บท 5: Chapter 5 - Determination
"Cheap slaves! Cheap! Buy two and you get a discount for the third one!"
"Look at this breast! Look at this butt! She will serve you well in bed!" The slave traders shouted, their voices filled with greed and malice as they gestured towards the women and young girls in the cages, leering at them with lascivious glances. "Child slaves for cheap!" They cried, pointing to the huddled group of starving, skinny children cramped in a cage.
The children's eyes were lifeless and their expressions were emotionless, their bodies emaciated and weak. Ximen Wei was among them, his once-healthy body now thin and gaunt, the bones visible through his stretched skin. He had spent almost a month in this underground market, enduring constant hunger and deprivation, and the suffering had taken its toll on him.
These past days, Ximen Wei's meals had consisted of fragments of hard, rotten black bread and leftover bones. He had been captured after the massacre of his village and put up for sale in this slave market. He was no longer in a dazed state, but rather was thinking rationally and coming up with ways to escape this rotten place. Though his chances of success were slim, he preferred to die trying rather than sit there and await his fate.
"Hah, I guess it's my fortune to not get bought during these past weeks." Ximen Wei chuckled to himself, his voice laced with bitterness and resentment. "Either way, once the cage's gate opens and the guards stop looking, I'll make a run for it. If I get caught, so be it. I'm already fed up with this shit." He considered his options, weighing the risks and rewards. "Or maybe I can gamble and wait for some lord to purchase me? My chances of escaping this place are almost zero, but if I get bought by someone, maybe I can find an opportunity to escape from their residence or while they are transporting me. Hopefully I get lucky..."
After solidifying his plans, Ximen Wei took a deep breath and studied his surroundings. Cages filled with human slaves littered the street, their occupants huddled together in fear and desperation. Slave traders shouted and gestured wildly, trying to entice potential buyers with promises of strong, able-bodied workers or youthful, attractive companions. Whips and bats were wielded by some as a show of force, a reminder of the power dynamics at play in this grim market. The air was thick with the stench of sweat, urine, and desperation, and Ximen Wei couldn't help but feel a sense of disgust and revulsion at the scene before him.
The slave traders' expressions were filled with enthusiasm as they made all sorts of offers and discounts to their clients, their words dripping with false promises and manipulative charm. Meanwhile, the people in the cages wore miserable faces as they tucked their heads in and sobbed, screamed, or cried. Every single one of the slaves was in a state of depression, including Ximen Wei.
"This place is really fucked up, though," he thought to himself, his disgust reaching its limit. "How come this isn't illegal? Why is Western Wan allowing this place to exist?" The injustice of it all weighed heavily on him, and he couldn't shake the feeling of revulsion that had settled in his stomach. The mere thought of being bought by one of these cruel traders and being forced to work until he dropped made him feel sick. He had to find a way out of this hellhole, no matter how slim his chances were.
Ximen Wei had never seen such an atrocious place in either of his two lives. The thought of being trapped in this hellhole forever filled him with despair. "No matter what, I have to leave this place," he thought determinedly. "Sigh, I guess there's a chance of reinforcements from the Su Dynasty as well, but that's very unlikely, we're deep into the enemy territory after all." He couldn't help but give a helpless sigh as he continued to survey his surroundings, searching for any opportunity that might present itself. The thought of being trapped in this place forever was unbearable, and he was willing to risk everything to escape.
A fat wealthy man waddled up to the child slavery stall, a greedy gleam in his eye as he surveyed the young males on display. He licked his lips and chuckled to himself as he made crude jokes with the seller, occasionally pointing to a particular child and negotiating a price. The seller leered at the children with a sly smile, his words dripping with disgust as he haggled with the wealthy man. The sight of the two men treating these innocent children like objects to be bought and sold made Ximen Wei's blood boil with anger. He couldn't stand the thought of being owned by someone like this, and he knew he had to escape before it was too late.
Ximen Wei watched in horror as the fat man approached the cage, leering at the children with a predatory gaze. The seller grinned greedily, eager to make a sale, as he gestured towards Ximen Wei and a few other young males. Ximen Wei's heart raced as he desperately tried to shrink back and hide behind the other children, hoping to escape the notice of the disgusting man. He knew that if he were to be purchased by this fat man, his fate would be worse than that of a typical child slave. He would be subjected to unspeakable horrors and abuse, and his chances of escape would be slim to none. The thought of it made him feel sick to his stomach.
Ximen Wei closed his eyes tightly and tried to block out the sounds of the fat man's lecherous laughter and the seller's greedy negotiating. He couldn't bear to watch as the other boys were dragged away, their cries and pleas falling on deaf ears. All he could do was hope that he wouldn't be the next one chosen. The stench of sweat and fear filled the air, making it hard for Ximen Wei to catch his breath. He felt like he was suffocating, trapped in this hellish place with no escape in sight. But he refused to give up, he promised himself that he would find a way out, no matter how slim the chances. He couldn't let this be the end, not when he had so much to live for.
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