5. Becoming an Imperial Soldier

They rode into the Imperial Military Base located in the Immortal Palace, a massive bright building with tall walls and black curved roofs where only birds could peek in resembling a prison from the outside. They entered a huge courtyard where people walked around in fancy luxurious robes, their hair elegantly styled with shimmering accessories. In front of them stood a massive building with a tall white staircase with many steps, the palace itself where only important people were allowed to enter. They rode around the building greeted by everyone they passed.

Mai knew there was no way out once she was in here.

On the other side of the building, they rode through an entrance to another building with a large sand training ground surrounded by buildings all around. Only men were walking around training on various old-fashioned wooden obstacle courses. They all wore light gray clothes, were slim with a strong build and had well-trained bodies.

Mai was carried off the horse by General Wu Tianpeng against her will.

All the soldiers stopped and formed a fist in salute bowing to General Wu Tianpeng who nodded to them. A soldier took Mai's left hand and they headed towards a building to the right. She overheard the men talking loudly to each other.

"It doesn't seem like General Wu Tianpeng to bring children here. Where did he find him?"

"He's skinny and looks like a girl. Can he even handle the training here? He'll break soon."

"He'll train with us if he doesn't have a background."

If Mai used the Finger System on General Wu Tianpeng the entire imperial army would chase her to the ends of the earth, and she wouldn't be able to live in peace.

If I am the only survivor in the world is there anything to live for? 

She knew from history that the world was built on civilization.

They arrived at the herb hall where a large group of men of different ages were sorting herbs and there was a sharp smell of ginger and garlic. They were all dressed in green clothes and wore black hats. There was an excess of old men and there were no women present, but it didn't surprise Mai. In this world there was gender division.

An elderly man approached and greeted them looking at General Wu Tianpeng first then at Mai with curious eyes.

"Is Imperial Physician Liang Gu available?" General Wu Tianpeng asked looking at him.

"Please wait here." The man went into another room and returned with a very old man who had a long white beard and white hair tied up in a tight bun closed with a golden hairpin. He had wrinkles all over his face but carried a sharp gaze. His robe was dark green with a logo of a golden Chinese dragon in front spewing fire.

He bowed to General Wu Tianpeng and said, "General Wu Tianpeng, welcome. What can I do for you?"

"Give him a quick check-up and get him changed. Prepare him for tomorrow." replied General Wu Tianpeng hitting Mai hard on the back causing a sharp pain at her spine. She lost her breath for a second and gritted her teeth.

Imperial Physician Liang Gu looked at her furrowing his brows.

"You can't be serious about me raising a street dog. That's absurd!" His voice was cold and echoed in the room making everyone stop their tasks.

They looked up at him and then at Mai who had had enough.

She wasn't a pawn, but she had no say in it.

She sighed deeply and extended her arms. "Just give me a quick death. This is pure torture."

Imperial Physician Liang Gu blinked and studied her carefully. Suddenly he sniffed the air around her. He stopped at her right pocket and reached his hand towards it. Startled Mai knocked his hand away and scowled at him.

My painkillers are in there.

Imperial Physician Liang Gu massaged his hand and said, "There's fighting spirit in him. Now I see why you brought him here."

He scratched his chin and studied her again, his gaze now ending on the left pocket. He sniffed the air again and looked at General Wu Tianpeng.

"I'll train him. We need an extra hand here."

General Wu Tianpeng blinked and furrowed his brows.

"What are you talking about? I asked you to give him a physical check. He's supposed to be part of the imperial army in the future."

Imperial Physician Liang Gu sighed deeply and acted pitiful.

"And here I thought you had finally found someone worthy of inheriting my skills. The Emperor will be disappointed when he hears this."

Mai had had enough again.

She furrowed her brows and said in a cold voice, "I'm not a pawn. Find your own disciples. I have only one master."

"Strip him and get it over with!" commanded General Wu Tianpeng in a stern voice.

Before Mai could utter a word she felt a soldier grip her right arm tightly and she was pulled into a small room while the other men followed in silence. There was an old-fashioned dark brown wooden bed and various medical instruments. It smelled of hospital mixed with old wood, so it wasn't too bad. When it dawned on Mai what was about to happen she tried to escape but there was a large group of men holding her down as she struggled.

*bump*

She was thrown onto the bed and a physician loosened her belt while she tried to kick him. She hit him hard in the stomach and he got the wind knocked out of him. He held his stomach and grunted.

"You little rascal!" He gritted his teeth and grabbed a large rusty pair of scissors immediately setting off Mai's alarm bells.

Is he going to castrate me?! Her heart skipped a beat pounding violently.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, "Stay away from me! I have only one master. If you harm me, he will haunt you from beyond the grave. Mark my words!"

The physician stopped moving and suddenly chuckled loudly.

"Why do you think we would harm you? The scissor needed to be removed. It was just forgotten." He turned around and walked out with the scissors.

Huh? Mai felt a sense of relief but tasted bitterness in her mouth.

"Show us what you have in your pockets and we can discuss your rights." said Imperial Physician Liang Gu suddenly in a cold voice approaching her with greedy eyes.

Mai wanted to speak with him privately and he immediately chased all the men out despite General Wu Tianpeng's objection.

"We'll be outside waiting if you try anything funny." he said sternly closing the door behind him.

Mai took out a pill from her right pocket wrapped in thin rice paper and showed it to Imperial Physician Liang Gu who stared at it wide-eyed.

"May I?" he asked leaning in closely.

She nodded and he sniffed it. He picked it up and rolled it gently on his finger. He muttered a lot of strange herb names that Mai had never heard before and waited for his decision. Her future depended on him.

"What do you want in return?" he suddenly asked in a serious tone looking at her.

"You can have one pill and replicate it, but it must not be sold to random people. I want a private place to live alone even if it's just a room that's fine just alone. I don't want to be a soldier, but I know I can't run from it. Do we have a deal?" Mai knew she couldn't make too many demands.

In principle he could just steal from her and not care but at least some people had ethics here. After all he was a doctor.

"It's a deal. I'll arrange a room for you. When you're not in the military you'll come here and help me sort herbs. It's always good to have more hands and a fresh perspective around here." Imperial Physician Liang Gu nodded and pocketed the pill.

He opened the door and made eye contact with General Wu Tianpeng standing on the other side saying, "He's healthy. He'll stay in my department, but he can train with you. Do we have a deal?"

General Wu Tianpeng looked at Mai and said, "What about the other pills? I know he has more in his pockets. According to the rules he shouldn't have anything from the outside. It could bring diseases."

Mai had to quickly come up with something to persuade him to change his mind. She acted pitiful and pointed at him.

"You killed my master who made those pills. They're the only memories I have of him. Let me at least keep them." she forced a fake tear but suddenly overwhelmed by emotions as she was reminded of Mr. M. She started crying and sniffing.

"General, he's quite pathetic. Let him keep the pills. We can overlook it. He's just a boy." commented a soldier standing behind General Wu Tianpeng who grunted but agreed.

"Fine, we have a deal. He's mine during the day and yours in the evening."

Mai belonged to no one and grew frustrated. No, she was angry.

Years passed and Mai became part of Unit 5 of the imperial army. She trained with the adults during the day and sorted herbs from late afternoon until 10 p.m. She did everything to avoid being chosen for the official army because she hated war. During training she pretended she couldn't do it but at midnight she sneaked out and trained by herself. There was a large, closed forest area belonging to the military base where they conducted their drills. Mai didn't want to lag behind in anything and fortunately she had a good memory. She had to stay within the palace area and there were guards everywhere. She felt like they were constantly breathing down her neck. Because she was under Imperial Physician Liang Gu she was treated with respect although the men still looked down on her.

Unit 1 was the elite team and if Mai had ended up there she would have undoubtedly been bullied or worse. Her female issues were hard to hide especially as her body began to develop in her teenage years. Her breasts were bound with bandages done amateurishly. It was difficult for her to only interact with the male gender and everyone treated her like a man. There was a limit to how much her body could endure and many times she had to stop before the other soldiers to catch her breath. She hadn't used Master's Finger System since he died but one day when she was in the bathroom and had her period, she felt the sanitary pads sticking uncomfortably to her genitals and suddenly got an idea.

"Is it possible to use Avari's Cloak to hold the blood up?" She looked down at her crotch but suddenly remembered an important thing.

Bacteria loved to grow in warmth and worse things could develop down there.

She shivered and dropped the idea.