Chapter 022 Bell

Although the girl was dressed in coarse linen clothes, looking like a country lass, she kept herself extremely clean, with her long brown hair braided into a whip that hung over her left shoulder.

Her features were exquisitely delicate, bright eyes and white teeth, smooth skin, and her eyes sparkled with vitality. She was like a lotus emerging from water, and in terms of looks, she was not inferior to Cinderella Rella.

This surprised Wang Bo greatly.

After all, Rella was a Cinderella, also a country girl, but aside from her status and position, she was in no way inferior to the princesses of this world.

Wang Bo hadn't expected to encounter another girl in this world who was not inferior to Rella.

And she was also a country girl.

This made Wang Bo sigh, "The world is really big."

Seeing the girl walk in carrying books, the old man's face stiffened. "So it's you, the crazy girl. What do you want with my guests?"

The girl paid no heed to the old man's words, looking intently at Wang Bo and Rella. "Nice to meet you, guests from afar. I am Bell, the daughter of the inventor in this town."

Cinderella nodded and said, "I am Rella, and this is my friend, Wang Bo."

When they came out, Wang Bo had hidden his duke identity and reverted to his original name. Cinderella naturally knew this, so she introduced him that way.

The old man ignored their conversation, greedily eyeing the gold coins on the table. "What if I tell you all these gold coins are mine?"

Wang Bo said, "Of course."

The old man quickly stuffed the gold coins into his bosom and said, "Your father was buried by me on the hill outside the town."

Cinderella was unfamiliar with the hill and quickly asked, "Can you take us there?"

The old man was reluctant, but Wang Bo could see that he wasn't really unwilling; he was just playing hard to get. Once Wang Bo offered money, the guy would run faster than a rabbit.

This amused Wang Bo. It seemed that when he gave the money earlier, he had been too generous, giving the old man the illusion that he was an easy mark.

Although he didn't care about money, he didn't want to be toyed with like this, so Wang Bo decided to teach him a lesson.

"I know where it is. I'll take you there."

Just then, the girl named Bell suddenly volunteered.

The old man glared fiercely at Bell.

Cinderella Rella looked at Bell gratefully and said softly, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Bell said with a smile. "I'm glad to help you."

Seeing his good fortune ruined by Bell, the old man grew even angrier. "Bell..."

"Shut up." Wang Bo flicked his finger, and a Nine Yang Sword Qi shot out, splitting the counter in front of the old man in two, making him tremble with fear, his face pale.

"You should thank Miss Bell, you greedy old thing. If she hadn't spoken up and interrupted me, I would have split you in half by now."

Wang Bo looked at the old man expressionlessly and turned to leave.

The old man stood there dumbfounded.

Cinderella Rella pulled the astonished Bell out of the inn. Bell said incredulously, "Am I seeing things? I saw the table split in two by a light. What was that? Is it the latest weapon? Are all you outsiders so incredible?"

Rella explained, "That's not a weapon; it's magic."

"Magic?" Bell was dumbstruck.

"Yes, it's magic."

Wang Bo pursed his lips and didn't bother to explain. Explaining martial arts to a world that had no concept of it would be foolish.

Let it be magic.

Soon, Bell came to her senses and made a big fuss about the existence of magic, asking many questions, such as why he could do magic, what magic looked like, she had heard that magic could turn people into monsters, whether magic could be used in daily life, and so on.

Wang Bo found it tiresome, but Cinderella Rella answered them one by one.

In this regard, she was much more patient than Wang Bo.

Of course, besides magic, Bell asked many other questions.

For example, what the outside world was like, whether there were many carriages, what the life of nobles was like, what differences existed between countries, and whether Italy was as beautiful as described in books.

Only then did Wang Bo realize that this was a girl with somewhat advanced ideas.

In this ignorant and backward world, most girls born in the countryside never left it in their entire lives. In their eyes, the countryside was all of life.

But Bell was different. She seemed unwilling to stay in the countryside and yearned for the outside world.

However, the constraints of life forced her to remain here.

This was very common in the modern world.

Many young people born in the countryside yearn for city life, and adults encourage their children to leave the countryside and enter the city for a better life.

And education is their only chance to change their fate.

But in the ancient world, it was somewhat different.

Country folk believed they should live in the countryside, and city folk believed they should live in the city. Moreover, transportation in this era was underdeveloped; travel relied entirely on carriages.

The roads were also ordinary, all dirt roads.

Conditions were already limiting; those without money couldn't travel. So most people accepted their fate. Wang Bo thought that a girl like Bell, who yearned for big city life, was definitely an outlier in this town.

Especially since she was holding a book.

Wang Bo had noticed along the way that the literacy rate in this world was astonishingly low. Apart from scholars, nobles, merchants, or certain special professions, most people were illiterate.

Even high-status men were like this, let alone women.

But Bell could read. This alone was enough to make her ostracized by the town's women. Being too outstanding naturally invites jealousy; Wang Bo understood this well.

However, he said nothing.

He let Cinderella Rella and Bell chatter away along the way.

Although the two women were meeting for the first time, they had many common topics because of their rural origins, such as both losing their mothers in childhood.

Of course, a few years later, Rella soon lost her father, while Bell was luckier; her father was still alive.

The two talked all the way, and Wang Bo listened quietly. After about half an hour, they finally arrived at the hill and found Rella's father's grave.

But in Wang Bo's view, it was more like a burial mound than a grave.

It was clear that the innkeeper hadn't put much effort into it, simply burying Rella's father hastily.