Chapter Forty-Eight: Isu, the Slave
The Kaha Mining Field, the largest gold mining site in the Kemert Kingdom, where more than 30% of the gold of the entire kingdom comes from, and more than 1,000 people are engaged in mining here all year round, which is the purgatory on earth.
The Kaha mining farm is located in a remote location, almost reaching the edge of the Death Desert, there is no farmland, no grassland, only a golden desert, the sun scorches the earth, the rocks are hot, the most famous rock barbecue meat in the area, is made on the open rocks at noon, no need to start a fire, the sun barbecue.
The nearest source of water, ten kilometers away, is a palm-sized spring, which is shared by cattle, sheep, donkeys, and people, who are the kingdom workers of the quarries, not the slaves of the quarries.
Slaves are not people, not even livestock, in fact, they are only talking tools.
The Kaha Mines were home to nearly 800 slaves, who crawled through tunnels the size of dog's caves every day, striking the rock walls with wooden hammers and copper chisels with the faint oil lamps, searching for the golden riches of the world.
The outside was hot and dry, and the tunnels were hot and narrow, and the clanging sound of knocking was carried through the dust to the outside of the cave, accompanied by the sound of coughing from time to time.
In a pit more than 500 meters in diameter and more than 40 meters deep, a group of uncaring slaves carried ore out of the pit with baskets on their backs, the sun scorched their skin, and the dust wrapped the transported slaves, and the overseers waved whips and cursed loudly, driving the slaves to work.
From time to time, someone fell to the ground, falling from a rope ladder of thirty or forty meters, the flesh and blood of the fall were blurred, the overseer was unmoved, and he was not even interested in collecting the body, and the vicious dog would quickly pounce on it to complete the work of collecting the body.
Even so, being able to enjoy the scorching sun outside the pit also made many slaves flock to it, and no one wanted to enter the pit to mine, preferring to be abused by the sun whip rather than choking to death by dust in the pit tunnel.
This is the Kaha mining field, the glory of the empire, the gold coins in the hands of the pharaonic nobles, the statues of the gods, the gods who sheltered the world and the brilliant gold with the blood of the Kaha.
Life here is calculated in days, no matter how old you are this year, everyone will only know that you have lived for a few days, the slaves here, life is like a grasshopper after the autumn, it can't jump for a few days at all, a three-month life cycle, and those who can live for three months are God's favorites.
Every day, a large number of slaves are escorted here to wait for the judgment of death, some of them are prisoners of war, some are criminals, and some are just human misfortunes, so they are sold into slaves and become the most miserable slaves.
Isu climbed out of the pile of dead people with difficulty, leaned on the cliff wall of the Valley of the Dead and tried to pant, Isu's entire back was drenched in blood, the skin was open, no one would think that he could still live, in fact, he should be considered dead, I don't know why he was still panting.
Isu is a warrior of the Kingdom of Babel, he is only twenty-seven years old this year, and he has a virtuous wife and lovely son at home, so he must have been running all over the ground by now, right? Isu is a soldier of the Kingdom of Babel, and he was destined to fight for the king from birth.
Three years ago, Isu was captured in battle with the kingdom of Ashur, and since then he has been a slave in various places, from the military camp of the Ashur kingdom, to the port of Terros, to the warehouse of Lily Harbor, and to the Kaha mining field of the hell on earth.
It's only been a month since Isu came here, and the once strong and upright warrior has been tortured to only a handful of bones, and Isu has thought about escaping, but where to escape from this boundless desert?
The guards of the mining grounds and vicious dogs would pounce at any moment and bite to death any slave who dared to escape, and Isu was almost desperate, resigned to his fate, and even expected death.
Anyway, if you don't want to live, you can die happily, but that big-eyed little boy doesn't deserve to die? How old is he? seven, eight, or ten? He looks so thin, why is there a child in such a cruel mining field?
Such a young child can't do this kind of work at all, and sending it to the mining site is killing people, and there are many ways to kill people, why use this evil method?
The big-eyed little boy is also from the Kingdom of Babel, and the dust of the sky cannot hide his delicate face, and even in this harsh hell on earth, his eyes still radiate an unyielding light.
The unyielding soul can only be exchanged for vicious abuse, and will slowly turn into a human body under the scorching sun, Isu can't help it, and always looks for an opportunity to give the little boy a little water to drink, but this can't save the fate of death, Isu begs the overseer to give mercy to the little boy and spare the little boy, in exchange for a beating.
"You damn stinking slave, nosy, this guy has offended our chief, and this is what will happen to him!" roared the overseer, whipping his whip.
"He's still a child, save him, right? You also have children, if the injustice of the god of fate has brought us to this point, shouldn't the world be merciful?" Isu pleaded under the whip.
"Hey...... You're a stinking slave, an inferior person in the kingdom of Babel, and that's how you should be, we're the people of the great kingdom. "The overseer stepped up his efforts to whip Yzu.
Isu understands that there is no mercy here, not even a child. Well, it is better to die than to die under the minions of the beast, or to lie under the light of the sun god.
Isu found an opportunity, desperate to rescue the big-eyed little boy and run away with him, how could he escape? No water, no food, weak body, the final result is only to be captured again.
Isu was beaten to death, and when she woke up again, she was already in the pile of dead people in the valley, where flies, scorpions, vipers, vultures, hyenas, and wild cats were their feast, and there was so much food that they were not interested in attacking a half-dead person, and it was more convenient for a dead person.
Isu struggled to climb to the edge, leaning against the cliff face and waiting for death to come.
The bright moonlight in the dark night did not give the slightest comfort, only an evil smile, and in a coma, Isu heard a faint voice coming, and a thin figure in the moonlight wandered among the dead people.
Isu wasn't interested, he just wanted to sleep for a while, and it would be better to sleep to death, but the serious injury made him cough.
The thin figure followed the voice, the big-eyed little boy? Isu thought he was wrong, he was still alive, dressed in a sleek dress?
The big-eyed boy found Izuy and sent the skin to Izu's mouth, cool water, Izu swallowed greedily, and drank a sip of sweet water before dying.
The little boy's unyielding eyes disappeared in the moonlight, and there was only helpless sadness.
"I know you're not dead, and I told them to leave you in the Valley of the Dead. ”
Izuku struggled to speak, but couldn't.
"Don't speak, don't ask me why, as long as you try to survive, the gods will favor you. ”
If so, please grant me death, Isu thought to herself.
"I'll take you to a small cave next to it, you live there temporarily, I'll find a way to bring you water and food, you just need to be patient and heal, and once your body recovers, find a way to get out of here, understand?"
The little boy didn't care whether Isu understood or not, he dragged Isu to the small cave with his thin body, the little boy simply cleaned Isu's wounds, bandaged them with linen, left a large piece of bread and a skin of water, and said, "I'm going back, you have to work hard to live, there is hope if you live, and I will come to see you!"
Isu hid in the small cave for a month with trepidation, the little boy would come every few days to give him some food and water, and the little one was now handsome and beautiful again, and Isu never asked the little boy how he was doing?
Izu knew that the little one could live at least for now, and she knew that the little one wanted to live.
It's just that every time she sees the little boy's gloomy face, Isu still can't help but want to cry.
The chief of the Kaha mining farm is a fat and greasy fellow, who rarely appears in the mines, and occasionally comes to the mine with a bunch of people carrying sedan chairs, and the desperate fan of the maid on the side still can't stop the sweat of the fat man.
Since the gods do not allow themselves to die, then they must live bravely, only by living can there be hope, and only by living can they see the oily belly.
The little boy hadn't been here for a week, something was wrong, I don't know what was going on?Isu was worried, and the food he had left behind from the last time had already been eaten, and most importantly, the water was running out.
The last time Isu saw the little boy, he was still discussing the escape, and the little boy told Isu that the next time he came back, he would bring him more food and water, and then let Isu flee to the west, it is said that about seven days away is the fortress of the Nine Gods Legion, the Nine Gods Legion will accept slaves, they are now in urgent need of warriors, Isu is strong and has been a soldier, and the Nine Gods Legion may take him in, after all, in this world, there are probably only the Nine Gods Legion.
Isu nodded in agreement, looked up and asked, "Let's run away together, you can't stay here all the time!"
The little boy smiled faintly and declined Izu's invitation.
It's just that I didn't expect that it has been so many days, and I haven't come yet, and I only have a dead end for one day when I wait, and I can't live for three days without water in the desert wasteland.
Isu had recovered almost, at least without any problems, so Isu decided to take advantage of the night to go to the mining site to check on the situation, steal some food and water, and preferably get a horse so that she could escape.
Under the cover of night, Isu quietly entered the camp of the mining field, the mining field at night has not stopped, the slaves continue to work in the dark, there is no eight-hour work system here, there is only the right to work until death, according to the slave owner, this is a blessing, and the soul can enter the misty swamp after death!
On the edge of the mining site, two soldiers sat by the fire chatting and drinking, and their horses grazing on the side.
Isu was prostrate not far away, and he could already see the distance of the soldiers.
One of the soldiers was the one who whipped Ysu last time, and the guy said, "Hell, Chief Fat has arranged for us to go to the Dead Man's Pile to find that bastard stinky slave, and this guy is not dead?"
"Yes, it's not dead from such a serious injury?" the other complained.
"It's not that little guy who made a ghost? He got angry when he said this, this little guy relied on the favor of the fat chief, and now he actually instructed us, and he wanted to whip me last time? Now it's okay, look at him still proud, I don't know what to do, be a good male pet, do less things and still have a way to live, do you have to save that stinky slave in private?"
"Hahaha...... You're right, if you don't do it, you have to cause trouble, I don't know if the fat chief will let him go this time?"
"Hey...... Fat just wants to teach him a lesson, and he won't die. The soldier smiled lewdly.
"Also, the fat is good, how can I give it up, when I think of the fat and smooth appearance, I have pimples all over my body. The other laughed.