The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 293 Is this moral blackmail?

As soon as Wu Chengyu spoke, everyone who was standing immediately knelt down again. Even Xiao Lu led the children to kneel down, and everyone was pleading desperately.

These people knew very well that in this chaotic world, they wouldn't survive long with their strength, and would soon become someone else's food. Wu Chengyu was their savior and their only hope for survival.

No one wanted to die. Those slaves who had vented their resentment and did not choose to commit suicide still had the desire to live.

The craftsmen hadn't endured inhuman torture for long, and now that they had finally been rescued, they were even less willing to die, let alone the children.

Wu Chengyu was like a piece of driftwood they grabbed after falling into the water; they were unwilling to let go of him no matter what.

They shouted in unison, "We are willing to serve our benefactor as our master. As long as our benefactor is willing to protect us, our lives will be in his hands. We will never dare to disobey our benefactor."

The children were all talking at once, but all of them wanted their great hero to stay.

Wu Chengyu hesitated. His previous idea was to roam the martial arts world, help out when he encountered injustice, acquire some martial arts manuals to satisfy his longing for martial arts novels back then, and at most, encounter some beautiful women in the martial arts world. This would meet all the expectations of a person from later generations for the martial arts world.

He was always on the move, never thinking of stopping for anyone, not even the matchmaker who had once captured his heart.

But the reality is that this world has martial arts, but it is not just a martial arts world; this world is much more cruel.

Without him, these people really wouldn't survive long. They wouldn't even be able to leave Ziwu Ridge alive. If Wu Chengyu were to leave now, it would be tantamount to pushing them back into the fire.

To put it somewhat morally, if these people die a violent death in the future, Wu Chengyu will also bear some of the blame.

Most importantly, after witnessing the tragedy of cannibalism, seeing the current plight of the Han people, and thinking about the tragic world of the next hundred years, Wu Chengyu's heart began to waver.

"Don't you have anywhere to go?"

Among the slaves, a middle-aged man who was relatively older said, "Reporting to our benefactor, all our families are gone. Where in the world can we find a place to live?"

There are many bandits in the Ziwu Ridge area, and many more who cannibalize people. We'd rather die than become their food again.

The blacksmith who had spoken earlier also said, "Ever since our artisan village was razed to the ground by these bandits, all our families have been wiped out. Only a few of us with skills have become slaves who have been sold off."

This isn't the first time we've been resold. Every time, we're sold to one place, then robbed by bandits, and then resold to another place.

There were dozens of craftsmen who were arrested in Jianghu Village, but only seven of us are still alive.

Our benefactor, we will never forget your great kindness. We know that we are asking the impossible, and we have no right to ask anything of our savior.

But only a good person like you would be willing to help us, and only you can save us.

Finally, it was Little Deer who said: "My benefactor, you are a good person, a really good person, and so powerful that you can kill so many evil people."

With you, no one can bully us children anymore. Otherwise, we children wouldn't survive to grow up.

So, does that mean good people deserve to be taken advantage of? But Wu Chengyu wavered once again.

As a person from a later era, he detested moral blackmail the most, but these people in front of him were not blackmailing him, but pleading and begging, entrusting their lives to him, asking for nothing more than a way to survive, or the basic dignity of being a human being. Most importantly, there was Xiao Lu's words about not being able to grow up. When he saw the refugee child abroad say those words, even though they were thousands of miles apart, separated by a phone screen, Wu Chengyu felt a tightness in his chest.

But he never imagined that one day, a Han Chinese child, a little girl, would kneel before him and say the same words.

Wu Chengyu was powerless to resist these words.

So-called moral blackmail is not true morality, but rather using empty slogans to force others to do things they don't want to do with ulterior motives.

But Wu Chengyu now wants to do something, and no one in this world can force him to do it; it has to be something he truly wants to do.

"We'll talk about this later. Right now, we need to leave here as soon as possible. Although this place is easy to defend and difficult to attack, too many people know about it. I can't protect all of you by myself. Do you have a safe place to stay?"

The craftsmen and slaves looked at each other in bewilderment, but the little deer's eyes lit up.

“We live in Qingfengling, which is deep in the mountains. Few people usually go there. As long as we don’t come down the mountain on our own, no one can catch us.”

However, the environment there was harsh; food was scarce, and there were many wild animals and venomous snakes. We were frequently bitten, and several of our companions have already died.

Wu Chengyu nodded. For now, safety is the first priority; the rest can be dealt with slowly. As for venomous snakes, they are excellent food for Wu Chengyu. There are few people in the world who can handle snakes better than him.

"Okay, Xiaolu, take the child to the second and third floors and move everything that can be used over there."

After saying that, he looked at the middle-aged slave who had spoken earlier: "What's your name?"

"My surname is Yang, and everyone calls me Yang Laowu."

"Alright, Yang Laowu, you'll be in charge of these people for now. Send two people to the gate to keep watch. If anyone comes, don't resist, just run back and report to me immediately."

"Blacksmith, what's your name?"

"My surname is Ou, just like my master's. It is said that my master's lineage is a descendant of Ou Yezi, but I don't know if it's true or not. My benefactor calls me Ou Dachui."

"Alright, all of you come with me to check out these bandits' storage room. This gold and silver is useless to us; it's neither food nor drink."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Lu and the children went upstairs. Two of the slaves claimed to be fast runners and went to guard the gate, while the rest of them followed Wu Chengyu to the storage room.

The storage room here is very large, and it is filled with all sorts of things. First, there are more than a dozen bags of grain, weighing at least a thousand kilograms. There is also a lot of cured meat hanging on the wall, weighing at least a hundred kilograms. In addition, there is some coarse salt and lard, as well as some tools.

Some of the tools were stolen along with the craftsmen, who were very excited to see their livelihood tools.

Wu Chengyu looked at the cured meat on the wall and asked, "This isn't human flesh, is it?"

Yang Laowu immediately replied, "That damned leader forbids human flesh in the castle. All the human flesh is kept in the outer building. He also wants to eat the food here, so there's absolutely no problem."

"Very good. You guys do your part to move all these things out, then take stock of what's there and report back to me."

(End of this chapter)