Chapter 3: Life as Grass and Weeds

"Chen Ze, your father lost again at the gambling table and they’re holding him there, won’t let him leave. He asked me to pass you a message: you need to come up with the money to buy him out. If you can’t gather it, your father’s arm will be gone."

"Uncle, Aunt, please, I beg you! I promise this is the last time, I will make sure he doesn’t gamble again. The money I owe you, I’ll pay it back, please help me! I’ll bow to you!"

"Dad, let’s go home. I’ve gathered enough to redeem you. Please, don’t gamble again."

"Dad, why are you gambling again? Didn’t you promise Uncle and Aunt you wouldn’t? You’ve lost everything—stop, please, I beg you!"

Inside the casino, Chen Ze clung desperately to his father’s sleeve, begging with all his might.

"Get off me!" His father shoved him away, his eyes bloodshot and wild, clearly desperate after losing again. He glared fiercely at the dealer on the opposite side, who was smiling. "Deal me in!"

"But you’ve lost everything, what do you have left to gamble with?" the dealer asked with a grin.

His father turned toward Chen Ze, gritted his teeth, and suddenly grabbed him by the head, slamming it onto the gambling table.

"I have a son. I’ll gamble him away—if I lose, he’s yours!"

Chen Ze struggled fiercely, but his father slapped him across the face, his head pressed down against the table. All he could see was the smiling dealer, the one who had valued him at only two taels of silver, and who would soon win those two taels back.

Two taels of silver. For two taels of silver, he was sold by his own flesh and blood.

Chen Ze looked at the man who had sold him to the casino and couldn’t help but scream in agony.

"You wretched gambler! Why don’t you just die! I’ll kill you myself!"

……

"Chen Ze, Chen Ze, wake up!"

Chen Ze groggily opened his eyes, only to see Hu Zi shaking his collar vigorously. He snapped fully awake, his back drenched in cold sweat.

It was just a dream.

He hadn’t dreamed of his mother, but of that wretched gambler.

"Chen Ze, what happened? You were shouting about killing someone. Are you okay?" Hu Zi asked.

"It’s nothing, just a bad nightmare," Chen Ze said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, pushing all his emotions down. He asked in a low voice, "What time is it?"

Hu Zi pointed at the leaking jug in the corner of the room. "It’s about the third watch. That scary person said he’d be here at the fourth watch. Shouldn’t we be leaving soon?"

Chen Ze instantly sat up. He noticed the bed was empty and immediately asked, "Where’s Yang Hong and the others?"

He asked the question, then immediately mocked himself with a bitter smile. He didn’t even have time to wash up before grabbing Hu Zi and rushing out of the room.

Yang Hong, who often bullied them, would never do anything kind like calling them. But it was his own fault. If he hadn’t stayed up late last night thinking too much, he wouldn’t have needed Hu Zi to wake him up.

Sometimes he really envied Hu Zi—he ate when he was hungry, slept when he was tired. He didn’t overthink things, and so didn’t have so many worries.

By the time they arrived at the open space in front of the courtyard, most of the boys were already standing in neat rows.

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Chen Ze and Hu Zi quickly hurried to the back and stood obediently, watching Qin Shan, who stood with his back to them. His chest rose and fell sharply, but none of the boys dared to breathe loudly.

At exactly the fourth watch, Qin Shan turned around. His face was as cold as yesterday, and with a swipe of his hand from his waist pouch, small, dark green pills flew through the air and landed in front of the boys.

"Eat them."

The boys, confused, held the pills tightly in their hands but didn’t dare swallow them.

At that moment, a few latecomers rushed over, trying to sneak into the line. Without a word, Qin Shan raised his hand and flicked his fingers. A wave of invisible energy struck the boys, sending them sprawling to the ground.

With a flick of his hand, he pulled out a cowhide whip from his waist pouch and lashed out.

One lash was all it took. The boys cried out in agony, their backs torn open, rolling on the ground, writhing in pain.

Qin Shan didn’t spare them a glance, but instead, his cold eyes swept over the group. He flicked the whip lightly.

"Eat."

The boys shuddered, quickly swallowing the pills.

A warm current surged inside their bodies, but before they had time to feel it, Qin Shan raised his palm. A yellow light emitted from his fingers, sketching out a diagram of human meridians in the air. A cluster of white light followed, moving along the intricate pathways.

"Circulate your spiritual energy along these routes," Qin Shan said, then sat cross-legged without looking back at the confused boys.

The boys finally realized that the warm sensation inside them was spiritual energy. Hesitantly, they began to try circulating it.

Chen Ze didn’t rush to follow suit. He kept his eyes fixed on the diagram, studying it carefully.

Soon, one reckless boy made a mistake in circulating his energy. Blood poured from his seven orifices, and after a few spasms, he collapsed to the ground, dead.

The surrounding boys instinctively stepped back, trembling. They had seen death before, but never in such a brutal form. Even the bravest among them, just a few years younger, found themselves paralyzed with fear in the face of it.

Qin Shan took out a yellow talisman from his pouch and pressed it onto the boy’s forehead, then showed a twisted smile to the others.

"If you make a mistake in circulating your energy, you die. I hope you all last longer."

The boys stood frozen, staring helplessly at the corpse lying on the ground with the talisman on its forehead, unsure of what to do. Finally, Qin Shan coughed softly, and they snapped their attention back to the diagram, eager to memorize it as if their lives depended on it.

Chen Ze examined the diagram over and over again, making sure he didn’t make a mistake. After carefully checking several times, he sat down cross-legged and began to silently guide the spiritual energy inside his body along the route.

His limbs gradually warmed, and a combination of heat and coolness settled in his abdomen, with a feeling of indescribable comfort spreading through him.

When the spiritual energy faded away, Chen Ze slowly opened his eyes and saw that it was already afternoon. Before he started circulating his energy, he had been starving, but now he felt no hunger. The green pills must have had something to do with it.

He scanned the surroundings and saw a few more bodies with talismans on their foreheads near Qin Shan. His pupils trembled with shock.

Qin Shan seemed to sense his gaze, slowly opened his eyes, and cast a cold look at Chen Ze.

Chen Ze quickly lowered his head, not daring to meet his eyes. Despite the blazing sun overhead, he felt as though he were falling into an ice pit, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Qin Shan had only told them what to do, but not how to do it. And if they made a mistake, they died.

More than ten days ago, when they first saw Li Changqing fly with a sword, everyone was amazed and envious. Li Changqing had sworn more than once that being sold to this place was the luckiest thing that could ever happen to them because they would become immortals like him.

Immortals! The kind of immortals who could fly and defy gravity, just like in stories. Back then, Chen Ze had thought being sold might not be such a bad thing—it meant he could escape from that gambler and, one day, become an immortal.

But now, those thoughts had faded. These so-called immortals didn’t care about the lives or deaths of ordinary people like them.

Now, all Chen Ze could think of was surviving.

By the time all the boys had finished circulating their energy, Qin Shan collected the bodies and stored them in his waist pouch. He casually waved his hand, leaving behind dozens of baskets of steamed buns that floated gently to the ground.

"Same time tomorrow."

The boys rushed forward, eager to grab the food. Even though they no longer felt hunger after swallowing the pills, the instinct to fight for food was too strong. In this place, where death could come at any moment, it felt reassuring to have something in their stomachs.

Chen Ze and Hu Zi squeezed through the crowd, enduring elbows and fists as they managed to grab four buns, which they quickly divided between themselves.

Hu Zi took a big bite and asked, "Chen Ze, those people lying down, are they dead?"

Chen Ze nodded.

Hu Zi muttered, "But why are they taking them away? My mother said that when someone dies, they should be buried in the ground."

Chen Ze didn’t know how to answer. He let out a heavy sigh.

They were dead. Where they went didn’t matter.

To return to the roots… it was just a wishful thought. Who knew how Qin Shan would dispose of those bodies?

He didn’t want to become one of them. He just wanted to go home.