Teamwork?

Huan Wei stretched out his hand to climb the tree. It was not difficult for him to pull his own body weight up. He reached the branches of the tall tree in a flash.

The bandits were stacking crates of fruit at the base of the trees. The slaves were given a basket with a rope tied to the handle. This way they could pass the basket through one of the branches of the tree and lower the fruit down, like some kind of pulley system.

Huan Wei went up the tree while Ding Enlai stayed below. He had been beaten with iron clubs, so he was in no condition to climb. Huan Wei was not in a good condition either. Still, at least he could climb.

He approached one of the branches full of fruit and began to pluck them and put them in the basket. Ding Enlai was holding the end of the rope.

Soon the basket was full and the young man stepped aside. Ding Enlai lowered the basket down to empty it and Huan Wei looked at him.

When Huan Wei looked down, his legs trembled for a moment. He quickly approached the trunk of the tree and grabbed the branches with his hands. He was getting scared. The more he looked down, the more he remembered the cliff where Yuchi Meizhen had thrown him. He remembered that seemingly endless fall. His heartbeat quickened. Was he becoming afraid of heights?

He raised his head. He didn't want to look down. His eyes turned to Cao Jingguo. He too was busy picking fruit.

Huan Wei closed and opened his eyes several times. He felt tired from the medicine they had given him. He looked like he needed a serious break. Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance.

When Ding Enlai sent the basket up again, Huan Wei took timid steps on the branch. He forced himself not to look down.

It was as if he was seeing the moonlight as it sank to the bottom of the ocean. He remembered the fear he felt. It reminded him of the time when he had completely given up on living.

Using the branches as support, he filled the basket once more. After repeating this a few times, he climbed down to move to another tree. He was glad that his feet were on the ground.

They started walking towards another tree. Ding Enlai approached him. "This time they won't let anyone take what the others have picked. We'll have to wait for dinner," he said in a low voice.

"That's better. Then everyone will see."

After confirming the plan, they reached the tree. Huan Wei looked up at the branches above for a while. This did not go unnoticed by Ding Enlai.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Huan Wei turned towards him. "Nothing, it must be the potion. I feel a little numb."

He raised his hands and started climbing the tree. Even though no one could see him, he kept his eyes fixed upwards. He didn't look anywhere else.

And so they continued picking fruit until the evening. Filling the quota was not difficult for them.

Unfortunately, Lei Lok and Jiao Bai didn't collect enough. Lei Lok climbed the tree because Jiao Bai couldn't climb it. He too stepped on the wrong branch and slipped and fell. He didn't break anything, but they wouldn't escape the whipping.

With their screams filling the ears of all slaves, they were whipped and thrown into the cage without food. They were both unconscious.

Huan Wei took a spoonful of the slurry. He didn't know what it was made of, yet it was certainly not good.

He and Ding Enlai looked at each other. He had recovered a little bit. He was not afraid to pick a fight.

"I'll start," he said and stood up. He was heading towards Cao Jingguo, who was eating. Huan Wei followed him.

He was a little hesitant, thinking of the lashes he would receive. But there was no other way. He had to do it. It was the only way he could get the respect he needed.

Ding Enlai went over to Cao Jingguo and threw some dirt into his food with his foot. Seeing this, the bandits started laughing among themselves. They were pointing at the two of them.

Cao Jingguo smiled. "You're itching, Enlai. Wasn't the beating you took yesterday enough?"

"I want to give you a message, right in the middle of your mouth."

Cao Jingguo put down his earthen dish and stood up. One of the bandits shouted.

"Whip for breaking it up!"

Huan Wei was still sitting. Ding Enlai walked a little to the center. Cao Jingguo was following him.

"They think you are untouchable." Ding Enlai spoke. "But we are tired of your bullying. All of us."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"This."

Ding Enlai attacked. The slaves and bandits had already chosen sides. The slaves wanted Ding Enlai to win.

The fight started with a quick punch. But not fast enough. Ding Enlai's body, both aching and numb, was not agile enough.

Cao Jingguo easily blocked the blow and gave him a solid punch, knocking him to the ground. "Is this how you're going to stop me?"

He kicked Ding Enlai in the stomach. As he prepared to deliver another kick, Huan Wei stood up and ran at him as fast as he could.

One of the bandits saw this and tried to stop him, yet was blocked by one of his friends. "Wait, wait, I wonder what will happen."

Huan Wei ran and grabbed Cao Jingguo around the waist and lifted him up and slammed him to the ground. All slaves were stunned. Was this boy not afraid of punishment?

As Cao Jingguo tried to get up, Ding Enlai pulled him and knocked him down again. Then Huan Wei started kicking and Ding Enlai started punching.

Cao Jingguo tried to defend himself yet he couldn't block all the blows. He grabbed Huan Wei's foot to knock him down too. But with a punch to the mouth, his hands momentarily lost their strength. Huan Wei also freed his foot and kicked him in the head. All the bandits were watching them, including Ou Yu.

So the two of them beat Cao Jingguo until he was unconscious. The man was covered in blood. The bandits suddenly came over and grabbed Huan Wei as he was pushing Ding Enlai away.

Yun Ying was furious. "What do you think you're doing, you fools!?" she shouted. Huan Wei was again held by two men as Ding Enlai was led to his place as the winner of the fight. "If you are so impressed by the idiot Ding Enlai, you are just like him."

She took out her whip and waved it a few times. "Are you forming a group and attacking someone now?"

Huan Wei did not answer. His clothes were already torn. He still had the whip wounds from yesterday. When Yun Ying began to whip him mercilessly, he tried very hard not to scream. But the pain of new wounds on top of old ones was unbearable. Fortunately, Cao Jingguo was unable to hear his screams.

When the punishment was over, Huan Wei could no longer stand. Yun Ying went to him and grabbed him by the chin, lifting his head. "Do you think you're some kind of hero, bringing justice among the slaves?" she asked. The young man was unable to answer.

"I'll tell you the only thing you can bring. Your own end. This is your last warning." The woman turned and asked one of the slaves. "What was this one's name?"

"H-Huan Wei..."

She turned back to the young man. "Huan Wei. Next time I'll put you in Lan Xifeng's hands." She let go of the young man's head with a hard shove. Then she hung her whip around her waist and started to walk away. "You too, get up and go to bed. You will wake up at dawn!"

As the slaves went to their cages, they looked at Huan Wei. He too had been thrown into his cage.

Cao Jingguo was a tyrant. Huan Wei had stood up to him since he arrived. No one had ever protected them. They had been whipped and starved many times. The punishments were endless. But now someone was fighting for them. For some, that meant something.

Ding Enlai looked at Huan Wei. "Hey, can you hold on?"

Huan Wei just nodded. He couldn't even make a sound. His back was covered in blood. Even when he fell off the cliff, it didn't hurt like this.

"I can't give up..." he thought. "Not at this point. I can't spend my life here. I have to do it. It will work. It has to work..."

His eyes were closing slowly. Even though he tried to keep them open, he couldn't stop himself from fainting with the exhaustion of the medicine. At least he wouldn't feel the pain in his back for a while. If he could wake up at dawn...

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in darkness again. He immediately put his hands on his back. There was no wound. Even the clothes he was wearing were not torn.

"He's being tortured," the voices said. They were laughing at him.

Huan Wei clenched his fists. He was shaking with anger, yet he didn't answer. Everything he said here was meaningless. He was trapped in an endless nightmare. Every time he slept, it started all over again. The only solution was to wake up. So he tried to wake up.

"Running away is always the solution he chooses."

"He always runs from his mind."

"He can't fight it any other way."

"He's a coward."

"Pathetic."

"The Black Void will cure his pathetic soul."

"Come home, Huan Wei."

"You belong to us."

"You will be happy with us."

Huan Wei began to feel a tremor. Was the Black Void shaking?

Soon he opened his eyes. Ding Enlai was nudging him with his foot. "Huan Wei, wake up, Huan Wei."

The young man barely opened his eyes and looked at him. The first rays of dawn were falling on the cages.

"They will come now. Wake up."

Ding Enlai nudged the others awake. When Huan Wei tried to lean forward, his blood, dried on the bars of the cage, separated from the iron, stinging his wounds. A pained moan escaped the young man's mouth. He still didn't feel like standing up. But that was slavery. It didn't matter how he felt. He just had to work.

"Everything will be the way I want it," he thought. "I just have to keep going."