Bullying the Bully

It was the next morning. Some slaves were being whipped for not waking up at dawn. Their screams woke the others. Huan Wei had no problem waking up because he had not slept.

All the slaves were lined up side by side and the young man took his place. He stood with those in his cage. Yun Ying, the fat woman, was walking slowly in front of them, checking everyone. In her hand was a herb with blue blossoms.

As she lifted the herb and showed it to them, she spoke in a booming voice. "Today you will collect Full Moon Blossoms! Anyone who does not collect at least 30 herbs will receive a whipping instead of dinner! You know what we will do to those who try to escape."

She showed the herb to the slaves. Meanwhile, the bandits were splitting up around the area. Huan Wei took a quick glance at the herb and then looked at the bandits. They were covering possible escape routes.

There must have been almost 30 slaves here. In fact, there were as many as the bandits. Unfortunately, they didn't stand a chance against them.

While the slaves were looking for herbs, Yun Ying came up to Ding Enlai. She handed him a small bottle. "Drink this. Don't give us a headache later."

Ding Enlai could hardly contain himself. With a hand trembling with anger, he took the bottle and drank. "Swallow it," Yun Ying ordered. "Don't play games, Enlai."

When Ding Enlai swallowed the elixir, he closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them again, he looked sleepy.

"So this is how they keep him under control," Huan Wei thought. When Yun Ying looked at him, he and the woman locked eyes.

"And you," she said. "If you bother us, we will kill you. Just so you know. This bastard is only alive because Ou Yu wants him to suffer more. If you think we won't kill you too, you'll be sorry."

Huan Wei didn't answer. He went to collect herbs just like other slaves. There were bandits everywhere and they were watching everyone. The young man didn't want to stand out too much, but after yesterday's incident, everyone was watching him. They paid special attention to him. Whenever he approached a bandit, the bandit kept one hand on his weapon. Huan Wei was convinced that they really would not hesitate to kill him.

He began to look among the trees and bushes. He didn't know where this thing called the Full Moon Blossom grew. So he looked in random places.

Fortunately, this area was rich in Full Moon Blossoms. Soon he found a few. They seemed to grow at the base of trees and big rocks. So he started looking there.

Sometimes he plucked the herb, sometimes he pulled it up and pulled out the root. Lei Lok saw him doing this and warned him. "Leave the roots in place. We'll come back here on the next full moon."

Huan Wei realized that this group was following a cycle. "Why are we collecting this one in special? There are many other herbs around."

"We work according to orders from the merchants they deal with in Broken Mountain Town. Every full moon we come here and pick the same herb. They send one of them to the town and sell them."

Huan Wei realized that this business was much more organized than it looked. Deals within the town, managing so many slaves, an armed group...

And given that they were hanging out in the middle sections of the Northern Bright Forest, it was hard for them to do so much on their own. Otherwise the town leader would undoubtedly have sent a team to this forest because of the missing persons reports.

He picked a few more plants. Meanwhile, he checked his arm. The veins seemed to have receded a few more millimeters. At the rate he was going, it could be weeks before he was fully recovered.

As Huan Wei continued to put the herbs in the bag they had given him, he saw one of Cao Jingguo's friends. He had approached a frail slave and was forcibly taking what he had gathered.

Lei Lok saw them too. "Poor guy," he said. "Looks like he's going to get the whip tonight."

"No, he won't."

Huan Wei took his bag and went over there. Lei Lok said after him, "Wait, what are you doing?" but he ignored him.

Seeing him coming, the man also became agitated. He had seen what this man had done to Cao Jingguo last night. He was one of the three people among the slaves that no one should mess with.

"Are you taking his herbs?" Huan Wei asked when he arrived.

The other man looked back. Cao Jingguo was there too. His face was still injured in many places. He hadn't been given any first aid, so he couldn't take care of it.

"Yes," the man who saw Cao Jingguo answered, encouraged by him. "Do you have something to say?"

"No, I have something to do." Huan Wei advanced on him.

The bullied man backed away. He did not know what to say.

Huan Wei grabbed the talking man by the shoulder, pulled him to himself and looked him straight in the eye. The man swallowed involuntarily.

"Now give back what you took from him. Give it back so that I don't make you the same as Cao Jingguo."

The man turned his head once more to look at Cao Jingguo. Huan Wei grabbed him by the chin and turned him toward himself. "Didn't you hear what I said?"

"O-Okay."

He gave the herbs back to the man. Then he intended to leave with quick steps. But Huan Wei did not let him go. "I need what you gathered too."

"But I don't have enough time to gather again."

"I didn't ask you how much time you have, give me what you've gathered."

The man reluctantly lifted his bag and handed it to Huan Wei. He took all the herbs in the bag. Then he pushed the man away.

The bullied man looked at him in amazement. So Huan Wei turned to him and asked. "How many herbs did you gather?"

The man bowed his head and replied, " Twenty." "Please don't take these from me. They already take everything from me almost every day. I am whipped every evening."

Huan Wei said, "Don't worry," and gave him 10 more plants from his bag. "These are yours too."

"What?" The man was stunned as he looked at the herbs. He was also looking at Huan Wei's face. He couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Here, come on. I'm giving it to you."

When he couldn't react, Huan Wei put the herbs in his bag himself. "And if anyone bullies you again, tell me." And he left. The slave was speechless. He could not say anything.

Huan Wei had smiled at him. But when he turned around, he lowered his head and grinned. "Perfect," he said to himself. "No mistakes, a perfect move."

When he went to Lei Lok's side, Ding Enlai and Jiao Bai were also there. They were watching what he was doing. Ding Enlai shook his head from side to side. "I would not it."

"Bullying a bully is not bullying, Ding Enlai." Huan Wei continued to pick herbs to fulfill his own quota. "There are many things I can change here. I can understand why you won't do it, you are under the influence of medicine all the time, so you can't use your power. But there are things I can affect. And I won't hesitate to do them. No one can take anyone's labor."

"Wow," Lei Lok smiled. "Well spoken. I guess you are that man's hero now."

Huan Wei didn't look at the man he had saved. He even warned Lei Lok. "Don't stare and embarrass him. I didn't do it to make anyone feel grateful."

"I'm sorry." Lei Lok returned to gathering herbs. "I don't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable." Then he turned to Jiao Bai. "How many did you pick?"

Jiao Bai looked sheepishly at his bag. "Not many."

"Okay, I'm almost done. I'll help collect them for you later."

Jiao Bai bowed his head. "Thank you. Sorry to be a burden."

"Don't do that every time. If we don't look out for each other, no one will look out for us."

Sometimes Huan Wei didn't understand this group. Were they helping each other out of genuine feelings, or were they just staying together so the group wouldn't fall apart?

Lei Lok's good intentions annoyed Huan Wei. So did Jiao Bai's shame. Only Ding Enlai had a stance against this world. The others were resigned to everything. It reminded him a little of old times. Maybe that was why it was making his blood boil? When he looked at them, did he see a time when he could do nothing?

They kept collecting until evening. Finally, they had filled their quota. The man from whom Huan Wei had taken all the his herbs was punished with three lashes for each remaining herb. Several others were whipped with him.

Huan Wei reluctantly ate the slurry that night. He tried hard not to vomit. But he had to put something in his stomach. On the bright side, thanks to the Oakbody, he wouldn't have to eat this shit for a few more days.

As they were eating, someone came towards them. Huan Wei saw that it was the man he had saved during the day. The man came with a bowl of food and handed it to Huan Wei.

"I was too surprised during the day to thank you, so please accept it."

Huan Wei didn't even want to see this shit. He gently pushed it back with his hand. "Eat your food. I didn't do it expecting thanks."

The others were watching them. Everyone knew what Huan Wei had done. For the first time in a long time, one of Cao Jingguo's team had been whipped. It was impossible for this not to spread among the slaves.

"You saved me from being whipped. May the gods protect you. Thank you."

Huan Wei thought to himself, "The gods can't protect any shit." But he said to the man in front of him, "Thank you. If you're ever in a same situation again, you know who to come to."

"I know." The man bowed his head and left, taking his food with him. Huan Wei was unconsciously smiling as he looked at him.

"Ooo, he's happy." Lei Lok pointed at Huan Wei to the others. "By the power of goodness."

Huan Wei laughed and said, "Shut up." They laughed a little together. For some reason, every sentence that came out of Lei Lok's mouth began to irritate the young man. He felt like he couldn't stand goodwill. All this time he had never had a friend. He didn't want to have any after this time.

The only thing that mattered was that the plan was progressing.