The innkeeper smiled brightly as he eyed the silver. He looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, sir. We only have three deluxe rooms left. Would you mind making do with three deluxe rooms and three standard rooms?"
Aunt Mei silently asked the others for their opinions with a look in her eyes. They were still in the carriage. The innkeeper saw them and just assumed they were some noble young masters out for a life experience. He didn't suspect a thing.
"I'll share a room with Qin Lan," Dongfang Huaizhu said softly. Aunt Mei nodded in agreement.
Zhili and the others were also willing to share a room for better care. After a moment's thought, Aunt Mei took back some of the silver on the table. She didn't have much money, so she had to be thrifty.
"Then three deluxe rooms, please." The group quickly checked into the inn. After washing up, they went to bed and soon fell asleep.
The next day, Dongfang Huaizhu and Dongfang Qinlan came downstairs. They found that Aunt Mei and the others were already up and having breakfast. Seeing them, Aunt Mei said nothing.
It was Zhili who spoke up. "Hurry up and eat. Aunt Mei will take you somewhere later."
The two sisters nodded and sat down at the table, eating their breakfast slowly. Aunt Mei exchanged glances with the other three. After confirming, she put down her chopsticks and gulped down the porridge in one go.
"Let's go. It's a bit far. We'll take the carriage." After they finished eating, Aunt Mei stood up and walked towards the door.
The two Dongfang sisters followed behind her. They sat in the carriage and didn't know how long they had been jolting before they finally arrived at their destination. It was a blood - sport arena in Long City.
"There's a fighting tournament here. You'll participate. If you don't, you're as good as dead," Aunt Mei pointed at the arena and said to Dongfang Huaizhu.
Dongfang Huaizhu and Dongfang Qinlan glanced at each other. They knew they had no other choice. "I will definitely walk out of this tournament alive," Dongfang Huaizhu said.
Dongfang Qinlan took the lead. Step by step, the two sisters walked into the arena. Under the strange looks of the guards, they made their way to the contestants' preparation area.
"If they win, all the money here will be yours. But tell me the truth. Where did you find these two slaves? They look so good," said a man sitting in front of Aunt Mei. This man was the arena's supervisor. The arena wasn't just a place for fighting tournaments; it was a place where the wealthy watched slaves fight to the death.
Every month, the arena held a battle - to - the - death tournament. In this tournament, one side would surely die. The contestants were slaves from each wealthy family.
"You don't need to worry about that. All you need to know is that I want them to win this time," Aunt Mei said impatiently. What did this man want to know everything for? Why didn't he just pay for the information?
"I can't guarantee that. You should know the arena's rules. If they lose, their lives will belong to us," the supervisor said, not minding Aunt Mei's attitude. They had known each other for a long time.
"Sister, why are they looking at us so strangely?" On the stage, Dongfang Qinlan grabbed Dongfang Huaizhu's sleeve and asked carefully.
Dongfang Huaizhu looked at those people with fierce looks in their eyes. She felt a bit uneasy. "It's okay. Maybe they're afraid they can't beat us."
Hearing her sister's words, Dongfang Qinlan took a deep breath. After the person on the stage announced the start of the competition, the people standing opposite the Dongfang sisters started to take off their clothes, revealing their strong muscles.
"Kill them! Go! Hurry up! Fight!" The people sitting beside the stage roared, urging the contestants to tear the Dongfang sisters into pieces.
The two sisters watched the five or six people opposite them warily. The arena's rules didn't limit the number of slaves, but in the end, there could be at most two people standing on the stage, and at least... maybe half a person.
Dongfang Huaizhu looked at those excited people. She had a bad feeling in her heart. When she got closer to those people, that feeling became even stronger.
These people had no fighting skills. They just attacked the most vulnerable parts. Some of them even bit a piece of flesh off their opponents. They fought relentlessly, and countless amounts of blood splashed on the sisters' faces.
"Tsk, it's been a long time since I've seen such delicate - looking slaves. I wonder why they're here instead of serving their masters properly," someone said.
Hearing those words, Dongfang Huaizhu was filled with anger. The next moment, the pain made her want to give up.
[If you give up now, everything will start all over again.]
The voice of the plot echoed in her mind.
Dongfang Huaizhu looked at her sister, who was struggling to resist the attacks. She forced herself to stand up from the ground.
[There's a power here that can be lent to you, but it's only this one chance. After this, you won't be able to use it again, and you'll suffer double damage from attacks in the future.]
Dongfang Huaizhu listened to the voice and thought to herself.
The people watching below noticed that for some reason, that woman was fighting more and more ferociously. She protected the other woman. Soon, bright red blood flowed from their opponents' bodies, and the match was over.
Aunt Mei was waiting at the arena's entrance with the money, waiting for the two sisters to come out. She hadn't expected them to win.
Dongfang Huaizhu and Dongfang Qinlan supported each other. Their bodies were covered in blood, and it was hard to tell if it was their own or their opponents'. Step by step, they walked out of the arena's gate. Seeing Aunt Mei standing not far away, they knew they had won!
"They're out," Aunt Mei saw the staggering sisters and quickly walked forward to help them.
It was still daylight. Many people around saw the blood - covered people and were used to it. In the arena, there was always bloodshed, and people coming and going had become numb to it.
"Take us back to the inn and call a doctor for Qin Lan," Dongfang Huaizhu said coldly and impatiently to Aunt Mei.
Aunt Mei didn't mind. She carefully helped Dongfang Qinlan into the carriage. A white cloth had already been laid on the carriage seat to prevent any accidents and to keep the seat from getting dirty with their blood.
"Sit tight. We're going back to the inn. Hold her steady," Aunt Mei instructed the two in the carriage. She felt a strange emotion in her heart.
Dongfang Huaizhu felt full of energy. That power had supported her through the fight and helped her support Dongfang Qinlan out. Now, she felt the pain on her body gradually disappearing. If it weren't for the scars on her body reminding her that she had been injured, she would have suspected she was dreaming.