piratefiction Chapter 26 Mittal Village
Chapter 26 Mittal Village
Aside from the flamboyant fame that is gradually rising among the city's middle class, Vijay is just an ordinary-looking Vaishya boy.
Lying back on the oxcart, Bim took a shortcut, easily shaking off those stubborn guys who lingered around the inn, and smoothly embarked on his journey back to the village.
In just three days, Vijay resolved the imminent crisis and also got rid of the inexplicable curse on his body, which can be said to be quite fruitful.
Now I have time to take a good look at the scenery around me.
Harappa is situated on a vast, seemingly endless plain, with a great river winding its way across the land, and thousands of villages of all sizes scattered across the landscape.
Five days' journey north, across a rolling hill, leads to another prosperous land, home to several cities as large as Harappa, including Sompura and Runa, which Bim had mentioned.
Three days' journey east leads to a series of treacherous peaks and a vast forest. No one knows what lies within that forest, or whether the prosperous East lies beyond the peaks... because no one has ever returned from there.
Three days' journey south leads to a desolate sandy land, shrouded in death and aridity. But beyond the sand lies an endless ocean, where several cities also stand.
Four days' journey west led to rolling hills, behind which stood cities, but mostly to lands that were not yet cleansed. Brahmins forbade ordinary merchants from traveling west, which was actually the territory of countless foreign tribes. Vijay guessed that the envoy from the Duaga tribe he had encountered might have come from the west.
The territory that Vijay inherited was officially referred to as Mital Village in Harappa City. It was located in the northeast of the city, and even including the large areas of undeveloped forests and mountains within the village, it was only one-seventh the size of Harappa City.
But for a Vaishya, this achievement was already an earth-shattering feat!
At least Vijay has not heard of any other Vaishya who could do this.
Looking at the clear and vast blue sky before me, with the boundless fields stretching to the horizon, the green rice paddies stretching out in layers, the seedlings growing vigorously, the low hills gently rolling in the distance, and the trees sparsely scattered at the edge of the fields, Dalits in rough clothes are scattered in the fields, bending over and working hard. In the ancient wilderness, there is only the vast and quiet rural atmosphere.
Vijay felt much better and couldn't help but hum a song. Even the bumpy ride of the oxcart on the dirt road couldn't dampen his spirits in the slightest.
"Master..." Bim looked up at the rice paddies by the roadside, glanced back at Vijay, and hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
"What's wrong?" Vijay noticed that old Bim seemed to have something to say, so he immediately asked.
"The rice in the field is almost beyond saving..." Bim's voice was somewhat low, and his sidelong glance carried a hint of sadness.
"Rice..." This reminder made Vijay sit up, remembering something he had overlooked.
The village of Mirta has little to offer in terms of produce. It can only grow some grains on the plains with the help of the river to supply its own needs. The rest of the village remains largely undeveloped.
Vijay's ancestors didn't care about these things, after all, that wasn't the foundation of the Mirta family's existence.
When he acquired this territory, his great-grandfather made a vow before the statue of Shiva, promising to offer sacrifices of the spirits of the land and grains every year.
Here's the trouble!
The spirit of grains arises only in fields of plenty, deeply bound to the very essence of that land. This essence, offered before the gods, is genuine and cannot be replaced by any means.
Generally, it takes a bountiful harvest from nearly a hundred acres of land to produce a single grain spirit worthy of offering to the gods.
To ensure that this sacred responsibility was fulfilled every year, Vijay's ancestors cultivated more than 500 acres of land outside the village to ensure that this contribution would not be interrupted.
Today's severe drought, coupled with Vijay's previous inaction due to a lack of understanding of the situation, has put the rice in the fields in extremely dangerous condition.
If this continues, without the offerings of the spirit of the grain, our family will be reprimanded by the Brahmins, and in the worst case, our territory may even be confiscated!
I wonder if the Brahma priest can help me cover up the missing portion this year.
Vijay sighed.
The previous water shortage lasted too long, and even the most drought-resistant rice could not withstand it.
Even if we use water made from well droplets to irrigate the land now, the effect would probably be negligible. Even if some of the rice survives, whether it can still produce the spirit of grain is a huge question.
Why do so many troubles keep coming one after another?
Seeing that Vijay was deep in thought, Bim stopped talking and continued driving the oxcart, soon entering the territory of Mittal village.
Unlike the scenes of hard work by Dalits in other territories, the Mittal Village territory exudes a desolate and decaying atmosphere.
Vijay walked and looked around, but he was filled with emotion.
Suddenly, he saw several Dalits gathered in a circle under the shady trees in the distance.
Without a doubt, the one in this place is a Dalit from your own village!
"Bim, what are they doing?" Vijay suddenly became curious as he watched them gather together. He had never paid attention to the Dalits in his village, nor had he noticed what kind of lives these easily overlooked people at the bottom of society led.
"By Brahma, these lazy fools!" Bim looked in the direction Vijay was pointing and finally saw the group of Dalits gathered together. He immediately lashed out with his whip, "I'm going to punish them severely in a moment!"
As they were talking, the oxcart had already arrived in the distance, while the Dalits remained immersed in their own world, completely unaware of their master's arrival.
Bim jumped off the oxcart, brandishing his whip and charging angrily, yelling, "By Brahma, you lazybones!"
Only when the whip fell did the Dalits turn their heads in bewilderment, not daring to dodge, not daring to block, not even daring to make a sound. They simply knelt down on the ground, their foreheads pressed tightly against the ground, begging for their master's forgiveness.
Now the encirclement broke up, and Vijay could finally see what they were doing.
There were four Dalits among them, completely naked, three sandwiched between one, with a shriveled female Dalit at the center.
Even as the whip fell, two people remained connected to her, unable to leave her body.
His naked body was thus laid bare before Vijay.
"You worthless wretch who deserve to go to the deepest hell! How dare you be so lazy during work hours!" Crack! Crack! Accompanied by curses, Bim's leather whip flew up.
Vijay was somewhat shocked, but Bim seemed to be used to this scene. He wasn't even focused on the fact that these guys were clearly violating public order and good morals by having sex in the wild!
Vijay frowned, noticing for the first time the underlying nature of this world.
It seems this shouldn't be the case!