Chapter 85: Chapter – 85 - What is a Birthing Camp?
Beibei leaned against the large stone couch on one side of the luxuriously decorated cave. Most part of this cave was occupied by the massive stone bed in the center. Layers of thick mattresses relieved the chill of the stone below. Fluffy pillows were thrown over it and an ornamental bedcovering draped down the sides of the bed, hanging just above the cave floor.
Before the couch was a low level stone table. Currently she was watching the cups and bowls and plates and spoons floating in the air, hovering a few feet above the table top, switching positions in tandem with the movement of her fingers.
She discovered this power a couple of weeks after she had been brought into this camp. She had no memory from before entering this ore-mining camp...like all her previous memories had been wiped out. Whenever she tried to think, she would be gripped by a terrible pain in her head. She had to give up after a few tries.
All she knew was this ore-mining camp. Or to be precise, the caves where the ores were mined, the caves where they slept at night, the open space before the caves where they were told to sit to huddle during meal times. And now this cave. All else was a mystery as the commoners were strictly guarded, and going out of these specific areas were punishable. Many had tried.....and never returned. No one knew if they managed to escape....or they died.
Even though she had no memories prior to this, she had a nagging feeling that she had forgotten something very important...like there was somewhere else she was supposed to be! Beibei sighed in frustration. Two days had already passed. She needed to plan what she was going to do next. There were at most five, and at least three days before the leader of the guards came back...and her misfortunes started!
She looked about the large cave, and couldn't help thinking back to the cramped quarters which served as the sleeping room for all the commoners. They were hoarded in like a pack of wild beasts in those tiny caves. Once everyone lay down to sleep, there was no more room to walk. The guards would even place heavy rocks against the cave entrance, barely leaving a thin gap for air circulation. Initially she would feel her lungs running out of air amidst the packed crowd sleeping almost over one another rand taking up all of her air!
Every time one wanted to relieve themselves, they had to walk over the feet and hands rolling about on the little bit of extra space, and then shamelessly knock against the stone door so the guards outside would let them out. The guards were not happy with these trashy people making them work endlessly all through the night. So they could only go out once. And so, even if your bladder was bursting, or you had accidentally wet your clothes, you still had to hold it in and wait till all the people who wanted to go were up, and then go out together.
All the others seemed to be okay with this form of shameful unsaid laws that governed them inside this camp. She did not know why she alone felt infuriated by such despicable methods of these so called cultivators!
Thankfully this cave came with a tiny toilet. Even though she was not allowed out, at least she didn't have to embarrass herself.
Beibei shifted her body a bit and lay down comfortably. She could not make herself sleep on the large bed. Especially after knowing what all took place on that disgusting bed...even looking at it for to long might make her vomit! Though the buns and roasted Copua and the bitter-milky Maramarae porridge had not changed to delicacies, at least she now she could have as much of it as she wanted. And a full stomach made her sleep more peacefully too! She yawned loudly, nudging herself into a more comfortable position, and quickly fell asleep.
Beibei did not know how long she had been asleep, but she was quite startled when she opened her eyes and found herself...outside! when did she wake up and come out? No....how did she come out? The guard was still nodding away before her cave....how could she possibly come out of the cave without waking him up?!
She looked at herself first, then looked all around. She was really outside! Then....what should she do now?.....Should she perhaps go and check out the surroundings? Most of the guards would be sleeping at this time. If she kept away from the areas where the commoners were resting, maybe she could figure out the surroundings of the camp and come up with a plan for escaping?!
Beibei pondered upon this thought for a while, then decided to start with the guard house. She vaguely remembered the first day when she had come in. This camp was divided into three parts. This was the inner circle, and was very tightly guarded. And at the entrance gate there was a large guardhouse. The guards who were not on duty would often gather together to share a few drinks and snacks and gamble and gossip. The perfect place to gather more information about this place.
By the time she reached the guardhouse, Beibei was feeling pretty shocked. It was not that she did not come across the patrolling guards. In fact, for a while she was sure that they had seen her and she was going to face the terrible punishments met out to the commoners.....but, they actually couldn't see her!!
She still couldn't understand what was happening by the time she crept around the large stone building, looking for a convenient crack or window through which she could spy inside. Finally finding a half open window, she crouched down under it, paying close attention to the men talking and laughing inside.
The desert was very hot and dry, even during the night. Moreover this was a camp. So no one used curtains over windows. There was also a severe scarcity of water, due to which water was rationed for each person every day. There was never any extra water to waste.
Commoners could bathe once in a month. Cultivators could bathe once every week. Only the girls specially chosen for the leaders were allowed a pail of water and a thick coarse cloth to clean themselves every day. That itself was considered a luxury!
Even as she was sitting and listening, she stared at the flies and other flying pests hovering around the window. Why were none of them coming to her?!
"Tsk! Leader almost killed that man. It was his luck that he did not die. At least he can now be sent to the Resting Camp."
"These fellows from the main city think that they are entitled simply because they know the higher ups. They don't realize till it's too late that the higher ups only care about the rules they have laid down. If that man had really died, I would have loved to see how he would answer for it before the Kartenu!"
"There have been so many changes in Leaders in the past few decades. Doesn't it seem as if the higher ups are becoming more and more controlling?"
"Shush! Even the wind can carry your voice far! You are not the higher up. Just do as you are told, and close your eyes and ears to what you don't understand. That way you'll live longer!"
"Anyway....that little girl has now been marked by the leader. Do you think she will last till she can be sent to the Birthing Camp?"
"Hmph! You haven't seen the last few girls we had to drag out of those rooms before! We barely managed to keep them alive as we wiped their bodies, wrapped them up in fresh clothes and sent them off. If they die after reaching the Birthing Camp, then can't put the blame on us!"
"Nah....she won't make it. She is too small. Needs at least two more years for her body to mature. The way the leader goes about with his pleasures.....she won't be able to last two years."
Beibei was still crouching, but by now her blood had run cold. What were all these places? Birthing Camp? Resting Camp?.....Come to think of it, she had found it strange even earlier that this camp only had children below fourteen.....or elders above a hundred. Though commoners could live 150 years, but due to starvation and exhaustion, they could barely last till 120 - 125 at most.
But strangely, none of the younger people, who were actually at an age of giving birth, ever came here. So...were they all sent to these Birthing Camps? What exactly happened there?
As she was thinking about it, suddenly sharp pain assaulted her senses, and her body started turning heavy, as if being pulled back by something. She tried to get up but stumbled on her own unmoving legs. Scared that she was about to make a big noise and alert the guards inside, she tried to balance herself, but before she could even touch the walls, something pulled her backwards forcefully, and her entire senses got drowned out by a dark suction hole.
Beibei opened her eyes and stared at the cave roof, blankly wondering where she was, before quickly scrambling out of the couch she had fallen asleep on. What the heck?! How had she returned back to the cave? When did she come in and why could she not remember?!
She looked around. The door was still blocked by the large rock from the outside. She definitely didn't go through it. Then.....what went out? Was it really her body.....or was it her spiritual consciousness? She knew some high level cultivators could do it.....but then she was not a cultivator!
But.....spiritual consciousness?....Why did this term seem so familiar? Even when she had been moving around.....it felt like she had done it many times before!....And that could explain why the patrolling guards had not seen her.
Well.....she didn't really know if it was spiritual consciousness....or something else. But whatever it was, it had helped her a lot today. Birthing camp?...Hmmm....she needed to know more about it. Maybe if she could use this same way of travelling without a body, she could go and take a round of the entire camp tomorrow...that way she could know more about the camp and plan her escape!
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DaoistNotAvilable
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