Chapter 11: Chapter 11: The Helplessness
After spending all the money he had taken with him Shen Yuan stepped out of the market place and went towards the public toilets.
It was not because he had to use them but because he had to clean them.
He had taken on a task, and he had to complete it before the day ended.
So without wasting a moment, he rushed to the secluded area where several wooden stalls were erected. They were small booths, each with five square meters of space and closed doors. There were some openings around the top for ventilation, but that was about the gist of it.
"Time to get my hands dirty." Shen Yuan ran his hands through his long black hair and tied them in a bun. His one hand went to the shovel lying against the wall of the toilet, and the other wrapped a cloth around his nose.
...
(A/N: if someone wants to read him shoveling shit in detail, I can add that, but for now let’s skip it.)
The door to Shen Yuan’s cottage opened as he walked in with an exhausted look on his face.
He had just returned after finishing the assignment he had taken on. Even with his physical capabilities, the task had taken a toll on him mentally.
Shen Yuan tossed the small pouch of coins he had earned from the work he did on the bed and looked down at his hands.
"That was disgusting." Even though his hands were clean, he felt like peeling off his skin and growing a new one if possible. "Good thing I took a bath before coming back."
The servants all took a bath in a lake in the forest, which no one else used but the servants. The water source was deemed dirty because one of the servants died inside it, and hence no one but them used it.
Shen Yuan’s tired eyes trailed to the only window of his room. The sun had already started to set, and he could see the two moons in the sky once more.
Just thinking about doing all of the work he did today again and again for the next three months or maybe more gave him the feeling that he was living in hell.
"I never thought I would feel this helpless ever again in my life."
He slowly moved to the bed and sat down, thinking about the choices he had made and was going to make in the future.
His back slowly hit the makeshift mattress made out of dried grass and bird feathers as if it were being pulled by an invisible force.
The exhaustion finally caught up to him, and within a minute he was sound asleep.
But... his mind was still working, running, being chased by the horrors of his past.
...
"Don’t turn away from problems. Be it yours or others. If it’s yours, get out of them. If someone else is in trouble, help them out. That’s what he said to me, on his deathbed." Sitting on the bar counter, a young man who appeared to be in his twenties with black hair and blue eyes, clear as day, twirled the glass of whiskey in his hands and let out a long self-deprecating smile. "What a selfish old man he was."
"Hey, that was your father, you know." The man felt a sharp nudge from the side and turned to face his friend. Just like him, this young man is also wearing a professional three-piece suit.
The two of them looked like a pair of bankers who were out in the bar, drinking their sorrows away.
"You tell me, oh so great Mr. Bates." The young man with blue eyes turned to look at his friend’s side profile and asked with a smile that almost looked sad. "How am I supposed to help others when I feel nothing? Am I supposed to fake sympathy? Become someone I am not?"
"Hmph, then tell me something, Mr. Yuan. Why are we friends if you don’t feel something like compassion, anger, sadness, or—" Ivan Bates slowly placed his drink down on the table and turned to his friend. "—even happiness. There is no point in doing something like this, sitting here, talking about how your father screwed you before dying."
"Isn’t it obvious?" Shen Yuan looked away and replied, "thats’s what normal people do. And I have to appear normal, right? Can’t afford to be the odd one out in our world, or they’ll crush you. It’s all for the sake of... survival."
"Like hell I will believe you." With a snort, Ivan picked his drink back up and took a sip. "We have been together since you moved to this country at the age of ten. There is no way I haven’t grown on you."
"Think whatever you want." Shen Yuan looked around the bar until his eyes landed on a woman on the far end of the counter, watching the tv.
She was an attractive woman with red hair and brown eyes. Beautiful enough to catch the attention of the man beside her, whom she was trying to ignore by acting as if she were more interested in the missing cat news being broadcast on the TV.
"Since my old man died, I should honor his wishes right. Just once would be enough." Shen Yuan did not even wait for a response and stood up from the chair.
"What? Wait—" By the time Ivan heard him, Shen Yuan was already walking. He followed his friend’s line of sight to see a man slipping something in the woman’s drink.
"Hey, M—" Just as Shen Yuan wanted to call out to the woman and warn her, two pairs of hands stopped his way.
They were bodyguards of the man making moves on the attractive woman and failing.
"Come on, boys. Are you going to let that man do it?" Shen Yuan asked, but the two tall bulky men only pushed him back. Their employer noticed his presence too and walked up to them.
"What’s happening here?" He asked with a charming smile.
"Nothing, just about to call the cops and tell them what kind of pick up you are doing here." Shen Yuan showed the man a photo on his phone in which he was slipping the drug into the woman’s drink.
The smile from the man’s face disappeared slowly. He no longer looked at Shen Yuan and glanced at the woman to see if she noticed anything, but fortunately the loud noise at the club made it impossible.
"Take care of him and meet me in the back alley." Saying this, the man turned around to leave.
"Hey! Miss, Watch—!"
Shen Yuan tried to shout, but his face was covered forcefully by one of the bodyguards while the other guy punched him in the gut.
"Hey! Shen! What are you doing to him? Help!" Ivan saw the guards punching his friend and rushed to help him while the others moved away to avoid getting into trouble.
The guards saw Ivan and caught him too. With brute force and their overwhelming figures, they dragged the two friends out of the club and into the alley behind the club.
"You should have minded your business, kid." The taller guard smirked and pushed Shen Yuan in the face.
Bam!
Smack!
He was not the only one who was being beaten; even Ivan was kicked around. In fact, the bodyguard used so much force that Ivan’s head hit the wall behind him.
His body slumped on the ground, blood slowly pooling under his head.
"Ivan..." Shen Yuan’s voice cracked as he lay there on the ground, getting kicked in the chest. Blood slipped from the corner of his mouth as he stared at his unmoving friend with a blank look on his face.
It was like he did not even feel the pain from anything that was happening to him.
"What did you do?" The guard beating him also noticed Ivan’s state and bellowed. "We have to take care of this and get out of here."
"Hey, are you two done yet—" The door to the club’s back entrance opened once more, and the man who hired them stepped out with a drowsy woman in his arms. The smile on his face paused when he noticed what was happening.
"What have you done?" He barked in annoyance more than anger. "You know what, I don’t care. One of you, put her in the car while the other cleans the mess here."
Shen Yuan stared at his friend while the three guards ran out of the alley with the drugged woman and thought to himself. ’You were wrong, old man. I don’t feel anything.’
...
In the dark room, where the only source of light was the moonlight slipping in from the window, a young boy was sleeping on a bed made out of weeds and feathers; slowly, he opened his eyes.
He stared at the thatched roof of his cottage with a blank stare and whispered to himself, "To think I would dream about the day I felt the very sense of helplessness for the first and the last time."
