Fan Yi said that since there were Ten Heavenly Stems, there had to be Twelve Earthly Branches.
The Ten Heavenly Stems were scattered among the Four Great Families outside. Their duty was to find ways to maintain the families' stability and keep a balance among the Four Great Families of Little Barren Island.
The Twelve Earthly Branches remained in the manor. The manor's captain of the guard was the head of the Twelve Earthly Branches. He had a rather interesting name—Zhuangzi. Of course, he was not that ancient man. He was called Zhuangzi because his duty was to guard the manor, so he took Zhuang as his surname. And since he was the head of the Twelve Earthly Branches, he took Zi as his given name.
The other eleven were also surnamed Zhuang, with their given names corresponding to the Earthly Branches.
"There are only thirty-six guards in the manor, and the Twelve Earthly Branches make up a third of them. How strong are the other twenty-four guards?"
"They are all very strong as well. Our strength is divided into four levels. The Twelve Earthly Branches are the first level. They are invincible across Little Barren Island, the ceiling of its power. Next come the Ten Heavenly Stems. We are slightly weaker than them, but still beyond comparison to those people on the island. Below us are the twenty-four manor guards, who belong to the third level. As for the fourth level..."
He suddenly stopped. I asked, "So apart from you forty-six, the manor has other forces?"
Fan Yi nodded. "There are another hundred people in an underground room within the manor. They are Mechanical persons in the truest sense. They have no thoughts of their own, but once activated, they will obey your commands absolutely. As for asking the