Jia Pangzi: 一

"congratulations, high commander! It's a baby boy! I hope he grows to be a dragon, soaring higher than the clouds."

"you... flatter me, your highness."

"I... I am sorry for your loss, Jia Zhi Hui... I really am. But please, focus on your son. I am sure he will bring glory to his mother."

"I know he will." said the commander as he broke down into tears.

"let it out, commander..." said the middle aged man. "no one is to speak a word of what happens in this room."

"understood, your highness!"

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An awkward atmosphere filled purely with the pained sobs of the commander and the cries of his newborn child dragged on.

The doctors and nannies were rushing around, getting everything ready for the baby, when the emperor broke the tense atmosphere.

"your son should marry my granddaughter! My useless son is having a kid, due in a month! They'll be perfect for each other! How about it, commander?"

"old Li, you..! Thank you... I'm sure my son will cherish your granddaughter." said the commander, snapping out of his state of sorrow.

"haha, now I just have to convince my useless son!" laughed the emperor.

"no need. Just tell his wife and she'll beat it into him!"

"hahaha! Why didn't I think of that?!"

The two laughed merrily throughout the night, passing around food and drink. By morning, the drunk commander sent off the merry emperor who wobbled into his black carriage, and drove away.

Unbefitting his haughty appearance and inhuman height, the commander burst into tears, yet again, at the thought of his now deceased wife, with none to comfort him.

For months, his behavior started to degrade, getting worse by the hour. In the day, he commanded his dragon army to their deaths, before he was temporarily discharged. At night, he drank his sorrows away and became highly reliant drugs, as alcohol wasn't enough for him anymore.

After three months of such demeanor, the commander finally fell to the level of going to brothels. His first night was uneventful and bland. It continued like that for many days where he released his lust and frustrations on the prostitutes, till the seventh day. On that day, he finally got a chance to be with the most beautiful woman in the brothel. She was said to be an unattainable flower who never made public appearances.

On the seventh night, he went into the room and saw his wife. No, it was someone who looked uncannily similar to his wife; even in his drunken state, he knew it was not her.

Her hair reached up to her waist, and was pitch black. It reminded the commander of his deceased wife whose hair was darker than the night sky. Her skin resembled pearls, and was unnaturally pale. It gave a feeling of intimidation and bravery: the very reason he fell in love with his wife. Everything about her either reminded the commander of his deceased wife, or the child they had, and he neglected.

In a drunken rage, he beat her half to death. By the time he came back to his senses, his fists were covered in blood, and a woman resembling his wife remained under his grip.

After feeling guilt for the first time in three months, the commander bought the prostitute for half the Jia family's fortune. He bought her out of the whore house and took her into the Jia family as his wife.

His mother, who reluctant to accept her — as she was a prostitute — was forced to accept her, seeing the condition she was in, and the reason she was in that condition.

Ever since that day, the commander tried to reform. The first day, he instinctively used the drugs. The second day, he sneakily used them. In the end, he was unable to reform.

Despite still using drugs, he lost his abusive nature and completely avoided drinking. By now, a month had passed, and his new wife was still bedridden. Her legs were broken beyond repair, and her face was disproportionate and swollen with bandages wrapping her entire body in a cocoon.

Whenever he visited her, he made sure he abstained from the drugs for at least day or two before visiting her. Even though he treated her well, she was unable forget the traumatic meeting between the two. As a result, she often went into panic attacks whenever he came by, forcing him to visit, only when she was asleep.

Over the course of four months, she gradually started opening up to him; he also got further in his abstinence of drugs. By now, he was able to stay away from drugs for as long as a week, though he was unable to meet that record again.

Slowly, but surely, his wife was able to stand for a few seconds. Unfortunately, the damage done to her legs was irreparable, so she was forced to stay bedridden for most of the day. With extensive research and investment, a chair with wheels attached was made for her, allowing her to go outside.

Though she still suffered from panic attacks, it was not as frequent and as severe. She, unlike the high commander, recovered much quicker from her emotional scars. Of course, her physical scars were impossible to heal properly.

Despite losing all beauty, — she now had a disproportionate face with scars outlining the collar bone, all the way to her abdomen — she still managed to give off an air of dignity. It was an absolutely horrific sight — her body. Despite her state, the commander still kept her, not because of his guilt, but since his love for her had bloomed long before.

He sometimes wondered if it was because she reminded him of his dead wife, but he decided against it. And despite her being hideous to look at, he did not divorce her, nor did he show any signs of contempt towards her, causing the public to see him as perverse.

Of course, his relationship with the emperor was just as good as ever. Though the emperor felt guilty about what happened to him, he brushed to off and assured the emperor it had nothing to do with him.

As his wife slowly adjusted to her new life with him, he also recovered enough to perform his duties as a husband¹.

Surprisingly enough, she was still able to conceive a child, despite her previous beating. Although it was hard to believe, hearing the doctor confirm a child was indeed inside his wife, he was simply overjoyed.

Of course, he still could not erase the fears of losing another wife due to childbirth, so he tried to convince her to abort the child. Hearing his concerns, Lin Qian, his new wife, comforted the commander and reassured him that she would not die from childbirth.

Just as he had fallen for her, she had fallen for him as well. Neither relayed their feelings as both parties felt as if they were in a contractual marriage, which they were. Hearing him ask to abort his own child due to the fear of her dying was all the confirmation she needed to pursue him, even if she would be cast aside and ignored.

There were many reasons wanting to have his child, but the main being he'd be bound to her, by the child. If he ever fell in love, or got a concubine, she would never be kicked out, as long as the child was alive. Even if it was a cold-hearted scheme, her intentions behind it were pure. But, if he had not fallen in love with her, such scheming would have been unappreciated and very hateful.

After eight months and fifteen days, Lin Qian went into labor. Since she was not due for another two weeks, and because the fetus had been quiet for a long time, everyone assumed it would be a late birth. When she went into labor, it was a huge shock for everyone in the mansion.

Despite not expecting the baby to arrive for the next few weeks, everything had been prepared for the baby, two weeks prior. The only thing left was to gather the doctors and nannies to help with the birth.

Lin Qian was immediately rushed to her bedroom where she stayed there for the next eight hours. After eight painful hours of screaming, the mansion finally became quiet, and the baby was born.

"congratulations, miss! It's a baby boy!"

"yes..." she muttered weakly.

After hearing nothing for the next minute or so, all the hairs on the commander's body stood on end, expecting the worst-case scenario.

Unable to bear the pain of waiting any longer, he burst into her room, only to see her alive and breathing. He tried to hold her in his embrace before realizing the state she was in. He quickly coughed and straightened himself.

"haha... looks like even husband has a cute side to him..." she muttered weakly.

"worry a lot for me... just don't get too sad." she said. "can't have you killing your lizard army, can we? Haha."

Hearing her voice getting weaker, hr tried to stop her from talking. He did not even dare to touch her hand in fear of her dropping dead.

"do not talk anymore. Your body is already very weak. Spare your strength for later."

"there is no point in this," she said. "I will die anyways. I know my body better than anyone else. It is impossible for me live, so let me tell you somethings..."

He tried persuading her, again, but in the end, he chose better and gave up. He himself knew and accepted her fate, just as she had, a few hours ago.

"your sons — take care of them. Both of them, and not just Pangzi."

He nodded.

"and remember this: I didn't die from childbirth. I died after the shock of seeing my child's handsome face. Handsome... let's call him Jia Shuaiqi De Mingzi. If I let you name him, we might expect a Jia Wuyong, no? Haha"

Nearly two years after the first tragedy struck the Jia family, another disaster struck. That day, numerous screams were heard throughout the Jia family mansion. Over one hundred people died, with only a man and his two children as the survivors. On that same day, the mansion, as well as the bloodbath inside, was burnt away by the flame set by the man.

"sorry, I was late, brother. You can stay in the imperial palace for a while." comforted the slightly old man who came out of a carriage. "I've brought my granddaughter to see your son, but it looks like it won't be necessary. Let's just hope they do not remember this day..."

"hopefully, yeah. And I will take you up on your offer to stay at the palace. Thank you."

"no, it is only natural. Now, come on, let's go."

Despite being saddened over the death of his second wife, he neither indulged in alcohol, drugs nor women. He spent his days in the palace with his son, Jia Shuaiqi De Mingzi while trying desperately to forget the last three years of his life. But unfortunately for him, he was unable to forget anything about Lin Qian, the true love of his life. He was, however, able to forget the harbinger of the first tragedy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ four years later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Pangzi, let's go back to the palace! Your father's worried sick!" cried out a little child who was struggling to get over a tree's root.

"Ruan Gao! You know my father doesn't care about me at all. Why do you bother?" he said ruthlessly.

"if he didn't care for you, why would he get the two of us engaged? I'm sure he still cares for you a lot!"

"we're only engaged because your grandfather wanted to comfort my father when my mother died."

"then why didn't grandfather engage me to Shuaiqi? Even I know that our engagement was confirmed on your birthday; even before I was born! Don't take me for a fool, Pangzi!" she said with a face, red from anger.

"maybe because we are closer in age? Maybe because of the public's opinion? Besides, it is easy for them to change the dates of marriage certificates and the people's mouths. They — your grandfather and my father — aren't exactly slum dwellers, you know."

"fine! You do what you want! Play detective! I don't care anymore! I'll tell grandpa you wanted to die and went to the forest because you thought the high commander was negle... I—

"I'm sorry, Ruan Gao. Let's go home." he said gently.

"fine. But only this one time, okay?" she said with a humph.

"I know. But I think you should give me another 'one more time', what do you think? Your birthday present — I wonder what's going to be in there, don't you?"

"Pangzi, you demo— I mean... you... uhh... democratic official! You are really an angel? Haha..." she said while physically gagging at her own words.

"thanks, Ruan Gao."

"only because it's your birthday! Otherwise, I'd curse you to death."

"ooh~ I'm so scared! Help me, help me! Ruan Gao is going to murder me!"

"why can't you act your age?" she asked with a smile.

"because you will act both of our ages for me." he said before giving her a pat on the head.

"now let's go to the palace. Teacher Yi is probably telling godfather (Ruan Gao's grandfather) to make me go to school."

"you should be careful around Teacher Yi. Today, he was cursing you out when I told him you faked another sickness and wouldn't come again."

"how did you know I was faking? I managed to fool all the doctors and servants who came to my room. I didn't even have to trick godfather, because the doctors did it for me!" exclaimed the proud boy.

"well, I know you better than anyone else. And besides, you're a total baby when you're ACTUALLY sick."

The two went back and forth, arguing and talking about stupid things one of their classmates said or did. Occasionally, they'd look behind themselves to look at whatever bird's nest Pangzi threw a rock at.

At one point, his accuracy got so good to the point, whenever the Knights made their weekly trip to clear the forest of any tigers and bears, they'd see hundreds of knocked down nests on the ground. It soon became a huge problem, and Pangzi was banned from knocking down the nests again. He still occasionally did it, but not as often as before. Not after his godfather got him into archery. Now, instead of killing bird's children, he kills the archery department's pride.

The two children ran across the damp mud, occasionally tripping on stones and roots till they finally arrived at the palace.

The palace was an odd untraditional structure made by the other worlders, according to soft cake's grandfather. It had thirty stories, and no annexes. It was filled with hundreds of corridors throughout the entire building, and it took an entire hour just to go from one end of a floor to another. Because of this, a few slaves died of starvation, so all the floors were designed to have eateries near the middle and sides of each floor, making 30 huge canteens and 60 smaller parts filled with food vendors.

The 60 smaller places are a sort of market-place filled with street food vendors, who have gotten special permission from the previous emperor, Ruan gao's grandfather, to sell their food there. Of course, the food in the canteen is for free, but it takes half an hour to walk there. Ten, if you can run at an abnormal fast pace. But no one other than Pangzi, Ruan Gao, Shuaiqi and their parents dare run in the palace.

Ruan Gao's grandfather would also run, if he could, but now, he's too old.

When the two arrived at the palace gate, covered in mud, one of the sentries shouted: "which beggar dares enter the palace!?"

"the same beggar who is going to be your empress." snorted Pangzi, and pointed towards Ruan Gao.

"wh-what?"

"it's the princess and her fiancé, you fool!" screamed the other sentry.

"but why do they look like beggars?!"

"because I went to town and pretended to be a beggar." said Pangzi.

"and he got a huge haul, today! An entire gold coin!" said the soft cake who supported his lies and schemes.

"suddenly, I want to become a beggar too..."

"you fool, let them in!"

"yes, sir!" said the sentry before unblocking their path.

Passing by the two sentries, Pangzi smiled at soft cake, who returned the smile back to him.

The two rushed back to their rooms, undetected, and took a long shower. Later, the two met up on the highest tower in the palace where they shared some stolen cookies.

"Pangzi, why do you steal cookies?" she asked.

"because it's easier than asking for them."

"but stealing is bad."

"stealing is not bad. Nothing in the world is. People just make it bad."

"but you don't need to steal to survive."

"I know, soft cake. But I have no answer to your question." he said while looking dejected.

"well, I know you told grandpa you didn't want to have a big birthday? Well... I asked the chef to teach me how to make a cake, so... I made you a soft cake! Eat it, and remember me!"

She said while revealing a little cake that barely fit in her even tinier hands.

"this why I like you, soft cake. If you had prepared a surprise party for me, I would have take this cake and threw it in your face..."

"I know you would have. And this IS surprise party!" she screamed.

"well, okay. Let's half the and share it."

"what about your wish? If you don't make it, I'll steal it!"

What a child. If wishes came true that easily, no one in the world would ever go hungry... unfortunately, you can't understand that, soft cake. So I'll make sure you never do... just live in ignorance, and I'll be happy, soft cake.

"then you can steal it."

"don't regret it, later, you fatty!" she shouted. "I wish to be smarter than Pangzi ever could be." she muttered with closed eyes.

"you said it out loud! Now it will never work!"

"you tricked me! Pangzi, you idiot!"

The two ran around the tower till the sun set while enjoying the tiny cake — which was eaten in one bite — and the stolen cookies. Pangzi never stopped stealing, and Ruan Gao never asked why he stole again. Despite his demeanor, he started going to class again. Soon after, he was titled as the smartest in the generation.

After a month, it was Ruan Gao's birthday. She was born exactly a month after Pangzi's, on the sixteenth of October. Her birthday party, unlike all the birthdays she had, was much much smaller. Only the highest level of aristocracy was invited, along with Ruan Gao's personal heroes like Na Li, the dancer and Li Na, the singer, who ended up marrying into Na Li's family, and having to adopt the name 'Na Na'.

While a lot had changed within a month, the relationship between the two hadn't changed in the slightest. Every once in a while, one of the two would go crying to the other about someone who did something or said something. Though it was mostly soft cake who cried, Pangzi cried the hardest. Even though she went to him the most, he complained the most. Still, she never got tired of listening to him. Likewise, he never shooed her away or bullied her in those vulnerable moments.

The two confided within each other and trusted the other with their life. They often hid things from their parents and siblings while laughing about it, together. As a result, everyone started pushing for their marriage, which was not allowed by state law, which said both parties must be of age, if it is an aristocratic marriage, the one of higher social standing must be of age. So if and when the two marry, it can only be after Ruan Gao's 15th birthday, and not Pangzi's, as he is of lower standing.

"soft cake, I want to tell you something." said Pangzi.

"tell me later! My friends are coming, and if they know I talk to you, they'll be begging me to introduce you!"

"do you hate me that much?!" he asked in a fake offended tone, which Ruan Gao knew was fake.

"of course not! If I introduce you, they'll know you're my fiancé, and then they'll tell the teachers, and the teachers will be like, 'Gongzhi, you're gonna have to try better. Look at your fiancé! He's so good!' and then I'll have to do work and reform and stuff!"

"don't worry, soft cake. I won't let you go through that much pain."

"of course you will! You're you! You're a demon."

She snarled at him viciously.

"hey, Ruan Gao. How are you?" asked Yi, her best friend.

"I'm fine, what about you girls?"

Wow, soft cake... If I didn't see this for myself, I wouldn't believe it. You're such a great actor! I'll be sure to watch the many dramas you play in.

"we're fine... but this handsome kid here, what is his name?"

Ruan Gao, as if expecting Pangzi to bail on her, looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"don't you know? You dunce. I, Jia Pangzi, am the epitome of human knowledge. I am smarter, greater, better and more perfect, compared to you and any other pathetic excuses for human beings."

"did... did you girls get any of that? Because I only heard him say something about family, fatties, goods and greats..."

An awkward silence followed Yi's incredible statement. No matter how dumb it sounded, when Pangzi looked at Ruan Gao's other friends, he knew immediately, they didn't understand word of what he said. Only Ruan Gao knew what he meant and said, since she was used to hearing him talk like that to government officials that he does not like.

"oh... I said I'm Jia Pangzi, the smartest in the generation, and I'm smarter than you all..."

"say that in the first pla— oh my lord, you're Jia Pangzi!" said Yi, with a squeal. "I'm like, your most loyal follower! Please shake my hand!"

"o-okay..." he said awkwardly before putting out his hand.

"ARGH! My angel! My love. My life. Give me your hand in marriage! Please! I. Stan. You. So. Hard."

What is 'stan'? And why does this woman love me so much?!

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Before the party started, Pangzi and Ruan decided to have a sort of signal for the guards to kick someone out. Now, was the time both of them signaled vigorously to the half-asleep guards, who were bored of watching rich people getting drunk. .

"sorry, ma'am. We have to kick— escort you out for your behavior." said the sentry who approached them the quickest.

"you were totally gonna say kick!"

"please come with me, ma'am." repeated the sentry

"my love! I will come back for you~!"

I'm sure you will, Yi.

"well... uhh... I'm sorry about Yi." apologized Er.

"no worries. It was my fault for not knowing Yi was crazy about Pangzi."

"you messed up², soft cake. You're on your own, now. Good luck with reforming." he said before leaving scene.

"you fat traitor! Get your fat ass over here and kowtow to me three times, you bastard!"

"that's too much! Even if I offer my body to you, day and night, I will never let you corrupt my mind!" I screamed loudly.

"quiet down! You're embarrassing me! And you never offered your body to me!"

"relax. The sentries and everyone here already knows how we are. Besides, I'll offering myself to you in nine years! Just watch, soft cake."

"you bastard! This magnanimous lady will spare you from humiliation, today, but be careful about what you do next time."

"no problem. I'll just do something on your next birthday, and you will become a magnanimous lady again!"

"you bastard! I'll make you pay for this!"

Like what happened in the tower, the two ran around, one chasing, the other running. Soon enough, the drunk guests started cheering on Ruan Gao and creating a huge scene.

When Ruan Gao finally caught Pangzi, she got on top of his stomach and broke his nose. Before she could get another hit in, the guards blocked her hit and took her away. Soon after, the party was brought to an abrupt halt and all the drunk guests were sent home.

Later, the emperor, Ruan Gao's father, and Ruan Gao went to Pangzi's room to apologize.

"sorry, Pangzi... I didn't mean to so carried away."

"I didn't think you'd do that either." he pasued for a while to think about his next words. "I know I didn't say anything that could have reminded you of a painful incident or step on any landmines, and even if I did unknowingly do something like that, you aren't the type of person to go all crazy on me, so... I really have no idea what to think of this situation. But, I don't want your apologies. Just get out of my room and let me rest for a day or two. By then, I'll forget about this and there'll be no hard feelings between us."

"no, what my daughter did to you was absolutely unforgivable. I insist, you must take her hand in marriage. If not, I can never sleep peacefully at night."

At this point, the two just stared at her father. Sure, she often called him a dunce. Pangzi's father and the previous emperor said that pretty often as well. It was nothing new, but he didn't know the emperor was that ignorant.

"uncle..." I said.

"please, Pangzi. You have always been close with my daughter. Marry her in nine years, please. If not, I'm afraid no one will want to take her hand. Please, think of your many years of friendship, please remember the memories and open your heart for Ruan Gao, please!"

"uhh... uncle, you do know soft cake and I are already engaged, right? Your father and my father arranged for it after I was born."

"huh? Ah, so that's why the old man took you to see the Jia's, four years ago! Now I feel stupid! Hahaha."

Four years ago, she went to visit the Jia's mansion four years ago? Wouldn't that be around the time I came here with father and Shuaiqi? If so, why did godfather and Ruan Gao visit us, but had us back with them? Maybe it has something to do with the new house renovations we are having?

"father, you are stupid. Now, come on, Pangzi said he doesn't want to see my face for the next two days, so let's go."

"huh? Okay? Bye, son-in-law."

Soon after, the fool followed his daughter out.

Though he was lonely, he felt relieved from their disappearance. Even if his relationship with Ruan Gao was unbreakable, it was very flimsy. At some point, one of the two would grow distant and strain the friendship, but it always stuck together, in the end. As a result, Pangzi started saying that their friendship was unbreakable. And when Ruan Gao pointed out the times it was strained, he said that it never broke, and that is why it is unbreakable.

Just like this, another two years passed by. Of course, Pangzi and Ruan Gao were still just as close as ever, but now, teacher Yi makes sure to point out every mistake Ruan Gao made, which she often cried about after going home. Most of the time, Pangzi only mocked her and wished her luck with her reforms, but sometimes, he genuinely comforted her.

On Ruan Gao's seventh birthday, their parents made sure to keep the two apart, in case of something happening again, but soon enough, they met up again and spilled some juice on the Western Supreme Leader, who just gave his usual dead look, ripped off his suit and walked out, naked. A lot of aristocrats suddenly lost their fiancés, that night. .

Two to three months after Ruan Gao's seventh birthday, the Jia family mansion was fully 'renovated', refurbished and all the slots for the servants were filled.

Because Shuaiqi spent most of his time with his father, whether it was with training or simply talking, not many people decided to talk to him. That included Ruan Gao and the nannies who took care of him in the palace. Despite that, he still cried a lot on the day they left. After a tearful goodbye, the Jia family went to the new mansion.

When the family arrived, they were greeted by the townsfolk, who were throwing flowers on the path, screaming: "the lords are back!" over and over again. Both Shuaiqi and their father, Jia Li, were satisfied. Pangzi, on the other hand, had some different thoughts, passing off comments like: "the florists must have made a ton of silver.", which they undoubtedly did.

The new Jia family mansion was just as big as the last one, except the farm land behind the mansion was cleared out and replaced with a section of newly introduced annexes and corridors.

The new place was nearly as big as a floor of the palace, but after being able to navigate through an entire thirty floors of their new house, everyone was immediately able to grasp the locations of everything.

A few days passed by with no problems. Two days a week, on Friday and Saturday, Ruan Gao would visit the Jia family with either her grandfather or father. Normally, her grandfather comes to talk with Pangzi's father, Jia Li.

In the morning, they'd get up, wash their faces and eat breakfast. Later, Pangzi would read some books in the library while Shuaiqi would train swords with his father. If Shuaiqi was reading, Pangzi would be training; Jia Li would always be with Shuaiqi, at these moments. Their training will continue for a few hours till lunch, when everyone will eat. Then, they all disperse again to do their own things: Jia Li, with Shuaiqi. Their grandparents lived there as well.

Pangzi would normally read, but he'd sometimes sneak into town to talk to alchemists (pharmacists) and sometimes scholars, if he were lucky enough to meet them. Soon enough, Pangzi was able to hold a conversation with a stranger for however long he wanted, and even manipulate the person into ending the conversation short. Still having the mentality of a child, he started experimenting with the human subjects at home, ie: the servants. His experiments bore no academic achievement, but he enjoyed it a lot.

From the alchemists, he learnt simple brews to cure sicknesses. This was something he was obsessed with — medicine. He was so entranced by it, that he even brewed poison for the servants just so he could find cures for it himself. As a result, a dozen or so died, but his results were unbelievable. Soon enough, Pangzi started experimenting more and more with different ingredients and started making potent poisons from food and drink he bought from the market place. He would test its potency weekly by throwing a bottle of it into the wells in the slums. To make sure there was something to actually poison, he made sure that water got to the dried up wells, and he made sure it wasn't too little water so the poison would be too potent, and not to add too much water, in fear of diluting it. Soon, he thought of a ratio for every single one of his poisons, so he could dilute it without worries. Before he knew it, he loved poisoning more than curing. But that didn't mean he didn't make cures. After all, it's not like he's never gotten poisoned, himself.

A month after repeating life in the mansion like that, Jia Li started to notice an odd spike in deaths from the slums and mansion. He started town meetings and disaster relief squads, but they solved all the problems, except the death rate.

Ever since the Jia family moved in again, the death rate went from a mere 20/week to an astounding 3000/week. Most of the deaths were from the slums, with ten or so being from the mansion and five being from the town. Soon, rumors of a mysterious plague emerging had risen up, but they were soon quelled by a famous alchemist who attributed the deaths to a curse.

Pangzi thought it was stupid since he knew he was the reason 2980 people were dying every week, but there was no way he'd tell anyone.

In three years, the situation went completely out of control, and Jia Li started preparing for a large-scale lockdown. Because of that, Pangzi decided to go over to the palace for a while. After hours of begging and medication, he finally convinced his father that he was not affected by a disease of any sort, so he was given permission to leave the town.

Although the distance from the eastern rural area — where the Jia's family is located — and the capital is around half the world's length, it takes only two days because of the ancestral shrines. As the name suggests, they are shrines built by the ancestors to worship them. It also serves as a gateway to other realms.

An ancestral shrine is a sort of circular array. It is around fifteen meters (3.3ft*15) in radius and has a blue glowing base. It also has three pillars which are of equal distance away from each other. On each pillar, there are inlays of a blue, glowing ink, and a statue with different coloured eyes. One statue has yellow, the other has red, another being green. Each colour represents a plane. The plane without certain colour is the colour itself. Many also believe that the blue ink is the source of the shrine's power.

In the capital, there are four ancestral shrines, each with four pillars instead of three. It's normally used as a transit point for goods in and out of the capital. It is also used as transportation by many people when making long journeys.

The only setback is that the ancestral shrines could only teleport you to another plane, and not inside the same plane, because of the eyes, according to scholars. They also have a ten hour cooldown before anyone can use them, they've been used once. Because of that, most people usually go to an ancestral shrine in one place, go to another plane, camp for ten hours and go back their original destination. Of course, Pangzi was able to abuse this in a way, since in the capital, all four shrines were there. He'd only have to go through one trip through a shrine to get to the capital. The twenty day trip was mostly just them going to the nearest ancestral shrine, only to realize that the Caodi realm bridge collapsed, so their trip's time was increased a hundred fold.

When they got to the palace, he immediately ran off to Ruan Gao's room to meet up with her. When he barged into her room, she was studying.

"soft cake! Since when did you study? Did your reforms really have that big an effect? Suddenly, I miss the stupid soft cake."

"oh, fatty, it's you! I thought some slave broke into my room."

Staring at her a while, he chose to ignore what she said and exclaimed: "soft cake, what a dirty mind you have! Imagining a slave coming in here and having his way with you! What a dirty mind! I must ask godfather to get the salt!"

"shut up! You're the one with the dirty mind! I didn't even think of it like that!" she shouted.

"anyways, how's your life been?"

"like crap." she said.

"I see your mouth is getting as foul as your teacher Yi's?"

"that is impossible. Teacher Yi is the rudest person in the entire empire! It is impossible for anyone to have a mouth more foul than his, and you know it is true. Mostly because you're the reason his mouth is so foul."

"you unfilial brat, don't lie to me!"

"what are you, my mother?"

"no, this grandfather was simply telling a child of how the world works, wouldn't you say so?" he exclaimed.

As always, the two went on bickering for ages, until it was time to eat. The two took a five minute walk to the vendors, since the cafeteria was too far away. They abused their status' so they could get the food for free, and went back to Ruan Gao's room where they went on bickering.

A few days later, a royal edict came for Pangzi. It told him to leave for home immediately. Both Pangzi and Ruan Gao tried to appeal to higher court, ie: her father, but it didn't work, since Ruan Gao's grandfather was the one who had him send the edict.

Eventually, Ruan Yi, Ruan Gao's father, decided to convince his father to take back the edict, after hours the two begging. When they arrived, Ruan Gao's grandpa called Pangzi an unfilial bastard and told them to get lost. Soon enough, Pangzi lost his temper and asked him why he sent the edict.

"your sanity must be declining because of your age, old coot. When you were emperor, you still had a head over your shoulders! What do you have now? At least now, I know where Ruan Yi got his head from."

"unfilial child, did you not even listen to the royal edict?! A plague demon follower has been spotted near the capital, and your father wants you and Ruan Gao to go to the east! He is sending an army here to deal with the cult, so he wants you two out as soon as possible."

"the edict never had anything like that in it. It just told me to report to the eastern mansion and leave the palace as soon as possible"

"he's right, grandpa. The edict told him to go fast; that's it."

After thinking for a while, the old man shouted: "Ruan Yi! What did you tell the messenger!"

"I... I just summarized everything... your message was too long, father!" cried the old fool before falling into a bow and weeping.

"and you, fatty. Your transgressions will be overlooked, this time, but I haven't gone senile just yet. Reserve your tongue for those truly deserve it. It will do your lifespan wonders."

By wonders, I'm sure you mean my lifespan will fall back a few decades...

"I'm sure it will... but what is the plague demon cult? I've only ever heard of holy sects and sword sects, never a plague demon cult."

"*sigh* well, as the name suggests, they are an evil sect. No, a cult, actually. They are a bunch of fanatics who can make poison from even ordinary food. The plague from ten years was because of them... those bastards filled the wells with poison and diseased carcasses, spreading disease like a wildfire. But you should be careful at the Jia mansion as well. Your father told me that the death rate has increased a hundred fold in the city, under the Jia family's protection. There's no doubt in my mind that this is the work of the plague demon cult. I've seen their work up close. Poison without trace, perfect dilution and dosage — it's even more dangerous than before. I suspect it's a disciple under one of the four great venerables. If it weren't a disciple inexperienced in lethal poisons, the death rate will go up ten thousand fold! Maybe even hundred thousand..."

In-Incredible! I thought my poison was lethal, but how naïve I was! This... this is heavenly! I must have it... I must have their formulae and techniques...

"thank you, godfather. We will be careful." he said before cupping his fists and giving a 90° bow. "come on, soft cake. If the plague demon followers are as dangerous as godfather says, we need to hurry and leave."

"ok, but will grandpa and father be fine?" she asked.

"of course. I have survived through four phases plague, and your father has survive two... we can survive once more, can't we, Ruan Li?"

"yeah... Pangzi's right, child. You should run. Run while you still can..."

Said Pangzi's father-in-law with fear stricken deep into his eyes. He was clearly traumatized by one of the phases of plague.

"and the phases of plague?" asked Pangzi.

"a millenia ago, the plague demon cult settled in the Shensheng empire and said they would release a phase of plague every decade, each more dangerous than the last. The first plague phase I went through struck when I was two. I didn't remember anything, but most of my family died because of it. The next phase, I was twelve. They dropped a sort of air (gas) from the skies and it covered everyone in black and green spots. When you touch a person, they exploded and spread the disease... It was horrifying. The most recent plague phase was apparently targeted at women. We haven't confirmed it, but I think it was to kill off the future generation."

Sounds like a big issue. If it were easy to eradicate, wouldn't the plague demon cult have been eradicated by now? So, not only is it a big power, but it can also poison the entire world, even arbitrarily... if they were even just a little weaker, I might have been able to steal their techniques before inheriting the dragon army — Shensheng empire's main attack force — from father... at this rate, I'd be better off becoming one of the great venerable's disciples.

"if they are so strong, can't they destroy and take over the entire Yuzhou½, as long as they attack every year."

"well, despite being the follower of an evil demon, the plague demon followers are filial to the sect and its ancestors. No matter what happened, no matter how many bases we destroyed, no matter how many followers we killed, none of them gave up any information, and they never broke the ten year promise. But at the rate things are going, we might take more than ten years to recover from a single phase. If we take more than ten years to recover from a single phase of plague, we will undoubtedly die. As for why they don't rule the Yuzhou, it's simple. Each world has something like the plague demon cult. Some worlds are even ridden with evil sects. We call them fallen worlds. Out of the 316 recorded worlds, 87 of them are fallen, and 157, including the Shensheng empire, are on the road to destruction... our scholars believe we only have five more centuries before becoming a fallen world..."

"let's go, Ruan Gao. Since godfather and father seem super scared, we should run from here quickly and hide in the east!"

"fatty, you coward!" screamed Ruan Gao. "but since grandfather said so, I'll go along with your cowardice." she said after meeting her grandpa's eyes.

"cowardice is a good skill... and before you say it's a skill for the weak, it's the skill of a survivor. Now come on! Let's go!" I said as I dragged her out of godfather's office.

As soon as we left the room, we went through the unnecessarily long building. Godfather's room and office are both on the very top floor. Father's (Ruan Gao's) room and office are also here. Ours, on the other hand, is ten entire floors down. That's around half an hour just to get to same floor, and another ten minutes to get to our rooms.

Luckily for them, Pangzi tricked Ruan Gao into running to her room, so he felt no shame in running as well. Because the two of them ran, they cut the fourty minute trip into a mere twenty minutes trip. At the rate those two ran, they were definitely the fastest in the generation, if not the world.

When they arrived in their rooms, they both went stuffing whatever they needed into some wooden boxes and had some servants carry them into a carriage. After Pangzi finished packing, he went over to Ruan Gao's room to see what she was up to.

When he got in there, he was unable to believe his eyes. Instead of hiding for a few months, it looked like she was packing up to run away from home.

"soft cake! Are you seriously packing your entire dowry into that one wooden box?! There are more if you need them, you know!"

"huh? What dowry? I'm just bringing five or so clothes, you know?"

How big do your clothes have to be to take up multiple boxes?!

"just take whatever you wear in the capital. No one in the countryside cares about some princess all the way in the capital. Heck, you'd be lucky to find someone who knows your name!"

"isn't that basically treason?! But that does help a lot... thanks! I'll just take my normal clothes."

"also, if your formal wear is that big, can you even walk in it?" I asked with genuine curiosity.

"I mean, it's hard, but yeah, I can move in it. Of course, I have to see a professional masseuse to deal with the pain that comes after."

"and here I thought you were some gorilla princess that tore heads off. How boring."

"Pangzi, you bastard! Come to this grandmother so she can show you what respect is!"

"noo! granny Gao scares me! Save me, gorilla princess! Rip granny Gao's head off! Save me!"

"Pang... Zi!"

"okay, okay. I made a mistake. Will princess gori gori forgive me? Ah, I mean–

"that's the last straw, Jia Pangzi!"

"oh no! She used my full name! What is she going to do next?! Rip my head off?!"

*sobbing*

Huh? She doesn't normally cry from this much? Is something wrong with her.

"stop crying, soft cake... if you cry so hard, I'll start feeling guilty."

I tried to bring her close into an embrace, but before I knew it, I was pinned under her small, but surprisingly heavy body.

"got you now, fatty... you'll be calling me grandma by the time I'm done with you!"

"grandma! grandma! This little grandchild was blind! He couldn't see your greatness! Please be merciful, grandma!"

.

.

.

"so... are you done with me, now?"

"be quiet. This granny is savoring her victory. I just need to let in the fact that I one upped Jia Pangzi. Even though you gave me the battle in exchange for the war, I accept your defeat..."

"ok?"

I heard from the servants that she got into the genre 'war and strategy', recently, but I didn't think it'd have this much of an effect on her... I guess it's like me and my poisons?

But battle in exchange for the war? I guess she means that I gave up a small victory to get even bigger one. Somehow, I don't think she'd be satisfied with the smaller victory?

"now pack up. We have to get going soon." I said.

In twenty minutes, everything was ready and accounted for. Since Pangzi didn't live in the palace, he only had to take with him whatever he brought there. It was a little harder for Ruan Gao to pack, since she lived there, and had too much property to bring, but, in the end, she brought enough clothes to last a year. It might seem excessive, but a phase of plague is coming soon... recovering from a pandemic isn't a one day thing. Fortunately, the Shensheng's people were well trained in disease control and medication. If they were in any other world, they would definitely be a renowned doctor. And because their doctors are so good, it takes around a year before any disease is completely contained. Of course, information about the last phase of plague is so scarce, it was as if a phase never came, a decade ago.

To ride the carriage to ancestral shrine in the capital didn't take that long. There was, however, a huge problem. The shrine closest to the Jia family is on its ten hour cooldown, with six hours remaining on it. Obviously, they could take the next closest shrine, which was still working, but it would be two months away from the mansion. Of course, they had the option of waiting for six hours, but that would take too long for their liking.

It was no secret that a new phase of plague was beginning, and according to the vows made a millenia ago, they would be attacking in an hour, unless they already poisoned everyone with a slow acting venom. Such thoughts were constantly going through Pangzi's head. What if they were already poisoned? Wouldn't they just die? Was there any way to survive?

"make a blood sacrifice..." he said. "my father told me about it before. When we were at war with the fallen world, we used our the Caodi realm's shrine to send soldiers to the fallen world to attack, since they were one of the only few worlds with a shrine. To get many soldiers across, they used blood to lessen the time. For each hour on the clock, approximately one litre of blood should do. We don't have to sacrifice anyone. Just cut the wrists of six servants, and we can go safely."

"young master, as someone who fought in the war against the fallen world, I know about the blood sacrifice and its power... but I think it's best we kill a person on the circle and use their blood instead. We did this in the war as well... trying to minimize casualties doesn't work here..."

Said one of the royal guards with multiple medals of honor.

Hm... he's right. It would be better to kill a single person rather than risk six dying on us.

"yes, your plan is better. We'll go with that instead."

"haha... it's not my plan. It's only something I learnt in the war." he said meekly.

"anyways, who wants to die?" asked Pangzi.

.

.

.

"let me say this first. Killing knights and royal guards are out of the question. We need all the firepower we can get. Killing a servant is viable, but I'd prefer we kill a stray on the road. Just pull them back and cut their body. It doesn't have to be painful for them. End it in one strike and ruin the body. We need as much blood out as possible. All those in favor, raise your hands."

Pangzi looked carefully at everyon e in the group. They all had their hands raised high. Especially the servants who thought they would die. Well, everyone except one...

"how can you guys be so cruel! Just to save your own skins, you're going to sacrifice innocent people?! They didn't even know this would happen to them! It's too unfair... I thought you guys were better than this... especially you, Pangzi."

Well, it's actually their fault. Every decade, these capital scum hog all the ancestral shrines on the very day of the phase of plague. Before then, everyone's singing, dancing and playing. Not a care the world. If these people ran even a week before the phase of plague, disease control would no doubt, be much simpler. Instead, we just get a bunch of proverbial wall grass⅔!

"hmm... get an adult and a child. If you can't find an adult, get two children to replace them. The bigger, the better. Gender doesn't matter, the fatter the person, the better."

Said Pangzi while waving his hands. At his signal, five knights immediately bolted to get the sacrifices.

"y-young master? I thought we only needed one sacrifice?"

"father told me a lot more than just blood sacrifices, you know? I should know enough war tactics to compare to a commander. Do not question me."

"but in the war, we only ever needed one sacrifice, per trip. Why one or two more people for four litres less than needed in the war?!"

"among the things I was taught, one of the most gruesome things was what dragon army did to your enemies. Father said that every time the dragon army was sent in, they shredded the enemies to pulp and threw their mashed bodies onto the ancestral shrine on the other side. Blood sacrifices aren't a one way road, you know? That was the only reason you kept your casualties low. Judging by the fact that you don't know this, you were either cannon fodder, or a sacrifice in line for the ancestral shrine."

"this... this servant obeys..." it was the only thing the royal guard could do. No matter how adorned he was, no matter how good he was with a sword, Pangzi's words were irrefutable. He really was just cannon fodder, when compared to the real experts and elites, sent into the war.

"young master! We have brought three children!" came a scream.

Soon enough, three children and the five knights were seen. The children were being dragged by the unresisting children.

"hey, kids... do you want to escape from the plague? Run away from all the suffering and never experience pain?" he asked them, as soon as they were dragged close enough to him.

"y-yes... I do!" screamed the biggest of the trio.

Soon after, the other two plump chickens fell into Pangzi's trap.

"in that case, you have to give me what I want the most. Don't worry, you can do it as easily as blinking!" he said sweetly before signaling to the guards.

The oblivious children had no idea what they were getting themselves into, clearly. But that didn't stop Pangzi from doing it. Soon after, three heads were rolling on the floor.

The heads were picked up and tossed onto the shrine to bleed. The same was done to the bodies, but only after cutting each limb, one by one.

"they got what they wanted. They'll never feel pain again, and they'll get away from the plague. I kept my part of the deal, so they should keep theirs." he said coldly to Ruan Gao, who was covering her face in horror and shock.

The ancestral shrine soon started glowing green, meaning their destination in the east was set and ready for.

Everyone brushed themselves off; got everything ready and got onto the ancestral shrine.

A few seconds later, the seal on the floor began to glow, as well as the blue ink markings, and everything turned black. Not long after, light started to flood in, unimaginably fast. Some of the servants started vomiting and screaming. The weaker ones even fell unconscious. Many people who haven't gone through ancestral shrines before experience it a lot. The screaming is mostly because their eyes don't get enough time to adjust to the light, but it's the same story for everyone else. The ones who didn't scream were just somewhat resistant to it. Of course, vomiting only happens the first few times.

"we will set off to the Jia's mansion immediately. Leave the stragglers behind. If they can keep up, good for them."

After hearing his command, everyone who was still conscious enough to hear collected themselves as quickly as possible and tried following the carriage, which started moving forward.

Outside, everyone seemed to be dying. The east is not some sahara-like place, though. The place they were currently going through was a realm called the Caodi realm. Like the name suggested, it was very grassy. There wasn't a city in sight, and it made one wonder if an ancestral shrine was even in that area.

The thing about the Caodi Plane's shrine, is that not many people know of its existence, anymore. In the war against the fallen world, the Caodi Realm was absolutely scorched with not a single blade of grass in sight. The Caodi Realm was the only place attacked by the fallen world. The people in that fallen world managed to find a way to connect their shrines with the shrines from another world. Of course, not all worlds have ancestral shrines, so they were very lucky to find a shrine in the Shensheng empire, which met all the unknown requirements to connect with their own shrine.

Before the fallen world's attack, there was a huge city in the Caodi Realm, just like how it is near every other shrine. After the attack, the entire realm was set ablaze with not even one survivor. Luckily, the dragon army was stationed in the realm right next to the Caodi Planes; soon enough, the enemy was forced to retreat into their own world, where we used the blood sacrifices to attack them. They either did not want to use blood sacrifices, or did not know about them. The scholars lean towards the latter.

In the end, we decided enough was enough and sent an elite squad to kill the enemy king. Of course, this was not the main purpose of this attack. After the elite squad was sent in, a group of cannon fodder was also thrown in, to destroy the shrine. Sure, it may have been sacrilegious to destroy an ancestor's shrine, but they had no choice. Either destroy their shrine, or our own shrine. Obviously, they took the harder way out of the situation.

The elite squad most likely achieved their mission, but probably died horrible deaths. They didn't even know that they were the true cannon fodder.

Many scholars tried to copy the techniques of the fallen world to try connecting shrines to another world, but it did not work. Soon after, the research stopped after funds and interest fell. Of course, many still suspect that the fallen world somehow figured out half of the secrets of the ancestors shrines for them to be able to alter them.

In the carriage, the two were sitting still. Neither dared to speak out of backlash from the other.

Soon enough, Pangzi became impatient and decided enough was enough.

"soft cake... you understand that was the best option, right?"

.

.

.

"yes... but shouldn't there have been another way to end it? Without so much bloodshed... what about their parents? How do you think they would feel?"

"don't worry about the parents. The children would have been sadder had they lived."

"why? Why would they be sadder?"

"didn't you realize anything odd about how quickly the knights brought back the three children? And how cooperative the children were. If you were dragged away by six strangers, wouldn't you scream, shout and kick? The guards may have been aggressive with them in front of me, but I don't think they coerced the children. I'm pretty sure they bribed or tricked them, like I did. Anyways, as for the parents... say you had a child, ok? Then six fully grown adult men come barging into your house, demanding for your children. Surely, you wouldn't just give them, would you? They were clearly found on the road, since the Knights took very little time to find them, and the—

*thud* *thud*

"we must have run over something..." muttered Pangzi, calmly. "anyways, their parents must have abandoned them on the roads and ran for one of the other shrines. You might find loopholes in my story, but to be fair, this is pure speculation on my part. Think what you want to think; you're the good princess: if you ask the guards how they convinced the children to come, I'm sure they'll be glad to tell you the truth. If I ask, though, they'll tell me some lies about dragging them by the hair."

After listening to Pangzi's entire monologue, the only thing Ruan Gao could do was give a meek 'ok'. Everything he said matched with what he did, but it still didn't sit right with her. Something was wrong about Pangzi. At least, in her eyes, that was.

The Pangzi she knew was not a cruel cold-blooded killer. He was a reliable and trusted, albeit untrustworthy, friend. He was the kind of person who acted cruel and collected, but often weak on the inside and easily opened up to new people. Of course, he never brought them too close to his personal life, but he still cared for them, no matter how much he denied it. He was also motion sick when something moves for too long. Apparently, it felt like his stomach acid was churning. That was the kind of Pangzi she knew. Something inside him broke, as far as she could see...

~five hours later~

"this is odd... we should be home by now..."

"but hasn't it only been six or so hours since we left the palace? Your trip to the capital took twenty days! Why will the trip back suddenly take six hours?" she asked in shock, with a hint of rage.

"the only reason my trip to the capital took so long was because the bridge over the Chunjing Shui, to the Caodi Realm, collapsed. We had to take a huge detour. I calculated the time for the bridge's repair, and it should only take about a month. Since I arrived at the capital twenty days later, this would be a few days after the bridge has been fixed... at most, the trip will take five hours."

"you don't think something could have happened outside? Other than the bump, we didn't feel anything else..."

"no. The soundproofing in this carriage is too good for us to hear anything outside. Of course, it can't do anything about bumps on the road. But even after those two bumps, I've felt little bumps every now and then. Even without that, I'm sure my motion sickness will serve as better proof."

"you're right... your skin is still paler than ever... I'll go check and see if the bridge collapsed again."

"as if. I specifically sent an order to hurry the bridge's repairs. If the bridge really is broken, then may divine punishment come upon me!"

"start counting your blessings, fatty... I'll make your regret your words!" she said with a smile.

After Ruan Gao left the carriage, he waited impatiently for her. At the time, his mind was hurriedly going through his previous thoughts and actions at an abnormally fast pace. He didn't know what caused him to lash out in front of Ruan Gao like that. Normally, he'd try his best to hide that side of his from anyone he was close to. But five hours ago, he completely disregarded Ruan Gao's existence and lashed out as much as he wanted to. Even when she tried to pacify him, he directed his sudden outburst at her, instead. No matter how calm he acted on the outside, he was struggling very badly on the inside.

A few seconds later, she burst into the room and laughed laughed: "the bridge really did break! Now, divine punishment is on its way to murder you!"

"my precious underground lover, soft cake! Do you wish for me to die so badly?! Does your handsome, rich husband, Jia Shuaiqi De Mingzi, the maker of widows, truly have your heart in his hand?!" screamed Pangzi without a shred of shame.

"wha..?" she paused for a while. "not just my heart, but the hearts of hundreds of widows too!"

"you adulterous traitor! I'm going to have godfather hang you for cheating on me and marrying my brother!"

"you're the one who married me to your brother! And how is it cheating if I'm cheating on you with you? That's not cheating in the slightest!"

"shut up. As long as I am alive, divine punishment will never find me!" he screamed without a worry in the world.

"wrong. Divine punishment has already found you. Actually, demonic tribulations would be more accurate?"

As soon as she said that, the carriage hit a huge bump in the road and went flying. Not long after, it fell down and knocked Pangzi off of his feet. Ruan Gao, on the other hand, seemed to have been standing still, even while the carriage went flying.

"are you from the plague demon cult? Or are you some sort of kidnapper."

"hmm... as much as I'd like to say it's the latter, you obviously won't believe me, seeing as you already know the answer to that question? Of course, both of your guesses are correct. And you can stop worrying. I'm nothing special like one of the four great venerables or the plague elders, not to mention, the plague demon. I'm just your everyday recruit who happened to take a mission that wanted him to kidnap the high commander's first-born son. Truly worth being a seventh rank mission, no?."

Said the cultist who looked uncannily similar to Ruan Gao, making Pangzi rule it off as disguise.

"I didn't know the plague demon cult had ranks? Are recruits low in rank?"

"well, as much as I want to say we aren't, we are totally low ranks. See, it's kind of like this: plague demon >>> four great venerables >>>>> plague elders >>> followers > recruits. I'm kind of on the strong side of recruits and the really weak side of plague elders, if you know what I mean. Anyways, I'm feeling kind of cocky today, so let me tell you about mission ranks. They go from one to twelve, one being the lowest and twelve being the highest. It's just like every other sect, but instead of the rewards being contribution points, we call it plague tokens. Pretty cool, huh? But lately, contributions points have been gaining popularity since one of the great venerables accidentally called the plague tokens contribution points."

"so, why are you telling me this? But while you're still at it, can you tell me how hard the difficulty of the mission is, and why you're taking a rank seven mission."

"okay. So, to become a follower, you must kill one follower and complete a fifth rank mission. You only have to do the first part if all ten thousand slots for followers are full. By the way, there are around 9,985 followers, right now. We have a weekly headcount. To become an elder, you need to kill an elder and poison an entire realm and kill half its inhabitants within a month. Right now, there are 98 out of 100 elders. To become a venerable, you have four options. One, buy the position with one million plague tokens. Two, complete a rank twelve mission. Three, make significant contributions to the cult. Four, kill a venerable. Currently, all the positions for the venerables are held. And just so you know, no one in a millenia has ever succeeded in killing a great venerable. They always give their position to a worthy successor, or die creating poison. Of course, for the first three methods to be viable, there has to be an open slot for another great venerable, you know. But that doesn't answer your question, does it? So, a first rank mission is what we get from the slums. For example: "give me some food.". Anyone can do it and not die. Just don't get raped... Rank two, slightly harder: "feed my pets.", just don't become their food. Rank three, complete it and you are eligible to become a recruit. Currently, there is only one rank three mission: "create your own poison.", this is why we have so many types of poisons in our cult. Rank four: "hunt a tiger.", and that's one of the easier ones. There only one rank five, and it is, "gain immunity to one of the hundred world breaking poisons.". Only followers go to the phases of plague, because usually, they have immunity to the phase they start. Venerables and elders will naturally neutralize the poison, so we can't let them go to the phase. Otherwise, we'd cure our own poison. And any poisons they can't neutralize, like their own creations, will kill everyone here. Anyways, rank six: "kill a high ranking government official.", rank seven: "capture the first born son of the high commander.", rank eight: "kill the high commander.", rank nine: "destroy a realm under the guise of a newly erupting epidemic.", rank ten: "destroy a second rate sect.", rank eleven: "destroy another world." rank twelve, there's only one: "destroy three thousand unregistered worlds.". I took the seventh mission because my master forced it on me, and I need it for my promotion to an elder. One of the 'backdoor' methods to becoming an elder.

"isn't the gap between eleven and twelve too big? Sure, you might somehow destroy another world, but what are the chances of anyone destroying three thousand?! Besides, it was deemed impossible to travel to other worlds without going through the void, by the scholars of our world."

"oh, my naïve junior brother. How wrong you are! We, at the plague demon cult have already found multiple ways to travel over to other worlds. One of the only reasons we haven't destroyed the Shensheng's world is because we are too busy destroying other worlds! A great venerable can easily destroy a dozen worlds in a day, but we just keep them at the headquarters to find disciples. Plague elders can also destroy worlds, but only one in a day. Most of them are total asses, like the great venerables, but some actively go out, destroying worlds to rake in them plague tokens."

"I see... but why bother telling me such important information? I don't see any reason for you to go through the trouble of explaining this to me, only to capture me and throw me into a cell. And before, you called me junior brother. Are you inviting me to the plague demon cult or something?"

"it's the former. But don't worry. I got some paper and inkstones for you to write with. I don't have any brushes, so make due with what you have."

"thanks." he muttered to his new senior brother/sister who still looked like soft cake.

* Dear, soft cake & godfather & uncle & father.

* I have been kidnapped by the plague demon cult. Don't worry, I am alive.

* they promised me as long as I went with them for seven years, they would

* let me go free and not touch soft cake or the escorts.

* also, they said you might still get poisoned.

* Love,

* Jia Pangzi.

"okay, I'm done. Now what?" said a Pangzi, eager to learn poison.

Before showing Pangzi what to do next, his new senior took his letter; read it and looked at Pangzi: "you painted us as such evil people. I swear, if capturing you alive wasn't part of my mission, you'd be dead by now."

"okay, then, show me the way."

"I don't trust you." he/she said before grabbing his hand with unbelievable strength.

As suddenly as his hand was taken by the recruit, they were transported to a cave-like place.

A few dozen metres bellow where Pangzi and the plague demon follower were staying, there was a city. It was hard to believe someone could build an entire city, underground. Not only was the city large, but hundreds of little glowing gems were seen from above. The value of the gems were unparalleled, but it was clear these gems were used as a means of light. If not, how else could a cave with no exit in sight possibly harbour so much light? It was simply unfathomable.

"welcome to the underground city. Enjoy your stay, but not too much; make sure to report to the plague demon cult in five days time. Use those five days to get a life in this dump of a cave. And make some friends. They'll help you a ton."

Said the plague demon follower, or rather, recruit, before jumping off somewhere into the city.

Pangzi, unlike the cultist, was a normal human with average physical abilities and average mental abilities. Actually, his mental abilities are immeasurable. But that didn't change the fact that he was a proverbial sitting duck. There was no way down, unless he felt like sliding down a few dozen metres of rough stone.

Well, as grandpappy — the one who lives in the Jia family mansion — always said, when at a loss, scream for help, "help me! I'm an innocent boy! Please spare my life! No murder!"

.

.

.

I guess any place that guy would've brought me to wouldn't really care about an innocent boy like me...

"which bastard dares kill in my father's territory?!" screamed a cliché blonde bitch, who seemed important.

"no one dares kill, but can you help me down?"

She stared at me for a while before responding: "can't you get down by yourself? I've seen babies use that place as a playground!"

"just help me!" I screamed, again.

The blonde bitch groaned at me and showed me her back, as if offering a piggy back ride, which I gratefully took her up on. Or had her take me up on.

While she was carrying me down, gently, I started by trying to make some light convo: "and, all people have strengths and weaknesses, you know? Just because I'm weak doesn't mean I can't do other stuff."

"oh, so you're an alchemist?" she asked with interest.

Alchemist? I have an alchemist as a friend, but I'm far from being one myself.

"no, but I do know some bits of alchemy."

"oh," she said, without hiding her disappointment. "then are you a mason?"

Mason...

"sorry. I don't meddle in such barbaric craftsmanship."

"then what DO you do?"

Hmm... I guess you can say poisoner? But sounds pretty evil and sinister... silent executor? I guess I am in a way, a killer? But I don't know who I kill, so... an indiscriminate killer?

"I'm an indiscriminate killer."

"so you're a poisoner?" she said bluntly.

"it hurts when you say it like that, but yeah. I am a poisoner."

"that's cool. I mean, not as cool as alchemy, but it's pretty cool. How many people have you killed?" she asked.

"hmm... maybe around half a million? Probably less. I'm not too sure."

"wow... you've killed so many people! Looks like poisoners are pretty cool after all!"

What a little psychopath, he thought. "so what about you?"

"me? I guess you could say, I'm an aspiring doctor."

"ah, so you're my future nemesis." he said jokingly.

"not really. My grades suck, so my teacher wants me to dropout and go become a Knight for the Bai family."

"why don't you want to become a Knight? Every child I know desperately wants to become a Knight."

"because my father is a Knight, and so is my brother and sister. They are all big shots, and I'm scared that I won't be able to be as good as them and end up disappointing everyone..." she said.

"if that's the case, I think you made the best possible choice. Well, second best choice. If you don't want to be Knight, then be something you can actually be. You said your grades are awful, so there's really no chance of you becoming a doctor. If you're going to be a failure as a doctor, or a failure as a Knight, you should choose the latter, because at least you will get further than you ever could, as a doctor."

"I guess you're right... you know, for someone who's killed half a million, you're a pretty good guy. And if you get caught by my family for killing, I'll be sure to put in a good word for you." she said before dropping me off on the ground and flying away.

"thanks, blonde bitch who can somehow... fly..."

Wh- What did I just see for the last few minutes?! What the hell was that?!

No... she didn't act like it was anything odd, and neither did any of the villagers on the streets. They just gave a glance and looked away. More people seemed shocked by how I couldn't get down, instead... I guess flying is the norm in the underground city.

But what do I do now? First of all, a place to stay. Then, a stable job, which is the hard part. I don't have any money on me, but I should be able to sell my hair and adornments for quite a bit of money. If a baby were stronger than me, as the blonde said, I'm in a lot of trouble. Physical labour is a no-go, so... poisoning? I did say I was a poisoner. Maybe there's a way to make money from poison. After all, you can get money for being good at anything, nowadays.

"excuse me." he called out to a lady on the road. "do you mind telling me where I can crash for a while? The cheaper, the better."

"huh? Why ask me? Just read the signs and go to the huge green building. And didn't your mother ever tell you not to run around alone?"

"no, she did not. And can you also tell me if I can make money through poison?"

"money through poison? Easy! Get a client and kill that guy's enemies. They'll pay a ton. Of course, it's safer to sell the poison to others."

"thanks. Also, do you care to tell me the ranking of jobs, here?"

"out of town? I can relate — I came from the cave-side as well. Everything's the same as above ground, but killers are high in demand. From what I can see, you are a poisoner. Just don't get too involved with the nobles. They'll have your head. Us commoners don't really care about justice and whatnot, so you don't need to worry about being chased out."

"thanks."

"ah, I nearly forgot! You're from the cave-side, aren't you? Go to the nearest mason and get a jade token. Have him inscribe it with, 'doctor'. You can stay in any inn for as long as you want with that, but the commission will be pretty steep."

"thank you, Mrs..?"

"Catherine Brown. You can drop the honorifics. I prefer to be called Cathy."

"Jia Pangzi."

"Jia Pangzi... what an odd name! Well, anyways, goodbye!"

"goodbye, cathy. Thanks for the information."

Receiving a slight nod from her, he walked around till he saw a sign saying, 'mason' and pointing west of where he was. He decided to follow the sign, since he had no other options.

When he arrived at the mason's, he asked for a jade token inscribed with 'doctor' on it. The mason warned him, saying if he wasn't a real doctor, or had little medical knowledge, he'd immediately be chased out. And many people will go to him for medical aid.

Even if Pangzi was a poisoner, he also had quite a bit of medical knowledge — it was what he was into, in the first place, after all. If he didn't know the cure to his poisons, how else would he still be alive? Creating the antidote inside himself is the easiest, most dangerous way. Especially since he works with the more lethal poisons. But after all his preparations, he can easily administer the poison however he wanted. Especially when spiking someone's drink. Of course, that was something he'd never done.

"it's fine. I know enough about medicine and plants to cure many disease." although most of those diseases are self-created...

After inscribing doctor onto the token, he asked for Pangzi's name and how it was spelled, as well as his age. After everything was carved into the slip, the mason gave it and asked for the commission.

"is it possible to delay the payment or pay in medicine?" he asked.

"impossible to delay the payment, but if you do me a favor, I wouldn't mind cutting off the commission fees."

"details?"

"some bastard has been courting my daughter lately. She clearly doesn't like him, but his courting soon turned into stalking. Even if you are a doctor, you must know something about diseases, right? Even if you are so young."

"how lethal on a scale of one to ten?" one being sick and ten being painful death. Anything over seven is death."

"as much as I want to say ten, six. Make him a cripple."

"okay. Consider it done." he smiled slyly before shaking hands with the mason.

"daddy~!" called out someone of the opposite sex, a few years older than me. I assumed her to be his daughter. "are you trying to bribe people into killing Thomas, again?"

"how can I bribe him? He's just a doctor!"

She looked at me in doubt. "I doubt he's even ten! What are the chances of HIM being a doctor?"

"Kristy! You know better than to judge someone by their age and gender! He might be a notorious killer for all we know! Besides," he went into a whisper. "the way he writes his name is odd, and even his name is odd! He's probably from another plane. Most likely, the west."

The west... if I didn't spill juice on the Western Supreme, I'd think coming from the west is a good thing. Luckily I read up about the west, also known as the land of the psychos. The hell hole filled with murder. Why would I come from there, of all places? Whatever. Not much gained from contemplation.

"anyways, Mr. Mason. Would you mind giving me the token, now? I'll come back to you when I need something else made."

"here you go, boy. And I'm not your personal craftsman! I have a life, too!"

"hey dad... I forgot because of the doctor kid, but mom says she's gonna beat your backdoor in unless you get back to the house with Thomas' head."

"tell her I've got someone new and unique to help with him."

"the doctor?" she asked.

"yeah. But I'm pretty sure he's a skilled poisoner, as well."

"oh~ I see, now. Thanks, dad."

"no problem, sweetie."

Hmm... well isn't this quite a pickle? And to think thought I carried the conversation out pretty smoothly. I guess age and gender don't really matter here... only skill. I like this place, and there are numerous advantages, but I don't think I'll be getting my six year grace period¾ here... hopefully, none of my friends or family come here. With the dragon army, this place is bound to be found in few years. As long as father wants to find me...

Whatever. Just hope he doesn't find me and do whatever I want.

Next on the agenda, finding an inn. If I show the jade token, I should be able to stay in any inn, but I don't think the expensive inns will let me stay for long, even if I have a high ranking job.

I also don't know what Thomas looks like, so it might be hard finding... wait a second.

As grandpappy always said, when at a loss, don't be afraid to ask for help!

"excuse me, sir." he called out to a man on the road. "could you please tell me where Thomas lives?"

"which Thomas?" he asked.

As grandpappy always said, when in a pickle, lie: "lover boy."

"oh, him. His family runs the southeast inn, so you'll find him there. And it's best you don't call him that in public like this. Who knows what'll happen if his family hears about this..."

"sorry, I forgot about that."

"no worries. You youngsters need to have fun. Even if it means dragging down someone else down and ditching them in a lake."

How... oddly specific?

"oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, but the southeast inn is in the northwest. Some folk are just plain crazy, I tell you!"

Well, old man. You said right!

Pangzi bid the old man farewell and went northwest to go to the southeast inn.

When he got there, he walked up to the receptionist and asked for a room. When the guy said it'd be fifty Rin, he flashed his token and asked for a room, again.

The southeast inn didn't seem that rich, so I could only assume they'd be okay with harboring a doctor, since that'll do wonders for their reputation. But I also hoped they weren't too poor to be unable to hook me up.

"right away, sir." said the receptionist before telling me to go to room 14.

On the way to room 14, I met a decent looking youth, a few years older than me — just like the mason's daughter. I assumed him to be Thomas, since he was also in the inn's uniform. But now, I know why the mason doesn't like him: his family is poor; the mason is a money grubber, and if not him, his wife. She seemed especially against the marriage, but if the daughter really doesn't like him, and if he really is stalking her... no. I shouldn't think about it. A job is a job, no matter what.

"hello, sir. How are you." I said before completely forgetting about my room.

"I'm fine, little dude. But the girl I like hates my guts... but, do you have something to help me seduce her?" he said after seeing the token on my waist.

I take it back. He's a lost cause.

"I may be a doctor, but I don't know such wonderful medicines." I said. "but I do know a concoction which binds the fates of two people together, forever."

"really?! Can you give it to me?"

Seriously? I just said I didn't know such miracles, and pulled out an even more amazing miracle out of nowhere? I guess even his mind is a lost cause.

"unfortunately, the materials cost a lot, so I can't just give it for free..."

"that's fine. I can pay you 10,000 Rin."

Rin... I guess that's the currency here? And if I remember correctly, a room costs fifty Rin a day, so his offer is the same as two hundred days in this inn... I guess he really is desperate.

"yes, that should do... I'll tell you immediately I have made it."

"thank you, doctor!"

"no problem. It is my job to help people like you."

I squeezed myself into narrow hallway, packed with people. The inn doesn't seem rich, but it certainly had a lot of rooms. Makes me question whether 10,000 Rin really is a lot...

Whatever. I'll ask Cathy next time I see her.

I saw the door to room 14, and when I went in, I knew how much fifty Rin was worth.

The room itself wasn't big, but to describe it in more modern terms, it would be your average 1LDK high quality bedroom. Even if the outside was shifty, seeing the inside of the room, he wondered if he accidentally went into the most expensive inn in the underground city.

"I guess I won't have problems settling in, here... hahaha..." he laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duties as a husband: I am not saying a wife must have sex with the husband. It is merely an 'at that time' thing where an heir is needed. Backups are also necessary, in case the heir dies. Males especially, since most of the time, only they can become the successor.

You messed up: normally, you don't call someone by their given name. Ever. Pangzi is older than her, so he can call her by her first name, no problem (nrly), but she isn't older than him, so normally, she wouldn't call him like that. Sometimes, lovers call each other by given names, which is the context I'm going on (but even then, it's those gross public moral destroying kinda lovers). Also, calling someone by their given name is considered gross; desperate for affection. Idk why, but I've reduced the level of wrong it is to call someone's given name to like a Japanese level. Close friends, family etc... Also, I'll refer to people by their given names, unless it is in dialogue with exceptions.

Soft Cake: I forgot to mention this, but Ruan Gao means soft cake. He calls her soft cake as a nickname and Ruan Gao as her name. Weird, but it makes sense (in english, because in Chinese, he'd be calling her soft cake either way). She calls him Pangzi, as his name, and fatty as a nickname. Btw, Ruan Gao isn't her real name. Ruan Li isn't her father's name either.

Wall grass: a proverb. Means something or someone useless, depending on the context.

Being old isn't an insult anymore: ancestors = superior. The older you are, the more respected you should be. Of course, your job matters as well. For example, a king will refer to themselves as 'this king' and such. Narcissists also do that, but they normally don't since referring to yourself as 'this king' is normally very... bad? Anyways, that part of superiority doesn't matter. Only the age part (in this case). So, Ruan Gao at approx 8k words refers to herself as grandmother. It means Pangzi has to show respect to her, or something like that. The older, the higher in regard you hold them. Grandparents > parents > you > your kids (optional. Iykyk). Also, you don't respect older siblings in the same worshiping way you do parents (and above). They are in the same generation, and you're siblings, so it's ok (though it really is subjective).

Thud thud: there were thuds because when you run something over, first wheel goes up, down and makes a thud, then second wheel. Like cars, on those big speed breakers.

Six year grace period: he's approx ten, as of now, and he is six years from being sixteen (coming of age). He's saying, since gender and age are irrelevant, he won't be treated as a little child and given free stuff for being a child. Ie: he won't have the benefits of being a child. The advantages being he won't have to struggle because of people saying he is unqualified.