Records of the Weakest Emperor

Chapter 123: Enraged

They immediately started a patdown, looking for that pouch filled with coins and paper notes that they desired so much they were willing to kill in exchange for it.

But alas, they found nothing. Indeed, there was a pouch strapped around Charlotte's knees covered by her clothes, but it had nothing inside of it.

"Shit, there's no money in here! Did you lie to us, Viktor?!"

The gang members glared at Viktor's direction.

Viktor, the landlord trembled, "Impossible! She must be loaded with money! How else can she afford ice cream and chicken every day? It doesn't make sense that she has no money but can still eat those things!" Viktor's words were said out loud in a desperate tone.

The gang members agreed to what he had said.

Viktor's words made sense, but that didn't matter at all for the gang members. They came here for the money and if there was no money to retrieve from this pair of mother and daughter, then they will claim their well-deserved money from Viktor, the landlord.

If he was able to pay, then they will let bygones be bygones, but if he was unable to cough up at least the minimum that they needed...

Then, he would most likely pay for the trouble that he caused them with his life.

Viktor knew this far too well so he approached Charlotte and sent a slap directly across her face.

Smack!

"Bitch! Where did you hide the money!" Viktor cried out loud.

His face became distorted with desperation.

Money?

Did they come here for money?

The cogs in Charlotte's mind madly spun. How did they know that we have money? She was secretive whenever she went out of the house and the reason why she didn't buy any brand new clothes was that she didn't want anyone to know that she had a lot of money.

Declaring that you have a treasure in the middle of a sea of thieves was tantamount to suicide.

Charlotte knew that at the least, so whenever she went out. She tried her best to hide the pouch containing the money that Calvin gave to her a few days ago.

She knew that she was being cautious, so how did these people know that she had a lot of money in her?

Charlotte gnashed her teeth.

She saw that her daughter was currently underneath the knee of a gang member.

Biting her lips, tears welled up in her eyes as she said, "No! I don't have any money! What are you talking about? I don't have anything with me!"

"Don't play dumb with me, you bitch! Did you already forget that you paid several months of rent in advance? It's obvious that you have a lot of money, so don't bother acting stupid or else, I'll cut your tongue out!" The landlord, Viktor threatened with a ferocious look on his face.

"Yes... I did... pay for... rent several months in advance... but that was all the money that I had..."

Charlotte was struggling to breathe.

She was being pinned down underneath a gang member's knee. She tried to struggle, but she discovered in horror that the more she struggled, the more painful it became for her to breathe.

The gang member whose knee was on her chest lifted a smile on his face.

His interest was piqued, "How did you get that much money in just a few days anyway? Did you go to the Southern Borough and whore your body out there to a random noble?"

The gang member's expression was kind, but the force he was using while pinning Charlotte onto the ground was gradually becoming stronger.

Charlotte felt intense pain on her chest, but she endured it all as she answered, "No... I didn't manage to snag a noble, but... I spent... I spent the few days doing it with... anyone... that can pay..."

Charlotte wanted to deny their accusation at first, but realizing that it was a huge opportunity to derail the topic from any mention of Calvin nor anything about him.

She made it so that these gang members would think that the reason why she got so much money in a short amount of time was that she sold her body out there to the masses.

A look of disgust quickly appeared on the gang member's face. To be honest, he had some desire for Charlotte. A woman with such fair skin was quite rare in Ashmelion. But to think that she was already used by those disgusting bastards from the Southern Borough.

The gang member's desire for Charlotte immediately deflated.

As for Cecilia, these gang members had standards. They have their own principles and morals, so even for them, it would be far too despicable and inhumane if they pounced on such a little girl who probably couldn't even understand what was happening at this moment.

The gang members looked at each other and decided. Once they got their money, they would immediately leave and wouldn't cause any further harm to this mother and pair duo. But of course, the condition was that they had to get their money's worth. If not, then their plans might change...

Viktor furrowed his eyebrows out of frustration. The other gang members were doing their best, some even dug into the damp muddy floors of the small hut, yet they still couldn't find the money that they were looking for.

The gang members then made a sidelong glance at Viktor.

Viktor gnashed his teeth and he was about to say something when one of the gang members beat him to the chase.

"Are you sure that you've used up all the money that you had after paying several months of rent in advance?" The gang member who looked to be a middle-aged man had a wide smile on his face.

The smile was kind in nature, and one would feel refreshed when looking at his smile.

But Charlotte knew that the more kind-looking a despicable person was, the more dangerous they were.

Staring at the smile on the gang member's face, Charlotte felt insecure and afraid.

She didn't know how to answer the gang member's question. His tone of voice was confident and his sentence was short and concise enough that Charlotte couldn't find anything in his words that she could exploit like what had happened earlier.

Should I tell him the truth...?

Charlotte thought to herself.

No... I can't...

Once they knew that I still have a lot of money, then they will definitely not let us go!

But what will happen if I told them that I had no money, but they already knew that I still have a lot of it?

Will they kill me?

What should I do...

Tears threatened to fall down Charlotte's eyes.

"You don't have to worry about anything... We just need the money... We won't do anything untoward against you and your daughter so long as we got what we wanted. But if you remain so uncooperative, then..." The gang member brandished a sharp knife in front of Charlotte, and he dragged it across Charlotte's neck, drawing blood in the process.

He then licked the blood from the blade and smiled, "We would be forced to do something that we do not want to do..."

Charlotte's pupils constricted.

She immediately dropped all pretenses and confessed, "Yes... I still have a lot of money..."

Her words rang like a firecracker inside the small hut.

"See! If you just told us earlier, then everything wouldn't come to this!" The gang member's smile deepened, "Where is that money, then?"

Viktor's eyes gleamed with excitement.

Viktor was a middle-aged man who looked like a mountain of fat.

He stood there, shivering in excitement and the fat on his chin trembled like soft-served ice cream or pudding, "You bitch! You should've said that earlier, then everything would've been over already! Just tell us where the money and we'll go now!"

The landlord, Viktor had no remorse whatsoever about what he had done.

Was he not afraid of being sued by Charlotte? Well, of course, he was afraid of being sued. But lawsuits in Ashmelion were incredibly expensive to make since it required not only several documents but also the cooperation of a lawyer whose services had exorbitant prices.

It was basically impossible for someone to hire a lawyer unless their incomes were at the upper class.

"The money..." Charlotte softly uttered.

A look of determination appeared on her face. Calvin might've only been with them for a few days, but Calvin graced them with a blessing that was enough to last them for quite a long time. She considered Calvin as her benefactor, and thus... How could she betray and sell out her benefactor?

Even if she died, she would never let these bastards know who Calvin was!

She would never let them know that the money came from Calvin!

Calvin was a crippled man.

His right eye was missing and his right arm's function was minimal. Such a man couldn't possibly face off against an entire gang, what's more. Charlotte saw the tattoo of a flowing river on one of the gang member's chest.

That tattoo indicated one thing these guys were from the Yellow River Gang!

Despair quickly dawned over Charlotte, but she was still unwilling to reveal who Calvin was and his location.

Gnashing her teeth, she said, "I don't have that money anymore... It was stolen... Yes! It was stolen from me!"

"Stop fucking lying!" Viktor lunged forward and sent a slap across Charlotte's face. The slap was so strong that it directly made her cheeks swell with fluids and blood. Intense pain covered the entirety of Charlotte's face as her body trembled and twitched in pain.

"I... I'm not lying... That money... It got stolen from me earlier when I was at the wet market!"

Charlotte reckoned that these bastards might've been following her since a few days ago and that was the reason why they were so sure that she had a lot of money.

"You're lying again, miss... Don't you know what's better for you at this moment? Do you really want to force our hand?"

The gang member whose knee was still on Charlotte's chest coldly whispered into the air, "If a thief really did took the money out from your hands then why do you still have this pouch strapped around your knees?" The gang member raised a pouch in front of Charlotte, "If your money was stolen, this pouch should've been gone along with that money."

"In other words, you are lying to us once again."

"Sigh..."

"This is getting annoying."

"It looks like you won't cry until you see your coffin. Then, be my guess..." The gang member gestured to the others and a vicious look appeared on their face. They walked towards Cecilia and amidst the little girl's struggling.

They carried her in front of Charlotte and Viktor himself pinned Cecilia onto the ground as one of the gang members held a knife against her hand.

"I will ask you a question and if you lie, then I will take a finger."

The gang member gave an ultimatum.

Tears finally fell down Charlotte's cheeks.

She hated the fact that she was too naive.

At this moment, she finally understood the reason why these bastards caught a whiff that she had a lot of money.

It was indeed because of the fact that she bought Cecilia ice cream and chicken every day.

But was she really wrong for doing so?

She was just a mother who wanted to dote on her daughter.

This was one of her wishes that she wanted to complete before she died, and now that she had the opportunity to do so. Could one really blame her for not thinking about the ramifications of her actions just to dote on her daughter?

No one knew the answer to this question apart from Charlotte.

Cecilia was still crying.

She heard all the words that these bad people said to her mommy earlier and she also realized that the reason why they were in this situation at the moment was because of her greed.

If she hadn't requested to eat ice cream and chicken every day, then these bad people wouldn't possibly notice that they had a lot of money.

It was her fault.

She was the one to blame.

Cecilia's tears were endless.

Staring at the mountain of fat pinning her onto the ground, she whispered, "Uncle Landlord... Why are you like this? Please let my mommy go, please let her go... It's my fault. I wanted to eat ice cream and chicken every day, so it is not my mommy's fault. Please don't hurt her..." Cecilia begged.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Viktor was confused as to what Cecilia had said.

In his annoyance, he sent a kick directly onto Cecilia's face causing the little girl's mouth to become filled with blood.

Cecilia loudly wailed.

Charlotte struggled and refused to say anything.

"You bastards... I hope the police kills you all and feeds your bodies to the dogs!"

Charlotte violently cursed.

Her eyes went bloodshot as she swept her gaze at the gang members around her.

"Oh... It seems like you're a tough nut to crack, eh? In that case, then there's no need for you to live anymore. Do you like cursing? Then enjoy cursing us in front of the god of death!" The gang member who had his knee pressed onto Charlotte's chest took out a knife and inched it closer into Charlotte's neck.

Charlotte could sense the smell of death approaching her ever so slightly at this moment.

She struggled, but the gang members were far too strong. She turned to look at her daughter and realized that Viktor also had a knife in his hand and was about to plunge it into Cecilia's neck to silence the little girl's wailings forever.

My daughter...

I'm sorry...

Your mother has been so useless...

I promised to give you the carefree life that you deserved... But I have failed...

Charlotte stopped struggling and closed her eyes.

Calvin, I'm sorry... I hope that you won't be so devastated by our death, and I wish that you won't avenge our deaths! I don't want you to send yourself into a lion's den! Just forget about us! Forget that we existed! Treat us as a mere speck of dust in this vast world!

Charlotte wished from the bottom of her heart.

The killing intent of the gang member in front of her became stronger.

The knife was raised and time seemed to have slowed down.

But before the knife could even penetrate her neck.

An explosion rang out from behind as the doors of the small hut collapsed.

Before anyone had any idea as to what just happened...

A guttural growl reminiscent to that of a beast rang out.

"Bastards..."

"You're dead!"