Chapter Content
West of the continent.
Urumqi, Xinjiang.
Part of the region the Han people of the continent called the Western Regions, it was a key point for east-west transportation and a hub where eastern and western cultures gathered.
That various cultures gathered meant that just as many diverse races and ethnic groups gathered.
Especially south of Urumqi, a vast desert stretched out, and around the desert, various races and ethnic groups had been living their own lives centered on water and pastures.
The problem was that no matter how much you beautify the world, in the end, it is the law of the jungle.
Powerless minority races and ethnic groups were often persecuted and attacked.
As a result, slave hunters and slave traders naturally emerged.
The demand for slaves was everywhere and was growing in scale, so for those who had learned martial arts and those with some money, it was a business with greater potential than any other.
Wind Demon Gale.
It was a place so vicious it was also called the Merchant of Death.
They commanded two hundred slave hunters, so they didn't hesitate to attack even nomadic tribes of considerable size. At such times, they killed everyone except for the children and women who would fetch a price.
"Quite a lot this time."
"We found the Yue tribe we missed last time."
"Ah! Are those the Yue tribe?"
"That's right."
The able-bodied men conversing were slave hunters.
They carried quivers with bows and arrows on their shoulders, and large long knives hung from their waists.
Around the two men were quite a number of slave hunters, most of whom were armed similarly.
And as the slave hunters watched, five horse-drawn carts were entering Wind Demon Gale in a line.
On top of the carts were large cages for confining beasts, and inside, children and women who had lost hope were avoiding the gazes of those who were looking at them like caged animals, their faces full of fear.
"Huh! What's that? The clothes look a bit different."
"Ah! I picked that one up on the way."
"Picked up?"
"Yeah. It was wandering alone, don't know where it came from, so I picked it up."
"The clothes... look Han Chinese."
"Seemed so."
"Will it be okay? If there are people looking for that kid..."
"It's probably the brat of some menial worker."
"How do you know?"
"Kekek! There are ways of knowing."
The man who smiled sleazily strode to the cart, opened the cage door, reached in, grabbed the small child by the neck, and pulled him out.
Then he returned to the side of the man he was talking to and, with his other hand, slapped the child's cheek.
Slap!
The child's head whipped around as if it would break. And a sound that burst out like a scream of surprise.
"Agh! I'll listen well and eat little! Please... spare me!"
The child's voice, which had burst out like a scream, gradually trailed off into a moan.
"Did you hear that?"
"It's Han language."
"That's right. And he's definitely the kid of some menial worker."
"Seems so."
When his colleague nodded, the man holding the child's neck went to the cart and threw him back into the cage.
Soon, the five carts stopped side by side in the front yard, and the people captured as slaves were dragged out from inside the cages.
"Face is usable, chest, buttocks all so-so. This one's medium!"
"The frame is solid. Could be raised as a hunter. This one's high!"
"What am I supposed to do with this one! Low!"
The work of sorting the slaves began.
The women were divided into high, medium, and low grades, and the children were first separated into boys and girls and then sorted again. The girls were sorted into high, medium, and low, but the boys only had high and low.
Occasionally, there were those who seemed to be family and struggled not to be separated, but no one could withstand the merciless fists and kicks.
"That one says he'll listen well and eat little. He's a high, a high!"
The big man who said he had picked up the child shouted and cackled.
But the person sorting the slaves sent the child to the 'low' side.
It meant he would be thrown away.
Girls and women, even if classified as 'low', are never thrown away. At the very least, they can be sold to a brothel. But there is no place to sell a low-quality boy.
It would only mean running around trying to find a buyer. It wasn't worth enough money to bother with such trouble. So, there was no choice but to just throw him away.
"Why?"
You're going to throw him away after I went to the trouble of picking him up?
The big man named Yulsang, who had picked up the child, was displeased.
"He's Han Chinese."
"He's definitely the son of a servant."
"Still, he's Han Chinese. The master said so. Just in case, never touch the Han Chinese."
Han Chinese were rare in the vicinity, but if you went to the adjacent lands of Gansu or Qinghai, there were many Han Chinese. And in the world of the Han Chinese, there were martial artists with a strong sense of justice.
Among those martial artists were masters who could create gusts of wind with their palms and slice people to pieces with just the energy from their swords, so they were beings one should never get involved with.
"Damn it, are you saying we can't even touch a servant just because he's Han Chinese?"
"Shall I ask the master for you?"
"Forget it. I'll take this one."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to offer him to the young master."
"What if something happens? I'm telling you, let's just throw him away!"
"He's the son of a servant, what could happen! You're such a coward."
Yulsang dragged the Han Chinese child away.
"Just make sure you clean up properly!"
He heard a displeased voice from behind but pretended not to hear.
Splash!
Yulsang threw the child into the water.
He was so grimy and dirty that he didn't even look Han Chinese.
After being thrown into the water and pulled out a few times, the dirt washed away, revealing the appearance of a Han Chinese child.
"When you go before the young master, speak Han language. Got it?"
Yulsang asked.
But the child didn't know the language of the desert tribes. He just trembled, his face full of fear.
Slap!
Yulsang slapped his cheek.
"Agh! Spare me!"
The child reflexively cried out and begged.
At that, Yulsang grinned.
"Yeah, that's it. Just babble like that. It's the first time for a Han Chinese, so the young master will especially dote on you. Kehkehkeh!"
Yulsang chuckled and dragged the child towards the young master's residence.
The master of Wind Demon Gale was a fearsome man.
Anything that got in the way of the slave trade, whether it was a person or something else, he would eliminate without discrimination.
A few years ago, two slave hunters had colluded with another slave trader to steal slaves.
At that time, the master killed not only the two slave hunters but also the slave trader, the slave trader's family including a young child, and even the dozens of slaves involved in the incident.
And he did it himself, wielding a sword to cut and slash them all.
A cruel heart and ruthless hands.
The young master of Wind Demon Gale had inherited that cruel nature of his father's.
"My name is Yulsang. Please inform the young master that I have come to offer a Han Chinese child."
The master of Wind Demon Gale doted on his own bloodline.
He had selected the ten most capable hunters from Wind Demon Gale to be his child's personal guards.
The leader of the group swept his bored eyes over Yulsang and the child, then went inside.
He looked very arrogant, but Yulsang, who wanted to get on the young master's good side, had no choice but to bow and scrape even to the young master's guards.
"Follow me."
A moment later, the leader of the guards came out and led Yulsang.
"Is that it?"
A boy who looked to be about twelve years old showed interest with gleaming eyes.
It was Lapsopa, the son of the master of Wind Demon Gale.
He wore splendid silk clothes and had two short swords tucked into his belt on either side.
From the age of ten, he had been learning the Blood-Slaying Twin Swords from a swordsman named Pamareuk, and to show it off, he always wore the twin swords.
"This is a fellow I caught with great difficulty, and he is definitely Han Chinese."
As Yulsang tried to take a step forward, the leader of the guards stretched out his arm to stop him.
Yulsang had to bow deeply from that spot and speak.
"I brought him to offer to the young master."
"His clothes and appearance are strange, but is he really Han Chinese?"
Lapsopa asked.
Yulsang raised his head and slapped the face of the child, who was cowering in fear.
"Agh! Spare me!"
The child reflexively shouted.
He had learned that if he begged for his life, they would stop hitting him, so he shouted it reflexively.
"He's Han Chinese. He is!"
Lapsopa, who had heard the Han language before, clapped his hands and was delighted.
"Yulsang, you said?"
"Yes. I am Yulsang."
"How did you know it was my first time with a Han Chinese?"
"I just want to show my loyalty to the young master."
It wasn't an answer to the question, but Yulsang bowed his head, thinking that his feelings had been conveyed sufficiently.
Lapsopa smiled at Yulsang, revealing his white teeth.
"Do you know what it means to be loyal?"
"I will offer my life to the young master."
"Kekekek! Am I going to a battlefield or something? Why would you offer your life?"
"...!"
"Being loyal to me means you're just sharing my secret. Got it?"
"Ah, I understand."
Yulsang bowed deeply.
Even if he didn't understand, he had to say he did. And he was prepared to do whatever he was told.
If this went well, his future was set.
No matter how much time passed, Wind Demon Gale would eventually belong to Lapsopa.
"Good. If you understand, follow me. Let's go."
Lapsopa grinned and led the way.
The leader of the guards grabbed the back of the child's neck and dragged him along, and Yulsang followed behind.
The place Lapsopa headed to was the basement.
It was built deep so that no matter what happened, it would never be known on the surface.
The moment Yulsang set foot in the basement, the thick smell of blood that filled the air was enough to give him a headache.
'Damn it! I heard this crazy bastard plays by killing people, but I didn't know it was this bad!'
Even if he had pledged loyalty, it was a situation that would naturally make any human being feel uncomfortable.
It felt like stepping into some kind of execution ground in hell.
Putting aside the nauseating smell of blood, there were three people chained to one wall.
All of them were bleeding from various parts of their bodies and looked like they were about to die.
Moreover, there were pools of blood all over the floor.
Even though not a single corpse was visible, it was a more repulsive place than any hell.
At the horrific sight, the child also stopped walking and trembled, his face looking lost.
"A Han Chinese kid's scream must be different, right? Let's hurry! Hurry!"
Lapsopa said, his eyes flashing.
Then the leader of the guards gave the child a push. Then he threw a wooden sword next to the child.
"Pick it up."
The leader of the guards said coercively.
But the child, terrified, just trembled as if he couldn't hear.
The leader of the guards frowned, went over, picked up the wooden sword, and forced it into the child's hand.
Startled, the child finally faced the reality before him.
But he had no idea what the situation was or what he was supposed to do.
"Alright, here I come!"
Lapsopa shouted and rushed at the child.
The only reaction the child showed was to widen his surprised eyes slightly.
It seemed he still hadn't clearly perceived reality.
He had just flinched in surprise when Lapsopa rushed at him.
"Agh! It hurts!"
The child flinched and cried out at the fiery pain.
Lapsopa's twin swords had successively cut his upper body.
"Hey, if you just stand there, you'll die. Swing the wooden sword! Got it?"
Lapsopa shouted and took a couple of steps back.
'Damn it, he wasn't playing by killing people, he was practicing his swordsmanship!'
Yulsang was dumbfounded inwardly.
But on the outside, he managed his expression as if nothing was wrong.
"Alright, here I come!"
Lapsopa rushed in again.
The two swords moved fiercely, randomly cutting the child's upper body.
He cut without discriminating between chest, arms, and shoulders.
"Agh! Agh!"
The child screamed and retreated, his face pale.
"I told you to swing the wooden sword!"
Lapsopa shouted.
But since it wasn't Han language, there was no way the child could understand.
The child kept backing away, terrified.
"Fight!"
Finally, Lapsopa got annoyed.
Startled by the sound, the child dropped the wooden sword, squeezed his eyes shut, and trembled.
"You useless piece of shit!"
Lapsopa, his patience exploding, rushed in and kicked him.
The small-bodied child flew through the air, hit the wall, and then slumped to the floor.
"Damn it! Don't ever bring a brat again! Got it?"
Lapsopa snapped at Yulsang.
Yulsang just bowed and scraped like someone who had committed a mortal sin.
It was at that moment.
The body of the child, who had hit the wall and slumped over, floated up.
While emitting an ominous aura that stimulated some kind of instinct.
In that bizarre situation, the moment the leader of the guards grabbed his sword hilt, the child shot forward.
Like a flash of lightning!
Towards Lapsopa!
***
A middle-aged man with a huge build entered the basement.
Three corpses were scattered about.
The middle-aged man held Lapsopa's body in his arms and did not move for a while.
Then, the person who had followed the middle-aged man in waited for a moment before speaking in a careful voice.
"The one who was still breathing just a moment ago said the child did it. A child possessed by a demon... the young master..."
"Find him! All business is suspended until that brat is found!"
It was the order given by Lapkeukchal, the master of Wind Demon Gale.
His voice was terribly calm. But in his eyes, a ferocious killing intent was exploding like an active volcano.
(End of Chapter)