Shackles of Humanity

A long time later, sharp pains shooting through his body jolted Luo Kai awake again. He knew he had survived because now, he could feel pain.

The old fisherman went up the mountain every day to find medicinal herbs. He would grind them into a paste, smear it all over Luo Kai’s body, and wrap him tightly in bandages. The man’s kind gaze reminded him of his own father.

In the days that followed, pain was his constant companion. His injuries were truly severe; not a single part of his body was unscathed. A piece of shrapnel had even blown a hole in his backside, leaving the bone exposed. All his wounds, swollen and inflamed from soaking in seawater, had become a home for various insects.

This was a poor Small Fishing Village, home to only about a dozen families who survived by farming. The land near the sea was mostly saline-alkali soil, so the harvests were predictably meager. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to fish, but the coastal fish populations had dwindled over the years, making it difficult to get a good catch.

The old fisherman was a man of few words and didn’t even have a name; everyone just called him ”the Cripple.” His life was clearly difficult. To fill Luo Kai’s ravenous stomach, he spent his days borrowing grain from all over, which made Luo Kai feel a pang of guilt. ’I’ll have to wait until I’ve recovered to properly repay him,’ he thought.

After more than a year in this world, Luo Kai finally had his first full meal. His stomach was like a bottomless pit. He devoured the entire contents of the rice crock in one sitting—food that would normally last the old fisherman a week—and he ate it raw. He hadn’t expected to have such an appetite. The raw rice was completely digested shortly after he ate it, without even causing any bloating.

With sufficient food, his body’s Recovery speed increased severalfold. After about half a month, he was able to get out of bed and walk around.

One day, Luo Kai clenched his fists, feeling that much of his strength had returned. He used a crutch to make his way to the fields to watch the old fisherman dig an irrigation ditch.

The old fisherman’s home was a dilapidated, rubble-stone courtyard on a small hillside. In front of it lay a paddy field where the rice stalks were wilting from the high salt content of the soil. In the backyard grew a few acres of coffee trees and tobacco plants. It wasn’t harvest season yet, so the coffee beans were still green and unripe.

Food is the first necessity of the people, and it was clear the old fisherman had poured his heart and soul into this paddy field. The ground was sandy and full of small rocks that had to be cleared away first. Then, fertile black soil had to be carried over from elsewhere before any crops could be planted. Rice is a thirsty crop, so he also had to dig a ditch nearly two or three li long to channel water from the river for irrigation.

Seeing Luo Kai approach, the old fisherman grinned at him and patted the ridge of the field, gesturing for him to sit. He took a drag from his long-stemmed pipe and began to tell his story.

The old fisherman had no wife or children and suffered from severe rheumatism. Without effective treatment, it had left him with a lame leg. He had only one younger brother. When the family property was divided, the old fisherman gave the house and land to his brother, who had a wife and children to support. He himself found a barren hilltop, built a house, and reclaimed the land in front and behind his courtyard into fertile fields. As he said this, he stood up and pointed to the fields at his feet, his wrinkled old face filled with pride.

And so, Luo Kai temporarily settled in at the old fisherman’s house. His body recovered quickly, and before long, he was helping the old man in the fields. He knew nothing at first but was a remarkably fast learner, soon becoming an expert farmer.

Time passed, and Luo Kai’s injuries finally healed completely. He had so much boundless energy with no outlet that he decided to help the old fisherman reclaim the surrounding wasteland. The work was not easy. First, he had to clear away all the large stones using a wicker basket, then carry fertile black soil from a forest three kilometers away to enrich the land.

Luo Kai slept only two or three hours a day. He worked under the scorching sun during the day and by moonlight at night, shuttling back and forth between the forest and the small courtyard. Two months later, the wasteland around the courtyard was covered in black soil, and the old fisherman had planted it full of fruit trees.

Most of the young people in the Small Fishing Village worked elsewhere—some in city factories, others on large farms. Only the old, the weak, women, and children remained. The villagers all knew that old ”Cripple” had taken in a strong worker, and they often came by to ask Luo Kai for help. The fishermen were simple and honest people; after he finished a job, they would always give him food like dried fish and cured meat.

Whenever the two were together, the old fisherman loved to ramble on, passing down his knowledge: how to cure tobacco leaves, the medicinal properties of herbs, techniques for spearfishing, how to hand-grind fragrant coffee, how to brew fruit wine, and more.

The household registration system in this world was quite thorough. A person like Luo Kai, who couldn’t even explain where he came from, naturally attracted attention. The village chief discussed the matter with the old fisherman for a long time. Finally, after the old fisherman paid a price of ten jin of tobacco, the chief agreed to help Luo Kai get registered.

In truth, the villagers had already guessed Luo Kai’s origins. The scar branded on his chest—”9527”—gave him away. In this world, only two types of people bore such a mark: slaves and prisoners. The first case wasn’t so bad, as the laws of the Xingma Kingdom had long since forbidden the slave trade, though enforcement was very difficult.

Industry was not yet widespread in this world, making population an extremely important resource. Generally, the ones who kept slaves were the large-scale Farmers. This class of people controlled the entire nation’s grain trade, so while the slave trade was officially forbidden, it still ran rampant in the shadows.

The villagers all believed Luo Kai was an escaped slave from one of the large farms. In this world, slaves had an extremely low status and were truly pitiful.

Luo Kai’s identity was soon processed. His proof of identity was an iron plaque that stated his age and household registration. Since Luo Kai himself didn’t know his actual age, he just made up that he was eighteen. His registration was filed under the old fisherman, making him the old man’s adopted son in terms of kinship.

With a super-worker like Luo Kai around, the old fisherman was finally able to take it easy. He spent his days fishing by the sea. His skill was excellent, and he always came back with a catch. Of course, most of that catch ended up in Luo Kai’s stomach. Ever since his injuries had healed, his appetite had grown larger and larger. If he wasn’t able to do the work of several men, the old fisherman probably wouldn’t have been able to afford to feed him.

Gradually, Luo Kai’s pole-thin body grew strong. A year passed, and he grew a few more centimeters, reaching about one meter ninety. His once-immature face became resolute. His developed muscles were chiseled and defined, and the crisscrossing scars that covered his body gave him a fierce aura. In appearance, he looked like a character straight out of a comic book.

This body’s energy was simply too abundant. Perhaps it was because he had slept for so long over the past year that now, having regained his freedom, he was no longer willing to sleep.

He slept only two or three hours a day. If he woke up with nothing to do, he would become extremely agitated. Regular farm work was no longer enough to satisfy his surplus of energy.

Eventually, he simply began the Cultivation of the most basic of Body Techniques: ”Skin Refining.” He wore only a pair of shorts, going shirtless regardless of the heat or cold. Prolonged exposure to the sun turned his skin dark and glossy, radiating an explosive Power that was visible at a glance.