Ungrateful

On Ou Yu's orders, the bandit group had packed up camp and relocated. They didn't stop all night long. They even continued during the day. With fewer bandits, it was a little more difficult to control all the mounts. Still, they could not risk staying in the same place and being attacked by a stronger group.

Huan Wei waited with a restless excitement. He wanted to meditate as soon as possible. But he was afraid that the bandits would disturb him and frustrate his efforts. So he waited for a favorable moment. If he failed once, he would lose some of his Qi. It would be a very long process for him to regain it.

His reputation among the slaves had been severely damaged. To recover it, he had to persuade them.

He felt the cold of the irons on his back. The first time he was whipped they tore his clothes. He had lived in torn clothes ever since. His back and chest were covered with scars.

A little further on the bandit group stopped. They had come to the new campsite. There was no more feasting. A few of the bandits took care of the tents while a few others stood over the slaves. Bowls and food were handed out.

This time they did not crowd around Huan Wei. Only Lei Lok, Jiao Bai and Cao Jingguo sat next to him.

"Even if the man loses the battle, it shouldn't have been because of you," said one of the slaves.

"I had no choice." Huan Wei spoke. "Would you have wanted them to kill me?"

"It wouldn't have been necessary if you had stayed with us." Someone else spoke.

One of the bandits, who had been listening, came up to the slave who had spoken and kicked him in the mouth. The slave fell backwards, dropping the bowl in his hand. All his food spilled out onto the ground.

"I'll cut out your tongue, you'll never speak again." he said angrily. "What difference would it make if this fool did nothing? Do you think it's that easy to take our slaves? We will kill you all if we have to. None of you will leave this place. Now all of you shut up and eat your food."

They helped the man up from the ground, his mouth bleeding. The bandits looked at them very angry. The death of most of the group had made everyone tense.

They ate their food and went back to their cages. Huan Wei leaned against the bars and turned to Ai Tung. "Why didn't you sit next to me while we ate?"

"You were hope for all of us, Huan Wei." Ai Tung spoke. He wasn't looking at Huan Wei's face. "Then you played a role in the destruction of the greatest hope. What did you expect? Do you think we are a flock of sheep who will follow you no matter what you do?"

"No," Huan Wei shook his head from side to side. "But all this time I've been thinking of you instead of myself. For once, I wish you would think of me instead of thinking of yourself. If I had just waited there, they would have thought I was running away and killed me. I had to do something, yet you don't want to see it."

Lei Lok intervened. "It is sad that you think Huan Wei would do such a thing without just cause. He also saved you from Cao Jingguo. You are ungrateful."

"Ungrateful?" Ai Tung's voice rose a little. "If we had all fled together, even if they killed a few of us, the rest would have escaped. Now those who died died in vain. Because Huan Wei scared us too and stopped us from escaping. Then he went and watched the battle as if mocking us."

Huan Wei's brows furrowed. "All right, if that's what you think," he said. "I thought we were in this slavery together, but I see you have chosen to leave me alone. So from now on I will only help my own friends, Lei Lok and Jiao Bai. If the rest of you are angry with me, they don't need any help from me."

"See?" Ai Tung said, looking at him. "You know that without your help, no one can fulfill their quota. You're the hardest worker. Are you going to start bullying after Cao Jingguo?"

"No, no," Huan Wei laughed. "I was helping you because I felt like it. But I see you've come to think of me as your servant, Ai Tung. I don't have to help those who leave me alone. If you want to be selfish assholes, that's your choice. If I had known you were so ungrateful, I would never have helped you."

"Guys, please." Lei Lok tried to calm them down. "Don't fight with each other. What's done is done. Even if we had run away, we would have died before we could get out of the Bright Forest. Huan Wei did the right thing." Jiao Bai was also listening to them anxiously.

"Don't waste your breath, Lei Lok.'" Huan Wei silenced him. "From now on, even if others understand me, Ai Tung will not be helped. I will give no help to anyone who helps him."

"You know, Huan Wei," Ai Tung spoke. "You are beginning to think of yourself as our king. I'm beginning to believe that we can get through this by helping each other. I'll tell the others what you said."

"Ai Tung," Huan Wei bowed his head. "Finish your words before my patience runs out."

He was angry. It was so frustrating that people could be so ungrateful. However, Huan Wei had really thought it through at the time. It was impossible for this group to leave the forest. Maybe he hadn't thought about their well-being, yet it was a fact that the Bright Forest would devour them.

And this man was standing in front of him, blaming Huan Wei. A piece of shit who could accomplish nothing on his own, insulting him with his words. "Misery is what you deserve."

Ai Tung didn't answer. They just stood in silence. Lei Lok was upset. He wanted to say something, but he was afraid of angering Huan Wei even more. Jiao Bai was already afraid to even participate in this conversation.

After a while, everyone went to sleep. Huan Wei was going to pretend to sleep too. He couldn't sleep tonight even if he wanted to. He had to meditate and enter the Wanderer stage. He believed he had enough energy. There wouldn't be a large amount of energy suddenly entering his body, so his spirit wouldn't consume his Qi. At least he hoped so.

He calmly sat cross-legged. Even though he rested his head against the iron bars, he made sure his body remained upright. He turned his head and checked the bandits. He saw that they were paying more attention to the forest than the cages. They were afraid of a new attack. After all, the first arrow had killed one of them last time.

"Good," he thought. "They won't notice me meditating."

Then he turned and looked at the people in the cage. They were all asleep. So he took a deep breath and began to meditate.

He mobilized all the energy that had accumulated in his Qi pool. He tried to break through the bottleneck where he had reached the limit. The excitement within him sometimes shook his focus, but he kept going.

The Qi flowing through his veins and meridians became more and more intense. The young man was sweating slightly. He was sure this would last until morning. Yet he couldn't help thinking that the last time he had tried to break through the bottleneck, the meditation had lasted about half an hour.

But not this time. He stayed in meditation all night long. The Qi flowing inside him slowly condensed and merged into the Qi pool. When the first rays of dawn fell on the cages, Huan Wei opened his eyes. He could feel the energy in his body.

"Finally," he thought. "I have entered the Wanderer stage. I am now stronger than the younger generation of Bitter Sea Town. I have left behind all those who mocked me."

Even though he had only entered the third stage of the first realm, he had the pleasure of achieving the powers he had coveted for most of his life. He was no longer any different from Huan Quon. Maybe even stronger than him, thanks to Body Tempering.

Stronger than anyone who blocked his road and beat him. In that moment, he didn't care about being weak. In that moment he felt like a god.

The bandits came and woke the slaves. Huan Wei woke Lei Lok and Jiao Bai. Ai Tung himself woke up.

Slaves who failed to wake up were not whipped today. Instead, Yun Ying showed everyone the flower to pick and sent them to work. She didn't make Huan Wei drink a potion either.

The young man was surprised by her behavior. Ai Tung went to the other slaves and started talking to them. When Huan Wei saw him, he felt the anger flaring in his soul.

His left hand began to itch again. When he looked up, he noticed that the black veins had receded almost to his wrist. There was no Corrupt Seal. But probably in two weeks, there would be no trace of the black veins.

Huan Wei looked at Ai Tung once more. Then he began to pick the flowers.