Chapter 2
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Under a crystalline blue sky, the melodious songs of small birds drifted through the air. A gentle breeze playfully teased the emerald leaves, while warm rays of sunlight cascaded onto the earth, breathing life into the world.
Beneath the shade of a sprawling tree, a boy lay in quiet repose. He gazed up at the vast expanse of the azure sky, his mind seemingly free of all worldly burdens.
But the tranquility was short-lived. A figure came sprinting toward him, shouting breathlessly, "Hey! Sei Fan! Wake up, you lazy bones!"
Sei Fan bolted upright, his eyes widening in sudden realization. "Oh no... I forgot! Is there still time?"
Why was he so panicked? What work could be so vital that it demanded such desperate haste?
Xiao Fei's eyes darted around frantically. "There's no time! Move, now! If we're late, we're dead. The Overseer will drown us in double the workload as punishment!"
The mere thought of the Overseer's "double labor" caused Sei Fan's sleepiness to evaporate like mist. With heavy footsteps and synchronized, ragged breathing, the two boys raced toward the worksite. Their hearts hammered like drums; anxiety drove them forward like a loosed arrow. The drowsy images of a moment ago were replaced by faces sharpened by raw fear.
Upon reaching the site and finding it empty, Xiao Fei collapsed against his knees, clutching his chest. "Hah... thank goodness," he wheezed, a ragged sigh of relief escaping him. "Fate is still on our side." He let out a weak, shaky laugh.
"Thanks, Xiao Fei," Sei Fan gasped, his voice trembling from exhaustion. "If you hadn't woken me, I'd be in a living hell all day. You literally saved my life!"
At that moment, the rhythmic, trembling footsteps of twenty orphans echoed through the clearing. Behind them followed a voice as cold and venomous as a cobra.
"Move! Faster! Do you think this orphanage feeds you for free? You lot were meant to die in the gutters!" The Overseer snarled, gripping a thick rope in his hand. "Don't you dare slacken your pace. Unless you want to taste my lash, move it!"
The children's bodies were a map of old scars and fresh welts. Though their flesh ached, the cruel reality that orders were absolute had been beaten into their very bones. They knew the cost of rebellion. Even with only a flicker of life left in them, the Overseer's roar made them move like clockwork dolls, defying their pain to march forward.
The Overseer scanned the group of twenty-two, his face hardening. His gaze locked onto Sei Fan and Xiao Fei, and he barked, "You two! Where the hell were you when I called the roll at the dorms? I know for a fact only twenty followed me out. Where did you crawl out from?"
He tightened his grip on the rope and marched toward them with heavy, predatory strides.
Sensing the impending lash, Xiao Fei spoke up first, keeping his voice steady despite the fear. "No... no, Overseer. We weren't missing from the dorms." He shot a glance at Sei Fan, who quickly added in a trembling voice, "That's right. We... we actually left early. We were so afraid of being late that we ran ahead to the worksite to wait for you."
The Overseer narrowed his eyes, a mocking sneer dancing on his lips. He saw right through the lie. He turned his gaze to Xiao Fei and thought to himself: 'This brat has talent for cultivation. If I provoke a grudge now, my head won't stay on my shoulders once he rises to power.'
But when he turned to Sei Fan, his expression soured into bitter contempt. 'But you, Sei Fan... you're a different story.'
The Overseer stepped into Sei Fan's personal space, his voice dropping to a low, menacing hiss. "I know you were sleeping under that tree last night. You know the penalty, don't you? You don't get a break this afternoon. You will work through the rest period to finish my personal chores."
It was a simple accident born of pure exhaustion. But the Overseer didn't care for mercy; he cared only for squeezing every drop of labor out of these children to line his own pockets.
Inside Sei Fan, rage erupted like a dormant volcano. The injustice burned his throat. But he knew he was nothing more than a lamb in a wolf's den. To resist was to invite a more brutal agony. Clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white and shutting his eyes tight, he whispered the only response he could afford:
"Yes... Overseer."
Xiao Fei wanted to protest, but he bit his lip until it nearly bled. He knew words were useless here.
As the day progressed, the sun grew merciless, beating down on the backs of the twenty-two children. The task of digging the tunnel was grueling. Their breaths came in ragged gasps, and sweat poured off their skin like rain. No one dared to stop. They knew that a single moment of rest would bring the Overseer's lash down upon their aching bodies.
Sei Fan's hands trembled as he swung his pickaxe against the unyielding stone, but his eyes burned with a dark, vengeful fire. 'I will leave this hellhole one day,' he vowed internally. 'You damn Overseer... remember this. The day I succeed will be the day I take your life with my own two hands!'
"It's... so hot..."
When the rest period finally came, the tunnel went silent—except for the solitary clink-clink of a pickaxe hitting stone under the blistering sun. Sei Fan's body shook with fatigue. His fingertips were torn and bloodied. The harsh rays scorched his skin like an open flame, yet he continued to grip the heavy tool. As his sweat hit the sun-baked rock, it hissed and evaporated instantly—just like his hopes for a better life.
With every strike, his arms screamed in pain, but the ache in his heart was far more suffocating.
'I'm so tired... Why does it have to be me?'
The words wouldn't come out; they felt like dry thorns stuck in his throat.
'My life is a curse...'
That thought took root in his subconscious, gripping his mind like a vice.
'I... I want to die...'
Yet, in the deepest abyss of his soul, a tiny spark refused to go out.
He was only sixteen. He wasn't born with a heart of steel, nor was he blessed with supreme talent or luck. He was just an ordinary boy. But behind that "ordinariness" lay years of invisible pressure, unspoken pain, and suppressed emotions that no one bothered to see.
His head began to droop. A single tear fell... then another.
He tried to stop them. He wiped his eyes with his bruised arm. "Don't cry... don't cry..." he whispered to himself, but the tears refused to obey.
Finally, the dam broke. The thoughts he had endured in silence, the words he could never say, and the heart filled with nothing but pain exploded all at once.
He broke down, sobbing with a desperate, broken sound.
"I want to be free..."
His voice was a fragile, trembling wreck.
"I don't want to live in this prison of a life anymore!"