Six months ago, the kingdom of Ventus
Within the deepest reaches of the red-light district, crime thrived. The officials who hadn't already been paid off, could only turn a blind eye. It was a lawless zone in truest sense.
Amongst the many syndicates that took refuge there, one stood out amongst the rest. The Lion family. They where the undisputed kings of the lawless zone. Drugs, slavery, arms dealing, this was just the tip of iceberg when it came to this family's misdeeds. Simply put, they weren't good people.
"Young master Li, this can't go on much longer."
A bald muscular man, with a nasty scar across his left eye, was impatiently waiting outside a door. When no response came, he began slamming his fist against the door.
"Young master, I know you're in there. Running away from your problems won't solve them."
The man shouted at the door, without any reply. Just as he was about to abuse the door once more, it swung wide open revealing a scrawny but handsome, black-haired youth.
"I told you I don't want any part in this business, neither does my sister. if you're so eager to find a successor, look no further than my uncle."
The youth said before slamming the door shut. The scarred man brought his face to the door and started shouting.
"Young master, stop being so selfish, you know full well what would happen if we let that man take over th-"
"Let me talk to him."
A weak voice sounded out from behind him, when the scarred man turned around, he saw a middle-aged man with greying hair and a long beard. The man hobbled over to the door aided by a walking stick, despite his condition, his pale face had a noble expression that betrayed the state of his body.
"b-b-boss, why are you here, let me take you back to your room."
The scarred man said, frantically waving his arms around to try and persuade the bearded man to turn back but he continued walking towards the door.
"Don't make me repeat myself Li Hao."
The bearded man said firmly, causing the scarred man named Li Hao to move aside and let him through. Soon he knocked on the door twice, and after a short while the door swung open.
"FOR THE LAST TIME I WO- why are you here."
The youth changed his tone mid-sentence when he realised who was in front of him. The bearded man smiled coyly.
"Is that any way to greet your father, Hongji. Aren't you going to let me in."
Li Hongji sighed, he owed this man way too much to ignore him. Turning around, he went into his room but left the door open, his father followed him, closing the door behind him.
The room was extremely messy and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks, unwashed clothes were strewn across the floor and dirty plates where stacked on the desk. In the corner of the room there was a young girl who looked to be around ten, hugging her knees and gently sobbing.
"Hongji, Xue'er, it's been far too long."
The man said, his voice seemed to be filled with a yearning. When the girl heard the man's voice, she stopped weeping and her face lit up.
"Father."
The girl exclaimed as she got up and started running towards him but was blocked by Li Hongji, who placed an arm in front of her. He gave his father a complicated look
"what do you want."
Li Hongji asked coldly, resisting his sisters attempts to break free. The man sighed and his expression softened.
"Do I need a reason to visit my children, before I pass."
"Yes, you do."
Li Hongji didn't let up. The man walked over to him and planted a hand on his shoulder. His sister took the opportunity to sneak around him and leap into the man's chest, hugging him tightly.
"You're right, I know you have your reasons for not wanting to inherit the family and I can't say I blame you, but just humour me for a little while."
The man said, while stroking the girl's hair. Li Hongji remained silent and let his father continue.
"If you don't inherit the family who will, my brother. You know I can't let that happen, he will lead the family down a bloody path that will get everyone killed. These are the people who you grew up around, they're your family as much as they are mine. Can you really stand and watch as they die under your uncle."
The man stated calmly, but his eyes overflowed with passion. Li Hongji slammed his fist into the wall, cursing out loud.
"You think I want that to happen. I have no choice… look, I will always be thankful to you for taking me and Xue'er off the streets, you even adopted us and treated us like family, but that doesn't mean I will dirty my hands by leading such a despicable family, my conscience won't allow it."
Li Hongji said once he had calmed down. His father looked up at the ceiling blankly pulling Li Hongji into his arms and tightly embracing the siblings."
"Hongji, I won't deny it, I'm a bad person that's done a lot off stuff he regrets, but you're not me. When I die, what you as head of the family is up to you, if you want to correct my mistakes then go ahead. I just ask you take care of my- no your family, they are all good people and deserve good lives."
The man said with red eyes, Li Hongji could feel the top of his head get wet and his chest felt heavy.
"You're saying I don't have to do things like that, I can end the suffering that this family causes."
"Yes, that is what I'm saying."
***
In a different room in the same building a middle-aged man who was immaculately dressed in white robes, the man shared a striking resemblance with Li Hongji's father, the difference being in his shifty eyes. The man was seated at a table, peacefully drinking tea out of an exquisite china cup.
The peaceful scene was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door.
"Enter."
The man said in a raspy voice, somewhat annoyed that his alone time had been ruined. The door opened revealing a two and half meter giant of a man with a worried expression on his face. The tall man had to duck under the door frame to enter the room. He immediately started talking frantically.
"Boss Yang, its terrible. The young ma-"
"Pipe down you oversized oaf. I can barely understand a word your saying. Take three deep breaths and start again."
Li Yang interrupted him, the tall man looked confused but did as he was told, on his last breath he started over, just as hectically as before.
"It's the young master, h-he agreed to take over the family."
Pah.
The tall man was ruthlessly slapped across the cheek, even though he wasn't hurt in the slightest, the man acted as if it was painful to appease Li Yang.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner."
Li Yang shouted angrily, he looked up at the tall man angrily.
"Kneel down, I hate being looked down on by idiots."
He continued, the tall man instantly dropped down on his knees, not bothered by the abuse being hurled his way.
"Apologies boss Yang, but this is bad, that brat who's still wet behind the ears, dares take your place as the head of the family. How audacious."
Pah.
The man was slapped once again, this time he was left with a reddish handprint on his cheek.
"No, you're the audacious one. You think I don't know that already, do I look stupid to you. Tsk, all these idiots looking down on me. You know what, kneeling is to little. Lie flat, maybe then our height difference will reflect reality."
Li Yang said angrily, his face was starting to redden as he got angrier. The tall man dropped his belly to the ground, while Li Yang paced up and down the length of his body.
"Still this is bad news, those damn cultist's have been pestering me all week long, this issue can't wait any longer… Ah my dear nephew, why couldn't you just behave yourself. Hopefully you make better decisions in the next life.
***
Night fell over the red-light district. Li Hongji, who was sleeping peacefully, woke up with a startle due to a loud knocking at his door.
"Young master Li, it's terrible, the boss… they say he won't make it through the night."
A deep voice came from the other side of his door. Li Hongi jumped out of bed, his head was groggy and his vision hadn't cleared.
"That voice… Li Ming."
Li Hongji said while opening the door. The two-and-a-half-meter tall Li Ming came into view.
"yes, young master, its me. Hurry, the boss wants to see you before he passes."
Li Hongji was confused as to why Li Ming was the one who came to get him, he was one of his uncle's men after all. Still, he didn't dwell on the matter, his father's condition was more important.
Li Hongji sprinted past Li Ming and headed to his fathers room at the end of the corridor, it wasn't that far so he arrived at the door quite quickly, not bothering to knock, he burst through the door.
Red.
For a while that was the only colour he saw as the thick stench of blood filled his nostrils, rubbing his eyes, Li Hongji's vision cleared and instantly his mind turned blank.
His uncle was standing over the corpses of his sister and father like it was the most normal thing in the world, blood pooled under their bodies, and life had long left their eyes. The terrified expression frozen on their faces was permanently etched into his memory
"ah, if it isn't my scape goat. I've been expecting you."
Li yang said with a cheerful smile on his face, his raspy voice snapped Li Hongji out of it and he immediately came back to his senses. His eyes focused on the bloody dagger in his uncle's hands.
"what… what did you do"
Li Hongji asked weakly, his emotions were thrown into turmoil as his eyes reddened. He took a step back but came into contact with something solid. Looking back, he saw the massive figure of Li Ming blocking the exit. Li Yang started walking towards him, leaving red footprints on the ground.
"You know it didn't have to be like this. If you had ju-"
"WHAT DID YOU DO."
Li Hongji shouted angrily, causing his uncle to sigh.
"What are you, a broken record. Tsk unfortunately I need you alive, otherwise I would have let you join my brother and niece."
"Answer the damn question"
Tears began to flow out of Li Hongji's eyes, he couldn't think straight, nothing made sense anymore.
"My dear nephew, I think the better question is… what did you do."
After saying that, Li Yang plunged the dagger into his own stomach, collapsing onto the ground while grunting in pain.
"how… Fuck, that hurts. How could you do this Hongji."
Li Yang said weakly, spitting out copious amounts of blood. Before Li Hongji could even process what had happened, Li Ming started yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Everyone, the Young master's gone insane, he killed them."
Li Hongji started to panic, it didn't take a genius to figure out he was being set up. He had to get out of here but what could he do. A firm resolve to survive replaced the grief in his eyes.
"Father, Xue'er… I'm sorry."
He muttered under his breath, spinning around, he kicked upwards as hard as he could, hitting Li Ming square in the groin and putting him in more pain then any one of Li Yang's slaps. His face paled and he dropped to the ground. Li Hongji dashed past the fallen giant without looking back.
"After him, you big oaf, if he gets away, everything is ruined."
Li Yang said weakly but there was no response, Li Ming was rolling on the ground in unbearable amounts of pain.
***
Li Hongji ran and kept running, he payed no attention to his surroundings, and ran far beyond what his stamina allowed but his will to survive alone wasn't enough to keep going. After an unknown period of time, he passed out.
"Rise and shine sleeping beauty"
A loud rough voice woke Li Hongji up, his legs ached beyond belief, he soon realised he was tied up with a thick rope, stopping him from moving. Looking around he realised he was in a cage on a cart drawn by a horse, as his vision cleared, he saw a few others tied up similarly, looking at him with pity.
Vast desserts surrounded him reaching as far as the eye could see in every direction, the harsh sun beat down on him, making it uncomfortably hot.
"This is the surface, what's going on."
Li Hongji asked, he was answered by a tall man with a dirty face who was standing next to the horse, his clothing was ragged and he was wearing a cowboy hat with a large brim.
"Simply put, you've been captured. Still imagine my surprise, when I came across a collapsed youth in the dessert, the leaders gonna be pleased with the extra cargo."
"captured… me."
Li Hongji replied weakly, his throat was parched and it hurt just to talk. The man wearing the hat laughed heartily while clutching his stomach.
"Yes, yes you have. You're Ventian right, it's rare to see one of you on the surface, you'll fetch a pretty penny. Your pretty lucky aren't you, if I didn't take you in you would have died in the dessert. I guess doing a good deed once in a while is pretty satisfying. On the other hand, you're a slave now, maybe dying in the dessert would have been better. In that sense your pretty unlucky"
"You don't even know the half of it."
Li Hongji sighed, dreading what the future had in store for him.
***
Wake up, do labour in the quarry, eat a simple meal, more labour, sleep. This was Li Hongji's daily routine for the past… actually how long was it, because he had no idea.
He had been brought to the bandit's camp where he was forced to do manual labour all day long, one step out of line and he would be whipped mercilessly. The highlight of his day would be the small serving of rice he got, this lacklustre diet caused his already slim figure, to be reduced to skin and bone.
Currently he was in his cell, which consisted of a blanket and a foul-smelling bucket, nothing else. each day left him with no energy to spare, so sleep was holy to him. Today had been a normal day like any other.
Crash.
Boom.
"Aaaah."
"WHO ARE YOU."
"NO PLEASE NOOO."
"STOP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP."
Loud noises and blood curdling screams woke him up, he saw a beautiful red-haired woman outside his cell, her beautiful face was stained with blood. She was holding a weird looking sword while laughing hysterically. A powerful, yet pretty aura surrounded her, making it seem like she was not part of this world.
"God… are you a god."
Li Hongji asked feebly causing the women to turn around and inspect him.
"God... maybe. But honestly I would prefer if you called me Roxy."
The women smiled, licking the blood of her sword.