Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 287 The Distant "Civilized Land"

Changzhou, in the southern part of the wilderness, outside the Feng clan.

The scorching sun baked the earth. Ah Zhi licked his chapped lips, hesitated for a while, and then carefully took out a milky white fruit from his bosom.

He tilted his head back, broke the fruit open, and squeezed out a small amount of juice.

The meager amount of milky white sap was like a godsend, instantly soothing Ah Zhi, whose body was practically cracking from the heat. He swallowed a mouthful of sap with satisfaction before stuffing the crushed fruit pulp into his mouth.

After doing all this, he continued walking with heavy steps toward a river a dozen miles away.

He was a slave of a shaman from the Feng clan. His master had the right to use the Ying River, so as a water-fetching slave, he had to fetch enough water for his master to irrigate the exotic flowers and plants in his master's garden.

The Feng clan is not a sect, but one of the largest tribes in the Changzhou wilderness area.

Unlike sects that consist entirely of cultivators, the tribes in the desolate region include both cultivators and ordinary mortals. They live together and struggle to survive on this barren and arid land.

The monks in these tribes are not called monks; they all have a special title: "shamans."

The shaman possesses the ability to communicate with heaven and earth, see the future, manipulate thunder and fire, and even bring the dead back to life. Among the many tribes in the wilderness, the shaman's status is even higher than that of the tribal chief.

The Feng clan numbered over ten thousand, scattered throughout the southern part of the desolate wilderness. Further west was the Xin clan, and further southwest, across a strait, to Yanzhou, lay the largest clan, the Suiming clan.

As the name suggests, Liuhuang refers to a desolate, arid region with extremely scarce resources. It covers the southern part of Changzhou and the northern part of Yanzhou, and is one of the most remote continents from Zhongzhou.

Harsh living conditions gave rise to even more brutal and tightly structured groups: clans and tribes.

If cultivation sects use the master-disciple lineage as the core of power flow, then the tribes in the desolate region, like the ancient Chinese civilization on Earth, use blood ties to exchange power.

Azhi's mother was a slave, so he is also a slave. If he has any descendants, they will also be slaves, generation after generation, without change.

As a slave, he also had special survival skills.

When the sun's rays were no longer so intense and the ground was no longer scorching hot, Azhi appeared outside the Feng clan's village gate, carrying the tangled water bags.

This is a lazy method he has developed over many years.

As a water-fetching slave, his daily task was to fetch water. However, the Ying River was too far away, and according to the quota assigned by the foreman, he had to make three or four arduous trips to barely get enough water. So, he managed to get a "water storage bag" from another slave, a kind of "magical device" that could hold a lot of water. This way, he only needed to make one trip to get the water he needed.

Therefore, he would wander outside for a long time each time before returning at the appointed time, pretending that he was constantly working—after all, a steward had to watch over dozens of slaves, and it was impossible to keep an eye on each slave at the same time.

Today, Ah Zhi returned home as usual, but found that the atmosphere seemed rather heavy and strange.

He didn't think much of it, assuming that some slave had made a mistake and was being cooked and eaten by the other slaves.

This was also a custom of the Feng clan.

If slaves disobeyed, their masters could dispose of them as they pleased, often by cooking them and then feeding them to the other slaves. This saved them a meal and served as a deterrent. For many dazed and confused slaves, this was considered a rare "feast"!

Ah Zhi had also shared food with other slaves, but after eating, he felt nauseous and vomited. He was very sad and didn't understand why. Perhaps it was because his mother, whose appearance he had gradually forgotten, had also been cooked and eaten because she broke her master's beloved painted porcelain vase.

This time, who knows which unlucky soul will suffer again? Ah Zhi sighed inwardly.

But when he was about to pour the water from the water bag into the water vat as usual, one of the slaves who was also fetching water hurriedly pulled him back and warned, "Ah Zhi! Don't go near the foreman today!"

Before Azhi could ask why, the water-fetching slave hurriedly disappeared.

Ah Zhi couldn't help but frown.

The water-fetching servant was responsible for fetching the well water for his master, and his status was higher than his own. The foreman treated him better than he treated himself. But the foreman was quite nice to him; for example, he had helped him with the skill of making the water bag, which saved him a lot of trouble.

Ah Zhi rarely saw the other party so flustered and anxious, and was somewhat puzzled.

Before he could think any further, he was met by the manager with a dark expression.

The manager muttered under his breath, "All you do is slack off all day long. I'll boil you all alive sooner or later!"

Ah Zhi remembered the warning still echoing in his ears and hurriedly turned his head to avoid it, but it was too late.

The steward asked Ah Zhi, "You! It's you! You're in charge of fetching water, right?"

Ah Zhi nodded blankly.

The manager waved impatiently: "Come with me! Hurry up!"

With that, he strode towards the outer door.

Ah Zhi dared not disobey the manager and followed him closely.

The two walked through the vast garden and came to a wasteland where many slaves had already gathered in a scattered manner. Ah Zhi recognized some of them and did not recognize others; all of them were pale-faced and silent.

The once arrogant steward immediately bowed and fawned upon arriving, saying to a very well-dressed man, "Lord Witch, this is fine too. It will make a total of eighty slaves, and we'll settle the payment together!"

Azhi watched in bewilderment as the beautiful man casually produced a wooden box from somewhere, seemingly containing something precious, and handed it to the steward. The steward, his attitude becoming even more respectful and his expression even more obsequious, accepted the box and left without looking back.

I've been... sold out?
Ah Zhi guessed somewhat blankly.

The buying and selling of slaves was common in the Feng clan, but he had worked under his master for more than ten years and never thought he would be sold.

If I've been sold, who will fetch water for my master?

Ah Zhi stood there blankly, lost in thought, until he was pushed and shoved into a huge ship.

This ship is huge! It's bigger than the largest ship he'd ever seen on the Ying River. Dozens of slaves boarded, and they couldn't even fill a small corner.

Everyone waited anxiously for their future fate. Even Ah Zhi secretly prayed that he could meet a master similar to his former master.

At the very least, do not consume them as sacrifices.