Forest Laws

The bandit group reached the next campsite. During this time Huan Wei listened to the stories of the people he was in the same cage with.

Lei Lok had come here with a group from the north of the forest, from Broken Mountain Town. Their purpose was to gather some herbs. They chose the Bright Forest because they were not very strong.

Jiao Bai was on a caravan traveling through Broken Mountain Town. They had been attacked as they passed through the forest. He had been gathering herbs here for several months.

Ding Enlai was the most aggressive of them all. Two years ago he had come here for the Ouyang Luli Altar. But before he could get there, he had been attacked and had fought bravely and taken down several people. He was the only one of them who had chosen the path. Instead of killing him, the bandits took him prisoner and started giving him poison regularly. Because of this, Ding Enlai could not use the techniques he knew well enough to defeat them. His body was always a little numb.

Huan Wei didn't talk much about himself. It didn't take long for them to realize that he was from Bitter Sea Town. After all, if someone had the word Huan before their name, they probably came from there.

A few of the bandits started unlocking the cages. Bandits with whips were waiting beside them. One by one, the chains holding the slaves to the cages were unlocked and they were led out.

The door of the cage with Huan Wei was also opened. The woman who came in saw that he was awake and came to him. She had a battle scar on her face. It looked like a claw scar. And she was quite fat.

"You're not dead, good," she said as she looked at him. Then she looked at the young man's arm. "Your arm looks better too. You can work then."

Huan Wei remained silent. He did not know the power of the group. They might have been at the fourth or fifth step in the Path Realm. Since he didn't know the technique, he didn't stand a chance without Huan Chao. Huan Chao...

He shook his head from side to side. It had come to him again. Whatever had happened to him all this time was because of Huan Chao. He didn't want to think about him anymore.

He came out of the cage with the others. All the slaves assembled in the same place. Everyone was standing side by side with the people they were in the same cage with. There seemed to be some kind of grouping. Huan Wei also stood close to the men in his cage.

At that moment the woman who had taken him out came up to him. She pressed her finger hard on his chest. "The others must have told you what happened. Watch your step, or I will whip you until you cry like a little child."

Huan Wei looked at her silently with a slight frown. The look made her uncomfortable. She raised her hand and slapped him hard. Huan Wei thought it wouldn't hurt that much. But he was wrong.

The moment he was slapped, he was on the ground. One side of his face hurt. "Great..." he thought. "She's done Body Tempering too."

Lei Lok helped Huan Wei to his feet. Then he turned to her. "We apologize, Yun Ying. The boy is new here. He doesn't know what to do."

Yun Ying grabbed Lei Lok by the collar and threw him to the ground. "It's Master Ying," she said angrily.

"Sorry, Master Ying."

Yun Ying was not satisfied with that. She grabbed the whip at her waist. Ding Enlai stepped in front of Lei Lok and Huan Wei.

Yun Ying was preparing to punish them when a voice came from behind.

"Yun Ying! What are you still doing!?"

Hearing this voice, the woman placed the whip back on her waist. "I'm coming, Ou Yu. I was just putting the slaves in their place."

As Yun Ying walked away, she turned her head and looked at Ding Enlai. "I'll see you later," she said and walked away.

Lei Lok said, "Are you okay, Huan Wei?"

He replied, "I'm fine." It was not the first time he had experienced his face hurting. He had experienced worse.

"Yun Ying bitch..." Huan Wei looked at Ou Yu as Ding Enlai muttered and took his seat again.

This was the red-haired woman who was the leader of the group. As the slaves gathered in one place, the bandits who had come with them on her orders began to feed them. Huan Wei had never seen food as bad as this. Just looking at it made him sick to his stomach. It looked like some kind of slurry.

The bandits feasted on the meat, which they placed on the fire. Ou Yu, who was sitting in the front corner, took the biggest piece. The woman looked a little big. Not fat, but muscular. She also looked tall. Probably the sledgehammer she put next to her was her weapon.

Yun Ying was with her. He looked closer than the other bandits. There was another woman with them. Huan Wei saw her for the first time. She had a slim body and a pretty face. Yet being close to the leader, she was strong. The other bandits were eating away from them.

The bandits guarded the slaves, preventing them from escaping. Huan Wei looked at the slurry they were given. It smelled rather foul.

"Don't worry about it," said Lei Lok. "You get used to it after a while. It doesn't seem so bad."

Huan Wei suddenly turned to Ding Enlai. "Why did you protect us? She almost whipped you."

Ding Enlai spoke as if it was normal. "I am older than you. It is my responsibility to protect you. Don't get upset. I've done Body Tempering at the Oakbody tier, so I'm better able to take a beating."

Ding Enlai had already finished eating. Jiao Bai was also eating reluctantly. Huan Wei dipped the dirty spoon into the slurry and brought it to his mouth. He felt like he was eating dirt. Even worse, it tasted like when he swallowed the tar-covered pill. The other slaves didn't seem to have a problem with the taste. They were all sitting on the floor eating.

His face turned sour. He didn't want to eat this stuff. This was the Bright Forest. Why were they eating this instead of fruit?

"I won't eat this," he said as he put the bowl down. He was very hungry, but he couldn't stomach eating this.

"You will work hard tomorrow," said Jiao Bai. "It doesn't taste good, yet at least it will satisfy your hunger."

"No need. This is the Bright Forest. There should be fruit trees everywhere. Tomorrow we'll pick some fruit."

Ding Enlai shook his head from side to side. "You are talking about the Southern Bright Forest. We are now in the middle section of the Northern Bright Forest. There are very few trees here to pick fruit. If you do, they will take it away from you. They won't let you eat it."

"Northern Bright Forest?" Huan Wei was surprised. "How many days have I been unconscious?"

"About a week."

Huan Wei was stunned. He involuntarily looked at his left hand. The Corrupt Seal was not there. Just using it once had put him in a state where he was unconscious for a week? No wonder he was hungry like a wolf.

Huan Wei realized that there were no women in the slave groups. They were all men. He wondered why this was so. But a scene he saw at that moment instantly put his curiosity to rest.

A female slave was being dragged into the woods by one of the bandits. The man was happy. The middle-aged woman cried and screamed, yet no one interrupted their fun to look at her. Maybe that's why there were no women among the other slaves?

At that moment a man from one of the other groups of slaves stood up and started to come towards them. When Lei Lok saw this, he said, "Shit, Cao Jingguo is coming here."

"Okay, no problem." Ding Enlai stood up. When Cao Jingguo was close to him, he stopped.

"Calm down, Enlai," he said, grinning at him. "The man didn't like the food. We don't want it to go to waste. Let him give me his food and that will be the end of it."

Huan Wei looked at the bowl of slurry he had set beside him. Then he looked at the man called Cao Jingguo. He had no intention of giving it to him, even if he didn't eat it himself.

"Back off, Jingguo." Ding Enlai gave him a push. Cao Jingguo took a few steps back, stopped and grinned again.

"Are their older brothers protecting them again? If you were smart, you would have joined us, Enlai."

"If you keep talking any longer, I'll break your nose."

"I want the food. Everyone knows their place. We're stronger than him. If he doesn't want to ruin every day here, he'll pay."

Huan Wei clenched his fists. He glanced at the bandits watching them. No one seemed to be breaking up the fight. In fact, they were enjoying it. That must be how things worked here.

He calmly picked up the bowl and spat into the slurry. Then he handed it to Cao Jingguo from his seat. "Here, eat."

Everyone saw what he did. The bandits were getting more and more enthusiastic. They laughed in amazement. Cao Jingguo's smile faded. Ding Enlai was laughing this time. "Are you going to eat, Jingguo?"

Cao Jingguo looked at the other slaves with his eyes without turning his head. The gesture shook his heaviness. It didn't take him long to realize that if he didn't answer clearly, everyone would try.

"Eat your food, child," he said, looking at Huan Wei. "I will take your courage out of your body before you take that food out of your body. You did something you should never have done. You will pay the cost. There is no rest for you here."

Cao Jingguo turned around and started to walk away. Huan Wei stood up. After all these years of being bullied in Bitter Sea Town, to be bullied here? He didn't accept that.

Cao Jingguo was moving forward when he was stopped by something hitting the back of his head. He ran a hand through his hair and saw the slurry covering his entire head. When he turned around in anger, all the slaves were watching them.

Huan Wei was on his feet. Lei Lok tried to stop him, but he stepped forward. Even more than Ding Enlai.

"Are you someone who can bully me? Will you be comfortable in a world where I am not?"

One of the bandits shouted. "We will whip anyone who tries to break up the fight!"

The other slaves retreated. Cao Jingguo started walking towards Huan Wei. Ding Enlai was about to step in front of the young man when Huan Wei stopped him and walked himself.

He had had enough of being bullied so far. Even if he didn't win, he would show this man that he was no pushover.

"Let's see whose courage leaves him."