Pleased by it, the servants sneered behind his back.
Yichen couldn't believe his Uncle Lin Zhou. He sided with the servants instead of standing up for his blood and defied the very fact that the servants had ill-treated them. It was as if he were okay with what the servants had done to them and was even putting all the blame on him.
Sore by his conduct, he looked straight into his eyes and inquired sarcastically: "Uncle, Lin Zhou, if it was Lin Bo( his son) who was beaten up instead of me would you still react the same? Or perhaps are you planning to let them be his teacher?"
He sniggered savagely with those bruises.
The servants reacted fast to the remarks. Their pissed off faces were readable and Yichen was quite liking it.
"Impudence!"
Lin Zhou reacted in hostility. He couldn't believe the arrogant conduct of this lad. He was going far even to slander him in front of the servants.
'Tch! How dare a kid to speak up to me and challenge me? If this continues then one day this little devil will go against me. This won't do! I need to tame this little devil and let him know his place!'
With the thought in mind, Lin Zhou glared at Yichen with those raging eyes and commanded furiously.
"Yichen, not only didn't take care of his father but also have gone far even to disrespect me and disregard the people who work for the clan. As a result, he will be getting a slap from each of the servants here. This is to punish and warn him to respect the superiority."
He scowled in wickedness.
'What?! A slap from each servant here?!'
Yichen was startled by it. He didn't foresee that coming.
His heart stopped there at that moment. He couldn't believe his ears.
'My Uncle.....even dares to make those servants slap me in the face?! How could...how could he.....?!'
He couldn't believe that his Uncle had clung to the most despicable means to punish him. He never cared for him nor his father but to go to the extreme length of letting the servants slap him in the face was total madness!
Before he could even get his grip and stayed sane, the servant quickly heeded the commands.
They quickly rushed to hold him down onto the ground, with each one gripping his hands on the sides.
The head cook walked forth towards him with a crooked scowl on his face.
He tilted his neck sideways making the cracking sound and worked out his hands so that the slap would be more effective.
With an evil sneered, he spoke sadistically: "Lad, brace yourself. This will hurt a bit."
"Eh! You two hold him tight."
He instructed.
The two servants quickly held him tight.
With it, he raised his strong muscular hands and gave Yichen one strong brutal slap on his face.
Yichen's young body immediately fell to the side with the heavy blow.
His cheeks were bruised with it.
He looked down onto the ground in pain.
'How dare they...how dare they to act this way?! How dare they bully the weak?'
His eyes were filled with resentment.
The reality he faced was much harsher than any nightmare he ever met.
It was a humiliation to his pride and his self-esteem.
'It appears that I am nothing more than a trash to Uncle Lin Zhou.'
He spat out the blood in animosity.
The two servants quickly forced him to kneel back in position.
With it, the remaining servant came to him one after another giving him their portion of the brutal slap.
With each slap, Yichen was already losing his conscience.
His mind went into a concussion and his ears rang for quite a while.
He bore it all in pain and saw the blurred vision of Lin Zhou walking out from there with a vicious grin on his face.
He was enjoying it.
It was all over his face.
The servants did their turns till all the thirty servants in the kitchen had completed slapping Yichen's face.
They then mercilessly left him there along with his crazy father.
Yichen slowly crouched towards the wall and rested his back there.
His face was almost disfigured with blood and scratches everywhere. He was unrecognizable.
He slowly turned his sore eye and saw his crazy father on the side. He was seated there, playing with the kitchen utensils that were there.
It looked like he wouldn't mind even if the sky falls. He was unaware of his surrounding just like a little kid.
Seeing him like that, roiled Yichen even more.
Pissed with it all, he ran out from there in an uproar.
His heart breathed in heaviness as he put up with it all.
It was tormenting him to the core.
All of the plagued, all of the drama, all of the craziness, it seemed as if no one noticed it.
No one seemed to care.
Wanting to breathe for a second, he ran towards the bamboo garden.
It was the garden which was behind their house. The only calm place for young Yichen. Whenever he felt heavy with the world he usually went there to ease himself. It was his place of truce.
Reaching there, he looked at the bamboos and cried his heart out.
"Why??!!
"Why?? Why this all has to happen to me?! Why????!!!"
His young puberty voice echoes around the bamboo trees.
The air was filled with his sadness.
He wept hard with no one to look after him.
Young Yichen's sadness was tragic and was filled with misery.
Though he complained to his heart content no one did answer him. There was total silence in the place except for those bamboos swaying around with a soft breeze.
His scream wasn't enough to shut down his agony. Yichen walked towards the nearby bamboo and threw his fit onto it in madness.
The constant fit made the bamboo crack up little by little until it was finally forced to break and fall sideways.
Its standing shoot was left tainted with his blood.
Feeling depleted, Yichen laid down on the ground with his face facing the sky.
His beating heart was filled with grievance.
No matter how much he tried, no matter how much he worked hard, the situation remains the same, it was fruitless, there was no change at all and he was tired of it all.
He was tired of life itself.
He shut his eyes holding onto the moment of quietness. It was the only comfort he could get.
It caresses him for a while but wasn't enough to tame his anguish.
Yichen reached out for the jade pendant his mother had left him. He held it up in the air with his bloody hands and stared at it.
'Mother, what shall I do, I tried my best yet keep going backwards. I hate myself for being weak for being pathetic for being unable to protect my father or myself. Tell me what shall your son do to change all of this? Tell me...'
As he said those words, he passed out there in weariness.
The green phoenix jade pendant on his hand slowly started to consume all the blood from his hand and glowed a flickering green colour light from it.