Lin Anning's furious voice echoed through the wooden cage. She had one hand placed on her hips and the other pointed at A-Cheng.
For a moment, no one dared to speak. The slaves behind Anning instantly took a step away from her, eyes widened and hands slapped over their mouths.
A few children had to hide behind the adults. The guards positioned outside the cage seemed surprised by what they had just heard.
Beside Anning, the small girl who had tried to stop her earlier had started crying. She reached up and grabbed Anning's hand that was placed on her hip.
"You... you're going to get us killed!" The girl didn't whisper this time. She literally shouted, her voice trembling.
Anning frowned, but she didn't drop the hand she had pointed at A-Cheng. She had no idea why everyone looked so terrified.
Where she came from, men couldn't just raise their hands against women. Doing something like that could probably turn you into an outcast. Worse, you could get arrested.
Yet, this brute had slapped her so hard her ears were still ringing.
A-Cheng's stunned expression slowly turned into something darker? Something in between anger and hate.
"You slut..." He muttered, already taking a step closer to Anning.
Before Anning could react, a large hand reached forward and before she knew it, she was grabbed by the collar.
"Hey!" She screamed.
A-Cheng pulled her forward by the collar, while dragging her towards the entrance of the large cage.
The wooden gate made a creaking sound as it was pulled open. Then, she was pulled out of the cage like some sack filled with grain.
"Let go of me!" She yelled, pushing against his back. "You bastard! Release me this instant or I swear I'll dig my fingers into your spine."
A-Cheng merely laughed at her words. He twisted his head backwards and then said, "Go ahead, try it."
Anning did without hesitation, she closed the small distance between them and literally pressed her finger tips on either side of his spine.
Unfortunately for her, the man's skin was so tough that after a while, her finger tips started to ache.
A-Cheng, now bored of her little game, tugged her away from his back and pulled her till she came to stand in front of him.
Anning had been too focused on trying to dig his spine out that when he pulled her forward by the collar, she hadn't expected it and soon found herself stumbling forward.
And then—
Thud!
She fell to the floor with a loud thud. Before she could push herself up, a heavy boot was placed into her back, pressing her flat against the ground.
The weight of the boot made her back hurt, but it was her fault. How? Because her legs had betrayed her!
"Get up," A-Cheng sneered above her, pressing his boot down harder. "Didn't you say you wanted to kill me?"
Oh, and I definitely will.
Anning struggled beneath his boot, her fingers digging into the wet soil as she tried to lift herself up.
But the man's weight wasn't allowing her to move. The moment she managed to lift herself up by an inch, she was instantly pressed back to the floor.
Nearby, the other guard with a hanfu robe rubbed his temple as he had already grown tired of the situation.
"Be careful," he warned calmly. "Don't kill her. You are permitted to cut off an arm of two, but keep her alive."
Several slaves in the cage couldn't help but gasp softly.
A-Cheng on the other hand felt incredibly satisfied.
"You hear that?" He said, leaning down slightly. "Just consider yourself lucky today."
He twisted his boot into her back this time and then said, "You know, crazy slaves like you? The moment someone buys you, you'll probably be beaten to death within a week."
He clicked his tongue.
"Can't even read the room."
Anning but her lower lip, her fingers digging into the soil. Back home, she had always been the type of person who stood up for herself. She was bold, loud and utterly reckless.
Being scared never really stopped her.
But now...
She couldn't even more, couldn't fight back and the people standing around her, they just stared.
Her chest rose and fell unevenly and before she knew it, tears had started welling up in her eyes.
She wasn't crying from the pain but from the humiliation and this awful feeling of being reckless.
"Why?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
A-Cheng, who was standing about her, frowned slightly.
"Why does everyone keep calling me a slave?!"
The words came out louder this time and in between sobs.
The guard standing around looked at her like she was crazy. The slaves in the cage exchanged glances in confusion.
A-Cheng ran a hand through his hair and then stared down at her.
"What kind of nonsense are you speaking about?" He exhaled. "You're wearing clothes meant for slaves and standing in a cage. What exactly do you think you are? A princess?"
Slave? Hearing that word was starting to give her a headache.
She pulled her gaze away from the ground and for the first time since waking up here, she actually looked around.
She could see several wooden cages lined against the road. Inside them were men, women and children...all of them putting on clothes that looked like a potato sack.
Some had chains around their neck and ankles, most of them looked severely dehydrated and tired.
Several guards stood around the cages holding sticks and even whips.
As she looked around, she noticed the road wasn't something she was used to.
And every eye she met, the people looked at her like she was nothing more than livestock.
This...it didn't feel like the afterlife.
She thought, her heart racing against her chest.
When her eyes fell on the cage she had just been pulled out from, the small girl from earlier stared at her with an expression that clearly said; I told you so.
Anning swallowed, the gears in her head already turning. The clothes, the cages, how unfamiliar the roads looked and even the strange, old-fashioned buildings she could see in the distance.
No way. Had she somehow ended up in another time?
No, that sounded too cliche. Maybe when she fell asleep, she got kidnapped and brought here.
Or worse... another world?
After a few seconds, A-Cheng finally lifted his boot from her back.
"Throw her back in." He said, already walking away from Anning.
The other guard pulled open the cage's door and then, Anning was roughly pulled to her feet and then shoved into the cage.
Several slaves stepped away from her like she was some kind of curse.
Anning didn't particularly care. She shuffled to a corner of the cage and leaned against the bars of the cage.
The little girl from earlier quietly stepped towards her and sat beside her again.
Not long after, the traders began shouting orders and the door of the cage was closed once again.
"Start moving the wagon!" Anning heard someone yell.
The convoy slowly began moving down the road. The cage shook slightly as it moved and Anning, she didn't know what to do at this point.
Her eyes quietly took in everything she could see. The ancient looking building's, people dressed in long flowing robes walked along the roads and horses pulling wooden carts though the dusty streets.
There were no cars! No baggy jeans! She couldn't even see people holding mobile phones.
Anning covered her face with her hands, taking deep breaths to calm herself.
"This definitely isn't modern China." She murmured under her breath.
And then, she asked herself the one question she had been avoiding for a long time.
What exactly was this place?!