novelraw Chapter 224: Wrath From Heaven, The Asura!
Chapter 224: Wrath From Heaven, The Asura!
Jari certainly did not know this. Right now, holding his knife, he was inching his way through the water toward the crematorium.
The river water was biting cold and reeked of blood and rot, causing his body to shiver uncontrollably. Yet, none of that could stop his resolve for revenge. At the very least... at the very least, he would make the people who stole his father's corpse bleed!
This was what Jari thought, and it was exactly what he did.
Dripping with water, he climbed up from the banks of the Ganges. He bypassed the still-burning pyres and the people still praying by the river, using the cover of night to slip into the crematorium.
During the day, before he left, he had observed these people. He knew where they came from and was certain they lived right here in the crematorium.
This was Kolkata, a city where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold. These people, who were at most of the Shudra caste, definitely could not afford houses. They had no choice but to live here.
Jari had calculated every step flawlessly. He had even managed to sneak up to the shacks where these people lived. As long as he found them inside, he could make his move!
'It is already so late. These people should be asleep by now, right?'
Thinking this, Jari dodged two men who had gotten up in the middle of the night and approached the shack. The veins on his hand holding the knife bulged; he was clearly ready to kill.
And then, he found nothing.He had observed very carefully during the day. These people indeed lived in this shack, a fact Jari was sure of. He had even seen a photograph of one of them at the head of a bed.
But right now, at least, these people were not in the shack. He had come for nothing.
Jari stood in the room, feeling a profound sense of loss, unsure of what to do. Revenge relied entirely on a surge of impulsive courage, and now that this courage had dissipated, he suddenly felt a wave of panic.
Thus, gripping his knife, Jari returned the way he came.
Perhaps he would never again muster the courage in his life to attempt such a meticulously planned murder.
Over an hour later, Jari climbed back up from the spot where he had previously vanished. He hid the bone knife in a pile of rocks in the river. Thoroughly exhausted, he prepared to head home and rest.
"Lord Shiva, do you also feel that what I am doing is wrong?"
The God he muttered prayers to year-round—whether he truly believed or not—now felt present. Jari felt this might be the deity's will, telling him that this kind of revenge was wrong.
They, the Dalits, were the ones who endured the most ascetic suffering in this life. And in their next life, they would surely cleanse their karma and welcome the most joyous moments!
Using such words to numb his mind and guide his perspective, Jari gradually arrived back at his home.
In the dead of night, the house was dark. This did not surprise Jari. Even electricity—even stolen electricity—cost money in these slums.
Those gangs, relying on the backing of the high castes, would squeeze every drop of blood, sweat, and money from the poor here. They collected taxes on everything. In this place, these gangs were the most ruthless tax collectors!
However, as Jari drew closer, the complete lack of movement from his home suddenly filled him with a sense of fear.
This was not right. His family could not possibly all be asleep. His wife and mother should be taking turns keeping watch. Now that he had walked all the way here, they should have seen him by the moonlight and come out to greet him!
"Hmph!" Jari let out a cold snort. It seemed someone had fallen asleep on their watch; he would have to give them a good talking-to tomorrow.
With that, he pushed open the door and entered his house, which was cobbled together from wooden planks and mud.
Ordinary Dalits did not even have corrugated iron shacks because iron could be sold for money. It was that simple.
"Mother, I am back!" Jari called out out of habit, but the bloody stench permeating the air made him freeze in his tracks!
He pushed the door open completely, and by the moonlight, he saw the scene inside!
The once reasonably tidy little shack had been turned into a garbage dump. The bedding they had painstakingly scraped together was torn to shreds.
Tattered cloth and messy clothes were strewn across the floor, while all their pots and pans had been smashed and scattered everywhere.
But none of this was what caused Jari the most panic. What truly panicked him was that there was no one home!
His mother, his wife, and his three children were all gone!
Only the thick, bloody scent hung in the air, informing him of the ominous tragedy that had occurred!
"Ah!" This incredibly resilient man broke down in an instant. Just a day ago, he had lost his father. Today, he had personally dismembered his father's corpse just to trade for a little food to fill their stomachs.
In the end, during the time he was out seeking revenge, his home was destroyed. The bloody stench told him that no one in his family was likely left alive.
Who would not break down experiencing something like this?
But his agonizing cries earned no pity from his surroundings. He was met only with the familiar, angry rebukes and curses of his fellow Dalit neighbors.
Everyone around him was fine; it was only his family that was targeted. Jari wanted to ask around, but as he stood up, he abandoned the thought. He did not need to ask to know they would not say a word. Just like him, if someone else asked him, he would keep his mouth shut too.
This was the survival philosophy of the Dalits: speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil, do no evil. That was how you lived a little longer.
As for those who acted smart, their entire families had been slaughtered long ago.
But Jari's howling did not last long before the voices of two people conversing drifted in from outside:
"Hey, Patel, I knew this guy would come back! See, did we not catch him?"
"Yeah, you were right. The final corpse is here. We can report back now!"
Their words reached Jari's ears just as the two men appeared before him.
"What are you looking at, untouchable?!" Seeing Jari's cold, hateful glare, the two men approached with their knives drawn. "Could not find your family? No worries, we will send you to reincarnate with them right now!"
Under the moonlight, the two thugs revealed their faces, looking just as ferocious as they had during the day. Jari realized who they were in an instant!
It was them! It was definitely them! These were the people who had snatched his father's corpse, and now they had come back!
Judging by their words, they were the ones who came here and murdered his family?
And now, these two were here to kill him?
Jari felt an indescribable surge of blood rush from his body straight to his head, instantly vaporizing his reason. He was ready to charge forward and fight them to the death!
His body, tempered by years of grueling, filthy, and exhausting labor, hid a terrifying strength. If he could just close the distance, he could take at least one of them down with him!
"Get lost!" The leading man simply kicked out, sending Jari flying.
Jari was too thin and small; years of harsh labor had stunted his growth to barely five foot three. The exhaustion from his long swim also left his body without the extra strength to dodge. He could only be kicked to the ground, watching the two murderers walk toward him.
"That is more like it. As an untouchable, wouldn't it be better to just lie there and wait for death? You didn't actually think winning would change anything for you, did you?"
The leading man patted Jari's face with the flat of his blade and mocked, "Even if you resist, even if you run, you will still die!"
"You are an untouchable. You were born to be our slave! Letting you live this long was already an act of our mercy!"
This man, who would bow and scrape before the high castes, displayed his arrogance and unchecked cruelty to the fullest in front of a lower caste!
Jari's eyes burned with rage and his heart bled with sorrow, but he knew the man was right.
Untouchables had no human rights. They could not run, and they could not rebel. The high castes did not allow it, because if they did, how would the high castes rule over them?
Therefore, every untouchable who dared to resist would be subjected to the most brutal punishments to serve as a deterrent to others of their caste.
"Alright, they are rushing us over there. I will not waste any more breath on you. Time to hit the road!"
Hearing this, Jari closed his eyes. Anger practically incinerated his soul, yet his physical exhaustion and the heavy shackles on his mind prevented him from even mustering the will to fight back.
'As expected, even the Gods have abandoned the Dalits, haven't they?'
Watching this unfold, Bai Yang stood off to the side and slowly snapped his fingers. "Snap!"
He looked upon the death of this family without much reaction. In these slums, four families were dying at this exact same moment, all in completely different ways.
Only at times like this could he truly understand why the term "cesspit," which he had learned when studying this Realm, was such a standard and accurate description.
In this country, no matter how surreal and bizarre something seemed, it was considered normal. Slaughtering an entire family was never an empty threat here; it was reality.
This was especially true for the high castes dealing with the low castes. They took whatever they wanted and held absolute power over life and death!
"But this is wrong. If you all only believe in the afterlife and the next reincarnation, how can you offer your Faith in this life to me?"
Bai Yang declared. A stream of Energy, woven from God Power and Wish Power, poured out and descended upon Jari's body.
"Now, it all depends on whether you possess the will to risk everything, even to the point of forsaking everything. If you do, I will let you live! If you do not, and remain numb and apathetic, then you are better off dead!"
"As everyone knows, the antithesis of the Celestial Gods are the Asuras! Battle and desire are their legendary marks. Wrath descending from heaven—that is the Asura!"