Chapter 2 The Cleansing Room
The east wing next to the main house is a large communal sleeping area, with each of the two rows accommodating more than ten people to lie down. The central aisle is neither too wide nor too narrow, and there is a low couch at the foot of each bed, presumably for getting in and out of bed.
People who had just been cleansed were brought in here. Even the tall man who had been abandoned in the main room was carried in by four servants a little later and placed on a communal bed near the door.
Suddenly, the rain outside stopped. The earthy smell of mud and grass mingled with the bloody smell inside, making the surroundings even more suffocating.
No one was moving around in the room; most people were still fast asleep. Only Shinju was awake. Although his eyes were closed, if you looked closely, you would see that his right hand was clenched into a fist, so tightly that his fingertips were bloodless, only a stark white.
Whenever there is quiet, Zhen Su cannot help but ponder repeatedly that he, a dignified immortal who has attained enlightenment and ascended to heaven, has not even warmed his position in the celestial ranks yet, and at this moment, he can only cower in this small world to escape the pursuit of the demon.
The resentment in Shinjuku's heart was about to overflow.
The place he is currently in is not the cultivation world, but the Nian Kingdom recorded in the history books of the mortal world. It is a small world without spiritual energy that he created after his death using the King Serpent Formation.
The reason he hid here was that anyone wanting to enter this small world would have to dissipate their cultivation. However, no powerful being would be willing to go to such lengths. Even if someone were forced to come and kill him, with neither side possessing cultivation, the outcome was uncertain. Zhen Su, naturally, had no fear of pursuers. That fierce battle with the demon had sealed his Purple Mansion, destroyed his Dantian, damaged his meridians, caused his cultivation level to plummet to the Qi Refining stage, left him with only a wisp of true energy, and caused intermittent loss of his five senses; temporarily, only his right hand could move… Therefore, where could be more suitable for him, now a cripple, to survive than here?
As Shinju was lost in thought, a sudden commotion inside the room interrupted his reverie.
Shinjuku turned his head to look at the source of the sound and saw that many little children on the bed were gradually waking up as the anesthesia wore off.
"...Where is this?"
"Father, I want to go home! I want to go home! Father, why did you send me here? Waaah..."
"Ouch—it hurts so much, wet nurse! Yuanbao is in so much pain!!"
"I don't want to die, why can't I feel anything... How could this happen... Hey, little brother over there, can you check my lower body for me, is it still... still there?"
A cry followed by sobs, grief, fear, and unease surging forth like a raging flood, engulfing the little babies who were gradually waking up in bed. This cacophony of crying failed to attract the attention of anyone outside. The small courtyard, like the violets wilting in the corner after the rain, failed to elicit even the slightest notice from onlookers.
As for Shinjuku, who was in the midst of it all, he couldn't help but feel a sense of shared sorrow, and a hint of emotion flashed in his clear, bright eyes.
He turned his head and asked the little baby lying next to him if he needed help. He could use acupressure to stop the bleeding and relieve the pain.
By this time, the anesthesia had worn off, and the pain had left him with no energy to think. He didn't understand what "sealing the acupoints" meant, but upon hearing someone care about him, a smile immediately appeared on his face. His eyes were covered with tears as he looked at Shinjuku and murmured, "Brother, please help Yuanbao..."
Before he could finish speaking, black blood spilled from the corner of the little boy named Yuanbao's mouth. At the same time, his almond-shaped eyes widened in anger, his chest jerked violently, and then remained still.
"!!" Zhen Su's golden eyes narrowed sharply. He immediately clasped his hands and pinched his fingers, instantly striking Yuan Bao's three acupoints: Tanzhong, Jiquan, and Shenfeng, to stimulate his blood and qi. Then, following the microcosmic orbit, he pressed the acupoints along the way, using skillful force to unblock the stagnant qi circulation. Finally, he used palm wind to press on the heart, repeating this step.
After pressing the airway about three times, Yuanbao's mouth and nose miraculously began to breathe again, albeit very weakly, but he was truly back to life!
Shinju didn't forget to stop Yuanbao's bleeding and pain.
To stop bleeding, the primary method is to apply pressure to the Qugu acupoint in the lower abdomen to seal the upstream of the injury and obstruct blood flow. To relieve pain, it is necessary to focus on the Muladhara chakra, which is responsible for sensing pain, near the injury. However, this area should not be held for too long; it must be released after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, otherwise it will greatly affect the patient's self-healing speed.
After a while, Yuanbao fully regained consciousness. He opened his round eyes and stared blankly for a long time before realizing that he wasn't experiencing any severe pain below. He was so frightened that he thought he had lost his legs. But when he tried to move his chubby little feet, he found that everything was normal.
In an instant, Yuanbao was so happy that her eyes disappeared from her grin. She shuffled over to Zhenju and asked, "Brother, did you help Yuanbao? Yuanbao doesn't hurt anymore! Now I don't have to worry about the nanny anymore, Yuanbao is alright!"
Shinju smiled at him, but the moment his lips curled up, they fell back down uncontrollably, and his face instantly scrunched up.
When Yuanbao saw Shinju's condition, she panicked. "Brother, what's wrong? Where does it hurt? Let me blow on it for you..."
Shinju finally laughed, thinking to himself that it was just that he had used his internal energy earlier, causing his shattered dantian to feel like a quenched steel blade was constantly churning inside.
Masakatsu didn't take this seriously and simply told him, "Yuanbao, go and tell the others that if they want to stop the bleeding or relieve the pain, they should come here."
Yuanbao nodded repeatedly, and then asked each person one by one.
As the night passed, the candle's tears dried.
As dawn broke, the well-dressed servants arrived late, filing in one after another. The stench of blood and filth that had lingered in the room all night finally dissipated.
The little children, who had been anxious all night, fell silent as they looked at the servants who stood silently in the room.
The man pulling the cart outside listened to the sounds coming from inside the room and couldn't help but feel strange. He wondered why the room was so quiet this time. Could it be that none of them had survived?
The man was almost frightened by his own wild thoughts, but then he found it funny and muttered to himself: It can't be that bad... The knife maker's skills are still excellent. Usually, he only loses about 30 or 40 percent of the knife, which is no more than half.
But when the servants came out, he didn't see any straw mats in their hands, so he had to go up to them and ask, "Master, did you forget to bring the mats? Why have you been waiting so long to bring anyone out today?"
Several servants who knew him well couldn't help but exchange bewildered glances upon hearing this, and only when they saw the same look of astonishment in each other's eyes did they understand.
They led the man to a secluded spot before telling him about the situation in the side room.
This left the seasoned man completely bewildered. He exclaimed incredulously, "Are you kidding me?! How could not a single one have died?! There were more than twenty people inside, weren't there?"
But judging from the servants' expressions, it didn't seem like a joke. Besides, it would be too immoral to seek amusement in such matters.
The man knew they weren't that kind of people, and if they lied to him this time, who would come back to life to clean up the dead?
In the end, the man could only scratch his head, clicking his tongue in amazement, and drag his empty cart home.
The housework continued inside.
A servant stood at the foot of Shinjuku's bed, carrying a basin of water, saying he would wash him. Upon hearing this, Shinjuku instinctively tried to activate his cleansing technique, but the next moment, his dantian throbbed with pain as if a thousand ants were gnawing at his heart. Shinjuku paused, propped himself up with his right hand, and allowed the servant to attend to him closely.
Beneath the gently rippling water, the dark yellow bottom of the copper basin reflected the face of a handsome young man. Shinju's eyes were slightly lowered, lost in thought.
To be honest, even Shinju himself hadn't seen this face in a long time; it was so unfamiliar that it even gave him a sense of novelty. Because he established his foundation early, his appearance was fixed at the age of fourteen until he broke through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, at which point the age-preserving effect of foundation establishment was removed, and he became a mature-looking man of twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
This youthful appearance had always attracted him to strange and messy romantic entanglements and absurd affairs in the past. Just recalling even a little bit of it was enough to make him want to look back on it.
If he hadn't been in extremely poor condition when he entered this small world, with a splitting headache and fearing the slightest possibility that the demon might follow him in, he wouldn't have chosen to revert to his youthful appearance, which the demon wouldn't recognize.
Half an incense stick later, the servants wiped their bodies and then left one by one carrying the basins.
The Eunuch Room, being under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Department, was a place for supplying palace maids and eunuchs to the royal family. Apart from the deliberate neglect the night before, the subsequent care and treatment were not harsh, except that it was for most people.
On the first day, the servants brought him food and water on time, and even helped him comb his hair and wash his face. But after a day, the food boxes that were delivered morning and evening contained only a few stalks of what looked like chewed purslane, and the brown rice underneath was slightly sour, speckled with black spots. It was unclear whether it was mixed with brown rice, bedbugs, or mold. Then, only one jar of water was delivered each day, not even enough for him to drink a couple of sips. After that, no more water was delivered, and no matter how hard he tried, no one would come.
Fortunately, there were several little children in the room who were already able to move around freely. With a flip of their short legs, they climbed onto Majutsu's bed and scrambled to stuff their food and soup into Majutsu's hands. Their tender little faces blossomed into smiles.
If Masaya refuses, they'll wail and cry, stopping after a couple of seconds to glance at him. Left with no other option, Masaya picks out a few bites and eats a little before pushing the food box back to the children.
Those who cultivate immortality can abstain from food once they reach the Golden Core stage. Although Zhen Su's cultivation has now fallen to the first level of the Qi Refining stage, he is still an extraordinary and powerful True Immortal. Even if he doesn't eat for ten days or half a month, he should not have any problems.
With his back against the wall, Shinjuku looked at the whorl of hair on the head of Yuu-bo, who refused to go back and insisted on sitting next to him for dinner, and couldn't help but let out a muffled laugh.
Yuanbao looked up at Shinju with a puzzled expression, then held the food box up to him.
Shinju casually brushed Yuanbao's hair crown and said, "You eat, your brother is full and can't eat anymore."
"Okay." Yuanbao lowered her head and chewed. "Yuanbao thinks this sponge cake is the best! I really want my nanny to try some too..."
There was no way to respond to that, and Shinjuku didn't intend to either.
His gaze shifted to the other side of the door, where a tall man lay motionless on the bed, still unconscious after several days. It seemed that the drop of immortal blood he had hastily given had failed to reverse this man's fate.
After much thought, he decided that he should refrain from creating any karmic entanglements in the future.
The same applies to Yuanbao.
After Masaya waited for Yuanbao to finish his soup, he lied and said he needed to rest. Yuanbao couldn't stay any longer, so he obediently climbed back into his own bed.
Just as Shinju closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly about to fall asleep, a deafening gong suddenly sounded outside the room, followed by an announcement. Shinju was called by name and ordered to gather at the back gate of the residence in a quarter of an hour. He would then join the previous batch of eunuch candidates who had completed their rest and recuperation, and proceed to the outer residence of the Bureau of Ceremonies in the east of the city to receive six months of etiquette training. Finally, it was emphasized that those who missed the deadline would be expelled from the capital!
Upon hearing this, Masakuni's face showed a rare look of astonishment, and then he suddenly looked down at his legs.
I told you he couldn't walk!
A note from the author:
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