activa-t Chapter 1 Two Years as a Slave
Chapter 1 Two Years as a Slave
In the third year of Yongxi in the Great Jin Dynasty, in Canghai Prefecture, Xinyu City.
The fresh morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the dawn had not yet risen, but the Cao family, the most prominent clan in the city, had already begun their busy work.
Song Shen glanced at the large communal sleeping area behind him and walked into the courtyard in front of him, where a group of boys his age were already busy with their own tasks.
Washing, chopping wood, sweeping, carrying goods, fetching water, starting a fire, cooking...
Barring unforeseen circumstances, this kind of life will never end.
As long as the Cao family exists, they will always be slaves of the Cao family.
"If you can't even endure ten days, how will you live your whole life?"
Song Shen's heart was ashen.
The current life of being a beast of burden is not so terrible. What is most terrible is having to do this for the rest of your life, like a pre-set program, forever forced to repeat the same miserable routine, falling into a hopeless abyss, like a walking corpse.
To be honest, he had only been in this world for less than ten days, and he still vaguely remembered the terrible accident when he took a helicopter to the skydiving camp.
There's not much to say about my past life. To sum it up in one sentence: Bro, my life was too smooth!
Born in a coastal city, he had good grades from a young age and was admitted to a pretty good university. After graduation, he found a high-paying job and even bought a house on his own. However, he was hit and killed by a dump truck while on a business trip.
The good news is that they won the revival match; the bad news is that they were transmigrated into a slave.
The original owner of this body was born by a river, with a house and fields. According to the original plot, he would have lived his whole life like this.
But three years ago, a rare flood struck suddenly, wiping out the harvest. This was followed by the inability to pay heavy taxes on time, which meant that the head of the Song family and his eldest son had to go to the frontier to perform corvée labor.
Or, they may have no choice but to sell all their land and houses at a low price and become wandering refugees.
Regardless of the reason, the Song family is on the verge of falling below the cutoff line.
In order to survive, Old Song sold his youngest son and eldest daughter to the Cao family, receiving two strings of cash while reducing the number of mouths to feed—a win-win situation.
Since arriving at the Cao family, the original owner only received messages from her hometown during festivals and holidays, and could only huddle together with her sister, who was also a servant, for warmth.
Ten days ago, his heart stopped beating in a warm dream. In the dream, he found chicken legs and big white steamed buns all around him. He didn't know if he actually ate them in the dream, because Song Shen's memories came to an abrupt end there.
Feudalism is utterly evil.
Song Shen felt that if he were to live like this for the rest of his life, he might as well find a quiet and cool place to end his own life.
It was the only thing that kept him alive.
Thinking of this, Song Shen summoned the secret he had kept hidden.
……
Name: Song Shen
[Talent: One certificate proves it forever]
Skills: Laundry (skilled); Weeding (skilled); Chopping wood (skilled)
Martial Arts: None
[Path Fruit: None]
……
Over the past few days, Song Shen had observed countless times, but he still couldn't see the '+' sign he had been longing for. Finally, he realized with disappointment that it wasn't Deep Blue's father.
However, the most important thing is the martial arts section, which has been empty from the beginning until now, leaving Song Shen feeling helpless. As for the Dao Fruit section, no matter how much Song Shen scratched his head, he couldn't see where this so-called Dao Fruit was.
Amidst the mechanical busyness, a commotion arose outside. Supervisor Chen walked in and said, "You lot, anyone under sixteen, step forward!"
Song Shen was exactly fifteen years old this year. He got up and came to the supervisor along with several other teenagers.
"The rest of you continue with your work. You few go to the courtyard in the east wing warehouse; someone is waiting for you!"
The boys followed him out of the yard in a daze; at least they wouldn't have to do any work.
Song Chengzong asked in a low voice, "A-Shen, what could it be?"
Song Shen shook his head and said, "How would I know?"
Song Chengzong and Song Shen were from the same place and knew each other since childhood. They were also sold to the Cao family together.
"Sigh, I hope I can rest for half a day. I'm still sleepy. Lu Shan snores like thunder every night."
He was referring to another tall boy who was walking at the front. This boy was about the same age as Song Shen and Song Chengzong, but half a head taller than them. Song Chengzong only dared to chatter behind his back and would never dare to say anything to their faces.
Muttering to themselves, they arrived at the courtyard of the side room.
There were already quite a few teenagers standing inside. A tall, thin man stood on the steps, glanced around, and said, "Close the door."
Song Shen quickly closed the courtyard gate and stood in the courtyard with the others.
"You are all the lowest-ranking servants. If it weren't for this windfall, you would be stuck here like animals for the rest of your lives. But you're lucky. Now an opportunity is before you. If you seize it, you will have a chance to become human!"
After speaking, he glanced casually at the young men present, marking his first time getting to know and observe them.
Listening to the man's impassioned speech, Song Shen asked Song Chengzong, "And who is this?"
Song Chengzong, however, knew a bit more than Song Shen. "This is the famous Second-Class Bodyguard, Master Zhang Long. He's usually in charge of patrolling our warehouse area. You didn't know that?"
Song Shen was shocked upon hearing this. Hiss... A dragon, that's a symbol of an emperor!
Song Chengzong, standing to the side, looked at Song Shen as if he were a fool. However, what was truly inspiring was the content of Zhang Long's words.
Learn martial arts!
They actually had this kind of opportunity!
Upon hearing the words "change your destiny," every young man present felt a surge of excitement, automatically ignoring all other information.
The servants summoned this time were all teenagers, just over ten years old, at the age when they loved to dream. Hearing the guard's words, none of them didn't have all sorts of wild fantasies.
"You were all sent here when you were young, so you're reliable and we know you well. The master said he's making an exception this time and will select a few promising young men from among you to serve as guards and servants for the Cao family. Once you pass this stage, you'll be able to eat big white flour buns and won't have to do laundry, sweep, or carry firewood every day!"
Servants and servants may seem similar, but there's a world of difference between them.
Within a large clan like the Cao family, not only are there strict hierarchies among its members, but even the other members who make up the family's power are clearly divided.
Ordinary servants were simply doing odd jobs. They were the master's private property and had no human rights whatsoever. They basically just worked every day, and the master could kill a servant if he was in a bad mood.
However, even a third-class guard, such as a servant with a stick, is considered a human being. As for a second-class guard, not only are they considered human, but they also receive a considerable monthly wage. As for how prestigious the first-class and above family retainers must be, these cattle and horses simply cannot imagine it.
"Master Zhang, is it really true? We...we can also learn martial arts?"
Zhang Long turned his gaze to the trembling youth: "Would I, Zhang, lie? But don't be too happy yet. Martial arts isn't something just anyone can do. You poor bastards don't have much money. Only those with real talent and a willingness to work hard have a chance!"
"Starting today, I will teach you stance training. As long as you can sense the flow of qi and blood, your identities will be changed on the same day! The master is kind-hearted, so for the next month, each of you will be provided with a bowl of nourishing soup every day. Practice well!"
After saying this, he no longer worried that these kids wouldn't work hard in their cultivation.
Hope is undoubtedly a terrible poison. For these lowly boys, who are down to their wits' end, no one would not try their best to climb up if there was even the slightest chance.
Song Shen was the same.
Seeing the burning desire in the eyes of these young men, Zhang Long knew it was time to start teaching them the real stuff.
"Alright, now I'll practice the Hunyuan stance completely once to learn properly!"
After speaking, Zhang Long demonstrated the entire stance training method. Everyone present watched attentively, afraid of missing a single detail. After demonstrating the stance training, Zhang Long said, "Now, you should all do what I just did."
Hunyuan Zhuang is very simple, with only five movements.
But as the saying goes, "What is easy for the skilled is difficult for the unskilled." The key is to seamlessly integrate subtle movements, breathing, and intention, achieving resonance between breath and movement, ultimately generating qi and blood...
It's a simple process that's enough to screen out 90% of new scholars.
"It would be good if two or three of these kids showed up."
Zhang Long has been through it all; he can tell at a glance who has talent and who is a fool.
A talented person can move forward with just one action, driven by their innate physical abilities, while an untalented person, no matter how hard they try, cannot achieve what those gifted individuals do so effortlessly.
"Lu Shan and Liu Zhan are both good."
Zhang Long glanced at them and realized that the two boys were in good shape. He could tell just by looking at their movements, especially Liu Zhan, who might reach his level someday.
There were over fifty of these kids, and having two of them was already quite good.
Talent is something that shines brightly, hidden beneath meaningless sand.
As for the others...
Zhang Long's gaze swept around and finally landed on the particularly serious-looking young man standing at the very back left. Upon seeing this young man, Zhang Long couldn't help but laugh.
"Of average appearance, neither outstanding nor lacking. If I had been born into a wealthy family, I might have had a chance, but now... it's difficult!"
He sat there all afternoon, but every time his gaze fell on that kid, Zhang Long would pay attention for a while.
"His comprehension is not bad, but unfortunately, his physical talent is too poor."