbling to himself like crazy.
"Boy! If you want to change your destiny, study the things recorded in this parchment! As for this contracted beast egg, it needs to be activated through blood. I don't know what is in it." The old man seemed to give his last words.
He spoke quickly, and soon he turned into a corpse.
The boy named Boom never made any move until a group of mice crawled across his feet and a bold wild cat squatted beside him. The black rain was still falling, as if it was the excrement of the gods, sketching a cruel picture.
Picture scroll. The so-called contract beast egg stood sideways in the corner, while the parchment scroll in the old man's mouth rolled down to the edge of the sewer ditch.
Boom bowed and picked up the gold coins. After some hesitation, he walked towards the corpse in front of him. Although the robe was shabby, it was far better than what he was wearing. Although the leather boots did not fit his feet, they were thick and warm. The unknown sheepskin roll
After being stuffed into his waist, the next problem was the giant thing in front of him.
Contract beasts are something only combat professionals can possess. Although Boom doesn't believe the other party's last words, this thing that looks like a metal lump must be worth a few silver coins.
A pair of small hands rested on the oval-shaped object. Only then did Boom realize that its surface was not smooth and round, but covered with countless patterns that he did not recognize. A squeaking sound came from the alley, but just like that,
At the last corner, a few streams of blood poured out from the wound on the back of Boom's hand and dripped on the surface of the dome.
Click! Click! The dome in front of you suddenly shattered, revealing a petite figure.
"Master?" The mysterious girl said with some doubts as her watery eyes flashed. Boom, who had already fallen into petrification, was leaning against the wall, the steel knife in his right hand trembling slightly, and the remaining bread in his left hand was clenched into dough. Dawn.
The dawn in front lit up Aogu City, the black rain gradually subsided, and there was no one in the alley.