Qi Yan only felt the hairs on his neck stand up, unable to tell whether it was horror or disgust. He slapped Miao Shuang’s hand away and quickly stripped off the rumpled inner garment on his body.
Miao Shuang laughed loudly behind him.
After laughing for a while, the curve at the corners of his mouth faded again.
The last piece of clothing covering his body was removed, and the scars all over him were fully exposed — the sight was by no means pleasant to look at, crisscrossing scars layered one over another, hardly a patch of intact skin to be found, and the body that should have been sturdy and vigorous had also become gaunt and misshapen from three full months of inhuman torment.
Anyone’s first reaction upon seeing him would probably be, “It’s a miracle this person survived at all.”
Qi Yan struggled to move himself into the bathtub, inevitably splashing some water out. Even Miao Shuang found his wretched, disheveled state hard to look at directly, and turned to hide behind the screen.
The air settled into quiet, leaving only the sound of water.
After a long while, Qi Yan’s hoarse voice finally rose up amid the sound of the water. “You shouldn’t have provoked Eunuch Zhu.”
Miao Shuang hadn’t expected him to say this. “Why?”
“Eunuch Zhu has served His Majesty for over a decade, close to the dragon’s aura — even among the eunuch faction he holds himself proud and aloof. Today he swallowed his anger in front of you, but he’ll turn right around and go report you to His Majesty.”
“Then let him go,” Miao Shuang smiled, unconcerned. “You, a general, have also fought for His Majesty for over a decade, risking life and limb, pouring out your very liver and gallbladder in loyalty — and what has it gotten you in the end?”
Qi Yan: “……”
Miao Shuang: “Sometimes, being too favored isn’t necessarily a good thing. The emperor’s grace runs deep and wide, but a vessel too full will overflow.”
The sound of water paused for a moment. “You mean to use this to drive a wedge between their relationship?”
“A clever man.”
“But why would His Majesty trust you over a eunuch who has served him for over a decade?”
“Just wait and see.”
Qi Yan didn’t respond further.
He didn’t know where exactly this Miao person’s confidence came from, but… to him, it could do no harm either way.
If he could bring down Eunuch Zhu, all the better — regarding the matter of the Sacred Gu, this eunuch had whispered no small amount of poison into the emperor’s ear.
Even if he failed to bring him down, there was no real loss — as long as His Majesty hadn’t obtained the Sacred Gu, he wouldn’t be killed. And if blame came down for this, that imperial wrath would also fall on the Miao man to bear. His Majesty had always been fickle and prone to rage — if in a fit of anger he killed Miao Shuang, nothing could be better.
At worst… it would be Miao Shuang and Eunuch Zhu putting on a joint act for him to watch.
Whatever came, he would meet it as it came, and watch how things unfolded.
Just as he was pondering this, Miao Shuang suddenly burst in from outside, his ice-cold fingers clamping around his wrist.
His body reacted faster than his conscious mind — Qi Yan instinctively resisted, and in an instant turned the grip around to seize Miao Shuang’s hand instead. Unfortunately, because the tendons in his hand had been damaged, his strength wasn’t enough, and the other easily broke free.
Miao Shuang glared at him. “I’m checking your injuries. Don’t move around.”
Qi Yan: “.”
Fair, pale fingertips pressed against his scarred wrist, feeling around for a moment, then turned to the other side, fishing his other hand out of the water.
Having checked his pulse, Miao Shuang fell silent for a long time.
Although he had already examined it last night amid their passionate tangling, the battle had been fierce then and his pulse had been much more lively. Now that the tide had receded and things had settled, all that was left was a deathly stillness.
Were it anyone else, he’d probably have to say something like: can’t be cured, might as well prepare to die — advise the person to eat and drink what they liked while they still could, order a coffin early, and get their affairs in order.
But there was no helping it — since this esteemed Demon Lord happened to have a kind heart, even pronouncing a death sentence had to come out gently. “This injury of yours won’t heal in three to five years.”
Qi Yan’s hand, which had been splashing water to wash, paused.
“Even three to five years won’t cure it.”
Qi Yan kept washing.
“Your meridians are shattered inch by inch, your internal organs are damaged, your tendons and bones severed — whoever crippled your martial arts was far too ruthless, they’ve already damaged the very foundation. In this lifetime, you can forget about recovering.”
Qi Yan still showed no reaction.
“Of course, that’s assuming you hadn’t met me,” Miao Shuang’s tone shifted. “An injury like yours would leave even the best imperial physicians in the palace at a complete loss — but I’m different.”
Qi Yan finally lifted his eyelids. “A Great Shaman with a hand full of poisonous Gu — can you also treat illness and save lives?”
“Medicine and poison share the same root. Just as I can use Gu to kill you, I can likewise use Gu to save you — though my methods are nowhere near as gentle as ordinary medicine. I’m only afraid you won’t dare accept it.”
Qi Yan sneered. “If you want to torment me, just say so plainly, no need to beat around the bush like this. His Majesty arranged for you to take on the role of a Miao healer precisely so you could poison me conveniently, didn’t he? Whatever methods you have, go ahead and use them. I can withstand the punishments of the Central Plains, and I won’t fear those of your Miao Territories either.”
Miao Shuang: “Is that so.”
The next moment, Qi Yan only felt a sharp ringing buzz in his ears, his vision going dark in an instant, sharp, piercing pain surging up all over his body, his body and consciousness feeling as though they were being brutally crushed to pieces.
A small golden insect had landed on his hand at some point without his noticing; he wanted to crush this damned Gu insect that was causing the pain, but his body, wracked by the agony, couldn’t move at all — he could only watch helplessly as the insect burrowed into his skin and vanished without a trace.
The pain lasted a long while before it finally subsided. Cold sweat slid down along his temples, a bone-deep chill rising all over his body, nearly making him forget he was still soaking in hot water.
“Compared to the punishments of you Central Plains people, how does the taste of my Miao Territories’ Gu arts measure up?” Miao Shuang stood to the side with arms crossed, smiling as he admired his deathly pale face. “It’s just a little insect, and it’s already made you hurt this much. With this kind of tolerance of yours, even if I were to treat you, you’d still have only one path left — death.”
Qi Yan didn’t respond to him; the searing pain had drained all the strength from his body, leaving him without even the energy to speak.
“You’d best understand clearly what position you’re in right now.” Miao Shuang gently touched the bone blade hidden in his sleeve, and the sharp edge immediately cut into his fingertip. He then used the bleeding finger to stir the surface of the water, and proceeded to turn Qi Yan’s face, forcing him to look at himself.
“Treating your injuries is because I’m in a good mood. If I were in a bad mood, I’d let my little darlings devour your organs whole, leaving just this skin of yours to be made into a puppet corpse, to be toyed with day after day — how does that sound to you?”
He smiled as he brushed his knuckles across the bridge of the other’s nose, stroking his cheek as if in a caress. Water droplets slid slowly down along Qi Yan’s jaw, dripping into the water’s surface, creating a ripple.
Having said this, he turned and left.
Qi Yan only felt a deep, bone-chilling cold wash over him, a hundred times colder than when the Gu insect had just bitten him.
A madman…
He lay weakly against the edge of the tub, gasping for breath. It was a good while before he recovered some strength. The water had already gone cold; he slowly dried himself off and got out of the bathtub, sitting in the wheelchair to change into fresh clothes.
The pain caused by the Gu insect had brought an indescribable exhaustion to his body, and it took another good while of rest before he recovered. Qi Yan let out a breath and turned the wheelchair, preparing to leave.
Suddenly sensing something, he froze for a moment.
His hand… it didn’t hurt anymore?
It had been some time since he’d gotten out of prison; the external wounds on his body had mostly healed, but the nails that had been pulled out had never properly grown back — the wheelchair was heavy, and the strength in his hands was nowhere near what it used to be, so turning the wheels was very strenuous, and the wounds on his fingertips kept tearing open and bleeding, over and over, never healing for good.
But now…
The scabs of blood on his fingers had come loose from soaking in the water, revealing newly grown, translucent fingernails underneath. Though still somewhat uneven, compared to before they had healed far, far more.
What was going on.
Just last night they clearly hadn’t looked like this.
To have recovered this much in just one night — was this that Miao person’s doing?
When had he done it? He hadn’t noticed at all.
So this Miao person saying he’d treat his injuries hadn’t been a lie after all — but the malice just now, when he’d released that Gu insect to torment him, hadn’t seemed fake either. Qi Yan couldn’t fathom his intentions, and left the room with a complicated feeling in his heart.
The moment he stepped out, a mouthwatering fragrance greeted him. The dining table was already set with food, and Miao Shuang waved him over.
A servant set the last dish, a sweet soup, on the table. “General, Madam, please enjoy.”
Miao Shuang picked up a spoon and stirred the steaming soup, smiling: “Freshly made? Why didn’t you just scrape together some leftover slop to give your general a hard time?”
The servant startled at this and dropped straight to his knees in fright. “This lowly one wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare!”
“Just joking, no need to be so nervous. Get up.”
“Thank you, Madam.”
The white snake crawled out from Miao Shuang’s sleeve, flicking its tongue as it slithered across the table.
The servant stood up but didn’t leave yet, clutching the now-empty serving plate tightly, seeming to want to say something but hesitating.
Miao Shuang noticed his hesitation. “Something else?”
Only then did the other work up the courage, saying cautiously, “At noon, Eunuch Zhu came by the kitchen and indeed instructed this lowly one to… add some ‘seasoning’ to the dishes. But as soon as Eunuch Zhu left, this lowly one had them pour all those dishes out and remade fresh ones — that’s why the meal is a bit late. I hope the General and Madam won’t hold it against me.”
Miao Shuang looked at him with great interest.
So this was coming over to pledge allegiance.
Before lunch he had killed a servant to establish his authority, and had openly embarrassed Eunuch Zhu as well — his position had already been made clear, and these underlings naturally had to think about which side to align with going forward.
This group had been hired by Eunuch Zhu, but clearly, living under the General’s roof, compared to a eunuch whose reach couldn’t extend this far, it was better not to offend the General if one wanted to keep one’s head.
“You’re quite sharp,” Miao Shuang said. “What’s your name?”
“This lowly one is Lai Fu.”
An auspicious name, and an auspicious-looking face to match — he looked no more than eighteen or nineteen, not very tall, with a bit of a baby face, though he worked quite deftly.
Miao Shuang pulled out a bit of loose silver from his robes and tossed it to him. “A reward for you.”
Lai Fu caught it, overjoyed. “Thank you, Madam, thank you, General!”
The white snake crawled around on the table, drooling over a roasted chicken, about to open its mouth and swallow it, when Miao Shuang caught hold of it. “If Eunuch Zhu comes again, agree to whatever he says, then come report to me afterward — understood?”
Lai Fu nodded vigorously. “This lowly one understands.”
“There are some people in this household with crooked intentions. Keep an eye out for the General too.”
“This lowly one will surely not fail the trust Madam has placed in me.”
The white snake squirmed discontentedly between Miao Shuang’s fingers. Miao Shuang used his chopsticks to pick off a chicken drumstick to feed the snake, and tossed the other one into Qi Yan’s bowl. “From now on, the household’s food and daily provisions, the shopping and purchasing matters, will be your responsibility too. Remember, the meals must not be worse than today’s.”
The white snake opened its bloody wide mouth and swallowed the drumstick in one gulp. Qi Yan looked at the snake, then looked at the drumstick in his own bowl, and fell silent.
Lai Fu’s eyes glistened with tears, looking deeply moved at having been given such important responsibilities. “Yes.”
“Is the household still well-funded?” Miao Shuang asked further.
“Sufficient. For the General’s wedding, His Majesty sent people to deliver two chests of gold and jewels, all currently stored in the accounting room.”
“Have the accounting room put that gold and silver into storage, copy out a proper ledger, and bring it for me to look at.”
“This lowly one will go see to it right away.” Lai Fu hurried off in a bustle.
Qi Yan picked up his chopsticks to add more food to his bowl. “You really trust him?”
“I don’t trust him at all.”
“Then why bother with all this?”
“I placed a Gu curse on the silver I just gave him. If he behaves, nothing will happen. But if he doesn’t…” Miao Shuang propped his chin up, smiling. “The Gu poison will act, and his intestines will burst and rot.”
Qi Yan: “……”
What a vicious Miao person indeed.
Miao Shuang picked up a nearby plate of stir-fried liver slices and tossed it in front of Qi Yan. “I don’t eat organ meat, it’s disgusting just to look at. You’d best finish all of this — don’t leave a single piece.”
…A vicious and picky Miao person indeed.
Qi Yan wasn’t one for such fussiness — in the military camp, you ate whatever there was, and organ meat and offal were meat all the same; there was never enough food to go around for anyone to be picky.
He reached his chopsticks out to pick up the liver slices, but they were coated in a thick, glossy sauce, too slippery and tender — his injured hand was already clumsy to begin with, and fine motor tasks like using chopsticks were all the more difficult. He tried several times without success, and one chopstick even slipped from his hand, clattering onto the table.
Miao Shuang reveled in his misfortune there, his mocking laughter unceasing, which only made Qi Yan more annoyed, his brow darkening further.
Once he’d had his fill of laughing, Miao Shuang unhurriedly untied his hair ribbon, then took a clean pair of chopsticks, carefully bound the ends together, and handed them to Qi Yan. “Here.”
Qi Yan eyed him suspiciously for a good while before finally taking them — the bound chopsticks were indeed much easier to use, and he was able to pick up the liver slices successfully now.
Miao Shuang couldn’t resist teasing him further. “Only small children just learning to use chopsticks need this kind of aid. The General here is worse than a three-year-old.”
Qi Yan: “……”