Chapter 52
Move the car?
No, not that.
After washing his feet, Yomi played with the water for a little while longer, but the commotion in the woods still had not stopped. He stood up and looked over, his brows gradually knitting together.
Something was wrong with Anxius’s state. Yomi started to worry and asked Karl, “Anxius… has he gone berserk?”
Karl froze for a moment, then came back to himself and shook his head, at the same time blocking Yomi’s view. “It’s fine. His Highness will handle it… These people brought it on themselves.”
From the moment they received the news, Anxius had had no intention of sparing them. There were no laws here, and that was exactly why those people had dared to cause trouble and beat others in broad daylight, and even follow Yomi afterward to continue doing evil…
In Anxius’s eyes, if this group was not dealt with, they could very likely become a threat to Yomi’s safety in the future.
Karl had been Anxius’s secretary for many years. He knew full well how cold and merciless the man was in battle, so naturally he could see exactly what Anxius intended to do.
But this was beyond what Yomi had expected. He tilted his head to get around Karl’s obstruction, only to realize that Anxius was truly about to get serious. He suddenly looked a little at a loss.
He had only wanted Anxius to give these people a brutal beating.
Karl knew Yomi had never seen a scene like this before, and understood his fear, so he soothed him gently. “It’s really fine. There are no laws here, and no one to control anything. If we don’t deal with them, sooner or later they’ll come back for revenge…”
The little man’s face changed in shock.
“You mean… no matter how they hurt us, or how we hurt them… no one will ever step in?”
“That’s right. Junk Star is more like a primitive society. Most people, for the sake of long-term survival, still choose to live peacefully with others… But people like them—even if His Highness didn’t make a move, most of them would eventually die at the hands of enemies, or in some violent fight.”
“…”
It sounded almost like the jianghu of martial arts novels—except in this jianghu, there were not even any heroes.
Karl knew this reality was a little too cruel for Yomi, so all he could do was try not to let him see.
Although they had already been living on Junk Star for some time, Yomi spent most of his days on the farm, carefree and comfortable. Yexi and the others also never talked about these things unless necessary… But if he wanted to survive here for the long term, then he would have to adapt to the rules of this place, rather than allowing himself to be bullied.
Just as Karl expected, the little man slowly lowered his head, his body hunching down, as if he did not dare face such a bloody scene.
Karl crouched down, just about to cover his ears—
when the next second, the little man suddenly lifted his head, his eyes sparkling brightly. “If that’s the case, then I know how to punish them!”
Before Karl could react, he raised his voice and shouted toward Anxius, “Wait a moment!”
Then he waved at the members of the chef team, gathered the confused young men, ran to the truck, quickly pulled out a pile of ropes, and strode briskly toward Anxius.
Anxius really did stop.
He had no idea what Yomi was planning, so he lowered his head and stared at that tiny figure, deeply curious.
The people lying on the ground had long since been beaten so badly they had no strength left. Their groans and pleas for mercy were no louder than mosquitoes.
The ringleader had been beaten the worst of all. He had already given up struggling and knew he would surely die today. He lay there without moving, quietly waiting for the final blow.
Still, when the little man suddenly approached, he shuddered anyway.
It was obvious that the monster listened to this little boss. So the little boss had to be the real leader of the group.
The ringleader grew alert.
The little boss had a grudge against them. Stopping the monster could not possibly mean anything good… Could it be that he wanted to torture them a little before they died?
…Sure enough, he was carrying rope! Was he planning to strangle them to death?
The little boss was coming straight toward him. Closer and closer!
The ringleader was filled with despair and fury. If he had any strength left, he truly would have rammed his head into a tree and killed himself.
He’s here, he’s here!
Trembling, the ringleader squeezed his eyes shut…
Then his wrists were suddenly tied up.
“Market Rule Number One: Causing trouble and provoking fights gets you detained for a period of reform through labor!”
…What?
Was this some sort of humiliation before execution?
The ringleader opened his eyes blankly.
The little boss was already crouching there, tying both his hands together with hemp rope. Over there, the others were also tying up the hands of his underlings…
Not only his underlings—even the people on the little boss’s side seemed shocked.
In a place without law, they were going to be imprisoned?
This was absurd to the point of comedy!
And yet Yomi’s expression was incomparably resolute, serious, even solemn.
For a moment, no one could say a single word in opposition.
As though, right then and there, this place truly had laws now.
The aura of slaughter still clung to Anxius’s body. After hearing Yomi’s words, he merely rolled his eyes once, then stared fixedly at Yomi. He seemed to find Yomi at this moment unbearably adorable, so much so that even his breathing grew heavier.
There was only one key point in his mind—
Yomi wanted them imprisoned.
Then imprison them!
Maintaining his original form, Anxius followed Yomi’s instructions and brought the group of people back to the farm.
That evening, Yexi and his wife, who had stayed behind on the farm, were greeted by a very strange sight:
The little sheep chef team and Anxius had returned from outside, and they had also brought back a group of Junk Star locals covered in injuries. Not only that, under Yomi’s direction, this group of Junk Star people was actually lining up obediently, each holding a sign, taking photos in front of the high wall.
“Starting today, you will be serving one month of prison time!” After taking the photos, Yomi tapped the table with a little hammer and made the announcement with great solemnity.
Yomi was not joking.
He was very seriously carrying out a proper “behind-bars education” for these prisoners.
As for the prison, they would temporarily use one of the nearby vacant buildings.
Yomi was not worried they would escape. For one thing, they were all exhausted. Even if they wanted to climb out the window or over a wall, they would need the strength for that first. For another, even if they really did try to run, the electric netting along the farm wall would be enough to make them suffer.
What Yomi had not expected was that that very night, someone really did try to escape. One of the underlings, driven by pure willpower, used up his last bit of strength to secretly climb out the window and run toward the high wall. But before he even got close, Anxius—who had heard the noise—came out, caught him, and beat him up all over again… By now, this entire group had developed psychological trauma toward the appearance of the monster. Seeing that the would-be escapee had been caught so quickly, they thought there must be some invisible surveillance system in place. Terrified, they did not dare entertain thoughts of escape anymore… The main reason was that they had been beaten too badly. They were afraid that if the monster hit them a few more times, they might really die.
The next morning was bright and sunny—a fine day for work.
Several nearby farming households, however, witnessed a miraculous sight:
A group of hulking men with bruises and swollen lumps all over their heads obediently followed a tiny little person to a broken fence that needed repair. After fixing the fence, they neither asked for money nor goods. They simply left without a word, following that little person away.
???
Had an angel descended from heaven?
The farmers could not make sense of it. All they could do was devoutly thank this blessing, never realizing that this was in fact labor reform for bad guys.
That same afternoon, the group returned to Yomi’s farm and continued digging earth and planting vegetables.
Once they learned that their sentence was only one month, that they would not lose their lives, and that during this time they would no longer be subjected to the monster’s “violent suppression,” they completely abandoned all thoughts of escape. They lived for hundreds of years. One month was truly very short.
The ringleader of the jerky stall had originally made his money by monopolizing the jerky business at the market. He understood very clearly that even if he somehow had the ability to escape, unless he planned to leave this region forever and go live somewhere else, then with the little boss’s strength, catching him again would be far too easy. And when that happened, the punishment would likely be doubled. Since he had no intention of leaving this area for good, why bother?
Besides, they had absolutely no ability to break out in the first place. They fully believed that the moment they showed any sign of escape, they would end up just like those birds that tried to steal jerky—before they even got over the wall, the monster would charge over and beat them senseless.
So after one night of rest and one day of labor, they weighed the pros and cons together and eventually reached a unanimous conclusion:
Just endure it here for one month!
After all, according to how fights at the market had gone before, that day they most likely would have died out in the wilderness. The strong preyed on the weak. If you picked a fight and lost, death was normal, wasn’t it?
And now, not only had they been spared, they even had something to look forward to—release! According to the little boss, as long as they stopped causing trouble after being released, they could continue doing their business in the market!
Could such a good thing really exist?
At first, the ringleader had almost thought Yomi was lying to him. A situation like this simply had never existed in market conflicts before. As the losing side, it had always been impossible to continue hanging around the market. Just as they themselves had said when they first picked the fight—either you get lost, or we do.
But whether they were being deceived or not, these not-very-clever brains of theirs could not figure it out for the time being. When you were under someone else’s roof, you had no choice but to bow your head. Even if it was all a lie—what could they possibly do about it?
Naturally, Yomi had no interest in whatever this group was thinking. While leading them in daily labor, he also dug out some old clothes from the villa, drew stripes on them with charcoal, and with tremendous ceremony made prison uniforms for them!
The prisoners, wearing prison uniforms: …Thanks a lot.
Karl and the others, watching him hand out prison uniforms to the prisoners: …
Though helpless, they also felt a little worried.
Could this really work?
And yet, just a few days later, every single one of them began to feel glad these prisoners had come.
How could they not be glad?
The moment this group arrived, all the work that used to need doing disappeared from their plates. Planting vegetables, spreading fertilizer—there were not even enough chores to go around among the prisoners.
Now, the only things everyone else needed to do every day were dry the jerky, help Yomi act as prison guards to keep an eye on the prisoners, and prevent them from causing trouble.
Luckily, this group knew what was good for them. After suffering Anxius’s fists, no one dared make trouble again.
Of course, the prisoners were not miserable all day every day. They also had their own moments of happiness!
Who could possibly not love the little sheep chef team’s chive pockets and dried meat slices, as well as the not-yet-sold pork stewed with glass noodles, spicy hot pot, meatballs, and even that snack which looked like jerky but was actually called spicy strips?!
Heavens, they were so delicious. No wonder their business got crushed!
Every morning after waking up, this group of prisoners would eagerly wait for the three meals ahead of them.
To be honest, at first they had thought they would be fed pig food. In the end, they were eating better than usual, wuuwuwu…
Meikai even observed their tastes and reactions, and based on what these people liked, adjusted the quantities of future stall items in time.
The prisoners: reduced completely into test-subject tools!
After eating the little sheep chef team’s food for several days, the prisoners felt as though they had even gained weight.
Not by much, of course. After all, they got up early and went to bed early every day. No one had to wake them; when the time came, they just went off to work. They were, in fact, very disciplined.
A life far from conflict, full of daily hard work, did not actually seem so bad. When they were tired, they were allowed to rest. When they were sick, a doctor treated them promptly. Every evening, they even got to sit together on little stools and watch movies shown by Boss Little Sheep. Sometimes, staring out at the endless wilderness in the distance, it almost felt as though life itself had become peaceful.
Still, there were moments of regret. For example, one night, while the prisoners were resting in the “prison,” they looked toward the villa in the distance, where warm light glowed in the windows. They could hear bursts of laughter from inside, smell the aroma of late-night snacks, and could easily imagine the lively, harmonious scene of Boss Little Sheep’s family together.
The second brother, who had once run away from home in rebellion, lay at the window crying that he wanted to go home.
The ringleader was not that sentimental. He was mostly just envious, and even a little tempted to join them… Damn it, if they were going to eat at night, could they not make such a huge racket about it? Right now he really wanted dried meat slices. Compared to the work, this was the real punishment, wasn’t it?!
Some of the younger underlings, meanwhile, sighed and began reflecting on themselves—why had they gone and done that kind of thing in the first place? Now this was great. Their dark history was written down forever. In the future, even if they wanted to work for Boss Little Sheep, he probably would not want them.
At present, all they could do was behave properly and hope to get out sooner. Boss Little Sheep had said that people who performed well could have days taken off their sentence.
Yet, as the saying went, misfortune could strike at any time. A few days later, the building started leaking when it rained, and the prisoners’ accommodation was damaged. But instead of feeling miserable, the prisoners were overjoyed!
Now that the “prison” could not be lived in, surely they would finally be allowed to move into the villa, right? Hehehe…
When Yomi heard about it, his first reaction was, “Can’t it just be repaired?”
That very day, he ordered them to repair the prison building that was imprisoning them, and even specifically told them to reinforce the doors and windows while they were at it.
?!
The prisoners: Is that reasonable? Are you looking down on people or what?
Furious, they turned right around, marched back to prison, and worked savagely on reinforcement. The doors and windows became so solid that if they ever wanted to escape in the future, it would only become harder!
What they did not know was that Yomi actually had a whole prepared management plan for dealing with troublemakers. It was just that this group had surrendered resistance far too quickly, so none of it was needed at all.
That very same day, they repaired and reinforced their own prison. Their efficiency was terrifying.
Yomi was genuinely shocked by their work speed. He even personally inspected the doors and windows afterward. They were extremely solid, and the work was not shoddy in the least.
Yomi: These people’s craftsmanship is really excellent!
What a waste not to develop it further.
That night, the idea of going to town to buy sewing machines popped into Yomi’s head.
…
Because a whole batch of prisoners had arrived at the farm, the members of the little sheep chef team could now focus entirely on making food.
Every other day, they would go out to the market to set up their stall.
On the first day they returned to the market after catching the prisoners, the reaction there was quite significant.
In the eyes of the market crowd, the little sheep chef team had clearly clashed with the jerky strongmen. And now, the little sheep chef team was still coming out to do business just fine, while the jerky strongmen had vanished. The conclusion was obvious: the business war between them was already over, and barring surprises, the jerky strongmen had lost and probably died.
However, a few days later, while a certain farmer was queuing to buy chive pockets, he heard the people around him discussing exactly that and immediately shook his head. “The people who sold jerky didn’t leave. They were just doing free labor near our house a few days ago! They said they’re in prison, doing labor reform every day, and after some time they’ll be let out.”
The passersby all twitched at the corners of their mouths. “What nonsense! Isn’t that a prison?” There was no such thing here.
“Yes, it’s a prison. Their criminal records are even there too,” the farmer said as he ate.
“?!”
The passersby refused to believe it and were just about to argue when another hunter stepped out as witness. “It’s true. My grandpa was forging iron at home some time ago when a whole group of people suddenly came over to help. Boss Little Sheep himself was leading them. They finished the work and left without taking money or even asking for meat!”
This truly shocked everyone. They all looked at each other, then heard several more people with firsthand experience step up to tell similar stories. For a time, no one even felt like eating their chive pockets anymore.
My god, who could have imagined that this chef team would be this powerful? Looks like a new force has emerged in Ghost State.
Junk Star had no single ruler, but different regions were occupied by different forces. Some acted as bandits in the local area, with their own armed followers. Some were more like landlords, using all kinds of methods to enslave locals into working for them and making money. Some united various markets and local bullies, gradually spreading their manpower—brothers, essentially—across many areas. And then there were reckless fools who organized tribes of a few dozen people intending to unify Junk Star, only to get scammed into patrolling around as glorified security guards for someone else…
In short, the situation on Junk Star was extremely complicated. Large and small factions were scattered everywhere, some reliable, some absurd.
But any group that could actually imprison a chunk of the market’s local strongmen was naturally not to be underestimated.
And now they had even started a prison. Naturally, everyone assumed that Boss Little Sheep must be some fearsome new force in Ghost State.
No one disliked juicy gossip, especially not Junk Star people, whose entertainment options were limited. When it came to eating gossip, they had more enthusiasm than anyone.
Under these circumstances, stories about Boss Little Sheep spread rapidly. But as they spread, they became more and more outrageous—for example, people said that Boss Little Sheep was a hidden master living quietly among the common crowd, that despite his small size, his original form was actually a giant demonic black sheep capable of bewitching hearts. He could do anything, always won battles, and no one could act arrogantly in front of him for longer than one second!
You don’t believe it?
You know those strongmen from the jerky stall, right? They were fooled by Boss Little Sheep’s appearance at first, and so foolishly ran straight into disaster!
According to rumor, it was a dark and windy night. The strongmen tried to follow Boss Little Sheep and launch a sneak attack. Just as they were about to pounce, Boss Little Sheep suddenly vanished in the strangest way right in front of them!
The boss of the strongmen thought Boss Little Sheep had run off, so without caring about anything, he drove into the woods after him. But the moment he entered the forest… heavens, can you guess what they saw? It was a giant black sheep larger than a mountain whale!
The tall, hulking strongmen were completely swallowed up beneath the monstrous shadow of the demon sheep!
How terrifying that scene was, none of you could possibly imagine.
A sinister wind blew. A red moon hung overhead.
Oh, that wasn’t the moon at all—it was the blood-red eye of the giant sheep!
The giant demon sheep’s horns spewed flames. Lava flowed beneath his enormous hooves as he stepped toward them. His fur was as hard and sharp as spikes. He did not even need to attack. He only had to take a few steps forward, and the entire group of men collapsed helplessly.
The strongmen were completely dominated by fear and unable to move at all.
That was neither human nor beast, but something truly from the underworld itself—
A! Su! Ra!
Ahhh, just hearing it makes your whole body tremble!
That, then, was the most widely spread version of Boss Little Sheep’s power. Some people were so frightened that, out of equal parts awe and terror, they privately started calling Yomi Lord Sheep Asura.
Of course, Yomi was not entirely ignorant of the rumors about himself. More precisely, the formation of this version of events even owed something to Yomi’s own original embellishment!
At first, he had only wanted bad people to stop getting crooked ideas about his chef team. If they wanted to pick a fight, they should first think carefully about whether they were up to it!
To that end, he had written everyone a short, vicious-looking introduction and spread those around.
Roughly as follows:
Lynn (alias Octopus): a giant Cthulhu-style octopus beast from the deep sea!
Yexi’s family of three (aliases Coconut, Peacock, Rice Noodles): rulers of the skies who can summon winged dragons!
Karl (alias Armadillo): not actually an armadillo, but a giant mecha capable of triggering explosions!
Meikai (alias Crocodile): a powerful being who can roll through lava and command lions!
Harvey (alias Lion): when he unleashes his ultimate Lion’s Roar technique, everyone within several li may be harmed!
Anxius (alias Godzilla, ps: Yomi named this one!): an unmatched king of combat with limitless strength!
Yomi (alias Little Sheep): his original form is an ultra-fierce, ultra-giant black mountain goat whose one horn can skewer an entire pack of carnivorous beasts alive!
When you’re out in the world and want to command respect, you have to build your own identity!
Yomi had only meant to give everyone a fierce image. As for people later inventing specific scenes and stories to go with it—that was entirely beyond his expectations.
After all, to Junk Star people, the fierce beast forms listed earlier were nothing unusual. Instead, what fascinated them even more was Boss Little Sheep, the goat-form fellow who had somehow subdued all those terrifying monsters. If he could gather so many formidable figures under his command, then just how fearsome must his own strength be?
And where curiosity existed, creators were sure to appear! One person would add a little imagination, another would add another detail, and before long Boss Little Sheep became a haunting shadow in everyone’s mind—
the terrifying Sheep Asura with supernatural powers!
Sigh. Every time locals heard stories about Sheep Asura, some of them would get so frightened that they had nightmares.
Years later, whenever a family had a naughty little brat who refused to behave, the adults would unconsciously say:
“If you keep making trouble, be careful—Lord Sheep Asura will come and take you away!”
