The Damned

Chatters and cheers of people was loud enough to be heard on the field, Lianming didn't pay any attention to them and continued plowing. He was tied down on the field with chains to his feet, and even if he wants to leave he can't because the length of the chains is only as long as how the field's length is. He won't be able to be freed from being chained until he finishes plowing the whole field.

Not far from the field stood a grandous house embellished with beautiful banners and flags of the LingweiPing Sect. crowds of people gathered round the pavillion on the house eating and drinking. People can see Lianming in a distance but they prefer to turn a blind eye on his condition and continue drinking wine and gossip about other famous sects.

Chatters continued until a group of men startet to cheer and clap their hands as the door of the house opened and four people came out. People bowed and afterwards resumed on doing what they were doing beforehand.

Finally arriving at the middle, he was the man who whipped Lianming earlier, he wore an emerald fancy robe designed with golden laces and feathered prints and people revered to him as he was the city of Lingwei's Sect leader, beside him was a woman with face full of makeup and hair designed carefully, her dress showed her bellflower figure and thin waist which made men look and women envy, not far from the two, their two children were both having fun throwing things and bullying other young children that wanted to befriend them.

The parents of the bullied children took those crying back and scolded them while those who tried to fight back were punished by their own father. The two boastful couple will then commend those parents that scold and teach their children thought punishment telling them that it is the only right thing to do.

Their two children were born with a golden spoon in their mouths and its natural for these children to boast about their wealth while look down on those that are poor and less fortunate than them.

Long ago, before the man had any children, they were taken into mercy by the Ling family after being disowned by the Ping family. He was treated as their own brother and although his status in the common folk was that of a slave, he was more like a member of their family.

However, after the massacre of the Ling family, he was freed from being a slave and was able to earn a fortune after telling the public and other sects that the Ling's only child was the culprit in which they all believed. He was able to restore his pride and the Ping family took him back, after a year he married and took the Ling's only child as his family slave.

Common folk believed that he also did it out of mercy and respect to what the Ling family did to him before and they commended his good deeds, however people never knew of the tortures Lianming went through and they only thought that he was doing it on his own in order to frame the Ping family and toss the guilt and blame to them.

There were other visiting people from other neighboring sects that once tried to pry on the issue of the Ling and Ping family, seemingly wanting to see the other side of the coin. But no one was able to uncover the truth behind the family's history and only the one sided story remained for years.

In effort to further silence Lianming in hopes that no one will ever try and dare to pry at the family history once more. The family paid a wandering cultivator to destroy his vocal chords without killing him, and he did so, Lianming was deemed mute the next day and everyone blamed Lianming for being mute himself. After the Ping family bore its first child they became more toxic to Lianming and it worsened as the second child was born.

Now, Lianming had lived as a servant for 12 years ever since he was 11 in the Ping family, working day and night in exchange for a bowlful of spoiled food, and secretly punished by the children and the father whenever they find their days boring, knocking him off, dragging his lifeless body around, cutting and slashing his skin only to mend it afterwards in order to repeat the process once more.

Because of the length of time Lianming grew more and more numb towards these tortures, it became normal for his every day life that his body will shred not just sweat but also skin and blood. No one believed Lianming and no one dared to do so.

In the eyes of everyone it the city of Lingwei he was no more than a culprit spared out of mercy, an insane murderer, a nobody, a worm, a disgusting freak. Even if he makes good deeds such as feeding the hungry beggars on the street, the townsfolk and the beggars themselves will retaliate with force and chase him out of the city back to his shack.

No matter how many times Lianming will write about the night of the massacre and how he was framed by Sect leader Ping, and how Ping was the one who killed his whole family in front of his eyes as he was tied down and forced to look at his beloved father loose his head and his beloved mother vomit blood as a sword pierced through her heart and his unborn baby brother that died with his mother, no one took his words seriously.

He eventually stopped on telling the truth and submitted to the tortures, he knew that there was no more hope for him, who would even believe the words of a child only 11 years old and was a naughty prick lying and running around the town scaring people about living corpses heading their way? no one will.