Xu Lin and Xiao shi slowly moved toward the platform

  after the fierce bloody display of liu dali, the big man and the man who could throw fire

  the refugees were completely silent

  no one dared to make a single sound as they moved along the winding path,

  the back-and-forth thundering of hooves and lances and the pounding of feet and the bursts of flame were not so loud now as they were moments ago

  It was as if the world had gone silent all at once,

  the faint crickets became silent and the wind seemed to stop, even though it was still there rustling the leaves and birds were not tweeting, in fact, there was no bird song

  The people who were walking slowly now were only standing their ground they weren't scared and they weren't running away.

  Some of them were actually smiling.

  With an icy breeze, they just moved along

  soon they had climbed up the steep and narrow stairs to the platform through a very arduous journey that took a huge amount of time and effort as they moved from one side of the hill to the next

  There was an enormous crowd of around twenty-thousand refugees.

  Although they were almost a quarter now of the original number,

  the number of refugees who had remained here was very desolate looking men now

  by the time Xu lin reached the platform his legs were shivering uncontrollably

  he had the worst time reaching the podium,

  he was so scared his legs couldn't hold his weight and he fell on his behind and had to climb back up to stand on his feet

  on more than one occasion he had nearly fallen down to his death

  On the podium, the crowd was forming a square as they neatly stood in the position

  Xu lin barely made it to his position and

  even before he even had time to catch his breath

  a white light flashed

  and his whole world became disoriented

  it was as if all the world was upside down,

  his head began to spin then a sharp pain arose from his legs

  then the pain spread all over his body as he fell down on the floor

  as soon as he came to his sense

  a wave of nausea attacked him and he began to vomit the steam bun he had eaten for breakfast this morning

  it was a long while before he was able to get up

  But when he did he was one of the first few to do so.

  Xu Lin was a leader and he was determined if nothing else

  Xu lin began stretching out to his full extent,

  his fave seemed to shine even more in the light of his new surrounding

  he was a handsome beautiful boy by any standard the only thing was he was too thin

  Xiao shi was still on the ground clutching his head and moaning loudly.

  But Xiao shi was also slowly recovering, he began to move his arms and legs a little

  and because he was still afraid of putting pressure on his head he began to stay still

  Xu Lin looked around he was on a platform but gone was the white colour floor

  gone was the clear blue sky the tall hill

  the thatched huts instead,

  he was now standing on a different black platform

  surrounded by a very magical scenery there were giant red coloured buildings

  all around him, beautiful red mountains rising into the skies from the high hills of the mountain

  there was not a trace of green grass nor a single tree.

  Everything was red and gloomy,

  no trees or plants were seen anywhere in sight.

  But that didn't stop people from enjoying the sight.

  Xu Lin's legs began to shake and he tried to stand up but failed miserably.

  He then looked around and saw that the platform was surrounded by a circle of red stones.

  The stones were all very large and were all red.

  There were many red stones scattered around the platform.

  They were all very big and were all red. soon he heard a rough gruff voice

  " come along now quickly form a line we don't have much time"

  Xu lin once again tried to get this time he was successful

  but his legs were still trembling

  as he made his way toward his friend and helped him stand up as well

  He reached out and grabbed Xiao shi shoulders and whispered to him

  "let's go"

  Xiao shi nodded, immediately stood up and the two of them went in the direction of the sound,

  there were a lot of red stones in front of them and they were all very large and red.

  Xu lin didn't like the way the ground seemed to curve in and out beneath his feet like he was moving down a staircase but without a handrail.

  And yet he could still see the two of them making their way through the red stones Xiao shi wasn't moving faster than normal it almost seemed like he was slow and he was beginning to feel tired

  but Xu lin noticed the crowd was moving in a certain direction

  so the boys joined the flow

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  soon they found themselves standing in front of a fat jolly man sitting on a table with a dozen paper scrolls spread out in front of him

  as he wrote in them with gusto he raised his head and glanced at the children before going back to his work

  Xu Lin and Xiao Shi stood still not sure what to do

  "Age," the man asked sternly

  "We both are 13," Xiao shi said before Xu lin could think or do anything

  the man looked up and pointed at Xiao Shi

  "you place your hand on the table"

  Xiao shi was stared but nodded timidly and placed his hand on the table

  as he sod so gold red, brown and green colours began to appear from Xiao Shi's hands in a blink of an eye,

  soon Xiao shi's entire hands were emitting the colours

  " a 4 elements spirit root low grade, from now on you are a handyman here is your identity token to go to the right side," he said in a business-like voice

  "next, you boy come place your hand on the table"

  Xu Lin excitedly placed his hands on the table

  he had heard from the man called Liu dali

  that if they were chosen to be handymen they could learn the martial skills and gain

  strength

  with that type of strength, he would be able to protect his father

  but as he placed his hand on the table no light came out nothing happened

  the longer nothing happens further Xu lin heart sank

  "no spiritual roots you are not qualified to become a handyman you are too thin for the forest or the fields to the mines then here is your token leave to the left"

  Xu Lin wanted to speak

  he wanted to question the man

  about the why he was here

  he wanted to ask so many questions

  about why he was not qualified

  about the mines

  about his future

  and most important of all when he could go back to his father

  he wanted to ask about the light

  but as soon as he opened his mouth he felt his head hurting like hell.

  Xu Lin's headache was overwhelming him and he could only mumble a very weak

  "Please master let me be a handyman I am strong and sturdy"

  The man saw this and smiled at him in a friendly manner as he went on writing in his scrolls

  Not bothering to answer the trembling boy

  After a while, he raised his head and saw everyone looking around at each other in confusion and the boy still standing there He gave out a heavy sigh and smiled at the boy

  "forget about everything and leave to your left,"

  the man said in a cold voice that did not match his smile

  something in the words of the man made Xu Lin lose all his strength and feeling.

  With a feeling that he had always dreamt of,

  to gain strength which was now washing far away

  Xu Lin turned to leave,

  he quietly and timidly walked to the left

  as soon as he went a few steps

  another white light flashed and he felt himself being transported

  this time it lasted a few seconds longer

  when he came to his sense he was lying on a red platform

  The world was spinning around him there were white with red streaks and sparks flying in the air

  and he could feel his stomaching churning once again

  He started feeling really sick as if he was about to vomit

  He did what he could sit on his knees he vomited out all his blood then his body went still and slack

  Xu Lin heard ruffling of footsteps as some came and stood beside him

  He felt as if An ominous figure had come and raised his arm and slashed the air sucking up all the joy in the world

  " another fresh beautiful face"

  a voice sounded out the voice was so creepy and disgusting that Xu Lin felt as if his soul was going to be ripped from his body

  he slowly opened his eyes

  But his head was throbbing badly that he was seeing things that were there, to begin with

  and what he saw almost made him wet his pants

  the scene was very familiar everything was the same

  but it was more horrifying than the last time

  the bright red blood was everywhere

  as all, he could do was watch helplessly as his friends got killed right in front of his eyes.

  All of them were dead

  his friends were all dead

  he couldn't move

  he couldn't cry

  he couldn't scream

  he was back at his village where Su kingdom's soldiers rampaged and looted everything

  but soon the memory faded away as Xu Lin shook his head to clear his mind and when he looked again he was shocked by what he saw

  there was a giant tall man with ghostly pale white skin with deep blue eyes and fluffy brilliant pink hair

  He was dressed in a satin robe like a priest and he stood with a huge stick that he was using to probe the ground

  Xu Lin watched as the man searched and poked the ground

  "You are a little too old for my taste but oh well mergers can't be choosers," he said in a low voice

  and stretched out his hand to pet the boy When Xu Lin realized this, he jumped off the platform and stood tall

  "Oh really? What are you going to do to me now little boy?" the man said

  Xu Lin backed away even with his condition he was trying to escape

  the pink-haired man gave a creepy smile and stretched out his hand as if asking for candy

  " your token"

  "my what?" Xu Lin panicked

  "What is it?" The man said mockingly

  "you don't have a token"

  ."tsk, tsk that is not good"

  "you cannot hide your face can you little boy? You really are a little too old for this trade but oh well traders can't be choosers"

  the man gave a soft chuckle while messaging his temples

  "I will repeat again your token and if you don't have one then you will have to spend the nights with me," he said

  And then the man lewdly began scratching his crotch

  as he made eye contact with Xu Lin

  Xu lin who had backed away nervously watching the scene fell on his back

  "So boy did they give you token or not "

  The words of the man quickly registered in Xu Lin's mind as Xu lin hurriedly took out the token he was given

  "Oh, no" the man made a sad face

  He reluctantly took the token from the trembling hands of the boy

  " ah, and here I thought I would get to have some fun"

  Xu Lin looked up to see a close-up of the man's crotch.

  He saw something disgusting and sickly looking It was blood and slime,

  he started feeling queasy as if he was about to throw up.

  The man then sneered as he tossed back the token to the fallen Xu lin

  "Come on now get up, good now come with me"

  Xu Lin quietly got on his quivering legs and followed the giant man

  As the man with pink hair led

  Xu Lin noticed a few things

  They were in a canyon of sorts

  "This must be the mines" Xu Lin murdered to himself softly

  The man stopped and walked over to Xu Lin and began examining him

  "oh cute you are talking to yourself how cute"

  .a shiver ran down Xu Lin's back

  "Now, you must say something,"

  he said while twirling his pink hair

  "But what can you say"

  "oh, I know,"

  "Just say whatever comes to your mind."

  Xu Lin watched the man with distrust

  "Oh never mind if you don't want to"

  He rebegan leading Xu lin

  Xu lin divided to ignore the man

  and focus on his new surroundings

  he quickly noticed his surroundings

  the sound of the tunnel seemed to echo off the walls as they walked.

  He heard a sound of breaking stone and when he turned around to see what was making the noise

  he saw two goons with a giant sickle beating down on the biggest red rock he had ever seen

  And all around there was nothing except red sand everywhere

  There hills made of sand and some distance was a giant mountain with hundreds of holes all around,

  they seemed to have been dug out the holes

  He could hear the two men conversing and they seemed to be asking another giant man with green hair about some operation

  As he got he saw more of the mines

  hundreds of thousands of people diligently

  working to carry out sand bricks and another object that Xu Lin did not recognise

  Most of the people were young and strong he also my other kind of people he had never seen before most of them barely covered their body with clothes most were working naked

  He saw a worker carrying a bag of sand

  He saw another worker sitting on the floor of a cave eating something

  then blanched as he saw a man with a red scarf walking down with a coin in his hand

  Xu Lin noticed the man with a red scarf was bleeding he was heavily injured But no one was coming forward to help

  then He saw various giant pale white men with different hair colours ratling and smashing their wips at the workers

  Xu lin felt his heart become heavy

  He thought he was going to be the next one to be crushed in that pit

  Xu lin was silently observing the scene

  Suddenly he sensed the man had stopped walking in front of him

  He turned around to look forward they were standing in front of a black dark cave entrance

  "This is your room good luck" the man simply smiled and then turned around and left Xu Lin

  Xu Lin walked inside the cave

  it was surprisingly well lit up

  there were two-bed rolls sprawled on the floor

  with a giant orb of light floating around illuminating the entire cave

  Xu Lin was mesmerised by the beautiful orb

  then he began to look around and suddenly froze

  in the far corner of the cave, there sat a young boy

  no older than him at least that was the way Xu lin felt about the boy's age

  the boy was sitting crosslegged with his eyes closed shut

  and his hand joined in prayer

  Xu Lin could hear a faint chanting coming from the boy's mouth

  at first, Xu Lin thought that the boy was a girl because of his beautiful black long lustrous hair swaying around him

  but then he noticed that the boy was shirtless and his flat chest and strong muscles Xu lin decided this was a boy

  Xu Lin decided to approach the and went towards him when he came to the distance of 2 feet he stopped

  Xu Lin began to feel uneasy as he further noticed the scars on the boy's body

  the boy was riddled with thousands of them

  the scares were all different types of scars

  ranging from small ones to big ones they were all over his body

  and most of them were old scars some of the cuts were so shallow and tiny that they almost disappeared into the skin

  others had been torn open recently leaving behind deep seeded scars

  the boy did not look like a normal boy

  his nails were extremely long

  the boy's fingers were long and thick there were also scared ridden

  each finger was painted red as if with dried blood

  the finger joints were red

  there were also many scars all over his arms, legs, stomach and face

  Xu Lin couldn't take it anymore he had to look away from the boy

  so he did so

  after some time the chants stopped Xu Lin turned around only to find the boy staring at him

  he could feel a heavy weight in his heart as he felt anxiety and fear rise within him

  he felt his blood run cold

  the boy had no eyes