"I heard the Ash Death is here…"

"That's just a rumor."

"My cousin has been feeling sick lately… I hope I'm not infected…"

"Look, its Alfred."

"Hmph, that woman is wasted on him."

"Shh. He might hear you and tell Alexia. Keke"

"Alfred! Why don't you go die in a ditch somewhere!?"

The rain pelted Alfred's sluggish body on the slippery slope to his nearly demolished cottage. As he neared it with stumbling footsteps, he sneered and leaned on the front entrance slightly, but it immediately collapsed under his weight.

"Ah!" The hinges on the door snapped and his drunken self slammed onto the dark, and dusty floor. As he picked himself up, he inhaled some of the dust bunnies into his mouth. He spit it out onto the already dirty planks of wood and looked towards the figure coming around the corner from the kitchen with heavy steps and weary eyes.

"Alexia, you bitch! How many times have I told you to clean this place up!?" Alfred seethed with rage and veins protruded from his forehead.

"I'm sorr-" Alexia started, but Alfred groaned at the sound of her voice, stopping her from talking. He violently looked through the nearby drawer and stomped to their room.

"Where the hell is my money!?" Alfred strut towards her and grabbed Alexia's wrist, squeezing with a force a husband should never handle his wife with.

"Y-You said you wouldn't gamble any-" Alexia started, pulling back with a slight wince.

Before she could finish her explanation, Alfred slapped her across the face causing her to fall to her knees. Her crashing body caused a chair to tumble. She tried to get up, but her tears overwhelmed her as her eyes moistened. But that wouldn't stop Alfred from getting what he wants.

He took her by the collar, ready to unleash another slap upon her face.

Alexia shuddered and gave in seeing the murderous look in Alfred's eyes.

"It's under the furnace-"

"Bitch, are you crazy?" The wild expression in Alfred's face calmed down, but the cold aura he exuded was terrifying. She had never seen him this disheveled.

He gambled away most of the money he stole from his family when he ran away with this servant back to her hometown. He thought he would be able to handle the peasant lifestyle, but being raised by one of the most influential families on this side of the continent, his hands were as soft as butter, never experiencing the toils of hard work.

He was the grandchild of a butler who rescued his master's father and aided him during his rise to power. After the butler's death, Alfred was adopted by the master of the Renbach house, hoping he could fulfill the same role as his grandfather for his son and to repay the butler's service to his family, a decision he regretted. He never thought the grandson of Entay the Slaughterer would be a useless and ungrateful piece of trash.

Alexia was the only one making money in their residence, and because Alfred did not have any skills, many villagers looked down on him. Under normal circumstances, a commoner would never speak so disrespectfully to a noble or a member of a sect, but once word spread that he was disowned by the Renbach house, the commoners lost the little respect they had left for him as a man of a house. Alexia began to see an Alfred she couldn't recognize , and never let him touch her, but she could not bear to part with their old memories together, so she never stopped supporting him and often stood up for him when the villagers mocked him. He had been refused on their wedding night, protected by his woman, and could not get a job. Unable to bear the shame, he drowned himself in brothels and gambling in town, taking out all his anger on Alexia.

As Alfred grabbed Alexia, he saw her usually youthful skin was beginning to gray and crack near her neck.

"You… You diseased insect!" He threw her to the side of the table and the force caused her to choke on her saliva and cough incessantly. "You dare allow me to lay hands on you knowing you are infected with the Ash Death? Have you no shame!? Worthless piece of trash." He took the money from under the furnace and wiped his hands on the old curtains before leaving.

As Alexia saw Alfred's back, she only furrowed her eyebrows. She was naive for holding on to a foolish hope... that the old Alfred would come back. He was the only one that gave her hope. No matter how slim the chance, she wanted to be his hope this time around.

"I… I… won't give up... " Only God could only hear her teardrops in the pouring rain.

Under the darkness of night, Alfred immediately informed the mayor and the town council. They locked her residence down that night and gave Alfred a large sum of money for his sacrifice. They also locked the borders of the town preventing any possibly diseased person from fleeing.

The villagers were not happy with Alfred's betrayal and set up a plan that very night, before the evacuation of the town, and a certain town councillor interrupted  them. He heard of the rumors surrounding Alfred, but never guessed them to be true. He communicated his plan to the villagers abd sent a message to an old acquaintance.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

*****

A WEEK LATER

The imperial knights arrived at the town of Renlo and all the residents were orderly lined up. An imperial mage held a crystal orb and the residents placed their hands on it, one by one. If the crystal orb glowed, the person was infected. The imperial knights and the mage did not care for the Ash Death as it only affected those who did not cultivate qi or magic. Everyone here either volunteered or was forced to aid by the country. They lazily continued the examination. As Alfred's turn neared he slapped the bag of gold coins. The jingles caused him to shudder in excitement.

'I'll leave this dump of a town and that dumb.bitch and start anew. If I make a name for myself, I might even get acknowledged by the Renbach house once more. God is finally on my side for once. Hehe."

A mother and son were previously impaled on sight, but that didn't bother Alfred. He had barely  cultivated to the first stage, Materialzation. He didn't know the exact requirements for avoiding the disease, but after expunging the impurities in his body with no symptoms afterwards, he knew he was safe.

After the mother and son were impaled and the cruelty of the imperial guards was known to everyone, Alfred arrogantly stepped up to place his hands on the orb. Since there was a delay before the orb's result could be determined, he triumphantly walked towards the imperial guards and flippantly shooed them away as he sneered. The guards were enraged, but guessed that he was a cultivator from his confidence. They reluctantly pulled their spears apart. Just as Alfred was about to pass, the orb glowed a bright red, indicating that he was infected.

Before he could refute, the guards he disrespected simultaneously impaled him with vengeful smiles and life left his eyes. The guards took his money bag and spit near his corpse.

"This man has a wife. May we transport his corpse to her?" A certain villager spoke up.

"Do with him what you will." The mage said with a flip of his hand.

"I'll reward you handsomely." whispered a councillor from the sidelines. The mayor and council were supervising the examinations, but what power can a small town exert over the imperial army?

"No need. But maybe a beer and a few women, Councillor Hamon? Haha." The mage said with a gentle and joking smile. He heard of this man's injustice towards his wife and believed he had done a reputable deed.

The councillor sighed and said, "I'm telling your wife."

"I was only joking dad." The mage pouted like a child.

"Haha. Behave yourself, Lobo." The councillor patted his shoulder and Lobo returned to his duties and his cold expression.

"Next!"

*****

"What are you doing to him!?" Alexia screamed as a couple of men carried his corpse to her doorstep.

"Alfred!? Alfred, wake up!" Alexia shook his lifeless body and cried desperately.

"Treating a man of this caliber so preciously… we did this for you!"

"I never asked for you to help like this! I only wanted you guys to respect him as my husband, but you guys kept ridiculing him!"

"Lets leave, I don't to be near this stupid woman anymore. Ash Death might not be the only thing I get infected with if I stay here any longer."

"You're right. You might get her stupidity as well. Haha!"

"Let's leave these two. One's trash. The other's ungrateful. They deserve to die in each other's arms."

One man snorted and spit on their property, while the other coldly left without turning back, leaving the two by themselves.

Alexia was feverish from the disease and barely had any strength, but she pulled his body into the shack and laid him on the bed.

"I don't believe you'll leave me with these bitter memories. Even if you don't respect me as your wife, I respect you as my husba-" Alexia suddenly felt a heavy wave of dizziness and fell to her knees, her body and hair strewn across the bed and Alfred's cold body.

A tear fell from Alfred's lifeless eyes. Before consciousness in his soul completely faded, he heard an old man's voice.

"I'm planning to give your body to another soul, do you have any last words?"

"Please treat my wife well... Please…"

"That's perfect. Haha! I planned to give "him" this body because of your wife. Are you jealous? He might steal your wife from you."

"If she is happy with him, I will have no regrets…"

"Not bad. Not bad. I won't treat you too badly in your next reincarnation."

"Haha… Thank you..."

God palmed the ball of light and absorbed it into his circle of life. He swayed his hand back and forth with closed eyes, before finally pulling out a ball of light that illuminated the whole town in the divine dimension. He smiled warmly and pressed the ball onto Alfred's cold body.