Chapter 300

Quan De'an knew his intentions, the corner of his mouth curling with a faint smile: "Zajia can lift him to the clouds, just as easily cast him down to dust." His words were full of great confidence.

Hu Xiaotian thought, you Senior Eunuch are spouting big talk again; given Ji Feihua's current favor and her standing today, trying to knock him back to his original state is probably not that easy, but he said aloud: "Eunuch Quan, if you want to deal with this person, I, Hu Xiaotian, am willing to exert my utmost." Actually whether he says it or not makes no difference; Hu Xiaotian had figured Quan De'an would sooner or later make him deal with Ji Feihua. Rather than wait for others to assign tasks, it's better to show some initiative.

Quan De'an said, "Just you?" His words carried a hint of contempt.

Hu Xiaotian thought to himself, it'd be better if you didn't let me act; you old thing can't be bothered to take risks for you.

Quan De'an asked, "Is the bone-dissolving water effective?" That question made Hu Xiaotian break out in a cold sweat on his spine—bringing up the sore spot. Actually everyone knew Hu Xiaotian had killed Wei Hualin; in his view, spelling it out was pointless, yet Quan De'an insisted on saying it to his face.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Not bad, just a little short; when I've used it up, I hope you'll send me some more, Eunuch Quan."

Quan De'an secretly praised this brat for being shameless; bringing up this matter, he showed no change in expression, no jump in heart—his attitude was really not bad. He lowered his voice: "Even if Wei Hualin's martial arts are not bad, he still got hurt by your hand, so martial arts cannot represent everything; wisdom is what matters."

Hu Xiaotian sighed inwardly, actually the instigator of this matter was Qiqi; she shot Wei Hualin first, I can only be considered an accomplice, but now it seems this debt will definitely fall on my head. Thinking of Qiqi, Hu Xiaotian took the opportunity to advise: "Eunuch Quan, the little princess is too playful. She's caused me quite a bit of trouble; actually I'm fine on my end, I just fear that her constant daydreaming might unintentionally ruin your plans, Eunuch Quan."

Quan De'an said, "Zajia has no grand schemes; the little princess being playful is fine, wanting revenge on you is fine. As a servant I have no authority to interfere, so the trouble you've stirred up you must resolve yourself." He moved closer to Hu Xiaotian, lowering his voice: "Remember, at any time you must not harbor harmful intentions toward the little princess, otherwise Zajia will certainly not spare you."

Hu Xiaotian laughed, "Eunuch Quan, rest assured a hundredfold; I can tell friend from foe, I'm too busy protecting the little princess to even think of harming her."

Quan De'an snorted coldly inside. Perhaps in the past he wouldn't have worried, but since Wei Hualin died at Hu Xiaotian's hands, he realized Hu Xiaotian was truly ruthless and vicious. Although he had seen traces of the Violent Rain Pear Blossom Needle in the cellar and guessed that Qiqi had been there too—indeed to cover up evidence, he had just smashed the wine barrel decisively—yet he said nothing about Qiqi's involvement. Quan De'an said, "Nothing is best!" His right hand lightly rubbed the Jade Thumb Ring on his left hand as he asked, "How's the thing I had you look into?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "The underground passage below is labyrinthine. Because time was pressing, I only examined one of them."

Quan De'an nodded, indicating he should continue.

Hu Xiaotian said, "I followed that passage to its end and found it was all water, so I had to turn back."

"All water?"

"Yes, I went into the water, and soon it rose to my waist; because I'm not good at swimming, I dared not go further."

Quan De'an had no doubts, murmuring, "All water? Could it be that this passage connects to the Jade Pool?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Why not, Eunuch Quan, pick a chance another day to visit the Imperial Gardens Bureau's wine cellar; I'll take you there personally to have a look."

Quan De'an rebuked, "Nonsense! Countless eyes watch Zajia's every move in the palace; if I went with you into the wine cellar, everyone would suspect it hides a secret." After thinking, he said, "Liu Yuzhang's position won't change in the short term. He trusts you greatly; you must make good use of this opportunity to find out exactly where the passage leads."

Hu Xiaotian nodded, then asked, "Does the Heavenly Mechanism Sect have a Mr. Hong?"

Quan De'an, hearing him ask about this person, couldn't help but frown and said, "You mean Hong Beimo?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "I don't even know his name; it was just that when I was being chased in the Void Trap Valley, that bird-man mentioned Mr. Hong." Hu Xiaotian did not openly confess the truth.

Quan De'an said, "This person has gone missing; he used to be the chief strategist of the Heavenly Mechanism Bureau."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Eunuch Quan, the bit of martial arts you gave me doesn't seem strong enough; in the Void Trap Valley I nearly died at the hands of that bird-man."

"It's not that the martial arts aren't strong enough; it's that your cultivation is insufficient!"

Hu Xiaotian laughed, "How about you send me a few more boxes of Violent Rain Pear Blossom Needles; just in case I run into trouble, they might come in handy."

Quan De'an said, "Do you think that's a child's pretend-play toy? I can't just get it whenever I want. Besides, if people discover you have that kind of hidden weapon, they'll surely investigate its origin, and that'll bring unexpected trouble."

Hu Xiaotian knew his words made sense, nodded and said, "Well then, forget it; how about you teach me a couple of martial arts techniques instead?"

Quan De'an gave a cold snort: "Greed leads to indigestion; if you can master the Profound Dark Yin Wind Claw, that's already enough."

Hu Xiaotian said, "I had thought relying on your ten years of skill, I could at least sweep the palace without problem, even if not invincible under heaven; but now it seems my little bit of ability is hardly worth looking at—let alone sweeping, even self-preservation is a big problem."

Quan De'an gave him a cold stare; how could he not hear that Hu Xiaotian's outward modesty was actually belittling his internal strength? Quan De'an nodded and said, "The way of martial arts: there are always masters beyond masters, heavens beyond heavens. Looking across the world, who dares truly claim the title 'invincible under heaven'? Even if you could look down on all in single combat, how could you withstand tens of thousands of troops?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Even if we can't beat them, we still need a way to escape. Do you have any flashy lightness skill steps or something?"

"No!" Quan De'an flatly refused.

Hu Xiaotian laughed: "Eunuch Quan, your martial arts are peerless, your might shakes the world; you claim you don't know lightness skill—how could that be? Though we have no formal master-disciple title, we already have the substance of one. Why be so stingy? Besides, if I ever get caught and can't even escape, and someone asks whose disciple I am, I might accidentally give you away—where would you put your face?"

Quan De'an looked at Hu Xiaotian with contempt; this brat, having achieved no merit whatsoever, makes endless demands—greedy beyond measure doesn't even describe him.

Hu Xiaotian still wore a shameless, beaming smile.

Quan De'an said unhurriedly: "It's not that the Zajia doesn't want to teach you; actually I'm old now, taking on a closed-door disciple and passing on all my martial arts would be fine, but most of the Zajia's martial arts aren't suitable for you to cultivate. If you truly want to learn martial arts, you must first be castrated…"

"Forget it, I'd rather not learn." Hu Xiaotian refused outright before Quan De'an could even finish saying the two words "castration".

Quan De'an secretly laughed; everyone has shortcomings, this brat is no exception. At a critical moment, as soon as castration is mentioned, he immediately becomes obedient. It seems not making him castrated also has its benefits; if we had castrated him from the start, this brat might have gone completely reckless and then have nothing left to fear.

Quan De'an said: "The Zajia gives you seven days; you must uncover the secret of the underground passages of the Directorate of Gardens and draw a detailed map for me."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Seven days is too short; I also have other things to do. To avoid suspicion, investigating the passages can only be done late at night, and these underground passages are intricate—please grant me a few more days." Actually seven days would be enough for him to investigate, but Hu Xiaotian, accustomed to haggling, naturally wouldn't agree readily.

Quan De'an said: "All right, ten days. Ten days later, at this same time, still here, the Zajia will await your news."

If it weren't for the pressure from Quan De'an, Hu Xiaotian's days in the palace would be getting more and more comfortable. Recently he has become a rising star in the Directorate of Gardens; although his position is merely a minor supervisor, his authority is second only to Liu Yuzhang. The Directorate also has positions like joint secretary and director, but Liu Yuzhang doesn't trust those people. Since the incident where Ji Feihua came to provoke, Liu Yuzhang has become even more cautious; the only person he trusts in the Directorate is Hu Xiaotian.

After Liu Yuzhang had been injured for half a month, the Emperor finally remembered this Senior Eunuch who had taken care of him since childhood, and sent the personal attendant Eunuch Rong Baoxing with gifts to console him. Eunuch Rong Baoxing now takes care of the Emperor's daily meals and living; he is in his forties, kind-looking, with a perpetually warm smile, appearing quite amiable, and he brought a little eunuch to visit Liu Yuzhang.

Liu Yuzhang and Eunuch Rong Baoxing talked in the room for about an hour, after which they summoned Hu Xiaotian and instructed him to push Liu Yuzhang to the medicine storehouse.

The medicine storehouse had long been entrusted to Xiao Zhuo for guard, but unlike the wine cellar, the keys here remained always in Liu Yuzhang's own hands; Xiao Zhuo only guarded the door and never had a chance to enter the medicine storehouse.

Hu Xiaotian pushed Liu Yuzhang to the medicine storehouse door; then Liu Yuzhang handed the key to Hu Xiaotian to open the lock. This lock cannot be opened by key alone; it also requires a password, with three rows of characters that can be combined arbitrarily. Liu Yuzhang whispered the password into Hu Xiaotian's ear, and then the gate was opened.

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought: It seems the things stored in this medicine storehouse are far more important than those in the wine cellar; no wonder Liu Yuzhang has refused to let go so far.

As they pushed Liu Yuzhang into the medicine storehouse, a strong aroma of herbs hit them. After walking forward more than ten zhang, they arrived at the steps. Unlike the wine cellar, which is built underground, the medicine storehouse is entirely above ground. Liu Yuzhang squinted, looking up by the faint lantern light, and whispered to Hu Xiaotian: "Go to the third cabinet on the right side of the third-floor staircase, the fifth slot from the top in the second row, and bring out what's inside for me."

December has arrived; the Guaranteed Monthly Ticket at the start of the month is extremely important; please cast your Guaranteed Monthly Ticket for Zhangyu! (To be continued…)