I silently followed behind the crowd as we went toward the long and winding road that was behind the giant red tent 

Rain was right beside me she was continuously talking about what to do In the mines what not to do or how to do something 

I had just zoned out by now I understood the basic pick one of three available tasks of either collecting the ore or the sand or the mud 

it wasn't tough to understand surprisingly the woman who had brought me here gave a peck on my cheek and then turned around and left me after I picked by the ore collection token 

was she not an I don't the correct term for people here workers miners slaves fuck if I know 

at times like this, I wish lucid Sam was around to answer my questions but the ghost had disappeared 

he hadn't shown himself ever since I was taken from my room by pollux 

I had no idea what had happened to him 

suddenly Rain leaned close to me and  tapped my shoulder 

"hold my hand I will take you to the mining tunnels"

without waiting for an answer from me she just grabbed my hands and began leading me 

soon we came in front of what seemed to be an entrance of sorts 

we were standing at a foot of a very tall mountain with there were at least a dozen caves dug up in its base where I could see a steady stream of people entering and exciting they looked like ants marching 

The rain let go of my hand and then began pointing at the caves with her index finger as if she was counting them 

" this one " she shouted cheerily 

and since grabbed my hand and forced me to enter one of the caves at random 

I think she was doing some variation of enie minie mo 

my first impression of mines was they were rather well maintained 

as I saw that there were several workers carrying loads of rocks and dirt into their baskets, 

I also noted that most of the people didn't look malnourished but just dirty.

the cave was held together by wooden planks placed like guard railings 

there were hundreds of small balls floating around 

they looked a lot like the light balls we used to have at the home where I used to lice with Granny Yu 

the tunnel itself was  fairly big

 of two adults could easily walk side by side in the cave without ever touching each other 

the walls were quite smooth  but it still gave off a metallic feel like quartz

the air around the tunnel felt different from the air above ground

 it smelled musty and cold even though it had a warm airflow 

I looked ahead of us and saw that Rain was still pointing forward 

and then pointing back saying something but I couldn't make out what she was saying

I continued along following behind her as she led the way deeper into the mines 

the deeper we went the further the mines began spreading and entangling like roots of a tree 

it was as if  the walls had been made from trees that had been pushed against one another and strung up

it seemed like a natural formation

the floor seemed to have been made from stones mixed in with the rock

when we reached the bottom part of the cave, 

and the further we went along the more I noticed that the people around were dwindling 

in the beginning, there were hundreds of people all around us but now there was just me and Rain 

we soon exited the tunnel and enters an enormous cavern 

it was  very well built from stone

like a forest floor, the ceiling rose high high high

there were huge platforms around the edges of the chamber

many people were walking up and down on these platforms

I saw that there was only one entrance and exit into the cavern

but there was a large hole carved into the stone ceiling above us

on the far end of the cavern was a platform

I walked up next to Rain looking at her

she took out her hammer and called someone

a well-built man jogged to her and bent down to listen 

as rain 

walked over to the platform

and spoke a few words so softly that I couldn't hear a word 

and then returned to stand next to me looking up at the opening above us

I looked up at the platform

"It is beautiful isn't it," she said 

I have no idea what she was talking about 

what was beautiful?

but before I could voice out this question 

the well built muscular gave a shout 

"Rain go ahead"

rain then gridded toward another platform 

" do you have your tools?" she asked me 

I nodded unsure if she could even see me 

"then what are you waiting for get to digging"

I sighed heavily and I thought this was my new life.

...............

the first week of working in the mines was hell 

it was soon clear to me that the cavern was where the practitioners worked and they did not like me 

the only reason they tolerated me was because of the rain

and rain couldn't be there for me forever 3 days after introducing me to the workload Rain disappeared 

maybe she was tired of babysitting but the mature beautify woman this name I had come to know was Lin Su

Lin Su like clockwork every day would come at first light to take me to the square where I had to wait and pick up a task 

another thing I realised after rain left was this mine was a fucking maze 

There were so many branch holes in the mine that you couldn't tell which led where 

The more you go in, the narrower the mine becomes only the main tunnel was wide and clean 

the rest of the mine was dark, dingy cold  and smelt of earth, moldy rock and death

only later did I find out that the light balls gas different colours to mark different sections of the mines 

they were also used as way finders and direction markers 

I hate being colour blind

I had gotten lost once 

if you got lost you wouldn't find anyone to help guide you

 I might have died if not for luck 

luckily I had stumbled on the main tunnel and exerted the practitioner's cavern 

none of the people there bothered me but the hostile glare they sent toward me made me apprehensive toward them

it had taken me days to finally map out the mines my way I leaving visible marks on the walls I had found a quiet corner in the mine where I could peacefully work 

 to make matters worse I still couldn't sleep 

.........................

Pain shot through my back as the whip landed on my back like someone was burning my flesh with a hot rod 

I tried hard to bite down on my teeth as to let the screen trapped inside me escape 

the pain had become a part of my life now

  it was almost daily for the past year 

that I had  felt the pain

the pain  of the whip in place of hunger or thirst 

I felt the pain when I woke up from the nightmares

 I felt the pain in my heart when I missed my father

I missed him  so much

 I missed Granny Yu and I missed Sam

I had soon realised that whipping was a favourite sport for Kandarian's the race of giants to whom Pollux and his ilk belonged to 

so I tried to endure the pain as the whip came screaming down on my back 

because if they saw me crying, begging and screaming they would begin to enjoy it 

and I would be dead 

I had released  all the 999 acupoints 

the energy pulsating through me allowed me to stay strong every second of the day 

and wounds would heal faster 

in the past year, 

 I had grown pretty strong even though my soul cultivation was still stranded 

my physical form had crossed the threshold of 2nd tier according to Lin Su

 I no longer felt any increase in my strength when I opened any additional acupoints 

but even with all that strength, I had to force myself to feel pain

I had no choice but to feel the pain.

 to allow my back to be horribly scared 

because Lin Su had warned me if the 

people who were watching me knew I was strong

 they would kill without a  second thought

So I had slowly become accustomed to the pain 

 of pain and suffering for the past year

I learned how to suppress my tears

I learnt how to keep my emotions away from my face

I learnt to push the pain and fear deep within to the deepest pits of my heart

I learned how to shut down my mind and body

all to survive and protect

the guard had frequently begun to lash me 

as I had become one of the bribers

the bribe wasn't to get presidential treatment but to escape the whipping when you were caught killing or stealing 

I had already killed numerous people already 

in the beginning, I had no choice they had jumped me 

they tried to intimidate me to hand over my ore 

and that did work the attacked me 

they were just normal human beings they didn't stand a chance against my fist went straight through them killing them instantly 

I had already gained a nickname in the mines 

" The  Killer Who Slaps People to Death"

I don't know who came up with it 

But one day one of the Kandarian guard 

the guards started calling me "The Killer Who Slaps People to Death"

but that didn't stop people they kept coming after me never stopping 

soon I also realised the advantages of looting I didn't have to work as hard as I. did to collect the ore I just had to wait near the entrance in the shadows 

to attack and steal from anyone I deemed a pray 

if Su Lin hadn't sat me down and scolded me I would have even killed the people 

in my eyes, they were all criminals

they deserved to die, no matter what they were 

especially the men 

They hurt innocent children

And raped women they didn't bother 

They tortured boys and girls 

I had found out from one of the attackers that they had been using children to realise their frustration by several gruesome methods 

one f them had been used on the child I had killed 

that had nearly driven me mad

 what kind of monster these people were info on realised that all the people were divided into many groups and each group was mixed up in something truly grotesque and horrible 

the rage had driven me to hunt down these people and kill them 

that had me a frequent visitor to the whipping stake 

"Pa "

the who once again cracked against my bare akin burning mark with red hit fury 

I had forgotten what the punishment was for there wasn't necessarily needed to be a reason for the Mandarin titan to do out punishment for me

sometimes it was just because of the way I looked 

when the whipping finally stopped I waited a few seconds the cautiously glanced back 

the guard had lost interest in me and  was now looking into the distance with the same boring look

I casually broke the rope restrain and cautiously began to walk away from the stake 

I slowly began to walk back to the cave

after a while, I saw Rain 

she was sitting on a wooden bench nearby the entrance of my dwelling 

her face was expressionless

I haven't spoken to her since the day she disappeared

I wonder what did she want  from me

Did she want me dead

Or was she going to ask me why I killed those people 

I had seen her watch me sometimes as we had sat in silence in the cavern

She must have known the truth

she must have seen me kill them

she silently stood up as soon as she saw and gave a quick nod 

" I have asked to check up on you," she said 

she had one of those forgettable faces she had slanted eyes with no eyebrows 

she had a round nose and thin lips on her narrow straight face 

her hair was short like a boy's hair 

and she had one hell of a poker face I couldn't tell jack shit from her expression 

I just looked at her and waited for her to say more 

but she just stood there like a stare 

for long awkward few minutes, no one spoke 

finally, I couldn't bear it and asked 

" anything else?"

she gave another nod 

lady in has asked me to tell you to slow down your picks 

I knew what she was talking about 

since the ore worked as some sort of currency among the slave's workers miners and guards I had begun venturing deep into the mines to mine more of the stuff 

and  I soon found myself overshooting my quota by a lot I had a huge crunch of this stuff back at my cave so much didn't didn't need to venture back in the caves for a quite long time 

I even began exchanging the ore for the things I wanted

 my cave to no longer looked  dumpy, cringey  dark and cold I even had a light ball floating in the air there was 

and this had gained me the attention of the guards 

and they wanted what I had 

and I had only recently learned that the mandarin can't enter a slaves cave I mean period 

they had tried every method possible 

beatings, intimidation, torture and other means for me to hand over the access ore 

but nothing worked

nothing really worked

they had given up eventually

At least that is what I had thought instead they had raised the quota of the ore collection 

And it was always bad when the quotas went up.

 Always. 

Everyone was always punished en masse if the quotas weren't met.

 People died every time that happened.

so I knew what she wanted to convey 

I just nodded my head at her 

"tell the guards to come tomorrow and collect their precious fucking ore"

I felt at a loss at what to do these guys were brutal 

without waiting for her response I just walked past her and went back to my dwelling 

I immediately sat down in mediation and began to chant one of under mantras roaming around in my head 

Sam was write chanting mantra was a much better way to mediate than visualising it clearing my mind it was super easy and super effective 

I no longer had gone to my lake to sense the five-element particles around me but no matter how I absorbed I couldn't seem to advance in my soul cultivation and that was frustrating 

I had spent every free minute of my day trying to absorb the 5 element particles but to no avail 

suddenly I heard heavy breathing from close to me 

I came out of my state and looked at what was breathing so loud 

I turned to find a scrawny thin weak-looking boy looking at me and breathing heavily 

.i think he was hyperventilating 

"are you okay I asked out loud?" 

with that boy, eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted 

okay what now I asked to myself