In the expansive fields of The Jin, a vast army of Mongolian horse archers descend upon the townsfolk of the small riverside settlement where Feng Huan is. He is a government official tasked with working the papers of the local region and writing up tax reform.
Hearing the commotion outside, he rushes out of his wooden lodging and sees an army of Mongol horsemen staring down at them from a distance.
"They've arrived this far south?" a man beside him asks.
'Shit. I asked the Emperor to send me here, far away from the Mongols!' Feng Huan grits his teeth. He looks to his left.
"You!" he says to the man. "Go arrange a carriage for me. I need to go south!"
"We are completely surrounded! There's no exit anywhere!" the man says.
"I don't care! Just send me out of here! I am a government official!" Feng Huan shows his seal to the man.
The people around him start chattering.
"Didn't you hear me?" Feng Huan kicks the man's shins.
"What has the Government done to help us?" a man steps forward and spits on Feng Huan's face. In the face of death, no man fears his oppressor.
"Are you defying the Emperor?" Feng Huan is irate, and he grabs a piece of wood to defend himself.
"Stinking official! Freeloader!" the crowd suddenly explodes with energy.
"You are all insane! You don't understand the limitations of heaven! You're all testing it!" he screams in anger.
"Heaven? Fuck Heaven!" A man flings a punch at Feng Huan, but he dodges. He swings the piece of wood in his hands, effectively like a baseball bat, and smashes the attacker's skull.
"Murder!" some women drop their goods and run off; the men stay, looking increasingly like they're about to attack.
"Guards! Protect me!" Feng Huan calls out to the guards in the city, but they won't budge; they look at him solemnly.
He backs off to a corner. "All of you stay away! Why don't you redirect your anger to the Mongols right outside our doorstep? Fight them! Not me!" he yells, veins bulging from his forehead.
"Really? Everything is lost! Everything. We cannot fight against them with just our fists, you ignorant old man!"
"You fools! One day, the Emperor will smite you! You will not reincarnate! You will-."
A guard swings his sword and decapitates Feng Huan.
'What?'
His head falls to the ground, and the crowd surges forward and tears him apart. They are not sparing even his genitals. It is a bloody festival, showcasing the people's hatred in the face of death. The trees sway the same, and the deer frolic the same paths as that starry night; the wails of the villagers are heard even downstream to the border with the Southern Song.
The men, women, and children, none were spared by the Mongol horde.
Feng Huan…
….
'What did I do to deserve this? God! I am innocent!' these were his last thoughts as he ceased to think. He can't understand… It was his birthright! He deserved all of these things! He deserved to be safe and in the rear! He deserved to gain all the benefits of this life! But why? Why?
He closes his eyes and feels like he's floating in the abyss, reaching purgatory.
"I hear your call, foolish one. I grant you an audience with me."
The voice echoes in his mind as he floats in nothingness. Things he cannot understand and not comprehend will soon be tested upon him as a parley of the Gods.
He opens his eyes to see a bright piercing light; he feels his retinas burning away as a circle looms overhead, one with a hundred eyes. The ruler, the King! He is dumbstruck and in awe. For so long, he has dreamt of power, but he cowers whenever he feels he'll never reach his goal if he doesn't buckle up.
He doesn't know who this God is, but he knows… He wants to be just like him…
"Speak up, fool. What do you want." The being says, impatience evident in its boisterous voice.
"I… I want a second chance! Please give me a second chance!" he grovels on the ground, his face filled with tears and his nose flowing with snot.
The Being looks at him as if he's dirt on the soles of its shoe. He understands it's natural for those in power to see lower beings as ants.
He grovels to the ground, knowing his place in front of this alien being in front of him. He doesn't know if he's doing the right thing, but he does so anyway.
Minutes pass by in silence as a thin sheen of sweat covers his forehead, but he doesn't dare to wipe it; for one wrong move, he fears that the creature will lose patience and erase him from his feeble existence.
"Pitiful worm. Stand up. Stop showing God's image prostrating. It's disgusting." The being scoffs at him. His shaky hands push him up, and he forces his weary knees to stand up as per the command of the alien being. He marvels at its grandeur and ethereal image, captivated by the power it seems to hold.
"Human, I shall give you a change in life once more. You have provoked my pity." It says.
"Oh… oh, God's messenger! What must I do to repay you!" he says in a shaky voice, his knees trembling in fear and gratitude.
"Not much. I just want to be…" the alien being paused. Feng Huan's heart beats in trepidation as he awaits its following words. "Entertained."
At first, Feng Huan's face scrunches up in confusion, but he stops himself. 'No… the being is right! I am merely an ant! Of course, I need to entertain it!' he smiles in glee as he finds his justification.
"I will send you to another world, where you will serve the court of the… demon king." The being elects its words carefully. "And you will oversee their activities."
'Huh… easy enough.' Feng Huan sighs. 'This again?'
Feng Huan has been through this once before, you see… A shaman cursed him to reincarnate indefinitely, and that's how he found himself in Great Jin. Using his superior knowledge from his time, he prostrated himself like a real submissive to get what he wanted. With his sense of entitlement and power to bend over backward, life was supposed to be a breeze!
"Hmm, I see you've been here before. Let me clear up the rules…."
The words go over Feng Huan's head. He's heard of all of this before. Now let him go over to this new game and play.
"Very well then, let's get you up to speed." The being chuckles, or at least he hears it as chuckling.
His entire body starts throbbing as if a thousand needles are poked into him, turning him into a pincushion.
"Ahh!" he screams in agony as he is slowly being whisked away to another place entirely. His bones and all the cells in his body feel burning and twisting pain. His curse is in full swing as his body feels as if it is getting torn apart and put back together. The unbearable pain feels as if it is going to be his last bout in this game of his.
'Continue the game. Play around and find out.' A voice whispers in his mind
He clenches his fists and his body is turned into mush and funneled to another place. His head throbs and is shattered into a thousand pieces. He smells mercury in the air his body feels like a hot iron molded and smashed around to form a mold around where his new form will take.
He has no control over his body, it is disconnected from him. It feels like it; the pain can be felt everywhere at once. This game…
'Bring it on.'
He wakes up soon after, cold sweat on his forehead. He is laying on a luxurious bed, the linen soft to the skin, and the sky outside exuding a yellow glow. He opens his eyes and looks up at the ceiling. It looks like this is one of those beds with a little parasol roof.
Beside him, he can see a bowl of water with little iced cubes floating around it. In the middle of the bowl, used as a towel; a rolled-up piece of linen cloth. A cup of yellow liquid and some powder.
He closes his eyes and looks down at the foot of the bed. There he sees a faceless woman wearing a maid's uniform.
"Ah!" he bangs his head on the headboard as he sees her. The yellow liquid in the cup sways in tranquility as he calms down from his initial reaction. He sees that the faceless maid is unmoving. He can't quite describe it. It's as if her face has been erased but her mouth and painted-on cheeks.
Two red dots, unmoving, and her mouth, in a tight smile. No eyes, but the face looks smooth. He wants a closer look… He wants to see…
"C-come here." He stammers. Seeing that the maid hasn't moved, he sits up properly and repeats.
"Come-."
Before he can finish his sentence, the faceless maid suddenly stands up, her heavy boots knocking on the wooden floor as she inches closer to him. Her presence seems very surreal… His breath is stuck in his throat as it walks closer and closer…
It looks human… but is clearly not…
After that painful ordeal just a while ago, he's suddenly put up with this. How frightful.
It stands in front of him. Now that he observes closer, she seems to be wearing a mask that's stuck to her head, or the mask replaced her face. The faceless mask is painted red on the cheeks and is pale white.
He reaches out his hand and beckons the doll closer. The surreal maid leans closer to him, enabling him to touch her face. It's smooth, like porcelain; also featureless, and devoid of design. Just two bright red spots on its cheeks and a mouth eternally on a tight smile.
He is a little curious about what would happen if he stuck a finger in its mouth but shoots down the idea.
'I don't want to lose a finger on my first day here.' He sighs.
"What's your job..?" he asks shifting himself so he can sit at the edge of the bed, but instead of moving and giving way, the maid just stands there. He is now in an awkward position where the faceless creature is standing between his legs and is leaning forwards to his face.
"Uh… move there first." He points to a space a few steps from the window. The yellow sky is shining a dim light to illuminate the room a little. The light is dim, only illuminating a quarter of the room, like a sunset that lasts unnaturally long.
The maid points to the bowl and glass at the bedside table. No visible reaction on its face… for obvious reasons, and it doesn't speak.
"Do you… do you have a name?" he asks.
He is met by silence. 'Not a lot has happened in this world…' he looks at his clothes. It seems like he is wearing some fine silk. It is hanging loosely on his body; embroidered and tailored nicely.
"I'll give you a name… how about… Rong." He says.
The puppet is enveloped by a dim light, like a little sheet of yellow silk wrapping around it, translucent and can barely be seen.
He knows he shouldn't be using up his power like this. Huh, unlike most others, he doesn't want to be here.
'I just want to live for as long as possible, peaceful, and in the rear.' He slumps back to bed, recollecting his thoughts. Looks like he's in one of those trope stories where he works for the demon king. The hero will come along and he will defeat the villain.
He doesn't know what will happen specifically, but he knows something like that will happen. Either the Demon King is a good guy or something like that. Bring it on!
"Rong." He calls out.
"Mnh." it… she lets out a little ineligible moan. He can barely hear it, but in terms of communication, it's good enough.
'I guess I need someone else to explain to me what is the current events around here.' He rubs his temples and stands up. In one corner of the room, he sees a big standing mirror. Walking towards the mirror he starts to scrutinize his appearance.
'Huh… I'm bigger than usual.' He turns around and looks at his back. After looking for a while, he walks towards the door and opens it. He is taken aback by what he sees.
A long dimly lit hall, lit by only torches. The stone walls are dripping with some liquid, probably water. The place looks damp and old, like a mist occupying it. There are also faceless maids lining the corridor, one every 5 meters, and there are three of them before a bend can be seen.
He slowly walks forward and towards where he thinks the throne room is. Knowing these buildings they have more or less one design.
'Another easy life in the bag.'
As he walks, the maid he named follows obediently behind him, tailing him like a shadow. He doesn't mind, a follower is better than none. Walking to the corridor, past the silent maids, he reaches the throne room.
The throne room is dark, the walls look oppressive and old. The atmosphere is stuffy, and the only sounds present are the sounds of Rong's shoes clacking on the cobblestone floor. The ground has a little bit of dust and soil, and overall the entire place seems haunted, and untouched for a very long time.
At the back of the golden throne is a large map of the continent. The continent looks big, there are points on the map, probably about cities and population centers.
"Hello? Demon King?" he calls out, but the empty castle just echoes his voice.
"Hello?"
…
Nothing. No one replies to him. The castle is empty, except for the pitter-patter in the distance.
"Quack."
His ears perk up. He looks around to see where the sound comes from.
"Quack Quack." Just behind the golden throne, a duck… Ehrm…
A duck, wearing intricate silks and a golden crown wrapped down his head waddles out. It is wearing a little cuirass, wrapping itself in armor.
"An… an armored duck…" instinctively he turns back to the maid behind him. "What…"
"What is this?" he asks his voice echoing through the empty hall behind the maid.
"Mnhh!" Rong points to the duck.
"Huh…" Feng Huan slowly walks to the duck.
"Quack!" it uh… quacks at him. The duck waddles to him and nudges his leg.
"Quack!"
"Um… I don't know what to do with you."
He sighs. A duck. Seriously? Another joke played by the Gods, bravo.
He picks up the duck. He walks towards the map, holding the duck with two hands. Rong follows behind him as he paces in front of the big map. The continent looks big but he has no idea where he is.
"Quack."
He looks at the duck.
"You got something to say, buddy?" he asks, rubbing its neck. It looks a little comical in a cuirass like this. The armored duck looks at him with its derpy eyes.
No one here really knows how to talk so… it's no use. He'll have to search for info somewhere else if he's going to do something in this new world.
For the next hour, he instructed Rong to nod if what he points on the map is the location he is currently in. Figures, going out maybe suicide. He wants to live a cushy life in the rear. Knowing the land is step one. Since Rong is much help, he'll just bring her with him.
After an hour of patently pointing at the map, finally he points to a place in between two mountains, a valley but closed on one side, there is only one opening, and a river flows outside its mouth. A perfectly defensible territory…
"Are you sure it's here, Rong?"
"Mnh." She moans.
This is a great location and a defensible place.
"How many people live here?" he asks.
Rong taps her foot nine times and holds up five fingers.
"Huh, 95. You're smart." He sighs. If there is a chance that he's going to live peacefully, he should build a good foundation. This isn't something familiar like Ancient Jin. He's not sure why he's put to this fate, but he has to make do.
"Huh." Observing closer, he realizes that the throne room is pitch black, lest a stray ray of light from the torches in the hallway far back with the three other faceless nameless maids. He holds the duck and is followed by Rong, he walks to the far side of the throne room where there is a boarded-up window.
It seems as if the glass has shattered long ago. He gives the duck to Rong, who carefully accepts it, and he punches through the wood, opening the window without a windowpane. The sun shines into the dark throne room, illuminating it.
The yellow sun glows bright, and a sense of melancholy and a slight warmth is emanated from it. He looks down and finds out that the castle is towering from the ground, at least three stories tall. The wooden pieces fall to the ground, startling the people walking around the base.
The people start to gather far from the small huts and their shanty homes to look up to the opened window. The murmuring turns into open conversations until their voices can be heard from the windowsill Feng Huan is looking down from.