Chapter 319

"What conditions?" Zhou Mo blurted out, but after saying it he felt a bit regretful; actually, seeing Hu Xiaotian's current state, it shouldn't be hard to guess what Quan De'an's conditions are.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Let me enter the palace as a eunuch to atone for my father."

Although Zhou Mo already understood this, hearing Hu Xiaotian say it himself still filled him with righteous indignation; he clenched his fist and slammed it on the table, making the cups and dishes jump, spilling much wine. Zhou Mo angrily said, "This old turtle actually repays kindness with betrayal, framing my brother—I will certainly not let him off."

Xiao Tianmu, however, showed no strong reaction, speaking softly: "Quan De'an having you become a eunuch and enter the palace doesn't seem to benefit him much."

Hu Xiaotian said, "At first I didn't understand why he wanted me to enter the palace as a eunuch, but now I realize he wants me to help him deal with someone."

Zhou Mo asked, "Who?"

"Director of the Eunuch Bureau, Ji Feihua!"

Xiao Tianmu's sword-brows knit tightly: "But that's Ji Feihua, who is currently the most favored by the new Emperor?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "Exactly, that's the person!"

Xiao Tianmu said, "Patricide, eunuchs vying for power, internal turmoil rising, foreign powers watching—it seems the fate of Dakang is truly exhausted."

Zhou Mo said, "The future of Dakang has nothing to do with us, whether the new Emperor or the old Emperor—none of them care for the common folk. Third brother, since we've come, we will surely rescue you from the palace. As long as you're ready, the three of us brothers will leave Kangdu together, find a mountain easy to defend but hard to attack, raise a great flag, seize the mountain as our kingdom, rob the rich to aid the poor—how splendid!"

Hearing Zhou Mo's words, Hu Xiaotian's eyes brightened involuntarily; living in the palace, he constantly yearned for such freedom. Before, it had only been an ideal, more like a luxury; now Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu's arrival undoubtedly lets his ideal finally begin to approach reality.

Compared to Zhou Mo's bravery and martial prowess, Hu Xiaotian values Xiao Tianmu's wisdom more; Xiao Tianmu's understanding and grasp of the situation surpass most people in the world, even including himself.

Xiao Tianmu said, "Leaving won't necessarily be that easy."

Zhou Mo said, "Second brother, I just don't get it—can't our three brothers' abilities still get us out of Kangdu?"

Xiao Tianmu slowly shook his head and said, "If third brother had only thought of himself initially, he wouldn't have come here. Hu Sir still works in the Ministry of Revenue, although the current Emperor has removed his post. Yet the Ministry still cannot do without him; in other words, Dakang's finances still depend on him." He paused, then added, "Actually, if third brother hadn't come to Kangdu, the Emperor wouldn't have moved against Hu Sir."

Hu Xiaotian also silently accepted this fact; in fact, he only understood this after entering the palace: the Emperor did not kill his father. It was certainly not because of some vermilion scroll iron certificate, nor because Quan De'an pleaded, nor because he himself became a eunuch to atone for his father. Fundamentally, it's because his father still has value to the Emperor, and Dakang's economy cannot do without him. Put another way, even if he hadn't returned to Kangdu initially, his parents might not have come to harm.

Zhou Mo said, "Simply put, let's not do things half‑heartedly—let's bring uncle and aunt and flee the capital together; then there would be no future trouble." After saying that, he looked at Hu Xiaotian, evidently waiting for his response.

Hu Xiaotian laughed and said, "Second brother is right—it's not that easy to leave; the court's people are constantly watching my parents. Before the Emperor fully controls the Ministry of Revenue, he won't lightly kill my father, nor will he easily let him go."

Zhou Mo said, "Both brothers, I know what you say makes sense, but a ruler's heart is unfathomable—serving a ruler is like serving a tiger. Once Hu uncle loses his value, the Emperor will surely act against him; by then trying to leave would likely be too late. Third brother, do you really intend to serve that dim-witted Emperor in the palace for life?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Leave—we will leave sooner or later, but we must wait for the right moment."

Xiao Tianmu nodded in deep agreement; compared to their time at Qingyun, Hu Xiaotian has clearly gained several degrees of steadiness—one learns from setbacks, and life must mature through adversity. Though their separation hasn't been long, the trials Hu Xiaotian endured in this period are surely beyond their imagination.

Zhou Mo said, "Everyone says the palace is the most perilous place on earth; for third brother to stay there another day is to incur another day of danger—how could I, as an elder brother, feel at ease?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "For now I'm still safe; Quan De'an wants to use me to do work, and Ji Feihua summoned me to the Eunuch Bureau the day before yesterday, actively showing friendliness, revealing an intent to win me over."

Zhou Mo said, "Both of them are no good; they only want to use you. Third brother, you must be absolutely clear about that."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Their martial arts are far from ordinary; Quan De'an heads the Directorate of Ceremonies, originally the most esteemed position among eunuchs, but after the new Emperor ascended the throne, his power began to be challenged, and the one challenging his status is Ji Feihua."

Xiao Tianmu said, "When the state is about to fall, monsters abound; Dakang is not far from the day its foundations crumble."

Hu Xiaotian said, "I've heard that Ji Feihua now controls Dakang's rather mysterious Bureau of Heavenly Secrets; the court recently established the Divine Strategy Directorate, nominally headed by Wen Bocheng, son of Grand Preceptor Wen Chonghuan, but in reality it's Quan De'an, and I think the Divine Strategy Directorate was set up to counterbalance Ji Feihua."

Zhou Mo nodded and said, "I've heard that Captain Murong has joined the Divine Strategy Directorate."

Hu Xiaotian said, "It's Quan De'an who instructed me to do this."

Xiao Tianmu whispered, "If that's the case, they are indeed playing a very big game of chess."

Zhou Mo said, "The more so, the more dangerous third brother's situation becomes—everyone wants to use you as a pawn to cross the river, yet often the first to be sacrificed are precisely those pawns."

Hu Xiaotian said, "No rush—for now I still have use value to them, so they shouldn't act against me."

Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu also agreed on this fact.

Zhou Mo suddenly recalled something: "By the way, third brother, the other day I saw your martial arts progress by leaps and bounds at Captain Murong's house—clearly his teaching is effective." Actually he had wanted to ask about that that day, but hadn't gotten the chance.

Hu Xiaotian laughed, "My martial arts weren't taught by her." He then briefly explained how Quan De'an had transmitted his skill to him.

After hearing this, Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu grew increasingly solemn; Quan De'an's great effort surely isn't merely to have Hu Xiaotian gather information for him—there may be a larger scheming surrounding Hu Xiaotian.

Zhou Mo said, "Third brother, let me take your pulse."

Hu Xiaotian nodded and extended his hand.

Zhou Mo pressed the three fingers of his right hand together, placing them firmly on Hu Xiaotian's pulse point, calming his mind and breath; he first sensed Hu Xiaotian's pulse, then sent a gentle inner energy along the pulse into him. As that inner energy traveled through Hu Xiaotian's meridians and approached his Dantian Qi Sea, it encountered resistance. Zhou Mo tried to inject more true energy, but met a recoil of inner energy that resisted him—the more inner energy he sent in, the stronger the repulsion became.

As Zhou Mo's inner strength increased, Hu Xiaotian felt his lower abdomen begin to ache faintly; at first he could bear it, but as Zhou Mo's inner strength grew, the pain in his abdomen became like a knife twisting, intensifying until Hu Xiaotian could no longer endure and cried out, "Big brother, I can't hold out……"

Zhou Mo slowly withdrew his inner energy, his expression becoming extremely grave; he said in a low voice, "Did Quan De'an not teach you any internal arts at all?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "He did teach me a breathing method, which I practiced, but it had little effect." After Zhou Mo withdrew his inner energy from Hu Xiaotian's meridians, the pain stopped immediately. Seeing Zhou Mo's solemn expression, Hu Xiaotian instantly felt something was wrong and asked softly, "What? Big brother, do I have some problem?"

Zhou Mo said, "This method of injecting inner energy is like pulling seedlings to help them grow—it can boost one's inner strength in the short term, turning a weak scholar into a martial expert, but it also brings endless future harm; if you cannot quickly assimilate this energy as your own, you will inevitably suffer from this foreign inner energy's danger."

Hu Xiaotian said, "He also once told me that this method carries hidden dangers and could very likely cause me to deviate into madness."

Xiao Tianmu asked anxiously, "How to resolve it? Big brother, your martial arts are profound and you're well‑versed; this shouldn't stump you."

Zhou Mo said, "Although I can identify the problem, I cannot solve it." He released Hu Xiaotian's wrist and stood up: "Quan De'an, being a eunuch, cultivates martial arts in a way utterly different from ordinary people—as the saying goes, hardness and softness combined; the true art that gathers a man's yang hardness and a woman's yin softness into one is precisely their technique." He had hesitated before saying this, after all, he still had to consider Hu Xiaotian's feelings.

Hu Xiaotian said, "In other words, a eunuch's inner energy is like a person's—neither male nor female, neither yin nor yang?"

Zhou Mo nodded: "To dispel the foreign inner energy in your body, there are two ways: one, you cultivate your own inner energy to assimilate that energy; two, an expert uses inner energy to neutralize the foreign inner energy within you."

Xiao Tianmu said, "Then it's simple—you just need to intervene."

Zhou Mo shook his head again: "I am powerless against this kind of inner energy; my inner energy and Quan De'an's are utterly different, like water and oil—no matter how much water there is, oil droplets will always float on the surface."

Hearing his analogy, Xiao Tianmu and Hu Xiaotian already understood.

Zhou Mo said, "For now, your only recourse is to cultivate the mental method Quan De'an taught you; only his technique suits you best, and once you achieve something, you'll be able to turn the power he infused into your body into your own." (To be continued~^~)