Two days, and two nights. The hardworking laborers had expended all of their effort and suffered uncountable trauma to construct a shelter capable of protecting eighty people from the accursed winter rain, and the stone roof was placed onto the tall walls at the brink of daybreak. With the overhead structure in place, the men quickly sought to finish the task before more rain could seep into the interior of the shelter.
The wooden beams were installed to hold the ceiling of stone in place, and the notches were filled and sealed with the bonding agent.
The constant hammering and grunts by the working men caused many to arouse from their sleep. Awakened by the noise, as they glanced upon a completed shelter and graced with the thought of not having to suffer from the rain, cause many a smile to alight the darkened chamber.
They silently prayed as the rain began to cease, and broke into tears at the gleaming rays of sun overhead.
They bowed towards the dazzling golden rays struck with a shade of crimson ember, and they bowed towards their husbands, sons, and fathers who had sacrificed much of their vitality to shield themselves from the heavens’ curse.
“Who’s making such noise so early in the morning?”
The joys of many women and children were dashed to the ground in cold blood as several Young Masters and Young Misses grumpily rose to their feet, their countenances aflush with annoyance and anger. They shook at their exquisite boots and fanciful slippers that had been considerably frayed and distorted by the accumulated rain, and their hurts stung with grievance.
“Now that the shelter has been completed, let us begin by cleaning the area, no?”
The umbrellas had expended their last breath during the night, and the aristocratic youths were left with not much more than the clothes on their bodies, accessories, and a sharp sword or knife sheathed at their waist. With cross expressions, they gestured with their sheathed weapons to cajole and prod the disgruntled and exhausted common people into beginning the cleaning process.
The men lacked the strength to adequately accomplish much except for falling unconscious, leaving many women and children to flush all of the accumulated rainwater from inside the shelter. To compensate for the dire lack of rags, many male children and teenagers stripped themselves of their outer tunics to soak at the numerous pools.
An Fei watched as the youth surnamed Song, with a brutal expression on his fair countenance, forced a maiden to remove her sash to clean the stone floor around his feet. The Young Master pressed the girl onto her knees as she cleaned, and watched the disgraceful spectacle with a cold disdain suffused in his eyes.
“There are only seven aristocrats, and nearly eighty commoners. Why do they not rebel?”
The young girl turned to face the elderly man who was watching with great interest, and displayed a disappointed expression on her countenance. The elderly man merely chuckled in response, and gestured towards the fringe of the ruined city.
“Why should they rebel? These naughty and detestable youths have the utmost support from the truly powerful beings of this city,” the aching hands jabbed at several remnants of buildings in the distance.
“Some of these Young Masters and Young Misses have connections with the immortal cultivators. The common people wish to survive, not make themselves a martyr for no gain in particular. They have no motivation to surpass the burden of ungratefulness towards a long-established benefactor.”
“Since they wish to survive, they will put up with endless amounts of humiliation? Was it not your words that they will sacrifice without hesitation to live on to see the next day?”
An Fei crossed her arms and jabbed her gaze in the direction of another Young Master who had occupied himself with the sacred task of snatching an entire jar’s worth of wine. The people expressed their outrage at the matter that could easily slake the thirsts of several dozen, but were quelled into silence by the words of the young girl surnamed Han.
“Look, while he steals wine, another forcefully seizes meat from a little girl,” An Fei revealed a cold sneer.
“Should the people decide to rebel, either Young Miss Han will emerge to seduce them into peacefulness with several temptations and promises on her father’s behalf, or a few of them will emerge with blades drawn to silence any resistance. How are they to survive with seven gluttonous, insatiable parasites draining at their meagre resources?”
The elderly man paused his breath to carefully scrutinize the young girl, and his eyes narrowed into thin slits. When his indecipherable gaze had withdrawn, the words that emerged struck the young girl at her weakest chord.
“You think from a perspective of pride. A pride that you do not have, that you have never owned nor shall you ever grasp.”
“Y-you –!”
“They only need to survive for a week, and the immortal cultivators shall come to their aid. How long do you think a human body can last without food or water?” the elderly man slammed the stick in his grasp onto the ground.
“Three days is the minimum they can survive with neither food nor water. Indeed, they will rebel and protest against these youths to repossess their rightfully scavenged wine and meat. However, they will not attempt to overthrow the influence of the aristocrats.”
“Their primary objective is survival. When the basis of their supplies and construction relies from the efforts of the privileged, the rich, to gather such materials for their use – what kind of survival requires for them to rebel in earnest? Baseless things such as pride and dignity – certainly, they form our consciousness and identity, but what use do they have when attempting to survive? Can they acquire the materials, the food and water to prevent us from dying of thirst or starvation?”
The words battered at An Fei’s heart, and nearly forced several dozen unpleasant memories to arise and overcome her thoughts. The young girl remained silent as she directed a cold, resentful stare towards the elderly man.
The latter, on the other hand, took no further attention to her and instead continued to watch the Young Masters and Young Misses give reign to their desires with great relish. The wizened eyes sparkled with great wisdom and knowledge of the past, and sported the cruel and indifferent interest of observing a moment of history.
For the next five days, An Fei spoke not a single word to the elderly man. She stood in the same place with the tenacity of a worn-down statue as she observed the parasitical actions of the Young Masters and Young Misses of Bei Tang. The more she witnessed the people continue to grit their teeth and tolerate, the scarlet irises flickered with a dull, indecipherable gleam.
The aristocratic youths were indeed parasites true to their nature, and were corrupted to the extent that they didn’t even bother attempting to conceal their personas underneath a righteous guise. They pillaged the meagre stores of food and wine that remained, occupied the majority of the space within the shelter for their personal use, and treated the young men and women as servants.
They sequestered the majority of the shelter’s supplies into their possession utilizing Young Miss Han’s rhetoric of their Fathers’ original ownership over the resources invested into the shelter itself, and had divided the previously united eighty citizens. Using the conquered supplies of food and wine as bait, they forced the weak-willed to submit.
Those who refused to obey the will of the Young Masters and Young Misses found their supply of wine and meat reduced to a single cup of wine and two slabs of jerky a day, whilst those who submitted received more meat and wine per meal than they had consumed over the previous days.
Those who were rational and could suppress their urges could tolerate the reduced sustenance and survive through the remaining five days. On the other hand, others who were younger and required more resources to survive or couldn’t stomach the gnawing and uncomfortable sensation of biting hunger and the parchedness of thirst readily sacrificed themselves to become the servants and maids of seven youths.
The male ‘servants’ were forced to bear the brunt of the physical exertion when the Young Masters and Young Misses explored the damaged street for leisure, and the females were forced to serve as bedwarmers for the Young Masters at nighttime. As the days went by, An Fei witnessed the anger and resentment of the common people rise and break through tolerable limit after limit, but also observed the great restraint the people of Bei Tang held over their actions.
They watched as their wives and daughters were caressed and fondled by other men, but could only suppress their anger as the aristocratic youths had yet to cross the final line. The Young Masters enjoyed their great fill of lust and debauchery without breaking the final threshold, and took great pleasure in the resentment and hatred that repeatedly quenched and blew itself out.
They indulged in wine, pleasure, and food whilst sparing little for the deserving. As the elderly man had predicted, the Young Masters and Young Misses had managed to squander the entire shelter’s worth of supplies in four meagre days. The wine had been drunk with great lavish, and the jerky had been squandered and unnecessarily discarded.
Since that there were no longer meat or wine to curb their malicious desires, there was no need for the delicate boundaries of morality to exist before the youths.
