Yi

Twelve Years Later

Ta, ta, ta, ta, the mine remained the same even after all these years.

Thousands of slaves had come to the mine to replace the thousands that died.

The slaves were still treated as slaves and the guards were still as brutal as ever.

Deep in a shaft, the sounds of a pickaxes meeting rock could be heard.

The sound persisted for almost two hours before it stopped. The moment it stopped, the bell rang. It was once again time for the miners to present their spirit stones to the guards.

From the shaft, someone walked out slowly.

Their footsteps sounded faint but there was a determination behind them that could not be mistaken.

From the dark shaft, a young boy around twelve years old walked out.

He wore black trousers and a tattered shirt that barely covered his body.

On his back, he had a dark cloak but even this had holes in it. This boy was young but judging by his face and we'll times body, he was growing up to become a lady killer.

He carried a pick axe on his shoulder.

His eyes were dead and his posture was that of a man who had seen everything the world had to offer.

He walked with confidence in himself and that was all that he needed to survive.

He walked until he reached the opening.

As usual, he was the first to arrive.

He formed the line and placed his pick axe next to his leg with the handle within his reach.

He made sure that he could pick it up and swing within a second.

He closed his eyes and waited.

Soon, other slaves arrived. No one disturbed him. They were used to his behavior.

A line quickly formed behind him and the noise in the place increased quite a bit.

Some slaves were going around begging for spirit stones so that they could reach their quota. No one paid these slaves any mind. It was already hard enough to survive without pretending to be good.

The guards soon arrived and the entire place went quiet. One of the guards moved in front of the line and began collecting the spirit stones starting with the young boy.

"Yi ,hand over the stones. "shouted the guard when he saw that the boy did not open his eyes to begin the process.

The boy was named Yi and his circumstances were unique. He was the bastard son of supervisor Wu but his father did not seem to care for him.

The young boy opened his eyes and handed over his small bag. The guard sneered as he took it.

The boy moved out of the line and headed for the exit. No one stopped him as he even walked out of the mine.

This was his routine. He would arrive in the mine early in the morning and leave after about ten hours of hard labour.

The boy looked at the guard at the mine opening and simply continued walking away.

The guards shook their heads.

"This kid has to be the unluckiest person in the world. His father, supervisor Wu refused to take responsibility for him and instead uses him as a slave all because the supervisor has doubts about the kid's parentage. "said one of the guards.

"Hmph, you would do the same thing if it were you.

Remember that his mother was a slave here and a sex slave to the Miner. Although supervisor Wu also slept with her each night that she was not with the Miner, that does not mean that the supervisor is the father. The kid may belong to the Miner. "said another guard.

The young boy heard their words but this was not the first time.

He simply continued walking away with his pickaxe on his shoulder.

Yi walked for at least thirty minutes before he could see any other people. He passed farmers, traders and many other people as he walked back to the town.

He soon saw a town ahead.

The town had tall walls and it was indeed prosperous. He could see tall buildings inside and there was a long line at the gate.

Yi walked and joined the line like everybody else.

The line moved slowly but it moved.

He soon reached the front where he was questioned by done guards. These guards knew who he was but they still questioned him every day.

The boy brought out a small token and handed it to one of the guards. The guard examined it thoroughly. The token had the word 'slave' on one side and on the other side other side, there was the word 'Wu'.

This token showed that the young boy was a slave to the Wu family.

The guard nodded at Yi before handing back the token.

Yi took it and entered the town.

This town was called Hundred Man Town.

It was very large with all sorts of factions vying for power.

Yi understood that he did not have time for anything else and so he quickly moved through the crowded town until he reached a large mansion in the western part of the town. There were guards at the gate but they did not say anything as Yi pushed the large black gate open and entered. This was the Wu mansion. Supervisor Wu had grown quite rich and powerful in the past few years.

He had come to this town with nothing to his name but he was now one of the richest people in the town.

Supervisor Wu was known to be ruthless and very cunning.

He managed the mine outside the city with an iron hand leaving nothing to chance. He sent most of the spirit stones to the capital city but he was still left with enough to become a powerful man in Hundred Man town.

Yi walked through the servant's quarters.

Even the servants looked down on him.

He was a slave and for the rest of his life, he would be a slave.