Chapter 807 - 400: First Life of Comprehending the Dao in Reincarnation: The Demon Race Will Never Be Slaves

Chapter 807: Chapter 400: First Life of Comprehending the Dao in Reincarnation: The Demon Race Will Never Be Slaves

"No, this is its mission. Our Ape Race must not perish because of this. Sooner or later, a day will come when things change. This is what the Priest left behind."

Cheng Zongyang listened to their conversation with a blank expression, his tender little face filled with confusion. He couldn’t understand the meaning behind their words. He merely felt his head growing heavy until, before long, he drifted into a groggy sleep.

Time quietly slipped by.

Cheng Zongyang grew as rapidly as a tender bamboo shoot in spring. In just two years, he had already grown to over five foot seven in height. Even though he was still in his infancy according to the growth stages of the Ape Race, he had already developed independent thought and mobility.

However, these two years also gradually made him understand the tragic plight of the Ape Race. He saw that hundreds of thousands of his kin were divided into dozens of zones, trapped like prisoners within the Hundred Thousand Mountains. And the ones enslaving them were the Human Race.

Every day, under the watchful eyes of the Human Race, the Ape Race had to shoulder heavy pickaxes and venture into the mountains to mine a type of black ore. Cheng Zongyang was no exception. Once he was capable of physical labor, he followed his parents into the mountains every day to mine. Although he didn’t understand what mining this ore achieved, he knew that the stones could be exchanged for food.

In those dim mine shafts, Cheng Zongyang ignorantly trailed after his parents, chipping away at the rock. The Ape Demon Race possessed extraordinary strength once they reached adulthood. Even though Cheng Zongyang was not yet fully grown, his muscles were already prominent.

The air in the mine shaft was stifling and oppressive, thick with the pungent scent of ore. Torchlight flickered erratically against the walls, casting eerie shadows. Cheng Zongyang swung a pickaxe far too large for his height, smashing it against the unyielding rock again and again. Every strike sent a numbing shock up his arms.

He often caught sight of the Human Race overseers—their cold, apathetic eyes and the whips brandished in their hands. Whenever a member of the Ape Race moved a little too slowly or showed the slightest hint of exhaustion, the whip would fall mercilessly, leaving horrifying bloody welts across their flesh.

Young Cheng Zongyang couldn’t understand why the Human Race treated them this way. Sometimes, he would watch helplessly as an elderly ape, failing from sheer exhaustion, was viciously lashed by a Human Race overseer. The old ape’s agonized wails would echo through the mine shaft, filling the boy’s heart with fear and confusion.

Thus, another five years slowly passed.

During these five years, Cheng Zongyang made many new friends among his kin. They toiled together in the mines and chatted during their brief rest periods. The thoughtful Cheng Zongyang would often sneak off during his breaks to gossip and ask questions of his peers or elders about various matters.

Of course, he also gained a little brother. That tiny life was like a glimmer of dawn in the darkness, bringing a touch of warmth to Cheng Zongyang amidst these freezing, desolate mountains.

As he grew older and matured, Cheng Zongyang began to ponder why the Ape Race had fallen into such a state. He wondered why no one rebelled when there were so few overseers.

He loved to think, always considering how he could help the Ape Demon Race change their current circumstances. He had asked many elders, but almost all of them gave the exact same answer: rebelling would only lead to a swifter death.

One day, during a break from mining, he approached an Ape Race elder and asked him about it.

The Ape Race elder gazed into the distance, his eyes revealing a boundless weariness of the world, and gave his answer: "Child, this world operates on the law of the jungle. Our Ape Race is not strong enough, so we can only be enslaved by the Human Race. This has been our fate for over five hundred years."