A Sorrowful turn

When Xiao Yuzhe woke up his hands were bound and he was tied to a wooden post, a few feet away from the post was a balzing furnace that was so hot it had scorched some Xiao Yuzhe's arm hairs.

Just then two men had appeared walking towards the furnace, one was carrying a branding iron and the other had a paper talisman.

"Hey, what's going on I'm not a slave. I'm not supposed to be here I'm the personal body guard for...."

The man with the branding iron tied a cloth around Xiao Yuzhe's mouth to muffle him, Then he said.

"Sure, no one's supposed to be here"

The two men had laughed then the one with branding iron stuck it into the furnace and left it there until it turned a bright red, then he pulled it out and said to the man with the talisman.

"Hold him still, they always move around a lot at this part and try to scream. Like anyone care."

The man with the talisman grabbed the back of Xiao Yuzhe's head and slammed it into the post and held him there. The other man stuck the red hot branding iron on his left cheek branding him a slave. Xiao Yuzhe tried to break free and he the men could hear his muffled screams and noticed the familiar smell of bacon. After the brand the man said

"Now use the talisman, it will restrict him from using his cultivation against us, if he gets stronger in the arena it could cause a real problem."

The other man did as he said, a red light came from the talisman and burned it then went to the brand on Xiao Yuzhe's cheek and it began to light up the brand. This part was fairly painless compared to getting branded

The they untied Xiao Yuzhe from the post and drug him to a cell full of other slaves who had similar brands. When they saw Xiao Yuzhe they all started to become restless and a few started shouting.

"Don't put him in here with us, how do you expect us to eat?"

"Yeah, we have to fight for food as is!"

"It's better if we just kill him here so we don't have to deal with him later."

The man who had the talisman grabbed a switch he kept in his belt and started swatting at the slaves and he said.

"If you trash don't shut the fuck up I'll just take away your food for the day. If you want to kill him outside of the arena wait until we get our moneys worth, otherwise it's fifty strokes. I doubt he'll survive his first match anyways "

All the slaves grew silent and they all started at Xiao Yuzhe with destain, except one timid slave who looked fairly weak.

A few hours later a guard came by a lot of food and threw barely a handful into the cage. All the slaves jumped at the opportunity pushing and kicking one even biting. The timid slave was pushed out of the way completely and left with no food. Xiao Yuzhe remained sitting the whole time just watching the scene unfold, a small bit of food fell near his feet the only other slaves that saw this was the timid looking slave who stared at Xiao Yuzhe. Xiao Yuzhe stared at him and nodded letting him know that the food near his feet was okay to take, he looked at Xiao Yuzhe with tears in his eyes then quickly grabbed the food and scarfed it down. The he sat next to Xiao Yuzhe and said

"You don't know why your here do you?"

Xiao Yuzhe looked at him and said "no I don't, what is this place?"

The timid slave answered him "it's a death sentence. All of us here have to fight to survive the arena and we're only fed when we win. I've always lost but have been lucky enough to walkaway with my life everytime."

Just then one of the other slaves who was a bit bigger then both of them said.

"If I see your cowardly ass in the arena I'll slaughter you right away. Don't worry I'll enjoy every bit of food in your honor."

The timid slave clearly grew terrified and stared at the ground with wide eyes. Xiao Yuzhe wanted to get his mind off of it so he asked him.

"What's your name brother? Mines Xiao Yuzhe."

The timid slave looked up at him and said "my names Guan Zhi, but my fighting names the cockroach since I've survived all the matches I was in even though I lost."

"Fighting name?" Xiao Yuzhe asked

"All of us slaves are given fighting names sometime within our first few matches." Guan Zhi began to point at the other slaves and said.

"His name is The Rat."

He was the one Xiao Yuzhe saw bite one of the others, Guan Zhi continued from left to right.

" His name is the Crow."

He was the one was bite by The Rat.

"His name is The Bull."

Guan Zhi pointed at the slaves who said he would kill him, The Bull sneered at Xiao Yuzhe and said

"I doubt you'll even survive long enough for them to waste their time giving you a name, unless of course you play dead in the arena like that coward next to you "

Before Xiao Yuzhe could retort a Guard came by and started banging on the cage and said

"Newbie your up, everyone else face the wall with your hands behind your back."

Everyone did as the Guard commanded then he opened up the cage and stepped in, at this moment The Rat took his opportunity and tried to run. He made just outside of the cage when the Guard had turned around and cut him down, then he shouted

"ANYONE ELSE RUNS, YOULL JOIN HIM IN THE GRAVE."

No one dared to make a move, the Guard grabbed Xiao Yuzhe and took him to a room filled with weapon racks and locked the door behind him.

"Choose your weapon newbie and be quick."

The Guard stared at Xiao Yuzhe coldly. Xiao Yuzhe nodded, he knew trying to argue with anyone here was useless. Naturally he chose a halberd the weapon he was most familiar with since he trained with it at the third princesses manor. The Guard then spoke up

" I normally don't say anything, but good choice newbie. Walk through those curtains and down the hallway to the arena, and don't make me drag you."

Xiao Yuzhe again nodded and walked through the curtains. He walked down a dark hallway only able to see where he was going because of the light at the end of it. As he got closer he heard voices growing louder and louder. When he had reached the end he found himself in a huge underground arena, the floor was made of dirt stained with blood. The walls were about twelve feet high and went around the whole arena, at the top were seats filled with people making bets, drinking, and shouting. At the other end of the arena was a muscular middle aged man whos body was covered in scars and who had a beard with gray streaks.

After a few moments and announcer stood amongst the crowd and said

"Tonight honorable patrons we present another brand new fighter, he will be facing one your favorite regulars the Grey Tiger. Make your final bets and let the show begin."