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The second month of year 4667.

The name of the annual calendar? Unknown. At least, I certainly don't know what the name is. Perhaps someone else does, who knows.

As a common peasant, I was never taught these sort of things anyway.

Nevermind that. Rain poured on the land of Winstrow where my humble abode was situated. The weather was dark and gloomy

The pitter-patter of the rain could be heard as the gloomy clouds hung in the night sky. With the nonstop downpour going on for a week now with short intervals of rest in-between, a lot of people were quite restless.

For some odd reason I couldn't fathom, I was one of them.

"Ru Er, its almost time. Get your lazy bum off that bed of yours and get ready!"

A loud shout broke the silence, effectively bringing me out of my daze as I stared outside the window.

I didn't move immediately as my body was half asleep and numb from lying down too long. Still, it didn't take more than a minute for me to get up on my feet while shaking my head, trying to get rid of the drowsiness.

I got up, walked towards a dilapidated drawer that looked like it was about to fall apart at any minute and took out some casual wear.

"I'm coming!" I yelled out loud as I heard footsteps marching towards my room. The footsteps stopped for a moment, followed by a cold snort before receding back the way they came from.

Shuddering slightly, perhaps due to the cold or something else, I wore the shabby looking clothing i had taken out from the drawer.

Although there were no holes and patches, they looked worn out and long overdue for a change.

Casual wear? More like my only wear.

I tried to smoothen the clothes for a while before walking out of the room. Just like my shabby room, the rest of the house was just as shabby.

It was a four room building that consisted of a living room and three spare spaces. Two were bedrooms while the last served as a kitchen.

As for the bathroom, well that was outside. I looked forward and standing in the living room were two people he knew all too well.

"Lazy brat, are you going to sleep half the day away before you remember that important things need to be done?"

Aunty Feng raised her bamboo stick in a threatening gesture as she glared at me. As for Uncle Ru, he just stood there with his arms folded, staring indifferently.

I looked at the duo without much expression. These two were his guardians, 'Aunty Feng Xue and Uncle Ru Feng'.

At least they were supposed to be. Apparently, my parents had passed away a few years ago so I was entrusted to these two. And as what you would expect from living with your relatives after your parents died, my life turned out to be no better than a living hell.

"OK, that's enough. We have other things to do". Uncle Feng said as he waved his hands. His expressionless face didn't change in he slightest as he turned towards the door.

Aunt Feng snorted coldly but didn't dare to continue. From what I noticed, she still had some respect for her husband. After all, he was the main source of income for her and she didn't dare to disobey him lest he get angry

However, that wouldn't stop her from mumbling.

"Useless! We raised you ever since those good for nothing parents of your died. Yet you laze around completely. See what happens after we get back".

She marched outside quickly following uncle Ru while swinging her bamboo. Despite having that stick around and acting all imposing, i could tell that she was a little afraid of me.

Because despite being malnourished, I wasn't as thin, feeble and sickly as you would expect due to the impoverished state I was living in.

As a nineteen year old, although a little thin and lanky looking, I was taller than aunt Feng.

The night was cold and the heavy rain made it even colder. Stepping outside the door, a chilling breeze blew past me making my whole body shudder.

I wrung my hands together for warmth and looked at the cramped streets that were overflowing with water. Uncle Ru and Aunt Feng were already walking forward with Uncle Ru carrying a large sack over his shoulder with one arm while holding an umbrella with the other.

Aunt Feng stuck close to his side as her body trembled due to the biting cold.

"Damn! They actually left me without an umbrella".

Looking at them walking away to the point that their silhouettes seemed blurry in the darkness, I gnashed my teeth in anger and ran forward into the rain.

Cold winds and water assaulted my body causing the dry clothes I had on to be drenched in less than thirty seconds. Still, I said nothing but tried to keep up with them.

........

We walked until we got to a small shop that had a hood over it serving as a source of shelter.

Sighing in relief, I ran over while shivering in my shorts. The rain continued to fall as the three of us quietly waited while I occasionally made an effort to see past the darkness that was ten meters ahead.

Time slowly trickled.

"Honey, are you sure the customer will be here?"

Aunt Feng finally said something after a while. She turned to her husband and glanced at the sack he was holding.

"I can't be sure. But he said he will be here today. We can only wait". Uncle Ru said with an indifferent tone.

As the breadwinner of the family, Ru Feng was the type of person who got up early in the morning to work in his little shop where he sold shoes. In this poor village, except for a few wealthy merchants, very few commoners could afford decent footwear and rarely bought from him.

One the off chance they did, it was always the cheapest one he had in the shop they bought and their previous shoes must be too far gone to be repaired.

Not to mention, there were other cobblers who had better craftsmanship skills as well as better shop locations closer to the main market.

So it was only natural that the hardworking uncle Ru would be in poverty no matter how hard he worked.

As for aunt Feng, she was much more useless. As a housewife with no valuable skills and an inability to reproduce due to womb issues, her value could only be found when doing housework and chores.

Yet she failed to be useful in that aspect as well ever since I came along.

I don't doubt in the slightest that the only reason uncle Ru hasn't remarried yet is due to money issues.

I came out of my reverie when I discovered an odd gaze on my body. I turned to face it only to see aunt feng shifting her eyes away hurriedly as if she was scared of being caught.

Odd, don't you think so?

"Are you sure he is coming?" Aunt feng couldn't help but question. "Maybe he was already waiting for us here but since we didn't arrive on time, he went to our house to check instead".

Aunt Feng said while throwing another glare at me. I could guess what was going through her head, but then again, I couldn't care less.

I stopped caring ever since the day she tried to whip me for refusing to do the dishes due to fatigue.

"I can go and check it out". I said while shrugging my shoulders and was about to leave when uncle Ru snorted.

"So you can go back to your bed to sleep another round? Not happening. You will stay here with the goods while your aunt and I go back and check if the client is at home".

He said in a firm tone with no chance of refusal and stepped forward with the umbrella in hand while aunt Feng followed.

"We will be back after we check the house. Stay here and don't leave until we get back or you see the customer. Also, don't open the sack, its the clients property and the last thing we want is for you to damage it".

Uncle Ru said in a stern voice. Without saying anything else, their figures gradually disappeared into the darkness of night.

Only my figure remained under the hood of the old shop. For some reason, I couldn't help but feel restless as if something was wrong.

Helpless, I could only attribute it to the cold weather. I stood there for a while and the cold air had some effect in drying my clothes. At least I wasn't dripping water like before.

I have to admit, my treatment was awful. Nevertheless it was OK.

I stopped expecting much from the two of them a long time ago. What could you possibly hope for from an annoying bitch and a stern two faced uncle?

After standing a while longer, I couldn't take it anymore and crouched down low to try and relieve the aches in my legs. After a while, my legs gradually grew numb so I sat down on the cold ground while leaning on the shoe sack.

Well, they said I shouldn't open it, so its fine.

"Huh... What the hell....."

As soon as I leaned on the sack, I discovered that it was somewhat light. Too light.

Pushing the sack slightly, it didn't feel like something filled with a few dozen shoes. No, it was as soft as hay?

Startled, I looked at the upright sack with a flash of hesitation in my eyes. Remembering the conspicuous glances from aunt feng earlier, his face gradually changed as an unsure expression appeared on his face.

Should he open the sack?

He wasn't sure what was in it but he was certain they weren't shoes. According to uncle Ru, his business finally received a rather wealthy customer who ordered a large batch of footwear. More than a dozen.

That was the reason why they came out in the first place and why he was shivering out here. But if there weren't any shoes to deliver.... Then..... Why were they outside? Could Ru Feng have made a mistake in what he was carrying?

But that thought didn't stay in my mind for more than a nanosecond before it was debunked. That cheapskate uncle of mind would never do anything that could compromise his business.

Also, after all this while, why aren't they back yet? What the hell was going on? A hint of fear creeped into my mind, yet before I had time to process what was happening, I saw a figure walking under the rain.

I couldn't make much of it at first as it looked more like a blurry shadow in he darkness. However, the gears in my mind made a guess.

This should be the customer in question. My face instantly twisted in displeasure.

Just as I was about to address the guy for being late, the walking shadow slowly split into two.

Two middle aged men were revealed once they got close enough for me to see them. They wore long brown and gray coats that shielded their bodies from the cold.

The words I was about to say stuck at the back of my throat, not because of how the supposed single customer was now two but due to the dangerous feeling welling up inside me.

That restlessness i've had all day was at an all time high, telling me that these two supposed customers were bad news.

Both men approached me in a matter of seconds. "Are.... Are you the customers my uncle spoke of?"

I asked in a low tone.

"Where is your uncle?" The man said without giving a reply to my question. I looked at the other one who was inspecting the surroundings carefully to make sure no one was present.

Seeing this, I furrowed my eyebrows. No matter how dumb someone was, they would be able to see something was wrong.

Without caring for any possible consequences, I turned towards the sack beside me and ripped it open. My heart sank to the bottom of the abyss at what I saw.

Hay!

There weren't any shoes within it, instead, the sack was filled with hay. At that moment, I understood. This whole thing was a setup.

There wasn't a business deal of any kind. Well, there was, but only now did i realize that in this deal, i was the commodity.

"This is bad. Run!" I thought inwardly in my mind. Everything finally seemed to click. He had been sold.

I wanted to run but it seemed like the middle aged man had guessed my intention. He stretched out his palm and grabbed my shirt collar before I could react.

Followed by a heavy smack at the back of my head, my vision darkened.

Today, on March 13th, year 4667, I, Han Ru Chan was abducted from the place I once thought was home, sold into slavery and officially started my journey on the path to become a War Saint.