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"Ugh..."
Inside a dimly lit room, the figure of a young boy could be seen standing in front of the wooden widow. At this moment, the boy was seemingly lost while looking at the scenery outside.
Occasionally his eyes would wander around, hoping to find something, but in the end, they would always gaze back up at the pitch-black starless sky. If not for the candle giving off the dim glow inside the room, his entire room would have been the same as the dark sky.
"Is it a month already?" With a sigh, the boy muttered before closing the window and returning to his bed.
The inside of his room was as simple as one could imagine. There was a worn-out wooden bed which seemed to be decades old. There was no mattress, but a thin coarse worn-out rug, probably put there to not feel uncomfortable during sleep.
Other than the old bed, there was a small bamboo chair and a table upon which a clay glass was placed along with the candle.
Just on the left side of the table, was a clay pot filled with water along with a wooden ladle.
Grabbing the ladle, the boy drank a mouthful of water before lying on the bed and blowing a mouthful of air to put out the candle.
The moment he blew out the candle, the entire room plunged into darkness. And in this darkness, there was no other sound besides the sound of his breathing and heartbeat.
"It's been a month already huh?" It was after a long time that the boy muttered the same words again.
Thinking about how different his life was before this all, the boy let out a heavy sigh. Around a month ago, he was still living his life on earth. Surrounded by technology and comfort, he had everything one needed.
But as fate would have it, he woke up as a different person in a different world one morning. At first, he thought it was a dream, but over time, he realized it was his new reality. From now on, this is where he is going to be living his life.
He wasn't as excited or nervous as one would expect him to be. Instead, he was just confused. It took him some time, but now, he has integrated himself into this new world.
"Tomorrow, they will assign us to new duties." Still lost in his train of thoughts, the boy murmured as he began to think about the events that led him here.
In this world, he is known by the name of Lin Kai. And at this moment, he is a servant of the Cai family. Instead of a servant, it would be much better to call him a slave.
Thinking about the miserable life the previous body owner lived, a wry smile formed on his face.
One misfortune after another put him in such a dire situation that he was dying of starvation. It was only after selling himself to the Cai family a few years ago that he could barely survive.
But as fate would have it, his misfortune didn't just end there. Instead, after losing everything, he lost the most valuable thing that he had... 'his life'.
"Forget it. No use crying over the spilled milk." Shaking his head, Lin Kai closed his eyes as he slowly began to drift asleep.
.
.
.
.
It was the chirping of birds that woke him up the next morning. Opening his door with a yawn, Lin Kai stepped outside and looked at the scenery around him. Even after living here for a month, he was still not used to the scenery around him.
The first thing that came into his sight was the giant walls in the distance reaching above the clouds. Or rather than calling it different walls, it was a single giant wall in a circular pattern, enveloping the entire city. From the previous owner's memories, Lin Kai estimated the distance to the closest section of the wall from his current location to be approximately five hundred miles.
And yet, even from this far, he can see the sheer size and majesty of those walls. Even on Earth, this was a neigh impossible thing to accomplish.
Lin Kai knew this world wasn't technologically advanced. So the only explanation was the presence of extraordinary powers.
It would be a lie to say that he wasn't tempted. After looking at the wall for the first time, he even wanted to learn more about this world and the extraordinary powers at play. But unfortunately for him, in his current state, it was an extremely difficult task.
Shaking his head with a sigh, he walked the familiar dirt road before reaching in front of an exquisite wooden building surrounded by numerous flowers.
At the start of every month, servants like Lin Kai would gather here and receive their salary along with a newly assigned task.
Looking around, Lin Kai saw that there were already several people of varying ages standing there quietly. Other than the occasional laughs and murmurs, the entire place was peaceful.
"Ugh..."
Looking at the crowd in front of him, Lin Kai let out a grunt. The more he looked at the people standing in front of him, the deeper the frown on his face got. If not for the fact that everyone needs to be present to receive their salary and a new task, he would have arrived here after everyone was gone.
.
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"Is everyone here?" After waiting over an hour, a hoarse voice echoed, silencing everyone.
Looking in front, a middle-aged man was standing there with a thick book in his hand followed by two burly men.
"Okay then, let's assign the task first." Without wasting another second, the man sat on the chair beside him before placing the thick book on his lap.
"First is the cleaning task." Speaking till here, he glanced at the servants standing in front of him before speaking further.
"Those who were on the cleaning task last month, submit your tokens and get your salary."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Kai, along with a few more servants stepped forward.
After reporting their name and handing in the tokens, their name would be crossed out from the book and five copper coins would be handed to them.
"Now those with farming duty."
A similar thing followed before the man announced the next task.
While the man was distributing the salary, Lin Kai was looking at the copper coins in his hand with a helpless smile on his face. If he were to go and beg on the streets, he would get more money than this in a single day. The only problem was that the city had banned the beggars. Any person begging on the street would be taken away, never to be seen again.
This was one of the many reasons that the previous body owner almost died of starvation and had to sell himself.
"Okay. Since you all have received your wages, it is time for the tasks assignment."
Waving his hand, the man pulled out another book before shouting the tasks.
"The first one is the cleaning task."
With this, he began to announce the names of the people.
"Zhao Xuan, Liu Hua, Chen Ming, Jiang Tao, Wang Lei"
As soon as he finished speaking, five people walked forward before taking the badge and walking away. Just because they received the salary today doesn't mean they could rest. For servants like them, there was no rest, no holiday. They needed to complete their work every day, regardless of weather and personal conditions. Even if they were sick or injured, they needed to complete their work, or else there wouldn't be any food for them.
"Farming task."
As soon as the man announced the next task, the servants there held their breath.
This was the harvest month. So, there was going to be a lot of work in the farming fields. Not only do they need to harvest, but they also need to tilt the soil, remove the weeds, and many more things.
Compared to the other tasks, this was the most physically demanding work.
"Gulp."
Before the man even announced the names, the remaining servants gulped hard, praying in their hearts not to be the unlucky ones.
"Luo Wei, Qian Zhi, Shen Rui, Han Ji, and Lin Kai."
As soon as the man announced the names, a wave of relief flashed past the servants whose names were not called.
"Ugh... What a shitty luck." Grunting in displeasure, Lin Kai, on the other hand, walked forward before getting his token and making his way towards the fields.
"And just when I thought my life couldn't get any worse." Lin Kai was already unhappy with the meager salary that he got. And to make matters worse, he was also assigned such a duty.
"Should I just run away?" As soon as this idea came to his mind, Lin Kai shook his head helplessly. At this moment, he was still not accustomed to this new world. There were many things that he didn't know. Rushing out blindly without any plan was foolishness.
"Let's just focus on one thing at a time." Lin Kai thought about what he could do after leaving this place. Perhaps he can look for similar work in other places, or perhaps he could look for some other suitable jobs. But without the knowledge of the outside world, this was but a hopeless dream.
It didn't take long before Lin Kai followed the remaining four people towards the fields. During the entire time, none of the five men spoke. Judging by their expression, neither of them was happy to be assigned to such a task.
There were occasional grunts full of dissatisfaction and anger, but other than that, no one dared to speak out.
Walking for almost half an hour and passing through many twists and turns, the five of them finally arrived at their destination. In front of them, there were large fields, filled with ripe wheat plants, just waiting to be harvested.
On the left-hand side were fields of rice plants and to the right were fields of fruit trees and precious herbs.
"Damn it." The moment Lin Kai laid his eyes upon the fields, he almost cursed out in a loud voice.
Judging by the size of the fields, they were almost ten miles in length and five miles in width each.
Not only Lin Kai, but the faces of the other four were turning green too. Just the sheer size of it was enough to make them hopeless.
Before they can even think about their next course of action, a figure walks towards them leisurely.
"You are the ones assigned here?" The newcomer who spoke was a man in his late twenties. Compared to the five servants, his skin was smooth and the clothes he was wearing were luxurious.
His hair was tied up in a bun with a jade hairpin in between. Overall, he looked like one of the handsome young masters of a rich family.
Without waiting for them to reply, he waved his hand, signaling them to follow him.
"The work is simple." After a brief pause, he continued with his speech. "First of all, I will take care of cutting the crops."
"Two amongst you will take charge of extracting grains from their shells, while another pair will oversee transportation duties."
"As for the final member, their task is to uproot the separated stems and clear out the weeds from the soil."
As soon as he finished speaking, they found themselves standing in front of a large empty hall.
"During the noon, you will hear the tolling of the bell. That will be the start of your noon break. You can come here to receive the lunch and water. After that, the bell will toll once again and your break will be over."
Speaking till here, he looked at the servants in front of him with a sharp gaze. "You can not carry water to the grounds. In case one of you morons accidentally spill it on the grains, it will ruin everything.
Also, at the end of every day, the steward will come here to observe the work. Only then, will you receive your meal tickets."
"Now, then, go to the rice fields and start your work." Without waiting for them to speak, the man turned around and left the place, leaving the five of them there in silence.
Lin Kai first looked at the fields in the distance and then looked at the other four people beside him.
No matter how he looked, this was an impossible task to accomplish just by the five of them. The more he thought about it, the more it didn't make any sense. In the end, he just shook his head.
