Chapter 8: Beautiful Dream

"......"

Liu Shen closed the "Secret Chronicles of Qian," furrowing his brows as he asked, "Is there something you need?"

"It's nothing, really..."

Wei Dafu hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's about what happened today—if it hadn't been for you stepping in, I might have been kicked to death by Chief Xu. I just wanted to thank you."

"No need for thanks," Liu Shen waved it off dismissively. "We all work together, lending a hand is no big deal. I have no family or ties here—if I die one day, I might trouble you all to see to my body."

"You're a stand-up man, brother," Wei Dafu gave him a thumbs-up, the highest sign of respect between men. After a pause, he added, "After what you all said earlier, I can't help feeling uneasy."

"If you're uneasy, go see a doctor..." Liu Shen shot him a glance, annoyed. "I'm not a healer—what do you want from me?"

"Oh, never mind, never mind." Wei Dafu waved his hands sheepishly, then leaned in to whisper, "I know you're a good man, brother. If I really do die, my coin pouch is hidden under my bed. Please, take it to my wife, let her raise our boy well."

"Alright, alright..." Liu Shen waved him off, rather put out.

He was already troubled enough by the strange incident with the parasitic eye today, and seeing Wei Dafu acting so afraid of both death and spending money only made him more irritable.

He replied carelessly, "If you really die, I promise I'll take your coin pouch back for you."

"Well, that puts my mind at ease," Wei Dafu grinned, making a joke. "With your word, even if I never wake up, I'm not afraid."

"Don't say that..." Liu Shen glared at him, blew out the candle, and lay back on his bed, muttering, "Think about your son—he'll need to build a house, get married. Best you live a few more years."

"Hahaha, that's true, that's true!"

Wei Dafu could hear the goodwill behind his words and, chuckling, went to bed. He drifted to sleep, content with dreams of building a new house and finding a wife for his son.

Liu Shen rubbed his brow, laced his hands behind his head, and let his thoughts drift until sleep claimed him.

Perhaps from the fatigue of the day, he dreamed a marvelous dream in which he became an immortal, surrounded by beauties as a reward for himself.

In his dream, he stood against the whole world, shouting, "You think you can kill me?"

Then, like a god of war, he fought alone against thousands, eyes bloodshot, treading over mountains of corpses and seas of blood, murderous energy rising around him, almost tangible.

And then came the part every man loves best—gathering beauties...

He swept up all the loveliest women, each with her own charm, preparing eagerly to enjoy their company, when suddenly a loud shout startled him awake...

At that shout, the dream beauties—each so enchanting—vanished like illusions.

"Damn it..."

Liu Shen opened his bloodshot eyes.

His dream interrupted at its most crucial moment, he slapped the bed, ready to curse whoever disturbed him.

But before he could speak, his anger froze on his face as he caught the faint shouts of a roommate: "Dafu is dead, Dafu is dead..."

......

Wei Dafu was dead...

He'd gone to sleep and never woke again...

The porters sharing the room found him at dawn, lying on his bed with a smile on his face, blood trickling from his nose and mouth, breathless—a sight so frightful it nearly sent their souls fleeing.

Liu Shen hurriedly dressed and went over. Seeing the body, his mind grew hazy.

Wei Dafu truly was dead.

To live under the same roof, sharing jokes just the night before, and now to wake and find a corpse—cold, lifeless—was a sobering shock.

The death of a fellow, even if not close, brought a sorrow hard to put into words.

As the others stood lost for what to do, Chief Xu arrived, drawn by the commotion. He saw Wei Dafu dead on his bed and muttered something under his breath.

Perhaps it was the effect of the eye at his brow heightening his senses, but Liu Shen could just make out the words: "What bad luck..."

Those who had helped carry the statue the night before stood silent, for they all suspected the cause of death—overwork.

Looking back, Wei Dafu had coughed blood last night from exhaustion, and though his face grew ruddy and he seemed energetic, it must have been the body's last flicker—the so-called "returning light before death."

Unexpected, yet not beyond reason...

Chief Xu, having managed porters for years, had seen men drop dead from exhaustion and said little. He pulled out a tael of silver and told the others to dig a pit and bury the man.

As for compensation? Benefits?

Not a word was mentioned...

After all, Wei Dafu's indenture remained with the Redwater Brotherhood. He was a porter at the docks, but officially, he was their bonded servant.

In this society, if a servant died, a kind master might offer some support to the family; if not, the body would be buried on the spot, and the authorities would not interfere.

After all, it was only a slave who had died.

And the Redwater Brotherhood, being a gang, had little connection to the word "conscience." Even if there was compensation, it would scarcely reach the family.

People's joys and sorrows are not the same.

Some porters, treating it all as a spectacle, split the small silver reward from Chief Xu, dug a pit in the woods near the dock, and buried Wei Dafu's body.

By noon, all was dealt with...

Some mentioned it over lunch, but after Chief Xu warned them, the subject was dropped.

By dinnertime, everyone was back to joking about daily affairs, and except for those who had shared a room with Wei Dafu, it was as if he had never existed.

Liu Shen sat on the edge of his bed, his heart heavy as if weighed down by a stone.

The other four roommates were packing up to move to different quarters.

A death in the room—and one who had died so suddenly in his sleep—left them all unsettled.

Even Chief Xu agreed their request to move was fair.

Only Liu Shen felt a deep sadness...

He, too, had sold himself to the Redwater Brotherhood, and in Wei Dafu's death, he saw a reflection of his own fate...

"Save money. Buy back my freedom!"

Night fell like the tide...

What had been a dormitory for six was now a private room for one.

Liu Shen found a coin pouch under Wei Dafu's bed. Opening it, he saw a handful of scattered silver—barely five taels in all.

Those five taels were the fruit of a year's toil at the docks, taking on extra work, living frugally, denying even the cost of a doctor, all to save up.

People rush through life for nothing more than a few scraps of silver.

Yet those few scraps can quiet a thousand fears.

Liu Shen once wondered what his own life was worth. Now, it seemed, it was no more than those same five taels.

He lay on his bed with a long sigh, gazing at the now solitary room, muttering, "Dafu, thanks to you, I get a room to myself. As for this money..."

"Tomorrow, I'll take it home for you."