Castle of Black Iron

People are different from each other. Even for humble slaves, when they were told that they could be free, their expressions were also different from each other.

Some of them became rapturous, some became vacant, while others became perplexed.

At this moment, on an opening of a wood beside the slave trade center, when Zhang Tie declared to the 50-odd slaves that they were free, those slaves fixed their eyes on him with various expressions.

Some slaves’ faces even turned completely pale out of fear as they shook all over.

”No, no, I don’t want freedom. I don’t want to play this game any more...” a slave shouted loudly with his face full of fear as he glanced around at the surrounding woods in a flurried way, ”I know that as long as I take a few steps away, you playboys would chase after me like hunting wild dogs. I’ve experienced this before. Those bowmen must be hiding nearby, right?”

Hearing this man’s doubts, some others also looked panicked; they looked here and there out of fear. They seemed to have heard about similar experiences. In some places, when the playboys set slaves free, they would start a hunting game at the cost of the lives of the slaves. As they were outside the city, this place was suitable for them to play such a game.

Hearing such comment, Zhang Tie kept rolling his eyes while Davinci stared at Zhang Tie on one side, seemingly telling him ’Look, they’re slaves! What did you expect?’

Although some slaves looked pretty panicked, Zhang Tie noticed that there were still some looked relatively calm. One of them only had one arm. Being about 50 years old, that man was tough and tall with stubble, making him very attractive. Zhang Tie beckoned him to the front by waving his hand. Seeing Zhang Tie’s gesture, that man then strode towards him.

”You were a soldier?” Zhang Tie glanced at him and asked.

”I lost one hand on the battle field. I was a first lieutenant officer of the Macedonian Empire!” That 50-odd man answered calmly.

This man was a prisoner of war, the most common sort of slave.

”What’s your name?”

”Stephen!”

Zhang Tie glanced at Davinci as the latter instantly pulled out a contract from that pile of contracts and gave it to Zhang Tie. The photo on this contract was Stephen’s.

”You’re free!” Zhang Tie handed the man’s contract to him. After taking his contract with the only one arm, Stephen gazed at Zhang Tie for 2 seconds as he directly foisted the contract into his mouth, forcefully chewed and swallowed it before revealing a smile...

”I will bear you in mind!”

After saying that, the man turned around and left.

”Wait a second!” Zhang Tie stopped him.

Hearing Zhang Tie’s voice, that man turned back and stared at Zhang Tie with vigilance, ”What, do you regret it? Or are you playboys wanting to play some trick?”

Zhang Tie then popped out a gold coin towards him after drawing a shiny arc in the air. That man seized it by hand at once.

”For your travel expenses!”

With that gold coin, the man’s expression became complicated. Without saying anything, that guy just nodded towards Zhang Tie before left.

With eyes wide open, the other slaves gazed at that leaving man and the calm looking Zhang Tie.

Another slave then plucked up his courage and walked out of the crowd.

”What’s your name?”

”Fite!”

...

After Fite left with his contract and a gold coin like Stephen, more slaves crowded towards Zhang Tie.

Finally, with their own contracts and gold coins, only 3 out of 50 or so slaves chose to stay.

One was an old, hunched man in his 70s. One was that woman whom Zhang Tie bought from the auction whose face had some terrifying scalds. The third one was a man in his 30s who looked thin and vacant.

After the others left, the old man sighed as he gave his contract and one gold coin back to Zhang Tie, which really shocked Zhang Tie.

”Master, please let me stay with you. I’m still useful; I can be your doorkeeper and feed horses for you; I can also pass message for you. When it’s necessary, I can also kill myself if you want. Just take me as an old dog. Just keep me alive with some leftover soup and food. When I’m dead, just throw me away or chop me into pieces to feed dog or pig; I won’t bring you any trouble

The old man’s voice became hoarse as his miserable, frowned look slightly moved Zhang Tie. Therefore, after a deep sigh, Zhang Tie put the one gold coin back to his hand once again.

”Clean yourself and buy some good clothes. Then, you can go to Yunju Mountain on Hidden Dragon Island and be the doorkeeper of my castle. It is currently still under construction!”

The old man then knelt down and kissed Zhang Tie’s shoes before leaving with that gold coin.

After the old man left, that woman also left after glancing at Zhang Tie.

Hearing the word ”castle”, a shiny light instantly flashed by the eyes of the thin and vacant man.

”What’s wrong with you?” Zhang Tie then asked him patiently.

”You have a castle. You’re rich. Therefore, you are able to do that for me. As long as you give me a hand, I... I... will follow you forever...” That man with a vacant look realized something at once as he knelt down and hugged one of Zhang Tie’s feet like it was his last chance. He became so excited.

Zhang Tie then burst out laughing loudly and felt that this guy must have been kicked in the head by a donkey, ”I granted you freedom just now; if I want you to do something for me, I wouldn’t have to give you freedom. If you want me to do something for you, at least show me your value!”

Feeling like he’d been struck by lightning bolt, that man opened his mouth and stayed still for a while before recovering his despaired and vacant look.

After glancing at this frustrated man, Zhang Tie shook his head and left right away. ’As each slave had his own miserable experience, I’m not God, it’s impossible for me to meet anyone’s requirements.’

When Zhang Tie turned back and prepared to leave, that man suddenly burst out laughter loudly.

”Phili... Gaylen... dad and mom, please forgive me. I’m too useless; I’ve not revenged for you for such a long time...Believe me, this time, I... I will go back and find Keehn... I will stab him even if I get torn to pieces in the process, even though he’s a big muling. After that, we will reunite with each other...”

That man burst into loud sobs and condemned himself first; then, he prayed and made his determination by mumbling. He spoke Hebrew which could not be understood by most people nearby, except for Zhang Tie. When Zhang Tie heard the word ”big muling”, he stopped at 20 steps away and walked back.

Zhang Tie then glanced over this guy once again. ”Are you from Sun Dynasty?”

Kneeling down on the ground, the man raised his red and swollen eyes and looked at Zhang Tie. He then forced a bitter smile, ”Yes, I’m from Sun Dynasty; additionally, I’m a clergy who believes in the God of Brilliance piously...”

Zhang Tie then became interested about that, ”How can you be so miserable today?”

”They chose me as the alternate muling; however, they preferred me to complete the sacrifice ceremony using an innocent kid’s fresh blood and life. I didn’t want to do that; therefore, I set that kid free; finally, I was set up by my best friend and was framed as a heretic and blasphemer. Even my family members were involved; finally, in front of me, my youngest brother was forced to finish his sacrifice ceremony to become a muling. Gaylen was only 6 years old...”

Speaking of that, that man covered his face with his hands and cried mournfully once again.

This was a common story in Sun Dynasty as it would happen many times a year. Zhang Tie had not imagined that he could meet a man from Sun Dynasty here.

”Is that Keehn? What’s his current position?”

”Yes, it’s him. When I escaped from Sun Dynasty, he was already a 3-star muling. Over 10 years have passed. He might be a moon-level big muling now!” Saying that, the man raised his eyes towards Zhang Tie with the last beacon of hope, ”I know you’re rich; it means you can employ assassinator to kill him. If you kill him, I would like to do anything for you...”

Zhang Tie then shook his head, ”Do you know how much it would cost me to employ an assassin to kill such a powerful muling and how much risk I would assume? Do you think you are that valuable to me that I would do that for you?”

The man kept silent.

”You have a chance to show me your value. You’ve already heard the words I said to that old man just now. You can also go to Hidden Dragon Island for me. When you have become of sufficient value to me, I will have people bring Keehn’s head in front of you!”

”I will go to Hidden Dragon Island!”

Kneeling down on the ground, that man’s eyes radiated gleaming light. He then stood up decisively and left here.

At that moment, Davinci cried. He finally knew that curiosity killed the cat. He even wanted to slap himself and block his ears with cement. ’I’d already turned to leave just now, why did I turn back with Zhang Tie? What the f*ck am I doing?’

Zhang Tie then gazed at Davinci with a grin...

”I didn’t hear anything,” Davinci explained to Zhang Tie hurriedly. After accompanying Zhang Tie for the whole afternoon, he hadn’t realised how terrifying Zhang Tie’s grin was until now.

’As long as I say didn’t hear anything, what happens between Huaiyuan Palace and Sun Dynasty will have nothing to do with me in the future. If I don’t express my stance, I might be involved in this thing in the future; however, for Huaiyuan Palace and Sun Dynasty, I’m nothing but a bug,’ Davinci thought.

”Do you know what to do now?” Zhang Tie asked Davinci.

Davinci then nodded with a bitter smile...