“Leo, it’s better than nothing.” The other boy picked up the ones fallen to the ground, and put them back into the bamboo basket.

Leo spat at me, “Listen, if you don’t turn in at least thirty pounds tomorrow, you would be kicked to death! You are new here, might not know all the rules. Now you have learned the most important one. For a newbie like you, never expect any help in the Underground. No one would ever come help unless you prove that you are strong enough to join the gang. A slave with no boss would not survive long here. Remember thirty pounds tomorrow, all right?”

Afterwards they walked away with my basket, and disappeared into the shadows of the night.

I wanted to cry, but I knew there were no more tears. I used them all up not long ago. My whole body ached so much that I could not budge at all.

The night was dark.

And long……

I didn’t know how much time went by, until I could slowly crawl into a dark corner to lay down again. I was starving and cold, and rolled up like an earthworm shivering. My vision was blurry. I was just too tired to think about anything, or to even feel angry about those two boys. This was the first time I felt like I was dying, both mentally and physically.

I took out the purple anesthetic fruit from my pocket with difficulty.

It was so pretty……

I put it near my heart and closed my eyes. I knew this little anesthetic fruit would ease some of my pain if I ate it, but I wouldn’t.

Nothing mattered anymore, I let my consciousness wander like a lost soul.

“Nana……Nana………”

I must have fallen asleep because I heard a familiar voice calling from behind. My body was so light, like walking on clouds and flying in the sky.

“Nana……Nana………” A different voice called me.

Wait………

They sounded like………..

I turned around and saw Mom and Dad waving at me. I was so happy and ran toward them as fast as I could.

I ran and ran, but it didn’t matter how hard I tried, there was no progress at all. They seemed to be in a whole different world smiling and waiting for me, and there was no way to reach them.

“Mom! Dad! Wait for me!” I screamed with all my might, “Please don’t leave me here! I am so hurt, just so hurt inside….. I wish everything did not happen…..Why it was me…..just why……”

“Nana, be strong.” Mom smiled, “You are always a strong girl, nothing can beat you, right?”

Dad said with a proud face, “Yes, Mom is right. You always try your best. I am always proud of you.”

“Mom…..Dad…..I want to come home…….”

They were saying something, but I couldn’t hear clearly because they were moving farther and farther away. I tried to catch them, but only ran into a mazy thick fog. It was so foggy that I couldn’t see anything 360 degrees.

“LiNa, see that big star? It’s called Wolf’s Eye. If you ever get lost, just follow that and it will lead you back to the little hut.”

Grandpa Jin?

The fog slowly floated away, and I saw Grandpa Jin, Grandma Sha, and myself sitting next to the bonfire and staring at the stars in the night sky. It was like seeing a movie of my own memories. I walked closer to the three figures, and sat next to my own self. I took a look at myself, and noticed the sweet smile on my face, and how satisfied I was drinking a bowl of hot soup.

“Wait, I see why it’s called Wolf’s Eye.” I put the bowl down, and found a stick to trace the stars and drew out a wolf shape, then lastly pointed out the biggest one in the eye area.

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“This here is the Wolf’s Eye!” I said.

Grandma Sha chuckled, “Maybe that is where you come from?”

“Possibly!” I smiled, “only if we have a telescope, then we can really see if it’s planet earth.”

“Telescope? What is that?” Grandma Sha asked with curiosity.

“That is a device that helps to see far away. A decent one would be extremely expensive, might be worth a couple million sweet potatoes, just a guess though, hehe…..”

I looked at myself laughing like an idiot, and envied how happy I was.

How warm the bonfire was…….

And how quiet and peaceful life was…….

The fog flushed in again and completely overwhelmed the surroundings, burying all the beautiful memories, and then……..

Oh, all the screams and blood……

The holy pearls were taken away…….

There was nothing I could do to save my beloved family. I felt so helpless, so guilty for living…….

My whole body was covered with blood. As I stared at my hands, they were bright red as well. The fog turned red, and slowly dripped in blood. All the blood crept through the cracks of the soil, and gradually rose up. There was nowhere to escape. It was soon up to my ankles, and kept on rising.

Someone was sobbing………

When paying closer attention, I realized that………

It was me……..

I was the one crying, as if my heart was shattered by all this cruelty and lost.

I finally opened my eyes and woke up from the nightmare in warm tears, and felt my head spinning and hot. It was a high fever. My consciousness drifted in and out, and couldn’t tell illusions from reality.

I heard some footsteps.

They were getting closer and closer to my direction.

A familiar and tall figure appeared out of the darkness. As he came closer to me, I couldn’t seem to comprehend what was going on. This must be an illusion from the fever, for I did not expect to see him ever again.

His voice was deep and mesmerizing.

“Where did all that energy go? If you dare to pinch my wounds and ears, then you should not be laying here like trash. Don’t tell me you are going to give up and die here. No one will even bury your body, the guards would simply throw you down in a corpse hole with all the other rotten flesh and skeletons.”

Yep, this was definitely an illusion because he had never spoken a single word to me before. Now he freaking spoke in sentences, and left me dumbfounded. But why hallucinating about this ungrateful dude, when I had many other beautiful memories to hallucinate for?

“Iceberg…...Grandpa Jin and Grandma Sha were gone. They were killed, so many villagers were dead……” My voice was so weak that I could barely hear myself.

It was more like mumbling in a dream.

“Iceberg, I am very sorry for pinching your wounds and said those harsh words before you left. I am dying now, and this is probably my last chance to apologize. I wish I could make this apology in real life instead, but that’s all I can do now……yeah, rotten with the other skeletons doesn’t sound too appealing, but I am just so tired……so tired…….”

Those dark blue eyes seemed to glitter under the bronze mask, but his expression was still stoic and arrogant.

“Be a loser if you want.” He said.

Who wanted to be a loser, but my hunger and injuries were extremely severe. Never in my entire life had I been so sick.

He stared right into my eyes.

“In a world where the fittest survives, no one would help you fight injustice except yourself. The old couple are gone forever, even if you die here, they won’t be coming back, and all the unjust treatment they got would vanish forever. No one will remember them, no one cares about their kindness and history, and the murderers will live and continue the slaughter. Listen, you are the only one who knows everything, but now you choose to give up, they will never rest peacefully in the Heavenly Realm.”

Iceberg was right, if I died here, all the innocent people who got slaughtered at the village would never rest in peace. Going back to the embrace of Goddess Aniela? I had no belief in that at all.

How could someone who died so tragically be able to rest peacefully in God’s embrace?

Death was not justified for those poor souls. If the dead couldn’t fight for justice, then the living must carry on the responsibility and mission. I was only human, so I might not be able to cultivate like the rest of them, but I should at least try to find a solution before giving up.

Indeed, I didn’t care what the guards would do to my corpse, but I did care for the injustice. He was right, that there was not another person in this world who would fight for the old couple. I wanted to take revenge! One day, I wanted to become strong enough to face the brown hair pearl hunter and take eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth!

All those pearl hunters, they had to pay for what they did. Otherwise, there would be no justice in this world.

I recalled Grandma Sha’s words, all she wanted was for me to run away and live on. The same with Grandpa Jin, he only wanted me to survive no matter what. Why did I choose to disappoint both of them? Yes, my heart was aching so much and the injuries were so severe that I could barely move a finger, but I was still alive.

I WAS STILL ALIVE.