Crash~
The statue shattered into multiple chunks of translucent white jade as it hit the ground. The able-bodied workers responsible immediately prepared their ropes to take down another, while others came in to collect the rubble. They threw the pieces of jade into large brown sacks, strategically organizing them to make their sacks look as full as possible.
Though they moved with great speed and efficiency, the workers were thin, their faces showing slight signs of malnourishment. All of them wore worn-down hemp robes with varying degrees of tears, revealing red whip marks on their skin.
They were the slaves of the Tang Clan.
"Anyone who doesn't bring in a full bag of jade goes without dinner tonight!"
The voice came from a young man with an arrogant demeanor wearing red silk robes. The man paced around the demolition site, watching each and every slave for the slightest sign of weakness or slow in their pace. He approached a young boy who looked around fifteen and kicked his sack, spilling the boy's meticulously organized jade all over the ground.
The boy had a very handsome face, one that could be described as royal despite being covered in dirt. However, what stood out were his eyes. His eyes were fierce, radiating an essence of defiance and majesty.
"Yin Hui, I know your clan used to own all this land we are currently excavating, but you cannot get clumsy from sentiment." He chuckled.
Yin Hui cast a cold glare at the young man who kicked his sack. His gaze contained what seemed to be a murderous intent, but was actually just the natural fierceness of his eyes.
"There it is, those eyes. Those demonic eyes that don't even seem to put the heavens in their sight. Know your place!" The young man waved his sleeve, and a long red whip appeared in his hand.
As he swung, flames began to form on the surface of the whip. The whip struck Yin Hui directly on his back, burning through his robes and leaving a smoking red wound on his back.
Yin Hui howled in pain as he collapsed onto the ground. However, the man did not seem to be finished. With a wicked grin he whipped Yin Hui an additional five times, completely burning off the back portion of his robes. Despite Yin Hui's screams echoing throughout the excavation site, the surrounding slaves worked as diligently as usual. They were not oblivious to what was happening, but simply knew that there was nothing they could do about it.
Yin Hui's laid motionless after the last lash. His body paralyzed by the immense pain caused by the flaming whip. The young man holding the whip picked up Yin Hui by his short black hair, holding him up to eye level. The anger in his face had not lessened at all, and it seemed like he would begin whipping once more given the slightest provocation.
"Your just an insignificant slave of one of the many clans conquered by the Tang Clan. I should dig out your cursed eyes so that you'll appear more subservient." He sneered.
"Haha…" While Yin Hui's upper body was completely limp, his mouth was still fully intact.
"Subservient? Let's not forget that your clan is also just one of the Tang's dogs. At least I'm a slave who still retains some spine. On the other hand, you're just a mutt who licks his master's boots on all fours, hoping for a treat and a pat on the head."
The young man's grip on the whip tightened as the veins on his face bulged from anger.
"You're courting death! Let's see you mouth off again once I give you some lashes to the head!" The young man threw Yin Hui's limp body hard on the ground and drew back his whip. The surface of the whip ignited with flames once more as he lashed out towards the defenseless boy.
"Stop." A young voice called out.
The young man hesitated briefly when he heard the voice. However, with his mind in such an enraged state he pretended not to hear it and continued his attack.
As the whip was about to make contact with Yin Hui's head it suddenly halted. A boy around Yin Hui's age with shoulder length black hair was firmly grasping the flaming whip. There wasn't the slightest expression of pain on the boy's face as he held the whip, which was mere inches from Yin Hui's face.
"Tao Shou, I told you to stop." The youth said sternly.
Tao Shou gritted his teeth as the flames on the whip slowly faded. He retracted his whip and lowered his head, trying to conceal his immense rage.
"Forgive me young master Tang Li. I was merely disciplining a slave who was not showing face to the Tang Clan."
"You disobeyed a direct order from a member of the Tang Clan, which is an even greater offense. Since you can't seem to hear, I'll get rid of the extra weight for you." Tang Li unsheathed a decorated short sword from his waist, and with a quick swing sliced off Tao Shou's left ear.
The attack was clean and graceful, the splattering blood painting an even coat on the edge of Tang Li's sword, making the edge appear to glow an alluring red. Coupled with Tang Li's handsome face, what most would see as a barbaric act seemed more like an elegant performance.
"Ahh!! Forgive me young master! It will not happen again!"
Tao Shou screamed as he picked up his severed ear and ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could. His initial rage was completely replaced with concern for his missing ear, praying the healers from his clan could reattach it.
When Tao Shou was no longer in view, Tang Li knelt before the injured Yin Hui. He took out a small brown sack the size of a wine gourd and opened it. This small sack was not like the ones the slaves were using to carry pieces of jade. Inside was a tiny pocket dimension that seemed to be able to hold an infinite amount of objects, perhaps even living beings.
Tang Li took out a few bottles containing different kinds of liquids and began applying them onto Yin Hui's damaged body. When the liquid came in contact with Yin Hui's wounds they began to rapidly close up and heal, not leaving a single scar behind.
Yin Hui sat up, healthy skin radiating through the few patches of damaged cloth still draped loosely around his torso.
"Thank you Tang Li."
"Humiliated from being saved by a member Tang Clan?" Tang Li laughed, pointing to a golden crest on the belt of his blue robe, the surname Tang was inscribed on it.
"Your an exception." Yin Hui let out a small smile.
The surrounding slaves heaved a sigh of relief. Tang Li was a favorite among the slave populations controlled by the Tang Clan. Despite his status, he was very kind, and took genuine care of the slaves under his command. Slaves under him were never beaten, and were treated more like ordinary workers rather than slaves.
"You may be good at controlling and concealing your emotions, but those eyes of yours seem to make that all useless." Tang Li sighed
"It's fine. A little beating every now and then isn't a problem. If you really feel bad, you could pass me a spare robe from your bag of holding."
Tang Li smiled and took out fresh blue robe from his bag, throwing it towards Yin Hui.
"It's nothing much. If it wasn't for you, I would've died long ago."
"Thank your clan elders for giving me that death sentence all those years ago then." Yin Hui laughed
When Yin Hui was ten, he accidentally gave poisoned wine to a Tang Clan elder by an assassin disguised as a slave. The assassin was caught and killed, but Yin Hui was still blamed. As punishment he was sent to find and kill the Onyx Serpent from Black Serpent Mountain. It was essentially a death sentence, as the mountain was ravaged with giant man-eating serpents and the Onyx Serpent being only a rumor.
When Yin Hui entered the mountain he saw a young boy around the same age as him twitching on the ground. Around the boy were ten bloody corpses, each holding various kinds of weapons in their hands. The young boy was poisoned and was going to die within hours.
Seeing the boy's ragged appearance, Yin Hui assumed he was another slave. Had Yin Hui thought he was a member of the Tang Clan, he would have left him to die. However, other slaves were people he shared great camaraderie with. Therefore, he decided to take the boy back to the Tang Clan, and quickly rush back before anyone noticed him.
Unfortunately, he was caught and was to be executed for returning without completing his task. Luckily for him, the boy he saved was actually one of the Tang Clan's young masters, Tang Li. Tang Li vouched for Yin Hui, informing the elders that Yin Hui saved his life, which resulted in the sentence being retracted.
Ever since then, Yin Hui and Tang Li became close friends. Tang Li often protecting Yin Hui from threats by the other Tang Clan members and their vassals such as Tao Shou.
When Yin Hui finished swapping his robes, Tang Li ordered the slaves to gather their supplies and return to the clan. As Yin Hui gathered his belongings and was about to leave, Tang Li signalled towards him.
Yin Hui hesitated, but eventually followed, noting the serious expression on Tang Li's face.
"Tang Li, what's going on? You know how annoyed the supervisors can get when these sacks aren't returned on time."
They walked further into the excavation site, passing untouched statues made of jade and other precious metals.
"I've found an opportunity that could potentially change your life for the better. Forever."
"What opportunity?" Yin Hui asked.
"An opportunity to free yourself from the life of a slave, to become an immortal!"