“Are you sure you want to do this line of work?” asked Big Mouth, a fat and muscular man; that’s the best way to describe his appearance. His arms were muscular and well-defined, his legs thicker than a tree, but his belly might mistake him for a pregnant woman. Of course, there was his oddly shaped big mouth.
“Yes, sir,” replied a slightly thin young man dressed in coarse clothes. However, despite his social status, indicated by his clothes and seeking employment, he had an odd charm around him that caught people’s attention. However, they could never pinpoint or describe what his appeal was.
“It takes guts to do this job. Can you handle it?”
“No problem, Sir.”
“Hmm,” grunted Big mouth. “You’re a little too skinny.”
“Don’t look at my appearance. But I have divine strength.” The young man looked around and easily picked up a large saber weighing a few hundred Jins with one hand.
Big mouth’s eyes lit up. He initially accepted this lad Yan Wei because one of his acquaintances called for a favor and because not many people were willing to do this dirty job. However, he became convinced after meeting the latter and seeing his respectful nature and strength.
“Good. Come tomorrow at dawn. I’ll begin your training.”
Yan Wei immediately bowed and profusely thanked him for this opportunity. He rushed home with excitement. The next day, he arrived an hour before dawn, when night still loomed over the world.
Big Mouth also arrived an hour early, and he was surprised when he saw the young lad waiting for him before the prison.
“The cocks haven’t even crow yet. Why are you here?”
“I didn’t want to be late.”
“I like spunky people like you. I hope you can last long.” So far, he was satisfied with the new employee. Discipline is one of the key traits to succeed in anything.
Big Mouth took the keys hanging on his side and opened the door, leading Yan Wei through the corridor. The young lad looked at the cells and people imprisoned. The majority looked miserable and dressed poorly. But a few looked like nobles, so he guessed they were either corrupt ministers or people who offended even more powerful individuals.
Big mouth did not say much as he walked to three different cells and walked out with a prisoner. Then, he led them to another section of the prison.
“Normally, I don’t have this kind of authority. But since I need to train you, I can do this.”
Big mouth led the prisoners to a platform and placed the first one in a device where his neck is shown and his hands tied behind his back. He took a blade and raised it above his head.
“The key is to have no hesitation, aim for the neck, and use all your strength, or the head won’t fall.”
Chop!
Yan Wei watched with horror as blood spilled on the ground. Although he already knew what job he was applying for, it was completely different to experience it personally. Suddenly, he felt his breakfast rushing to his throat, and he swallowed it back.
“So, you didn’t throw up? Better than the previous guy,” commented Big Moth after seeing the young lad’s pale complexion. “Let’s see how you do when it’s your turn.”
He changed to another prisoner and handed Yan Wei the blade. He took the blade with trembling hands.
“Breathe in and out,” instructed Big mouth. “The first time is usually the hardest.”
Yan Wei followed his direction and breathed in and out. He effortlessly raised the blade above his head. But as he glanced at the prisoner’s neck, he could not find the strength to drop it.
Big Mouth did not give him any motivational words like this person was the most heinous criminal. He waited to see the young lad’s capabilities.
Yan Wei hesitated for more than a minute. Then, he gritted his teeth and dropped the blade, cutting the head off cleanly. As he watched the result of his actions, he rushed to the side of the platform and hurled everything inside his stomach. He did not stop after an entire minute of vomiting.
“Well, at least it was not messy,” said Big mouth as he patted the latter’s shoulder. “How can it get messy?”
“The last guy did not use enough strength. The head was not cleanly cut off, showing the inside. Plus, the prisoner was screaming and had to chop more than three times before things ended.”
Yan Wei felt like throwing up again.
“Don’t be such a wuss. Anyway, this is the easiest part of the job.”
“How can it get worse?”
“You’ll see.”
Yan Wei did not wait long to know what his superior said. A week later, after participating in a few public executions, he began to become acquainted with this job. He still felt squeezy at the fact he had killed people, but he had begun to become numb to the sensation.
Then, everything worsens after that execution. Big Mouth had to travel to another city, and he was the only one left. And a big case occurred. Some ministers committed treason or something, and the governor ordered the execution of his entire family.
Chop! Chop! Chop!
At first, everything proceeded smoothly. The only issue Yan Wei had was how he had to kill so many people consecutively, which was a first for him–especially without Big Mouth supports. However, the subsequent executions hunted him.
“Please spare us. Our family is innocent,” screamed a woman, one of the many concubines of the treacherous minister. Yan Wei had to wear a mask that only showed his eyes, and they trembled after hearing this.
He gritted his teeth and prepared the woman.
“I’m begging you, please don’t do this. Our family did nothing wrong; we were wrongly accused.” The woman screamed and argued with him during the process. Yan Wei raised his blade, but when he saw the pleading look in her eyes, his body once again quivered.
He questioned himself, but as the supervisor of the execution asked him if there was a problem, he only shook his head before dropping the blade. It took every ounce of the strength of Yan Wei’s body to prevent himself from violently reacting. However, his heart palpitations did not stop no matter what he did.
Amidst people’s screams calling for their innocence, he mindlessly chopped people’s heads. However, he was in a daze after killing that woman. His body moved, but his mind was elsewhere; it was like he watched himself from a three-dimensional point of view, observing the actions of a stranger.
However, something brought his spirit back to reality. The last people to execute were children. The youngest was only 8 years old.
When Yan Wei dropped that blade, something in him broke. He could not forget that child’s eyes, full of fear, ignorance, and innocence. In her eyes, he saw a future that could have been: she could have become a great scholar, mother, healer, artisan, poet, and so many possibilities.
But his blade ended these futures.
In the prison, Yan Wei drank nonstop while sitting beside his execution blade. He did not know how long he drank until he heard footsteps.
“How are you doing?” asked Big Mouth, but he received no response. The veteran executor knew how to deal with this situation, so he left before returning with some food. He sat next to the youngling and drank with him.
“People should not be able to kill each other,” Yan Wei suddenly said.
“What do you mean?”
“No one should have the power to end someone else’s fate. Such power should not be in the hands of mortals. No, even immortals should not have such power.”
“A world where people cannot be killed? That would be interesting. Unfortunately, this is not possible. And even if it was, I’m sure there would be some other trouble,” commented Big mouth.
“Like what?”
“Do you think there wouldn’t be any problem if everyone were immortal? Society would collapse in a very short time.”
pa(nd)a no vel “I don’t mean for everybody to be immortal. I mean that people should not be able to kill others. But dying of natural death, aging, or sickness is fine.”
“What about criminals?”
“They can be imprisoned and rot in jail for eternity.”
“I still feel it is a naive idea.”
“If such a world like this existed, these innocent people would not have died.”
“You don’t know if they were really innocent or just lying to save themselves,” argued Big mouth.
“In what world will an 8-year-old child not be innocent?”
“It’s a shame what happened, but the son has to bear the crime of the father.”
“What a stupid thing to say,” replied Yan Wei before spitting on the ground, disdain all over his face. Big mouth sighed and ignored his disrespect, knowing what the young lad was going through.
He experienced the cruelty of this job. But after so many years, he was now used to it. He patted Yan Wei on the shoulder: “Don’t drink on an empty stomach. Go to bed, and tomorrow, decide whether you want to continue this line of work.