Chapter 1 The Cleansing Room
The sky was cold and the clouds were heavy; an hour passed and the rain showed no signs of letting up.
In a three-courtyard house next to a palace, water streams from the eaves continuously splash into the moss-covered brick cracks, meandering through the water before flowing into the ditch, washing away the accumulated thick blood and gently carrying it outside the courtyard.
Pedestrians always avoided the house, not only because it always emitted blood and had a chilling atmosphere that was frightening, but also because above its main gate hung a gold-plated plaque with three large characters engraved on it: "Purification Room".
Just then, the side door of the main room opened, and two men dressed as servants, carrying a rolled-up mat, slowly stepped over the threshold and moved towards the adjacent wing room.
After the side door was closed, a knife maker with graying temples in the main room, while inserting a bloodstained crescent knife into boiling water, turned to his apprentice and asked, "Zeng Si, how many people are left?"
The burly man called Zeng Si glanced at one corner of the room and replied, "There are only two older ones left."
Although they were said to be old, they were actually not even twenty. Although the Nian Kingdom did not have an explicit rule that those who entered the palace as eunuchs must not have reached adulthood, they usually recruited mostly young children, so these two were considered to be extremely rare "older".
The knife maker stroked the hair on the mole and muttered, "We're running out of anesthetic... only enough for one and a half people."
If these two were both children, then the dosage should be sufficient. However, these two are seventeen and eighteen years old, and this dosage of one and a half doses is probably not enough for even one of them.
“Lately, the higher-ups have been demanding manpower frequently, but the procurement of medicinal herbs hasn't kept up. The amount allocated before is still the same.” Zeng Si glanced at his master's expression and said, “How about… we put one of them aside for now and move it to the next batch?”
The knife maker twirled the hair on the mole without uttering a word.
Zeng Sifu, sensing the danger, quickly said, "The dosage of medicine is sufficient, but there's no guarantee that nothing will happen. Master's swordsmanship is superb and renowned. If something were to happen, it would damage your reputation! Master, why don't you let me wield the sword since there are only these two left?"
Seeing that Zeng Si was so cooperative, the knife maker's brows furrowed, and he smiled and said, "After all these years, it's time to let you put your skills to use. I'll leave this place to you!"
Zeng Si thanked him repeatedly, but inwardly he sneered. He turned and walked towards the corner where the remaining two were, his gaze sweeping over them.
One sat slumped against the wall, completely enveloped by the shadow of the pillar, head bowed and silent. The other, curled up on the ground, could not hide his tall and strong figure, his raised, drooping eyes filled with tears and fear.
Zeng Si did not hesitate and reached out to pull the smaller boy up, but the tall boy got up and blocked him with his body.
Seeing his behavior, Zeng Si made a last-minute decision to pull the tall man up instead.
However, the tall man trembled all over, his eyes pleading, and said, "No, I, I'm so scared... Dun'er, can you not cut it?"
As the tall man spoke, his fear grew, and he instinctively began to struggle. Zeng Si, caught off guard, was pushed aside. Enraged, Zeng Si shouted, "So you're saying you won't pay? Your family has already taken the money! Do you think they'll give it back?! If they really didn't want the money, they wouldn't have thrown a strongman like you in here. Stop whining and get over there!"
Zeng Si herded the tall man like a sheep, swinging a thick hemp rope behind him to urge him onto the stone bed.
Upon hearing the conversation about his family, the tall man immediately became obedient, meekly climbing onto the stone bed, his breathing rapid as if he had just returned from plowing several miles of land.
A sinister glint flashed in Zeng Si's eyes. He prepared only half a dose of anesthetic and forced it down the throat. Then he met the gaze of the knife maker sitting next to him.
The knife maker didn't say anything, but picked up the cooled tea and took a sip.
Unexpected events can occur in nature, and injustices can happen on earth.
Halfway through the incision, the tall man suddenly regained consciousness. The excruciating pain from below was like a thunderbolt, instantly striking his brain and burning away his senses. This kind of pain was unbearable for ordinary people, even worse than having his ten fingers severed.
The tall man had cloth stuffed in his mouth, yet he still managed to bite it until blood came out, which spurted out of his mouth along with his saliva.
Zeng Si was stunned. He had thought that half a dose of anesthetic would be enough to make him endure the surgical procedure, but that the anesthetic would wear off very quickly, so that the tall guy who had made him lose face would suffer.
He never expected that his skills were lacking and his control over the dosage was not precise enough, so the "accident" naturally happened.
"Quick, hold him down!!" The knife maker couldn't stand it anymore and quickly snatched the knife from Zeng Si's hand. After Zeng Si managed to hold down the person who was struggling and convulsing violently on the stone bed, he used the knife to clean up the remaining sticky parts.
It was only about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, but all three of them were sweating profusely and looked quite disheveled.
The knife maker glared at Zeng Si, then wiped the sweat from his forehead and the back of his neck, shook his head, and returned to the high chair beside him.
Zeng Si wiped his face, wanting to whistle to call the servants outside to come in and clean up. However, when he looked down, he found that the person lying on the stone bed was barely breathing. His face, which was originally wheat-colored, was now as white as paper. The cloth bandage that had just been wrapped around his body had, in no time, completely lost its original plain color and was now a bright red that was glaringly obvious, quietly soaking into the stone bed beneath him.
Half an incense stick later, the servants came in, but this time, they didn't carry the person into the side room. They merely swept the stone bed, replaced the tea, and left. They didn't glance at the person abandoned in the corner, nor did they ask a single question.
The tall man lay quietly in the corner, utterly exhausted, his body soaked in tears and sweat, blood gushing from his lower body, the blood mixing with the filth on the ground, flowing downhill like the pattering rain outside.
Unexpectedly, a fair, smooth arm, as white as jade, blocked the way, separating the blood and grime, which was sticky and cool, and surrounded it.
Besides the tall man, only the silent boy remained in the corner; it was obvious who had made the move.
And the boy finally moved.
His brows furrowed slightly, his fan-like eyelashes slowly lifted, and his pale golden eyes cast a gaze toward the tall man's location, staring at him for a long time.
The tall man's eyes were open, but he could no longer see. The fear of impending death bound him tightly, rendering him completely immobile. His breath was weak, and the rise and fall of his chest was barely perceptible. It seemed that he was about to stop breathing, and his life was about to slip away...
Suddenly, a sigh filled with resentment came from the side, followed by a drop of blood with a golden glint in it, which fell from someone's pale fingertip and was fed into the mouth of the tall, dying man.
There was still one dose of medicine left in the earthenware jar. Seeing that everything was almost ready, Zeng Si turned his attention straight ahead and went to retrieve the last boy.
However, the young man's body seemed boneless, his weight pressing down on Zeng Si, which infuriated Zeng Si. But when the young man's profile came into view, he couldn't utter a word. The young man's golden eyes and porcelain-white skin seemed to glow, illuminating the dim corner for a moment. Zeng Si almost thought he was not in some filthy, blood-soaked place, but in the elegant and refined abode of a banished immortal. Even the cold, pungent air beneath his nose seemed fresh.
Holding such a lovely girl in his arms, even the rough and tough Zeng Si couldn't help but soften his tone and tease her, "Why are you so timid? You're so scared that you can't even walk?"
Upon hearing this, the boy closed his eyes. Unbeknownst to Zeng Si, he secretly tapped his long finger. Suddenly, a surge of energy appeared around the boy, seemingly about to sweep towards his legs. Unexpectedly, the energy was instantly dispersed and disappeared into the air.
"...Hmph." The boy seemed somewhat annoyed, letting a lock of hair fall down his side, obscuring his inscrutable expression.
Seeing that the boy couldn't muster any strength and was like a lump of noodles, Zeng Si simply grabbed him by the knees, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and then walked to the stone bed and put him on it.
Dao'er sipped his new tea and slowly looked over.
On the narrow stone bed, the boy remained in the same position he had been laid down. His left hand and legs were unnaturally bent, yet he remained motionless. Only his right hand, resting on his waist, moved its long, slender fingers, shifting its gestures from time to time, looking quite mysterious. But unlike his other pale hands and feet, the boy's right hand shone faintly in the lamplight, its distinct knuckles like steep peaks, its crisscrossing veins like verdant rivers, all covered in frost and snow, a scene of breathtaking beauty.
Upon seeing this, the knife maker's eyelids twitched, and he almost plucked the hair off his own mole.
Zeng Si didn't notice the knife maker's strange behavior. He lifted the boy's head, held the medicine bowl, and, as usual, checked the boy's identity before administering the medicine.
"Listen. Qingzhen Su, a native of Yuecheng, seventeen years old, right? After this bowl of medicine, you will lose consciousness in less than a cup of tea, and you will not wake up for about an hour after the incision. Do you understand?" Zeng Si, unusually, waited for a reply and did not raise the bowl to pour the medicine down his throat.
The young man, Shinju, raised his fair hand and pressed it against the rim of the bowl, saying, "There's no need to castrate me."
Zeng Si's mind suddenly went blank. He couldn't understand why anyone would dare to say such a thing here. He almost wanted to go outside to check if the words "Eunuch Room" were really hanging on the main gate.
Zeng Si couldn't help but retort angrily, "What do you mean by 'no castration'? Do you think this is a marketplace where you can come and go as you please?! Ha, if you want to cause trouble, you should first consider your own worth. Who do you think you are? Once you enter this door, no one can leave unscathed!"
He was about to curse again, but unexpectedly, Masakatsu suddenly used his right hand to pull off his belt, revealing what lay beneath his clothes.
At this moment, Zeng Si was immediately speechless, as if someone had grabbed his throat, while the knife maker almost fell off his high chair. The two men's faces changed from red to pale, a truly fascinating sight.
After a long while, accompanied by shouts of "bad luck," Zhen Su seemed to be treated as some kind of filth, and was about to be driven off the stone bed by Zeng Si.
At that moment, Shinju reached out and grabbed his sleeve, reminding him, "I can't walk anymore."
Zeng Si didn't want to pay any more attention to him, but for some reason, he whistled in annoyance and sent in servants to carry the boy to the next room on a mat.
As for the tall man still lingering in the corner, seemingly forgotten by everyone, no one noticed that all the meridians in his body had inexplicably bulged, stretching his flesh into a terrifying curve. Overall, it looked as if countless dark lines had been carved into his body. A moment later, the dark color of the meridians turned golden, gradually fading from the surface into his body, finally returning to normal, leaving only his healthy, wheat-colored skin, subtly reflecting light, dark and alluring.
A note from the author:
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The story has begun! ( ▽ ` )ノ
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