APTnovel Chapter 139 Did your ancestors include eunuchs?
Chapter 139 Did your ancestors include eunuchs?
Chapter 139 Did your ancestors include eunuchs?
Fan Jin was a scholar.
He lived in Jingzhou, one of the three northern prefectures of the Great Qian Dynasty. His ancestors once produced a county magistrate, but the family fell into decline after offending a powerful figure.
His parents toiled in the fields their entire lives, using their hands to earn a living, in exchange for his opportunity to hold books in his hands and study diligently day and night.
Passing the imperial examinations was his greatest wish and his parents' greatest expectation.
Fan Jin considered himself lucky; he passed the provincial examination smoothly and became a scholar, while the butcher's daughter, whom he secretly admired, also secretly fell in love with him.
He believed that as long as he continued, he would definitely pass the provincial examination and become a high-ranking scholar, a good official as beloved as his grandfather.
But he was also unfortunate. Not long after, his father, like his grandfather, offended a powerful person and disappeared without a trace.
Fan Jin had inquired and heard that he had been captured by people sent by the Li family in the city. He thought about reporting it to the authorities, but his mother stopped him immediately.
His mother told him that someone in the Li family held an official position in the imperial court, and that ordinary people like them could not compete with them.
He once asked his mother, "If that's really the case, where is the law? Is that emperor truly as wise as others say?"
His mother was silent for a moment, then said only that treacherous officials were in power in the court, and that petty people had blinded the emperor.
After that day, Fan Jin never mentioned reporting to the authorities again, and for the first time, he felt confused about his own ambitions.
Later, barbarian invasions occurred, and the three northern states of the Great Qian were trampled underfoot by iron hooves.
The county magistrate, who should have sent troops to resist, saw that things were not going well. After arranging a scapegoat, he took his family and fled first. His county was leaderless and was easily captured by the barbarians.
Fan Jin still remembers that on the day they fled, his mother, being old and frail, lagged far behind the others and was eventually beheaded by the barbarian cavalry.
He himself happened to trip and fall into a pile of corpses, and pretended to be dead to escape death.
He couldn't even bring himself to collect his mother's body, so he continued to flee south. He no longer cared about passing the imperial examinations or becoming a successful candidate in the provincial examinations.
He just wanted to survive.
After joining the ranks of refugees, Fan Jin experienced what extreme hunger was like, and he also witnessed a group of people fighting over a single wild vegetable.
One of them was hit in the head and died on the spot, while the others not only did not help him collect the money, but also did something that shocked him.
During a great famine, people resorted to cannibalism.
A sentence he had only ever seen in books was now being presented to him in person.
Fan Jin still clearly remembers what he did that day; after observing for a while, he squeezed in.
He knew he was doing something wrong, but he couldn't help it.
He was hungry.
Fan Jin felt that he was a disgrace to the word "scholar," as he could not live up to any of the principles taught by sages.
A gentleman would not bow down for five pecks of rice, but he was willing to kneel down for a single blade of grass.
He ate grass roots, wild vegetables, tree bark, and even clay, and it was these things that helped him make it to Chongzhou.
But those who traveled with him were not so lucky.
Fan Jin's unrequited love for the butcher's daughter starved to death on the road, and his neighbor's playmate was killed by bandits they encountered on the road.
In the end, he had no acquaintances left by his side, or rather, he was surrounded by people just like him.
When they arrived in Chongzhou, no one was willing to take them in, so they could only endure the scorching sun as they continued their exile.
Fan Jin finally escaped to a grove of trees, intending to gather some grass roots to eat, but then a sudden cramp in his stomach caused him to collapse to the ground in pain.
Until he fell into a coma.
Scenes from the past flashed before his eyes, and he seemed to realize that he was about to die.
"I guess I'll end up like those people, surrounded and eaten... I hope that after I die, they can live a little longer."
It was unclear how much time had passed before Fan Jin regained consciousness. He gradually regained his senses and could feel his body, as well as his aching stomach.
It seemed someone had given him some water, and he could hear voices in his ears, as if people were talking.
"Taoist Master, what you gave him, it wasn't some legendary talisman water, was it?"
"No, it's just water boiled with some rice. You can call it porridge if you like."
"Oh? I thought you would use talisman water to cure people's illnesses, like the Taoist priests in supernatural novels."
"Talisman water? Even if I could really make talisman water, I couldn't supply so many people."
Fan Jin opened his eyes and saw two people talking not far away.
One was a vagrant like him, while the other wore a red Taoist robe and casually tied his hair with a red rope.
He immediately recognized that the young Taoist was wearing a special kind of Taoist robe called Crane Robe.
The young Taoist priest who could dye the entire Crane Ridge garment red must be either rich or noble. In fact, commoners like him could not afford dye, let alone have such a garment made.
"He seems to be a distinguished person." He felt apprehensive and wanted to rise and bow, just as he had done to other gentlemen.
A hand with distinct knuckles pulled him back, preventing him from falling as soon as he stood up.
"You were starving just now, so it's best not to do any sudden strenuous exercise."
Another fair hand brought over a bowl of thin porridge and handed it to him.
Fan Jin glanced at the porridge; it was indeed pitifully thin, containing only a very small amount of rice. In the past, even he wouldn't have eaten such a thing.
But now it's different. As soon as he picked up the bowl of thin porridge, his appetite grew and urged him to drink it all in one gulp.
If the Taoist hadn't been holding his hand, he really would have done it.
"It is not advisable to overeat after fasting for too long."
The Taoist's voice was indifferent, and although there was no command in his tone, Fan Jin still subconsciously obeyed him.
He sipped the warm porridge, listening intently to the conversation between the young Taoist priest and the refugees.
"Master, you are merciful. If it weren't for you, we would have died long ago." The relatively stronger refugee bowed deeply to Modi with utmost respect.
Not long ago, he led his men to surround Fan Jinmodi, patted his sleeves, and said, "It was just something I did casually. You shouldn't have died anyway."
"Master, you flatter us. We are refugees, far from our homes, enduring hardships along the way, and even committing all sorts of heinous acts. We are already half dead."
The refugee smiled, but his smile was tinged with bitterness.
He could barely be considered the leader of this group of refugees, and in order to survive, he led his men in doing many crazy things.
This wasn't the first time he had killed the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled who couldn't walk, in exchange for the chance for others to live.
What's even more terrifying is that once he started doing this, he felt like he could never stop.
When he sees other people, his first thought is often how to start, and then how to start eating.
He suspected that he had fallen into evil ways, and if he continued like this, he might become the legendary "human demon".
Human demons are those who enjoy eating people. The once infamous Feast Cult had many human demon members.
However, just when he thought he was beyond saving and was about to take his companions to a safe place before ending his own life, he met a Taoist priest.
The Taoist who called himself Styx was different from others. The first thing he thought of when he saw this Taoist was not how to kill him, but how to escape.
Even though the Taoist priest only glanced at him, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and the crazy thoughts in his heart subsided considerably.
"Master, I have no way to repay your life-saving grace. If you do not mind, I am willing to offer you my family's martial arts manual, the 'Evil-Slaying Sword Manual'."
The refugee Lin Yuanping cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.
Fan Jin had finished his porridge, licking every grain of rice clean from the bowl. He casually wiped his mouth, and just then heard the words "Slaying Evil Sword Manual," exclaiming in surprise:
"The Demon-Slaying Sword Manual? That's the ultimate technique of the Wuwei Escort Agency. Could it be that you're from the Lin family?"
"Oh? You don't look like someone from the martial arts world, yet you know about these things?" Lin Yuanping raised an eyebrow, looking at the emaciated Fan Jin.
There was absolutely no trace of martial arts training on him.
Instead, I felt he was more like a bookworm who kept spouting classical Chinese phrases.
"I know a little. My father once told me that the Wuwei Escort Agency had been kind to our Fan family, and that if I had the chance in the future, I would definitely repay this kindness."
Fan Jin's eyes dimmed as he recalled his deceased father. "The Fan family?" Lin Yuanping thought for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Who is Fan Wen to you?"
"It was my ancestor."
After filling his stomach, Fan Jin regained some of his energy and spoke with neither arrogance nor servility, displaying some of the qualities of a scholar.
"I see, then our two families do indeed have some connection." Lin Yuanping suddenly realized.
Seeing the two of them start chatting for no apparent reason, Mo Di stroked his chin, feeling that the people he had casually saved all had hidden identities, the kind of people in a game whose side quests could be explored in depth.
Could there be other talented people among these refugees?
"You don't have a single book on you, are you planning to recite it from memory?"
Mo Di glanced at Lin Yuanping but couldn't discern any record of martial arts techniques hidden in his thin clothes.
Lin Yuanping turned around, lifted the coarse linen shirt on his back, revealing the skin on his back covered with small characters.
"Taoist Master, please take a look. I have already engraved the cultivation method on my back to prevent it from being lost. It's just that it's not very convenient. I have to use a mirror to see it every time."
Mo Di's face twitched. If a Grandmaster of the Subtle Realm is like this, how can you, a mere Body Refinement Realm cultivator, be like this?
You martial arts practitioners all like to carve your martial arts techniques onto your skin, right?
Upon seeing this, Fan Jin quickly turned around.
He knew the nature of people in the martial arts world; they always valued inheritance highly, and it was the kind of inheritance that could turn friends into enemies and brothers into fratricide. Mo Di glanced at the skin covered in writing, and in just a second or two, he memorized the contents of the "Slaying Evil Sword Manual".
The Sword Manual doesn't contain much; it's called a sword manual, but it's actually a scripture, which is why Lin Yuanping was able to have it engraved on his back.
To truly understand this sword manual, one must be proficient in Taoist terminology, meridian theory, and so on. Low-level martial artists with only brute force...
You simply can't master this skill.
Fortunately, Modi had a sufficient knowledge base, and after only a couple of mental cycles, he thoroughly understood the sword manual.
However, after understanding it thoroughly, his expression also became strange.
"Please allow me to ask a rather impolite question, but about your ancestors..."
He paused, and seeing that Lin Yuanping had no objections, continued:
"Has anyone been a eunuch?"