Nowadays, the beautiful life in another world continues to impact their outlook on life.
At night, the bonfire crackled, and the dancing flames reflected the dark and numb faces.
A dozen ordinary soldiers sat around the fire, holding black-faced steamed buns so hard they could grind teeth, and no one said anything.
"Alas..."
A gray-haired veteran let out a long sigh, stuffed the half-eaten steamed bun into his arms, and rubbed the rusty iron knife at his waist with his rough palms. "I fought for twelve years. I fought in the civil war with the old king, and fought through the rebellion in the south with His Highness. I was stabbed seven times and had three broken ribs. In the end, I was still a little soldier who couldn't even get paid."
He pointed in the direction of the mine, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper. "My boss is mining there. He is sixteen this year, and just like me back then, he has not even awakened to Martial Soul. This is how it will be in this life. He will dig mines all his life, and one day he will be crushed to death by the mine, or beaten to death by the mine owner, and he will not even be able to fit into a decent coffin."
A young soldier next to him gritted his teeth and clenched his fists loudly. "Why? Those nobles were born with fine clothes and fine food, and they could become high-ranking officials or generals without doing anything. We worked hard and hard, and in the end we couldn't even have a full meal. Killing us would be like killing a dog."
"Keep your voice down!"
A veteran next to him immediately covered his mouth, glanced around vigilantly, and lowered his voice. "You want to die! As Captain Wang just said, whoever dares to mention those heresies again will be punished as a traitor and beheaded on the spot!"
The young soldier broke away his hand with force, his eyes red as if they were dripping blood. "Here's theory? Which of the above sentences is not true? Why are people born with high or low status? Why can they beat us to death casually, and we don't even have the qualifications to resist?"
As he spoke, he subconsciously touched his chest. There was a piece of crumpled hemp paper hidden there, which he had secretly stolen from the arms of a dead miner yesterday.
He couldn't read all the crooked words on it, but the words "everyone is equal", "no aristocrats" and "democratic election" were like red-hot irons, deeply burned into his heart.
"Huh, a bunch of untouchables who don't know the heights of heaven and earth."
A cold voice suddenly came from behind.
Everyone stood up suddenly, lowered their heads in a hurry, and did not dare to speak.
General Wang, wearing silver armor, walked over slowly. He was a descendant of the Star Luo Empire, a veteran nobleman, Martial Soul Iron Armored Rhino Niu, level 62 Soul Emperor.
He glanced at everyone condescendingly, his eyes full of undisguised contempt, as if he were looking at a herd of animals.
"Are you worthy of believing those lies from another world?"
General Wang sneered and kicked over the bonfire next to him. Sparks flew everywhere and the soldiers retreated in fear. "Change your fate against the will of heaven? Rely on the broken hoe and knife in your hands? Let me tell you, you are mud-legged in this life, and you will still be mud-legged in the next life!"
"Want to make a comeback? OK, just have a few more children!"
His voice suddenly rose up, hitting everyone in the face like a whip. "As long as the child is lucky and awakens Martial Soul and becomes Soul Master, your family can climb out of this mud pit! Otherwise, generations will be working for the noble master!"
"Why did those miners die? Because they were stupid! Think shouting a few slogans can change their destiny? Without Martial Soul, without Soul Power, you are worse than ants in the eyes of Soul Master! I can crush ten or a hundred of you to death with one finger!"
No one in Team Wang dared to refute, because what they said was all true. Only by becoming Soul Master can we transcend class, otherwise we would just be like that for the rest of our lives.
All the soldiers lowered their heads, clenched their fists tightly, their nails dug deeply into their palms, and blood slowly dripped from their fingers.
General Wang looked at the silence of everyone with satisfaction, snorted coldly, turned around and walked towards his tent.
He didn't take these idiots seriously at all. In his opinion, as long as he killed a few leaders and frightened the rest, the so-called "riot" would naturally subside.
The campfire gradually went out, and the camp fell into a dead silence.
In the darkness, the young soldier slowly raised his head and looked in the direction of General Wang's camp. There was no fear in his eyes, only a burning flame. He touched the hemp paper on his chest again, his fingertips trembling slightly from the exertion.
Have more children?
Does this really work?
He remembered that the neighbor's child once awakened a good Martial Soul, Innate Soul Power level seven or eight, but disappeared that night. He knew that he was kidnapped by a noble because he saw it.
Obviously those nobles would not allow the weakling in their eyes to become Soul Master and then be on an equal footing with them.
Unless it becomes a noble family's dog or a reproductive tool.
Finally, he thought of his sister who starved to death in her infancy, of his father whose legs were broken by the mine owner, and of how he had been fighting for five years and could not even get enough money to give his mother medicine.
Why?
Why are our lives so worthless?
Is it true that you really need to become Soul Master to transcend class?
He quietly took out the hemp paper and read the familiar words again under the faint moonlight.
Then, he carefully tore the hemp paper into pieces, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it hard, and swallowed it.
The paper was rough and made his throat hurt, but for the first time, a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart.
Even if I can't change anything in my life, one day, someone will.
One day, those high-ranking nobles will fall from their thrones.
One day, these mud-legged people will be able to live an upright life.
Heaven Dou Empire Southwest, Blackstone Town.
The leaden gray clouds pressed very low, as if they were about to hit the land blackened by coal ash at the next moment.
In the square in the center of the town, a three-foot-high gallows has been erected, and the rough hemp ropes swayed in the cold wind, making a tooth-breaking squeaking sound.
More than 3,000 residents of the town were forcibly driven into the square, surrounded by Earl Balen's Estate private soldiers. They held bright steel knives in their hands, and their armor was stained with wet blood, which was left by the three miners who tried to resist yesterday.
Everyone lowered their heads, did not dare to speak, did not dare to raise their heads, and did not even dare to take a deep breath. The air was filled with the smell of soot, rust and blood, making people breathless.
Under the gallows, five chained men knelt on the cold bluestone.
In the middle is the old miner Wang Tiezhu. His back was bent by the boulders in the mine, and his face was covered with wrinkles deeper than the ravines.
Three months ago, his sixteen-year-old son was beaten to death in the mine because he contradicted the manager of the mine. His body was not even fished out.
From that day on, this old man, who had been silent all his life, began to secretly read the manuscripts he got from the refugees to his brothers in the mine.
On his left is the young teacher Su Wen, an ordinary person who is not even Soul Scholar. He gave up the stable life of Heaven Dou City and came to Blackstone Town, which does not even have a school. He secretly taught the miners' children how to read and told them that "all people are born equal, and no one is born to be stepped on."
The other three are all the most honest miners in the mine. They just listened to Wang Tiezhu's words and shouted "We want an eight-hour working day", and they were labeled as "believers in the heresy of another world."
"Everyone, please raise your head because I'm so proud of you!"