Twelve years later.
Tabukal Area.
Tabukal is the territory of Ziye Country, and Ziye Country is not a great power, but a small country south of Gu River. The Tabukal area is a well-known slave concentration area in Ziye Country.
That's right, slaves.
In the vast Eight Ancient Continent, slaves are the lowest level of human status. Slaves, like pure commodities, can be traded and their life and death can be determined by their masters at will. If you have to compare, most slaves are not even as good as livestock.
The Tabukal area used to be the poorest place in the surrounding area. After the founding of Ziye Country, it naturally became the largest slave supply area of Ziye Country. People here become slaves from birth. This is a matter of fate, because if they don't become slaves, they will starve to death. Two hundred years ago, the king of Ziye Country decided that all the people in the Tabukal area would become slaves.
Tabukal, a typical slave den.
The so-called houses here are all propped up by broken branches, wooden sticks, and rags. Not to mention sheltering from wind and rain, even a slightly stronger wind will blow these houses down.
One by one, dilapidated houses gathered together to form the slave den in front of them. Although the slave den is small, it is home to more than a thousand people.
The scorching sun was overhead, making people have to turn black. Just when everyone was trying their best to shrink in the shade, a figure suddenly ran past on the path in the slave den!
This is a boy of about twelve years old, with a delicate appearance, but a hint of sharpness and cunning between his eyebrows. He is wearing loose coarse cloth clothes that do not match his figure at all, and a pair of large underpants woven together from I don't know how many pieces of cloth. The boy runs very fast, and five or six children a few years older than him are following behind him, but they can't catch up with him at all.
And in front of this child, he is wearing something that should not appear in the slave den at all — a necklace!
This necklace looks very shiny, especially the unique pendant, which is actually a ring. This ring is full of strange and irregular patterns. Just staring at it for a while will make you feel dizzy, or even faint and lose consciousness.
The boy's skin is also different from other people in the slave den. Although it is a little dark, it is not as dark as other people, but a wheat color full of health and life. Not only that, under the perennial wind and sun, the skin of other children is very dry, but his skin is very smooth, as if it has never been affected by the environment.
The boy ran wildly all the way, disturbing many people's rest, but everyone knew this guy and laughed and scolded him unceremoniously. It wasn't until the boy ran for a while that he was suddenly grabbed by a thick arm!
"Xiao Liu, what trouble have you caused again?" A tall and strong man reprimanded the boy in a deep voice, "Go, apologize to me!"
The boy, known as Xiao Liu, was stunned when he looked at the middle-aged man, and then showed a flattering smile, and said, "Dad, I didn't cause any trouble this time. They fell by themselves, and it has nothing to do with me!"
Hearing the boy's words, the middle-aged man frowned even tighter, grabbed Xiao Liu's wrist and strode back. Seeing this, the boy sighed helplessly, and without resisting, he obediently followed behind.
Soon, several middle-aged men walked towards them, followed by several children with bruised noses and swollen faces. It seemed that the nosebleeds had not been wiped dry. Several middle-aged men walked up angrily and said loudly, "Lao Lin, look at what good things your child has done?!"
Hearing this, Lin Gang glanced at the children. They were indeed beaten very badly. He couldn't help frowning and turned to look at Xiao Liu beside him, and said, "Why don't you apologize to others?"
After hearing this, Xiao Liu curled his lips, then walked up to the middle-aged men, bowed, and said loudly, "I'm sorry! I will never do this again!"
"I'm tired of hearing these words!" The middle-aged man said angrily, "How many times has it been? This kid can't change at all! Look at the children nearby, how many haven't been beaten by him? Anyway, he's old enough this year, so let him be bought away as soon as possible!"
Hearing the last sentence, Lin Gang frowned and took a step forward, shouting angrily, "Lao Zhou, what are you talking about?"
Lao Zhou was startled when he saw Lin Gang getting angry. After all, Lin Gang was also the strongest man here. Just as he was about to say something, a piercing horn sound suddenly rang out outside!
The people in the entire slave den were stunned when they heard it, and they all hurriedly got up from the ground. Those who could put on clothes quickly put them on, and those who had already put on clothes ran out quickly!
Lin Gang and Xiao Liu were the same. The two of them also followed the crowd and ran outside. Soon all the slaves ran out of the slave den, and a thousand people were scattered into several rows, exposed to the scorching sun.
Standing in front of all the slaves were a group of people riding horses and sitting in sedan chairs. Everyone riding a horse had a saber, looking majestic, while the people sitting in the sedan chairs were all dressed in luxurious clothes, lying comfortably in the cool sedan chairs, with maids fanning them beside them. Compared with the slaves on the side whose lips were dry and cracked and whose clothes were ragged in the scorching sun, it was dazzling.
The people in front of them were all wealthy families in Tianmu City. Whenever they needed slaves at home, they would make an appointment to come here to select slaves. You must know that slaves are easily consumed. After all, slaves who don't do their jobs well can be executed directly.
Lin Gang and Xiao Liu, as well as his wife Yang Ru, stood closely together, looking at the people in front of them who were likely to become their future 'masters'. People here are eager to be selected, because they are likely to starve to death here.
"Everyone, please choose for yourselves!" A man riding a horse and holding a long whip turned to the crowd and said after seeing all the slaves come out.
Those wealthy families didn't speak, but directly let the slaves carrying the sedan chairs enter the slave crowd. These people would all hold a long ruler in their hands, and whenever they encountered a slave they were interested in, they would use the ruler to lift the slave's face or lift the slave's clothes.
No one dared to resist these people's inspection, because resistance would be killed immediately.
Finally, a luxurious sedan chair stopped in front of Lin Gang's family. Through the veil, you could see a man lying inside who looked like a fat pig, with a face full of fat that looked extremely repulsive.
I saw the man's small eyes rolling around, looking at Lin Gang, he seemed very satisfied with Lin Gang's strong physique, then turned to look at the woman and the young man beside Lin Gang. When he saw this woman, his eyes lit up!
A person's appearance has nothing to do with their status. Although Yang Ru was born in a slave area, she does have some beauty. The fat man suddenly became interested and kept fiddling with Yang Ru's face with a ruler. Lin Gang frowned beside him, his body tense. He also felt his wife's hand holding his trembling.
However, this kind of thing is common in the slave area, and female beauty is one of the reasons why many people come here to select slaves. Many people's wives have been selected, but now that it's Lin Gang's turn, he feels extremely uncomfortable.
Just as the fat man was about to lift the woman's clothes with a ruler to inspect the goods, the ruler that had touched the edge of the clothes was suddenly grabbed by a strong hand!
The fat man was stunned and looked at Lin Gang beside him. He saw Lin Gang glaring at him, which startled the fat man!
"What are you doing?" The fat man asked in a panic, stuttering.
"This master." Lin Gang frowned and said in a hoarse voice, "She is weak and can't do any hard work. I have the strongest physique here, much more useful than her!"
When the fat man heard the person in front of him call him 'master', he suddenly realized that the other party was a slave. Thinking that he was afraid just now, he couldn't help but become angry and shouted in a duck-like voice, "You slave, how dare you resist? Come on, kill him for me!"
Without the fat man having to speak, the guard on the side immediately dismounted after seeing this, drew his knife and rushed towards Lin Gang!
Yang Ru's face turned pale with fright when she saw this, and she couldn't help hiding behind the man, but Xiao Liu didn't. Like Lin Gang, he frowned and looked at the guard!
I saw the guard came to Lin Gang with a look of disdain, raised his knife and slashed horizontally at Lin Gang's neck — he had killed many slaves, this was the easiest way.
However, when Lin Gang saw the knife coming, he subconsciously dodged back, and actually dodged it!
The guard was stunned, and then became angry and slashed at Lin Gang again!
At this time, Lin Gang had nowhere to hide. Just at the moment of life and death, he didn't know where he got the courage, and a hint of ruthlessness suddenly appeared in his eyes. He gritted his teeth, and his strong body suddenly lunged forward, actually hugging the guard's waist and knocking him down!
Then, Lin Gang snatched the knife from the guard's hand and stabbed the struggling guard under him in the chest!
The surrounding people were stunned and screamed when they saw the blood spreading on the ground!
"Murder! !"