Xu's Perspective
Xu’s breath caught in his throat as he awoke. The familiar scent and taste of his and other’s blood assailed his senses. Wincing he slowly pulled himself up from his dusty, gray, straw mat as his dark empty eyes surveyed his surroundings. Through the darkness he saw the slow movements of the other Elixir Slaves as he himself stood there wearing only bloodstained pants made of a strange black material.
Everyone flinched as they heard the sounds of multiple heavy footsteps resounding outside the rundown dusty wooden Barracks all 30 slaves lived in. Each step boomed into their hearts shaking them. Xu silently pondered whether it was due to the pain those steps heralded or the immense strength that each of the guards held.
“Line up!” A voice amplified by Qi resounded through the closed doors.
Xu glanced around at his companions as he lined up with them. 30 people. 22 men and 8 women. The oldest looked around 60 while the youngest was probably a year younger than Xu, 15 or so. All shirtless in preparation of their work. With heavy steps three cultivators wearing silvery armor that seemed to brighten up the unlit surroundings.
“Form up.” The leader disdainfully surveyed the slaves as they smoothly formed a single line before leaving without another word. The line followed the heavy footsteps of the leader under the careless watch of the other two guards which only followed after the last slave walked out.
Blinded by the sun Xu glanced towards the fields for a moment before looking towards the circular clearing they were headed to. There a huge pot of stew was simmering on a fire being controlled by a short gray haired man that looked to be in his 20s but was obviously older. Perhaps much older. Looking at the dancing fire Xu thought back to the stories the oldest member of the Elixir slaves would tell about cultivators. Before he could reminisce long it was his turn to get food. Reaching out he grabbed a bowl full of stewed meat and began hurriedly eating as much as he could as he walked away from the line.
BANG!
The half empty bowl was knocked from his hands into the dust. Lowering his eyes Xu didn’t dare look up. Anger fluctuated in his eyes as he felt his heart beat faster and harder.
“Eat it,” the deep voice came like lightning from the figure he didn’t dare show anger to. Kneeling down Xu picked up the dusty slivers and swept them into his mouth as his dark eyes became empty once more. Looking up, he wiped the dust from his lips as he looked up at the tall auburn haired man before him.
“You’ll be with me today Zoo, “ The Commander smirked his hair lighting up like fire in the sun. Xu couldn’t stop the frown that came to his face. The Commander smirked as his hand seemed to teleport to the handle of his whip. “To Work,” he yelled. His amplified voice spurred the guards to take the slaves to the three fields two or three Elixir Slaves per guard. Only Xu and the eldest of the Elixir slaves, an old man by the name of Tieh Lei had the honor of being personally tended to. “Come on Zoo. It’s time for work,” The commander muttered sinisterly as they reached the edge of the easternmost field of bone colored plants covered in thorns.
“It’s pronounced Zyoo.“
Crack!
As soon as he had finished a whip struck down across his heavily scarred back as blood started to run dripping down the tight water resistant pants he wore. The commander chuckled as he watched Xu kneel and start working.
Drip drip drip. The ground seemed to exude vitality with every drop of blood that soaked into it.
In the distance on all three fields the crack and snaps of whips striking flesh resounded through the air. Xu calmly restrained himself as he started digging up the bone colored herbs as his blood seeped into the earth raising the health and quality of the herbs one last time before he harvested them.
Occasionally as he meticulously stored the picked herbs at the moment of the whip digging into his back he would break off the smallest thorn from one of the herbs and quickly lever open the tight pants he wore and drop it in. Ignoring the pain as it pricked him. The plan Tieh Lei had come up with required these. They had been using this method according to his instructions for over a month. They had spent three years preparing for this.
“Hurry up!” Hours later the Commander Demanded seeing that the harvest was almost over. “You know Xu I might miss this. You know what?” the Commander paused for a moment watching Xu’s pale body work to finish the last row of herbs. “When they bleed you dry I’ll make sure to pour one out for you.” The sincerity in the Commander’s voice surprised Xu. He knew the Commander had been forced to Elixir Duty by his father for multiple failures at some sort. And that his father was a higher up in The Adamantine Path. But Xu knew him as this year’s torturer. The man who would profit off of his blood this year.
Xu remained silent as he finished the row and stood up. The commander lifted the massive rolling pallet that Xu had stacked herbs on. It must have been several tons of heavy bone colored herbs. Xu walked to the row of other Elixir slaves who had worked on the same field. In front of him in line was Storm. Only two years older than him and in front of him was the youngest elixir slave a girl named Fura by Tieh Lei who had named all the slaves after their memories had been wiped. Storm was fidgeting though. Which was strange due to his calm nature.
Something is wrong with a thorn. NO!
Xu saw a thorn slowly being forced out of the waistline of Storms specially crafted pants. Glancing surreptitiously around Xu saw that one of the guards had noticed Storm fidgeting. Fidgeting from the injuries was nothing new but if it continued the guard might still come over to check. As storm struggled to force the thorn back in it came out even further and his fidgeting became even more pronounced. Xu ran desperately through multiple plans as he saw the only guard paying attention walk towards Storm.
“Forwards.” The commander yelled after having stacked the last pallet onto a flat trailer hooked up to the only two spiritual horses in the camp.
Fuck! Fear ripped through both Xu and Storm as they were forced to walk forward.
Swallowing hard Xu made a choice as they moved forward. Looking at the staggered dozen or so guards, including the one approaching Storm halfheartedly, Xu rapidly tried to come up with a plan.
Stepping closer to Storm’s back Xu fell forward causing Storm to jolt forward in shock as Xu grabbed the bloody thorn and pulled it to his stomach as he fell. Closing his eyes Xu’s breath came quickly as he played dead trying to figure out a way to deal with the thorn. Multiple guard rushed forward to figure out what had happened.
“What happened?” The commander called from the front. Displeasure at being held back from celebration evident in his tone.
“Xu passed out from blood loss Commander,” on of the guards yelled back after visually checking Xu’s condition. “
Kick him awake then.” The commander ordered, disdaining the thought of personally touching a slave any more than that.
Slam!
A powerful kick in his side sent blood rushing through Xu as his blood boiled from the pain. Emboldened by the blood rushing to his brain as the second kick came Xu thought of a way to survive this. Making a show of lurching up Xu held his ribs and viciously slammed the thorn into his own side.
Please hold out. He begged his body as he stumbled forward. Back holes slowly came into existence in his vision. They grew sucking away his ability to see and hear what was going on around him.
Finally, after what seemed like centuries, dead center in his vision was his bed. Which he immediately collapsed onto.
Tieh Lei and Storm hovered over him as everyone removed the thorns from their mystical pants quietly. Tieh Lei moved to his bed and spun his fingers silently giving everyone orders to collect all the thorns they had from their many hiding spots. Despite the obvious fatigue and the paleness of their faces they did so rapidly before sitting silently on their bloodstained sleeping mats.
After they were all gathered they all silently sat glancing at the unconscious Xu as Storm carved out what had happened into the floor with a thorn. The others used the light filtering in from the distant fires that the cultivators had lit to read the message. Finally just before midnight Tieh Lei got up and walked slowly over to Xu’s bed before putting his hand over Xu’s mouth. With his other hand he reached down and pulled the thorn directly out of Xu’s side with a terrifying yank.
