Chapter 165: The Punishment of a Tattooed Face
Events that she had only ever read about in history books and local chronicles were now being spoken aloud by the gaunt, vacant-eyed man standing right before her.
Jian Xingxia was deeply moved.
Every single turning point in history, when it falls upon an individual, carries an unbearable weight. For a moment, Jian Xingxia was at a complete loss as to how to comfort Shang Yue.
Da Hei, on the other hand, had been highly hostile toward Shang Yue just a moment ago. Now, however, he had already sat down right next to him. Da Hei couldn’t quite put it into words, but he felt he could smell a kindred spirit in Shang Yue. It was that shattered, bewildered sensation born from having one’s personal dignity, desire for life, and hope of survival crushed one by one.
Da Hei looked pleadingly at Jian Xingxia. “Master, I want my wages. For Shang Yue.”
Jian Xingxia froze for a moment before catching on. “Oh, oh, you want me to give Shang Yue some more food?”
Jian Xingxia shook her head. “Not right now. We have to wait a bit before giving him more. Shang Yue has starved for far too long; he can’t suddenly eat too much food.”
Da Hei recalled that when he first arrived, his master had also waited a while before giving him and Taoya more to eat. In Da Hei’s twenty-odd years of life as a slave, such moments were exceptionally rare. Most of the time, he was starving. On the rare occasions he received a reward, he wished he could cram it all into his stomach in a single breath. Otherwise, it would be snatched away by others or revoked by his masters.
Planning, management, restraint… these words and the meanings they represented were entirely foreign to Da Hei. But there was one thing Da Hei was absolutely certain of—whatever his master said was right. If his master said she would give food in a bit, then that was right, and his master would definitely give food in a bit.
Da Hei encouraged Shang Yue to perform labor first. “Labor. There are wages, a whole abundance of them. Food.”
Shang Yue cast a blank glance at Da Hei.
Just now, when he thought he was dead and caught sight of Da Hei, he hadn’t shown much of a reaction. Now that he had eaten food and drunk water, recovered a bit of his strength, and had a good cry, a living breath had returned to him. Looking at Da Hei again, Shang Yue was still startled.
“The… Black Impermanence?”
Da Hei was bewildered. “What Impermanence?”
Jian Xingxia interrupted their completely muddled conversation. “His name is Da Hei. He is my… uh, worker.”
“Worker?” Shang Yue was somewhat unfamiliar with the term. He looked at Da Hei. “Is he a craftsman too?”
“In a way, yes. But he’s primarily responsible for farming. He counts as a… migrant agricultural worker?” Jian Xingxia let out a chuckle herself after saying it.
“A worker is simply someone who performs labor and does jobs for me. No matter what skills you possess, as long as there’s a need on my end, I can recruit you to come perform labor.” Jian Xingxia cut a long story short. “Working at my manor, food and drinks are on me. In addition, wages are paid according to the duration of the labor performed.”
Da Hei nodded his head vigorously from the side.
Hearing about wages, Shang Yue’s eyes widened even further, completely filled with astonishment. “There are even wages?”
He suddenly realized that Jian Xingxia might not understand his identity yet. Shang Yue brushed aside the disheveled hair on his forehead, exposing the tattooed character branded upon his brow—
Da Hei: Can’t read it.
Jian Xingxia: “…Is that all?”
Shang Yue was caught off guard. “This is a felony! A person with a tattooed face bears the mark of criminal punishment. Even if they escape death, they can only be exiled for life to bitter, freezing regions, or cast into deep mountain mine shafts to perform labor at the cost of their lives.”
Shang Yue let out a bitter laugh and bowed deeply to Jian Xingxia. “I do not know what kind of place this is, but I deeply appreciate the kindness of you both.”
Shang Yue’s mind was currently a tangle of complex emotions. Since he reached adulthood, every single major event in his household had been worse than death. Right up until this moment, he had already prepared himself to die. In fact, he standardly should have died in the mining disaster. Yet, by some twist of fate, he had encountered the only kind-hearted people who treated him well right here.
Shang Yue’s smile was exceptionally bitter. “With a tattooed face, I am a felon whom everyone decries. I can no longer walk upon the world. Miss has the heart to take me in, but my staying will only bring trouble to Miss.”
A tattooed mark was a living execution. As long as he drew breath for a single moment, and as long as anyone caught sight of the tattooed mark on his forehead, they would know he was a felon whom everyone had the right to execute. It was a torment akin to death by a thousand cuts.
Shang Yue was resolved to seek death.
“You two possess great benevolence in your hearts, but the character upon my brow will only implicate you both.”
“To be allowed a single full meal, Shang Yue is already content. I shall go disfigure myself and seek death immediately, never letting anyone catch sight of the character upon my brow.” All to avoid implicating the two of them.
Da Hei: Can’t understand. But he felt the man wanted to die, so he had to stop him.
Jian Xingxia: “…”
Shang Yue’s righteous and awe-inspiring speech was indeed quite touching. He would rather die than let anyone see the branded tattoo on his forehead, fearing he might implicate Jian Xingxia and Da Hei.
However… if only you had been branded with any other character!
Jian Xingxia stared at the character on Shang Yue’s head, which bore no significant difference whether in ancient text, modern text, or the Great Yu script—
The character for “Fire” (火).
It truly gave her a bit of a headache.
If Shang Yue had been branded with any other character, matching it with his words just now would have been perfectly reasonable. But this character “Fire” made it highly difficult to feel immersed in the gravity of the situation.
Jian Xingxia felt a trace of a desire to scratch her head. How on earth was she supposed to explain to Shang Yue that, first of all, this matter of branding tattoos didn’t count as a grand issue in the eyes of modern people? Furthermore, the character “Fire” was practically the most mundane, ordinary, and even low-key presence among tattoos. Tattoos of all kinds of hatred, love, or the five elements—gold, wood, water, fire, and earth—were honestly not rare at all.
Jian Xingxia’s silence caused Shang Yue to misinterpret her intentions.
Shang Yue looked left and right, selected a stone, and picked it up, intending to smash it straight against his own forehead—even if he died, his corpse could not bear a tattooed brand. He could not let anyone see it, thereby affecting the manor.
Jian Xingxia shouted to Da Hei, “Quick, stop him!”
With a single slap, Da Hei struck Shang Yue’s hand away.
Losing his balance, Shang Yue went sprawling five-bodies-to-the-ground, falling flat once more. He lay on the dirt, turned around, and stared with wide eyes—he wanted to seek death, but the force behind Da Hei’s slap was way too massive! Letting a man die, yet he couldn’t even die a bit more comfortably…
Da Hei hurriedly helped Shang Yue up. “Master said to stop you.” It wasn’t his fault.
Jian Xingxia quickly spoke up, unable to let Shang Yue continue immersing himself in his death-seeking emotions. The best way to resolve emotional issues was to quickly plunge into labor. Once a person set to work, they would either want to die even more, or, for most people, they would forget about wanting to die altogether.
Jian Xingxia stated rapidly, “Shang Yue, you were recruited by me right out of that mining disaster. This life of yours counts as mine now.” Jian Xingxia kept a stern face. “If I don’t permit you to die, you have no right to die.”
Shang Yue stared blankly with vacant eyes, completely unable to comprehend whether these were good words or bad words.
Only Da Hei nodded his head vigorously from the side.
Mm-hmm! Master was right! If Master didn’t permit death, then one absolutely could not die!
