Overthrowing Fate

Chapter 9 - Attempted Escape

Xu Min froze as he heard Overseer Wang's words. His eyes widened and his heart started beating rapidly. Since the door was already blocked, he quickly looked around to search for other exits. There were none and the overseer just stood in front of the door with a sly smile on his face.

"Now now," Wang Li said as he noticed the boy's sudden panic, "I am not so desperately in need of money that I would hand over a boy without hearing his side of the story. But if you lie to me, then I'll make sure that you never speak another word again."

As the overseer threatened Xu Min, the young boy already knew that he had no other choice than to tell the truth. Fleeing would be impossible now, because the only exit was fully covered by the overseer's large figure. His eyes were locked onto the little boy who was currently feeling like a rabbit trapped by a hungry wolf.

Seeing the fear in the young boy's eyes, Wang Li could not help but wonder once more what exactly a child this young could have done to make him worth such an extravagant bounty.

Young eyes locked onto older ones. Both of them were completely silent The atmosphere within the room was so tense that one could cut it with a knife.

Because the only exit was guarded, attempting to escape would be futile and would likely only cause the older man to become angry. He also already said that if Xu Min were to lie, then the young boy would have sealed his fate to be delivered to the Zhong Family.

Thinking all his possible choices through, the young boy sighed deeply - his eyes gleaming with perseverance. He lived to get revenge on the Zhong family. He could not afford to die now.

Nodding his head, Xu Min sat back down on the ground. His black eyes were seemingly as deep as an endless abyss and no emotion was visible other than overwhelming despair.

Seeing his despair, Wang Li once more questioned the past of this young man. To be honest, he had no intention of handing the young boy over for the sake of some petty coin. It was only due to his curiosity, how such a skilled young boy could appear seemingly out of nowhere, that spurred him to pressure the young boy to get information about his background.

Xu Min gritted his teeth as the despair in his black eyes turned to anger, and then to hate. His fists were gripped tightly, and although he had not said anything, Wang Li easily understood that something terrible had happened to make this boy this way. His interest grew even stronger, and the sly smile on his face grew somewhat larger.

"My sister and I were sold when we were children," Xu Min started to explain, and spent the rest of the evening talking about everything that had happened to him.

He did not reveal his background for the sake of confiding in Wang Li nor from the threat made by him. The reason he explained everything down to the tiniest detail was to get some pity from the much older overseer. If the Overseer pitied him, there would be a bigger chance for him to live.

Another reason why he opened up to Wang Li was the hope that Wang Li would get distracted; creating a chance for him to quickly escape from the small house without risking his neck in the process.

The most important thing for Xu Min was not how others viewed him, nor was it honor and pride. In his perspective, survival was the most important thing. As long as he was alive, he would be able to get revenge.

That being said, although this young boy did not feel about honor and pride like most people do, he still had his own code of conduct. As long as he was treated with kindness, he would repay that person in kind. If he was shown respect, he would in turn give respect.

Halfway through his story, Xu Min's face turned exceedingly ugly. He noticed that no matter what he said trying to cause the older man to lose focus and move away from the door was futile.