Chapter 27 : Extraction
Yan lay on the stone beside the drainage channel.
Something was wrong, The blood around him was not his.
His own wounds burned across his ribs and cheek. but the thick smell filling the courtyard belonged to something else.
His vision was foggy, he blinked eyes, then he saw it.
Livestock.
Three thin cattle lay nearby, their legs bound with rope. One still struggled weakly. Its throat had already been opened. Dark blood slid slowly along the shallow stone groove that fed into the drainage channel.
Yan watched the flow.
Two figures worked beside the animals.
The twins.
One forced the last animal down, pressing a knee against its spine. The other drew a blade across its throat with practiced calm.
The sound was wet and brief.
The body convulsed once.
Then stilled.
Behind them stood the red-haired girl.
She did not hold a blade. She only watched.
When her gaze met Yan’s, something flickered across her expression.
Pity.
Only for a moment.
Then it disappeared.
Yan felt it next, a pressure in the air, it came from the dying animal, something unseen separated from the body.
The cattle’s final twitch faded as the faint distortion drifted slowly across the courtyard.Yan followed it with his eyes.The distortion moved toward the drainage channel.
Toward the soil beside it.The earth there was slightly raised.
Packed.
Disturbed many times.
The distortion touched the soil and vanished.
The red-haired girl noticed where Yan was looking.
Her gaze hardened.
Then Yan saw red hairs in front of his eyes.., and heard, "You....it... don't...you...I..Leaving.."
A Few Minutes Earlier
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Yan had taken the cattle from the storehouse apart from his daily routine.He had a rope in each hand.
The animals followed reluctantly behind him, and when he had almost reached the courtyard gate.
“Stop."
A voice came from behind.
Yan halted, and then before he could turn, he felt something hit his head.
The head snapped sideways and the world tilted.
Yan fell against the stone floor.
When his vision steadied, someone stood above him.
Muchen.
“How dare a servant dream so high,” Muchen said quietly.
He seized Yan by the collar and dragged him upright, Yan legs were not touching soil.
Yan tried to pull free by moving legs, by trying to remove the hand of Muchen, but It was useless.
Then Muchen raised his fist, it drove into his stomach.
Yan bent forward unable to breathe for a second, but before Yan could breath well, a punch landed on his face, filling his mouth with thick blood.
Another strike followed the stomach.
Then another to face, afterwards, Mu Chen grabbed Yan's knees and pressed hi harder.
The pain travelled through his body, Yan opened his mouth to scream but a fist struck.
Each blow landed with deliberate weight.
Then Muchen threw him down.
Stone slammed against his shoulder.
Muchen lifted his leg and pressed on to Yan's right leg.Bone ground against stone.
Yan screamed.
Muchen grabbed him again and dragged him across the courtyard.
The drainage channel waited nearby.
He threw Yan beside it.
For a moment the world disappeared.
Darkness swallowed everything.
When Yan’s vision returned, the courtyard was already quiet.
The twins had arrived.
And the slaughter had begun.
He could not keep his eyes open so long, last he saw the red hairs and heard something that he could barely recall.
When Yan opened his eyes again, the ceiling above him was wooden.
The smell was different.
"Maa" The sound of cattle was nearer. He realised he was in the storehouse and tried to move.
Every muscle answered with fire.After a few seconds, he barely turned his head slowly.
Across the room sat Tan Suzi. She leaned against a stack of grain sacks, one knee raised, a thin wooden board resting across it.
When she noticed his eyes open, she exhaled.
“Oh. You're awake.”
Her tone carried mild surprise.
“I thought you wouldn't wake up until tomorrow.”
Yan tried to sit but the attempt failed immediately.
Pain shot through his ribs and shoulder.His body collapsed back onto the rough mat.
Tan Suzi clicked her tongue.
“Don't do that.”
She tapped the board lightly against her knee.
“You can barely breathe. Sitting is ambitious.”
She did not say anything for a while.
“Brother Muchen was… enthusiastic.” Tan Suzi said.
Then she studied him for a moment and sighed.
“Anyway, I'm not here because I want to be.”
She lifted the wooden board.
“I’m here because Elder Chao gave an order.”
Her eyes met his.
“You need to learn classical script.”