Chapter 3

"Aaaaou…" Zhang De suddenly howled in pain in a low voice. Lài Jin instantly stopped with the aim of giving Zhang De another break while wondering how he was able to make it that far away by himself.

'Well sometimes, the pain doesn't instantly set in and I'm told that the complete process is way less painful and life threatening. But I should still keep an eye on him,'

Hearing Lài Jin speak was enough for Zhang De to see the need to dial up his act, realizing that he was in way more trouble than he earlier thought.

"Lài Jin…how exactly are they killed? I don't think anyone would be able to avoid being cut though. Has anyone ever done so before?"He asked with a smidgen of hope with his eyes glued to the ground as he continued to lean on Lài Jin who chose that exact moment to begin to walk.

"The last incident I heard of was really tragic especially since the crown prince felt his harem had been contaminated. All the concubines that came in contact with the eunuch was killed along with their children. Even some of the eunuch's that we're the closest to him were also instantly killed before The eunuch was made to go through the entire process without any pill to help with the pain, whipped in public and then his dismemberment took place,"

"It's so long ago but there are still horror stories being told by those who heard his screams through the night,"

Zhang De gulped down air in fear, his face completely white and pale from fear, not needing to face how terrified he felt at that moment.

"I feel faint…are we there yet?," He suddenly asked wanting nothing more than to be able to lie down and think up another survival and escape plan since it seemed like Lài Jin had been sent from wherever to do nothing else but hinder and scare him.

"We're already here…" was Lài Jin's shocking respond as Zhang De raised his head to see them both walking into a huge and long building.

There were about four corridors right at the entrance to pick from and Lài Jin immediately picked the one on the far right.

This time around, they didn't need to walk far before Lài Jin stopped in front of a partition, slid it open and entered.

The moment Zhang De had been placed on a futon to rest he instantly spoke up the second he noticed that Lài Jin was about to leave.

"Whenever you're coming back, remember to bring some medical supplies I can use to redress my wound for the days to come…" Zhang De hurriedly said, now knowing better than to slip up when in front of Lài Jin. No matter how extremely friendly and caring he was, Zhang De was sure that he still wouldn't hesitate to report him if he found out his little secret.

"Okay…" Lài Jin answered, nodding his head before leaving, gently sliding the door shut to not disturb Zhang De who laid unmoving on his bed with his eyes tightly shut in a way that showed but tiredness and pain.

A few minutes later after Lài Jin was gone, Zhang De's eyes snapped open with him looking around to ensure that he was alone.

"I'm fucked…" he cussed in annoyance staring around the tiny room he found himself and already imagining how difficult it would be to do everything with him being in such close quarters with Lài Jin or the others that were bound to join him.

To pee…to bathe…to dress up… Everyday things were bound to be even more difficult than it should be.

"Still… If I were to pick between all that and losing everything that makes me a man and the possibility of ever having sex, I'll rather pick having to go through hell everyday," Zhang De thought closing his eyes, intending to get some sleep considering how unused he still was to the while idea of having died and finding himself in a completely new era.

From that day on, Zhang De became extremely careful, going as far as to cut his palms to bleed his blood over the used clothes of the supposed wound between his legs just to give a believable act.

Making sure to show it to Lài Jin before having it tossed away.

To ensure that nothing went wrong, he spent at least a week and a half in bed which was the close to the maximum amount of time given for recovery, even if a week was usually what most eunuchs usually took.

Lài Jin patiently helped deliver his meals and didn't even complain about the extra time he spent lying down, something Zhang De was beyond thankful for.

His plan was to ensure that by the time he got up and began moving around normally, every trace of suspicion about him not having been cut would be completely gone.

Concerning the village physician that didn't do it, he still had about six months to either escape or earn enough money to shut him up.

Zhang De went ahead to spend a few more days in bed out of laziness before finally being unable to avoid being assigned work as just as he had finished taking his bathe with the intention of taking an early morning nap, the door of his partition was forcefully slid open and a middle-aged man wearing deep blue robes appeared at the entrance.

"Eunuch Zhang De…" The middle-aged man called out in a steady and neutral tone but his face was a mask of intense anger one that instantly made him jerk out of his bed and onto the floor, kneeling on both feet.

'I fucked up…I became lazy and took too much time,' Zhang De thought.

He didn't know the older man who stood at the entrance of the partition wearing deep blue robes but he knew enough about his clothes to know that he was a second- rank Eunuch while Zhang De was merely a third rank.