This morning, I help Shi get dressed. The ointment is miraculous, it hardly hurts her. But it's better if her clothes rub her as little as possible, that the ointment I've put on her this morning doesn't move.
Her naked body is seductive, her scars don't diminish the attractiveness of her perfect curves. But this isn't the time or situation for anything other than hurrying to the dining room.
The morning is as always, copying symbols. I've had to work harder than usual to stay focused. I'm nervous, I can't help it. Even more so when I see tomorrow's assignments. Student Fen has reserved my time for the afternoon. It's clear what he's plotting.
I hurry to reserve the morning in the laboratory. I have to bring timber too before the crucial moment. In between, I choose transportation.
There's no turning back now. I can barely keep my legs from shaking. I'm more scared than I thought, but also excited. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and I'm afraid it'll come. I don't know if I'm braver than I thought, or more cowardly than I had imagined.
For now, I have to help in the construction of a new building. I think it's some kind of one-story warehouse, though I'm not sure. I don't really care. I just do what I'm told. I can't stop thinking about tomorrow.
When I go back to the communal dormitory, I find that Shi has already returned.
"Hi. How's your back?" I ask her as I sit next to her.
"Better," she says with a strange expression. She seems worried.
"Is something wrong?"
"Are you okay?" she asks me.
I understand. She's seen my tasks for tomorrow. It's not very difficult for her to imagine what awaits me.
"I'll be fine," I assure her.
She comes over and kisses me. Shi doesn't usually do that. She's really worried. She makes me lie down, and takes off her clothes. It's quite strange that she takes the initiative. She seems to appreciate me more than she wants to admit.
On the one hand, I'm happy. On the other, I'm worried. If it doesn't work out, it could end very badly for me. I could even die. It would be a blow to her. Boy, it seems I appreciate her more than I want to admit, too.
For a moment, I feel guilty. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to take the pain and not risk it. But it's too late. There's no turning back now. I'd end up being discovered. It's not easy to undo what I've already done.
She bends down and takes my member into her mouth. She licks it. Then, she gently sucks it, while pleasuring herself.
The pleasure is intense, she's an expert at it. She's had no choice but to learn. Besides, as she says, if she gets them to cum in her mouth they almost never penetrate her afterward. They don't have enough energy. It's sad, but it's the least bad thing for her.
Though, this time, she stops when my member is fully erect. Shi stands up to position herself on top of me, and slowly lowers herself. She makes me penetrate her wet vagina.
"Ah~" she moans when she reaches the bottom.
Her hips move slowly. She kisses my chest, my neck, my cheeks, finally my lips again. I let myself go. I caress her ass, her back.
The warmth of her skin in my hands is pleasant, even the sometimes rough touch of uncared skin, the consistency of a body with little fat and a lot of muscle. Still, with perfect curves.
I moan almost without realizing it. I feel the pleasure in each of her movements. Her fragrance is stimulating, even though there's no perfume. It's only the aroma of her body. Perhaps, because of that. It smells like her. Her swinging breasts are hypnotic. The sweat sliding down them, tempting.
"Ah, aah, aaaaah~" she moans. I moan.
My cock enters and leaves her. Her breasts rise and fall gently, since she's not being rough at all. She comes closer again, to kiss me. I take the opportunity to caress her breast. I squeeze it with one hand, and pinch her nipple with the other, but without squeezing too hard.
"Mmmh~" she moans again, without stopping moving. "Ah, aaah, aaaah, aaaah."
I soon ejaculate. I fill her vagina with a white liquid that won't be able to fulfill its purpose. I know that she hasn't reached an orgasm, but I can't help it. It's too much stimulation. She doesn't complain. She never does.
Shi looks at me tenderly and smiles. She had never smiled at me like that. I think she is scared for me. I can't help a shudder from the depths of my soul. She cares more about me than about herself. I think it's the first time someone has done it.
However, we can't let ourselves go. Affection is acceptable. Love is not. Not in our world, where we can't even have children, if it's not the will of our owners. They put it in the food.
She's still on top of me, catching her breath as I am. When we recover, she moves away a little, but stays by my side, hugging me. Shi kisses me on the cheek and settles on my chest. She soon falls asleep. It's the first time she's done it hugging me.
I look at her tenderly. I'd like to promise that I'll do something for her. But reality is what it is. We're both slaves.
I fall asleep feeling warmer than I've ever felt. I allow myself to forget tomorrow's plans. I hug her and kiss her on the forehead. I fall asleep soon after. Tomorrow, we'll return to harsh reality.
—————
She hardly looks at me in the morning. I've never seen her so shy. I understand. I don't dare to look at her either. We're not used to letting ourselves be carried away by our feelings. It's a luxury we can't afford.
"Be careful. I'll wait for you later, no matter what happens," she whispers to me.
She's worried that I'll sink. She's aware that there's no escape. Shi can't know that she's wrong. That I'm actually going to be in much more danger than she imagines.
I enter the alchemy lab. There're a lot of us here today. It's the weekly pill distribution day. There's a lot of work.
I bring in packages and clean up while I look around, waiting. Mid-morning, student Fen appears with his friends. They have money, so they buy pills from whoever wants to sell. Today, it's not their turn to get them. My heart is beating hard. It feels like it's going to jump out of my chest. But I must look calm.
Without being seen, I get behind him. I manage to get a piece of a plant to stick to the sole of his shoe. It's extremely slippery. He falls to the ground face down, thanks to a little help from me. I quickly disappear between students and slaves.
They haven't seen me, and he is bleeding. The first part of the plan has gone well. It's a relief. Plan B was more dangerous.
As expected, he's taken to the laboratory's infirmary. I make sure he's left alone for a while. Otherwise, I'd have had to call whoever was with him with some excuse. I hide when he comes out. That's all I need. Let it be known that he had the opportunity.
I go back to the warehouse. I pretend until the slave who's collecting material comes out. I take one of the boxes. Like all of them, it contains several bags with ten pills. Each of them is given to a student when he passes the third stage of Genesis, to help in his cultivation. Also, they give them after a few months. I don't know how many.
They're for student Fen's stage. But that box is special. It's the one I've been removing one pill from every day, for ten days. I've hidden them in my mouth, protected by a piece of waterproof cloth.
I take one of the full bags. I distribute the pills inside the ones that were missing one. Then, I make a hole in the bag and throw it into the waste area. Now, a full bag is missing in the box. It's not the only bag thrown away, so there's no problem. I close the box and put it in the pile. I make sure it'll come out today, but later. I just have to wait.
More than an hour later, there's a commotion among the people in charge of the laboratory. It's been five years since something like this happened. I remember it very well. They caught the student who stole the pills. They beat him up, and he disappeared. It's believed he was expelled. We slaves know he died.
—————
I'm a little worried. Well, very worried. I'm almost done with my transport shift. There's only the timber shift left before I have to go to student Fen's room. I know that on the previous occasion, they called the slaves who were supposed to clean the rooms of the suspects. They haven't contacted me yet.
If they wait until tomorrow, it'll be too late. Maybe, I'll still achieve my goal, but I'd go through something I don't want to go through again. I know that there're men who like to be penetrated from behind. However, for me, it's a childhood trauma that I thought I've forgotten. These days, I have discovered that I haven't.
Some of the slaves accept it as if it were another beating. For others, it's as an ordeal and humiliation that goes beyond what's bearable. I fear that I could be one of the latter. A cold sweat runs down my back again.
Absurd ideas come to my mind, such as trying to escape. I can't harm myself. I can try to do something dangerous, but hurting myself on purpose is impossible under our restriction. I don't want to admit it, but I'm terrified.
I'm going to look for the axe, the talisman and the platform to carry the wood. I don't know if I'll be able to bring it. I feel that I have no strength in my legs.
"Are you slave Kong?" a voice suddenly asks.
I turn around to see a woman dressed in black. I don't know if I've ever seen her before. Her face is completely hidden. I don't know where she came from, there was no one there just now.
"Yes, it's me," I reply with a bow, as always. I'm shaking.
"This's a detector. It gets darker as you get closer to the target," she tells me while handing me a white bracelet. "Put it under your clothes, so it can't be seen. Try to make it turn black at student Fen's house."
I nod and do as she tells me. Not that I have a choice.
"This's a warning device. Keep it on the other arm. If the first bracelet turns black, or as dark as possible, put that on top. If you don't find anything, do that too, so they disappear. They mustn't be discovered. Never tell anyone about this. Now get on with your work."
Her tone is firm and threatening. I nod, swallow and turn around. I don't look back, but I'll bet she's gone.
I don't know how I feel. I'm partly terrified for that woman. If I screw up, and the bracelets are discovered, I could be in serious trouble. If my plan fails, too. On the other hand, I'm thrilled. The plan has worked out well so far.
—————
I go to student Fen's small cabin. All the students have one. I ring the bell. One of his friends appears. They must all be there. He lets me in. I see that he's given his friend permission to raise the shield that protects the students. I gulp. There're so many things that can go wrong!
"He smells like manure," the one who's let me in complaints.
"They always smell bad. Slave, wash yourself. Then come back. Don't put your clothes on."
The others smile at his words. I gulp again, and go to where the barrel that serves as a bathtub is.
I hear them talking about how it'd have been better to bring a couple of female slaves, but that a challenge is a challenge. I curse them inwardly.
From under my clothes, I take out the bag that I'd hidden in the timber cave. I quickly look for a place to hide it, not too obvious nor too hidden. Inside, there're the ten pills that I've been accumulating.
The bracelet is black. It's been black ever since I dug it up. It was amazing. It turned dark grey before digging. It can detect them even underground. I've really been in more danger than I thought. They could've discovered me.
I lift a loose piece of wood and put the bag under it. There're always some in these cabins. I put the warning bracelet over the black one. To my amazement, they both disappear.
I move towards the barrel. The water isn't clean. I guess he or one of his friends has bathed before. Not that I care. What I'm worried about is what happens afterward.
I start to wash myself. I'm wondering if I've done something wrong. I'm more restless by the minute. I don't think I can avoid the worst. I can only delay as long as I can. Until they call me.
"Hey, don't take so long. We don't have all day. Come as you are."
I can't refuse. I'm shaking. I dry myself and go there. Naked.
Suddenly, there're exclamations, and then silence. A man is coming my way. I know him. He's an alchemy master. He signals me to stay still. Afterward, he ignores me.
I don't know how he does it, but he goes straight to where I've hidden the bag. He lifts the wood, picks it up and checks the contents. His face is very serious.
"Get dressed and go to the dormitory," he orders me.
I don't think I have ever been so happy to follow an order. When I pass through the room, the students are still, silent, and surrounded by four guards. One would be enough. Anyway, I won't be the one to say anything. They look scared.
When I leave I feel exultant. I would scream if I could. I know that things can still go wrong, that I could be exposed. However, there's no turning back. I'm not going to worry about what I can no longer control. Whatever will be, will be. My whole body is shaking. I've never done anything so terrifying, so exciting.