Chapter 8: The Pointy Face
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
He must have lost the white handkerchief when fighting with the Big Beard. Gu Shenwei clung to the wooden palisade of the cage and looked back, but he could only see a long string of oxcarts. After quite a while, he was able to get a wider view when it made a turn.
The T-junction was out of his sight, and the fleet was already off in the distance.
Gu Shenwei gripped so tightly that his knuckles became pale. He looked back blankly and could not believe that the family's secret manuscript had gone just like that.
"Did you guys... see a piece of white cloth?"
With his last ray of hope, Gu Shenwei turned around and asked the other children in the cage.
However, no one answered or even looked up at this newcomer. Gu Shenwei did not know whether it was because of the language barrier or simply unwillingness.
"A piece of white..."
Gu Shenwei tried to show the size of the white handkerchief with his hands, but he said with less and less confidence. All the children were so skinny in rags. They would not be interested in a piece of cloth at all.
"They didn't understand what you said."
After the oxcart moved some length, a teenager in the corner finally spoke up.
This teenager was probably the same age as Gu Shenwei. He was comely with a pointy face. Compared to the other children, his clothes were clean. The cage was very small, but he occupied an entire corner by himself. Playing with a straw stick in his hands, he was staring at the newcomer inquisitively.
"The white handkerchief, a piece of white cloth. Have you seen it?" Gu Shenwei urgently asked.
The pointy-faced teenager thought for a while and shook his head. "No. Does it matter much?"
Gu Shenwei sat down, disappointed. His mind was going blank.
"Where are we going?" he asked unconsciously after quite a while.
"Jade City."
Gu Shenwei knew this city. It was the major city in the Western Region. As a transportation hub, it attracted numerous trade caravans to gather there. It was a paradise for feasting, but hell for living by using daggers and swords. He had stayed there for one night before, and suddenly thought, "Isn't Golden Roc Fort outside the city?"
Gu Shenwei looked up just in time to meet the pointy-faced teenager's gaze, as if there was something weird about him that could attract the teenager's constant attention.
"Do you know me?" Gu Shenwei asked with a hint of anger. Only the two of them in the cage could speak Central Plains Chinese. However, Gu Shenwei was in no mood for making friends, as he had become a slave, and had also lost the crucial secret manuscript of the Gu family.
"A rich kid." The pointy-faced teenager sneered. His tone was frivolous and full of sarcasm.
"What are you talking about?" A flame of fury sprang to his head, though for the most part, the pointy-faced teenager was not the true source of this anger.
"Nothing. Once we arrive in Jade City, all of us will be sold, but no one will buy you to be a young Master again. I'm kindly reminding you that it's not easy to adjust going from a young Master to a slave. The slaves have their own rules and ways of living. Do you want my advice?"
Gu Shenwei nodded, for his words sounded very reasonable.
"Wash your butt clean."
The pointy-faced teenager said this solemnly and showed a slight smile. His smile became more and more obvious, and finally turned into crazy laughter that carried on and on.
Gu Shenwei could not understand what he meant for a long time and only felt uncomfortable with his presumptuous laughter. He gradually realized the obscenity of it. However, the best time for taking offense had passed. In his limited, extravagant life experience, he had never learned how to deal with this kind of situation.
The pointy-faced teenager gained an advantage by his words and became more impudent. After the roaring laughter, he pretended to be serious and said,
"Take it easy. A young Master like you looks quite clean. When we arrive in Jade City, surely there will be people queuing up to buy you. You'll have a bright future. Haha, your butt will be busy."
That was undoubtedly an insult.
Gu Shenwei leaped forward and pounced at the pointy-faced teenager, but he stumbled over the children in the middle. They rolled up into balls and yelled in pain, which aroused a guard's attention. Without saying a word, he took out a club to randomly thwack at the chaotic scene inside the cage.
The children quickly separated. Each of them got some hits, as did Gu Shenwei. The pointy-faced teenager in the corner, however, was beyond the reach of the stick.
The pointy-faced teenager was trying his best not to laugh. After the guard left, he gave a hearty laugh that shook his belly until he was nearly out of breath.
Gu Shenwei did not expect there to be such an annoying person in the entire world. Besides the assassins in Golden Roc Fort, he had never hated anyone as he hated this pointy-faced teenager.
Gu Shenwei was not the only target of the pointy-faced teenager's teasing. He always kept silent for a moment, and then suddenly blattered. He implicitly or explicitly talked about the miserable experience of becoming a slave, which provoked or scared the listeners into crying.
The pointy-faced teenager could speak several languages. The children in the cage came from different places, but he could talk to almost every one of them. He even made an abundance of various expressions and gestures to match his sensational rumors.
"Some masters even like to eat kids, especially kids at our ages. Every year, these slave traders will pick a group of children with the most tender meat and sell them to the rich who practice such a special hobby. He'll declare that you are disobedient, and that you talk back to your master and have plans of running away. Then he'll tie you uptight and wash your butt clean. He'll torture you while cutting your flesh to eat, slice by slice. He'll roast it or boil it. There're all kinds of ways to eat a slave. When the masters eat you, you'll be still alive, watching helplessly."
The pointy-faced teenager showed his two rows of white teeth, stuck out his tongue, and licked his teeth. "Wash your butts clean" was his favorite pet phrase.
He would not stop until a child at the age of eight or nine cried out. Then he would take a short breath out of satisfaction.
Soon after that, Gu Shenwei got accustomed to the pointy-faced teenager's causticity and chatter. He now felt like a terminal patient. Now that knowing the deadline would come soon, he had given up the will to survive. If he had any expectation at all, it was that death would soon come.
The trade caravan moved very slowly, day and night. The slaves were occasionally released to relieve themselves. Gu Shenwei was like a walking corpse without any resistance and did not even try to escape. He completely lost his confidence. Even the Will of the Divine had abandoned him, no longer giving him any hints.
The atmosphere of the trade caravan became more and more cheerful, as Jade City was right in front of them. There would be wealthy buyers, raptured brothels, and fine liquor. It was all waiting for them. Most crucially, they had entered the territory of Golden Roc Fort, which meant no more danger.
However, this sentiment was broken at noon on the third day. At that time, it would take the caravan only one more day to reach Jade City. The rest of the path was smoother with more green plants, and villages appeared. It did not look like a place where bandits would show up.
At that moment though, a gang of bandits appeared in front of the trade caravan. The people at the back could not see the actual situation, but the bad news was passed along one after another.
"There are some bandits in the way."
"How can there be bandits here?"
"Where's the killer from Golden Roc Fort? Isn't he leading the way for us?"
"Don't worry. We have so many people. There're only a few dozen bandits."
"Bighead Kingpin? It's Bighead Kingpin. Oh my god!"
Gu Shenwei was also somewhat impressed by Bighead Kingpin, who always appeared in horror stories. Those stories were so extraordinary that Gu Shenwei had always regarded him as a mythical figure and did not even expect to find out that he was real.
"It's over. Bighead Kingpin loves eating kids the most. No matter whether your butt is clean or not, he'll eat it anyhow."
The pointy-faced teenager turned pale and repeated it in four or five languages. His expression was not as frivolous as usual and his voice was trembling, which made his remark seem a bit more authentic.
All the children in the Western Region had heard the story of Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain. Once reminded, they all fell into a panic. Some timid children even curled themselves up in the haystack, shivering and not even daring to look up.
It was not Bighead Kingpin himself that spoke to the trade caravan at first. When the whole caravan was scared to death, a frightening voice came in.
"Don't be afraid. I'm a friend of the Supreme King. I don't do business in his territory. I'm not coming here to steal. I only want to buy something."
The merchants felt even more surprised that Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain wanted to "buy" something. No one dared to answer him, for fear that it was the bandits' slang. Once one stepped forward to fawn, what he got might be a fast knife.
After Bighead Kingpin's underlings threw two big packs of shining silver on the ground, the leader of the trade caravan ventured to ask,
"What would you like to buy, my lord? We have..."
"Slaves."
After hearing that, the merchants took three steps back all together. They all huddled together and wondered who had offended this big demon to the extent that he wanted to buy from them.
It was indeed unexpected that Bighead Kingpin would be an ordinary buyer. A skinny middle-aged woman came out of the bandit caravan and led a small team to check each slave cage. Then she let the team drag out the children that she liked.
The merchants felt relieved, but the slaves, who heard the news, were truly frightened. The pointy-faced teenager was stunned at first. Then he fumbled in the haystack, picked up two handfuls of ash and smeared it on his face.
His move reminded everyone. Even the despondent Gu Shenwei also joined the group to grab the ash, trying his best to make himself the ugliest and the most inconspicuous that he could be.
The skinny woman seemed to be capable of seeing through the children's guise at a glance. It did not matter how thick the ashes were on their faces. She simply glanced over the cage and chose two children.
Gu Shenwei made up his mind and jumped out of the cage by himself. The pointy-faced teenager was paralyzed in the corner, holding onto the hope that he could be safe, but a bandit eventually dragged him out.
The skinny woman finished her job quickly. In the end, she picked out 10 boys and 10 girls. All of them were around 10 years old. The two teenagers who had been chased by the Snowmountain swordsman, Long Feidu, were also chosen.
"Virgin boys' and virgin girls' flesh is the most tender. We are bound to have our butts washed and wait to be eaten."
The pointy-faced teenager only spoke in Central Plain Chinese this time. Then, he disappointedly followed Gu Shenwei, grasped his arm firmly and walked toward their new master.
Bighead Kingpin was at the forefront of the caravan the entire time. Gu Shenwei only heard his voice, but had never seen him. At this time, he boldly looked up and got a glimpse of him. Though he had already prepared himself emotionally, he was still scared. He wondered how there could be such a horrible person in the world.
Bighead Kingpin rode a dark horse. His upper body alone was almost as tall as a normal person. His name fitted him well, as his head was as big as a bucket, with loose fluffy hair that made his head look even bigger. He looked like a large ancient vessel carved with a Taotie (a mythical ferocious animal). With his giant eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, he resembled a statue just coming out of the temple.
His naked upper body had tight muscles, shining in the sun.
His black horse was also different. It was a circle bigger than an ordinary horse. With dense teeth and fierce eyes, it was like a fierce carnivorous beast.
Gu Shenwei somewhat believed the legend of Bighead Kingpin eating people. The pointy-faced teenager behind him staggered and almost fell on him.
Bighead Kingpin's caravan had many horses. More than a dozen horses were immediately led out. The new boys and girls were forced to mount the horses and ride by themselves or with others.
The pointy-faced teenager decided to stick with Gu Shenwei. He rode on the same horse as Gu Shenwei and wrapped around his waist from the back. No matter how hard Gu Shenwei struggled to get rid of him, the teenager would not let go.
The Iron Mountain bandits had bought enough people, so they turned the horses eastward and galloped away. There were nearly 10,000 taels of silver left on the road, enough to buy dozens of slaves. The merchants were still in shock. Though Bighead Kingpin had disappeared, no one dared to take the money.
