The small breaking sounds were nothing in the grand scheme of the forest below, but they were enough for the watchful spirit elk. The herd bolted, but it was already too late. The eagle’s prey froze in fear as death on wings advanced with unstoppable momentum, holding out its sharp claws and opening its massive beak, landing on the ground with soft feet, and… stopping? Where was the eagle? The creature blinked and realized that, standing before him was a human of all things. The elk blinked again and saw not a human, but an elk. And then a lizard. And then a wolf. The demon constantly transformed until it left the confused elk’s line of sight.
When the demon finally reached the edge of the woods, it turned into Cha Ming, who stretched out his now-human limbs and walked to a nearby road that skirted the edge of the forest.
“It doesn’t seem so different than the North,” he said, casting out his transcendent soul and encompassing a nearby city and a large chunk of the spirit woods around him. There were a few groups of adventurers and bandits camping nearby. Outside the woods and closer to the city, farmers tended the lands. And within the city, all sorts of trade could be seen. He didn’t spot the slightest baleful aura among its residents. The city’s residents, and even the bandits in the woods, had a normal distribution of merit and sin.
As Cha Ming walked, he passed horses and beasts of burden traveling on a well-worn road. On occasion, a few foundation-establishment cultivators passed him on flying swords. Most of them were guards, but others were traveling adventurers who were here to harvest resources from the spirit woods. Overall, the place reminded Cha Ming of Green Leaf City.
There were some differences, of course. The spirit woods, for one, were far smaller than the large swaths of land near Green Leaf City. The lands were also less fertile. Normal people couldn’t live off the activities of local cultivators and needed to tend fields and grow grain and raise cattle. The land here was divided into large plots that were farmed communally. The many families that tended it lived in central residences, a common practice all around the continent.
There’s one big difference, though, Sun Wukong said, floating beside him but invisible to anyone but him.
Cha Ming nodded. Now that he was paying attention, he noticed the brands. Every person tending the fields had a dark brand on their forehead. The same applied to those living in the communal residences. The few guards patrolling the fields weren’t branded, but they bore small marks on their right or left forearms that matched an insignia on the supervisor’s mansion.
Curious, Cha Ming skimmed the thoughts of those he passed, whether they were guards or peasants. He caught glimpses of normal worries when he did. The peasants who tended the fields worried about this year’s harvest, their children, and the weather.
The guards, whom Cha Ming had thought were only there to repel predators from the spirit woods, also had another, more important mission: They were there to prevent the peasants from escaping. The peasants weren’t normal farmers but serfs. They were property, branded with the mark of their master. Cha Ming’s expression darkened as memories of Crystal Falls resurfaced.
Serfdom isn’t an uncommon practice in the vast universe, Sun Wukong said as Cha Ming watched them. The universe is filled with millions of mortal planes. Even good-aligned planes can have a serf system for the lower class. The main issue is that of treatment.
Slavery, in good-aligned planes? Cha Ming asked doubtfully.
Justice is not the only virtue, Sun Wukong replied. And there are countless cultures in existence. In some places, serfdom is seen as a kindness to the weak, who would otherwise be unable to take care of themselves.
Cha Ming looked around. Though the serfs didn’t seem unhappy with their predicament, they didn’t seem blissful about it either. Moreover, he spotted some lash marks and scars on their bodies. Not here it isn’t.
Not here, Sun Wukong agreed. Knowing that whatever they did here wouldn’t make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, they continued their journey. The closer they came to the small city, the more cultivators they saw. The nature of the serfs changed as well. In addition to normal mortals, there were also cultivating serfs. All of them were lower than the third level of qi condensation. If there were any at the fourth level, Cha Ming didn’t see them.
These cultivating farmers used their affinities to harvest more lucrative crops. Low-level spirit herbs and spirit grains were nurtured by wood and water cultivators. Fire and metal cultivators were busy making tools and construction materials, while earth cultivators either erected buildings or tilled the soil. It was all very orderly and efficient.
When they finally reached the one-mile boundary just outside the city, everything suddenly changed again. They no longer saw any serf marks, and every person in sight was free. Cha Ming passed the guards at the gate using his transcendent force to mask himself. Then, he ducked into a back alley, where he transformed his features to that of a burly man with short black hair. The man didn’t need to enter the city, for he hardly ever left it. Pai Xiao, the man he’d just become, straightened out his dark-brown cultivator robes, for what self-respecting smith would ever wear bright colors? He walked back onto Main Street and took in the local environment.
Liaoning was a small city
