Chapter 1: Repaying Cruelty With Kindness (1)
It was a late autumn morning. As the dawn chased the dark shadows, the sun added warmth to the chilly air.
An oil lamp in the cellar of the Luo Clan lit up. A young man named Luo Zheng sat upright in front of a table, shading most of the light of the oil lamp. Quietly he pulled out a battered thread-bound book.
Luo Zheng was a lean, average-looking young man who had just turned seventeen. However, there was something mellow about him. In contrast, his eyes were radiant that even in the dim light projected by the oil lamp, they glowed with charm.
“It has taken me a month to finish the Heavenly Principles. Its arguments are all well, but, what I find most revolting are those four words: repaying cruelty with kindness,” Luo Zheng whispered as he stared at the bean-sized flame of the oil lamp. Melancholy was written all over his face. “Had my father not been so kind-hearted as to believe those four words, I, the direct descendant of my clan, would not have ended up like this, and father would still be alive…”
The sudden noise of the cellar door being unlocked interrupted his flow of thoughts. Luo Zheng replaced the melancholy he was feeling with a solemn expression. He promptly blew out the oil lamp and covered himself with the shabby cotton quilt.
The door of the cellar flew open and footsteps began drawing close. The man in charge stepped forward and stomped his foot on Luo Zheng's bed before shrieking at him.” Still in bed? Dreaming about being the young master of the Luo Clan? Get the fxck up!”
The man was a steward in the Luo Clan. He looked rather wretched. He had a wart on his forehead that often invoked disgust from people.
Luo Zheng sat up and rubbed his eyes. He pushed off the quilt, before turning and planting his feet on the ground. Silently, he slid on his clothing, socks, and shoes. Although his clothes were old, Luo Zheng kept them neatly. He was very meticulous by nature.
The steward rolled his eyes, criticized Luo Zheng , and then waved his hand. Several men surrounded Luo Zheng and forcibly put a thick leather armor and shackles on him.
After they were done, Luo Zheng followed the servants as they walked out of the cellar and toward the Martial Arts Hall.
The Luo Clan owned hundreds of mines and millions of acres of fertile land. As a big and powerful Clan, they were well-known in Chongyang County.
However, the entire Eastern Region had thousands of county cities, including countless wealthy families and the Luo Clan was almost insignificant in the Eastern Region.
Luo Zheng was escorted by some men as he climbed out of the gloomy cellar. This was a daily ritual with which Luo Zheng was quite familiar with. The walk to the Martial Arts Hall meant navigating through numerous pavilions, bridges, and galleries.
The Martial Arts Hall was an open area. It was a place where the children of the Luo Clan would come for practice. The entrance was decorated with white marble sculptures of a male lion and a female lion. The ground was one large, black basalt slab. Standing at the entrance of the building, one could feel the power emanating from the Hall.
In the middle of the Martial Arts Hall, dozens of children from the Luo Clan practiced martial arts under the guidance of a teacher. They were all dressed alike in gray robes.
They bawled and their boxes whirred again and again.
In order to win a position in the clan, every child needed to study diligently and practice hard. These children looked like they were more than ten years of age.
On this late autumn day, the wind began to howl around the children. Nevertheless, sweat beaded on their foreheads. The contrasting heat and cold filled the hall with steaming white mist.
On the other side of the Martial Arts Hall stood over a dozen men who were dressed like Luo Zheng in leather armor and shackles. These men were dejected, bleeding, and wounded all over their bodies.
Luo Zheng was escorted into the Martial Arts Hall. The guard placed him amongst the injured men.
Most of these men were prisoners, bought by Luo Clan from local prisons. They became the clan's slaves. One of the roles of these slaves was to become meat shields for Luo Clan's minors. Those minors could beat up those meat shields however they wanted, training and testing their own strengths. Nobody knew how many of those meat shields died or became disabled every year-no one bothered to count.
Luo Zheng, however, wasn't a prisoner. He'd been the eldest son of the main house of Luo Clan, the prominent young lord, standing at the top of the status ladder. Members of the other clans, including those as strong as his own, would've greeted him with respect had they bumped into him. Even the clan elders' needed to mind their manners towards him.
However, something disastrous happened in Chongyang County two years ago. Luo Zheng's father, the head of the Luo Clan, had been poisoned by his brother. He died on the spot.
Immediately after, the eldest branch of the Luo Clan was set up by the other three branches. They framed a case against Luo Zheng's father. According to their accusations, Luo Zheng's father was a rebel. Under the brothers' internal strife, the main house had completely fallen apart.
Luo Zheng, as the former young master, had also been labeled a traitor, demoted to a slave of Luo Clan. He'd become a meat shield for Luo Clan's children to practice their martial arts. Forever never be free.
This kind of life, getting beaten up at others' pleasure, had been going on for two years. These two years, not anymore could Luo Zheng count how many punches and kicks he'd suffered, how many insults he'd taken.
"Today's martial arts practice stops here. You go select your meat shield! Hitting the human body can help you understand how skills and techniques are used in real combat; help you get familiar with human body's weaknesses and bones' distribution!"
After hearing the teacher's order, the kids each chose a meat shield. Soon enough, miserable cries begging for mercy burst forth inside the training hall, repeatedly. These Luo Clan's minors basically did not treat these slaves as human beings, engraving fists after fists into their flesh without holding back.
Many of them went to Luo Zheng, striking even more energetically, using even more power. The reason? Ravaging the former young master gave them a better sense of accomplishment!
Luo Zheng calmly responded to the fists of these children, protecting the vital parts of his body with an expressionless face. These… Things, he'd gotten used to them.
Not long after that, at the training hall's entrance, there suddenly appeared a few people, led by a young boy wearing silk brocade garments, looking all bright and breezy.
"The Young Master has come!"
"Young Master, you've finally come out. From your refreshing spirit, you must've made good progress in your cultivation!"
"The young lord's talent is exceptional, he's our Luo Clan's genius. I bet he's already entered the Bone Refining Stage!"
The children who noticed the Young Master entering stopped their practice and began patronizing. Some even walked up to the young master as they generously threw praises his way. It was obvious that they all wanted to flatter the young master.
Luo Zheng's eyes fell on the young man, and his imperceptible anger rose quietly. The young teenager being called the young master by the children, was Luo Pieran. He was the oldest son in the second branch of the Luo Clan. He was the same age as Luo Zheng.
Luo Zheng was relegated to slavery and Luo Pieran replaced Luo Zheng as the young master of the Luo Clan.
Luo Zheng had heard that Luo Pieran had been staying in a secluded place to practice some time ago. He had disappeared for a long time. It seemed as though he had improved a lot after the practice.
Luo Pieran was very sensitive and he turned to look at Luo Zheng when he became aware of his cousin’s hate-filled glare. He smirked as he walked straight toward Luo Zheng and said,” Luo Zheng, I've been cultivating for a long time. I didn’t expect to see you alive when I returned.”
“Thanks for caring about me. I’m alive,” Luo Zheng answered in a muffled voice.
“What kind of tone is that? How dare you speak this way to the Young Master?”
“You are just a slave here! Kneel! Fall to the ground quickly and apologize to our Young Master or you will regret being alive.”
Several children of the Luo Clan shouted as though Luo Zheng had done something very unforgivable to them.
Luo Zheng looked around indifferently. These people used to behave like little dogs in front of him in the past. They were too scared to even breathe in his presence when he was the young master. Once he lost power, their attitudes changed. It had been so sudden. Now, they were Luo Pieran's dogs.
Luo Pieran waved his hand to stop the excited children from defending him. He spoke to Luo Zheng with a triumphant smile, “Luo Zheng, do you know why I left to cultivate?”
Luo Zheng did not speak. He just looked at Luo Pieran expressionlessly.