When Xue Yan had first been tricked into the dungeon, he had not been too flustered.
As a noble scion of Chang'an, he was destined to become a pillar of the imperial court who would govern a prefecture. Naturally, he wasn't afraid of this group of monks. He had planned out many schemes in his mind, waiting for the right moment to break out of Anguo Temple and let his parents, uncles, and aunts know that he had grown up. He was twelve years old now, no longer a child.
When he first learned that the monks planned to starve them, Xue Yan had still been disdainful. Aside from being punished by his parents for mischief when he was little, Xue Yan had never gone hungry before. He thought that no matter how hungry he got, it would be nothing more than a craving. He was a twelve-year-old man already, so of course he could endure that little bit of temptation!
But after going more than a day without food, his mind was left with nothing but memories of delicacies.
At first, his hunger had simply grown worse and worse, until it became unbearable and he even wanted to bite his own fingers.
Gradually, just as Xue Yan felt he could get used to the hunger, the warrior monks would eat outside the cell. Forget biting into a chicken leg—even if they ate a single peanut, the crisp sound and the rhythm of the kernel bouncing between their teeth would make Xue Yan recall, countless times over in his mind, the wonderful experience of eating peanuts in the past. The desperate hunger was like a small knife, repeatedly slicing his soul to pieces.
At times like this, he could only force himself to listen to the nonsense of the new girl beside him.
Among this group of second-generation nobles in Chang'an who loved flaunting their family backgrounds to threaten others, this girl was undoubtedly one of those with the better memories. Xue Yan not only knew that she was the Yang family's Third Miss, but also who her grandfather, father, and uncles were, how many relatives she had, and what offices they held. In the end, Xue Yan was not only hungry—he was also forced to learn the family intelligence of Third Miss Yang. He knew less about his own family than this!
In a daze, Xue Yan would occasionally recall the emaciated corpses he had seen outside Chang'an, the starving refugees fighting over porridge when his family gave it out, the children by the roadside with grass markers stuck beside them, the kneeling men, and the women selling themselves...
He had never understood, nor had he been interested in understanding, the suffering of these lowly people. He felt they were like weeds: flourishing when the weather was favorable, and withering under thunder, frost, and snow. If weeds withered, then so be it. Who would feel sad over the death of weeds? They would grow back the next year anyway. There had never been any shortage of weeds on the earth.
Only after lying in this filthy dungeon filled with the stench of urine and feces did he realize that he was no nobler than a weed.
He would bow his head like a weed, sell himself like a weed, and eventually wither like a weed.
The world has abandoned me. Heaven's law has abandoned me.
If one day our roles were reversed, I would make them understand what cruelty is!
Just as this twelve-year-old boy believed he had grasped the truth of the world, a pair of twin brothers descended from the heavens and barged into the cell, interrupting the dark enlightenment he had been brewing.
Although the brothers had also dragged Ben Zhi, the monk who acted as Charity House's accomplice, into the pit, Xue Yan still thought they were incomprehensibly stupid.
They knew this was a trap, so why had they come in?
Reporting it to the authorities might not be useful, but if An Liu could make enough trouble, perhaps he could force Anguo Temple to release their group.
Not to mention that they actually wanted to block the cell door and starve Ben Zhi to death. Even taking a step back, supposing they really blocked the door and Ben Zhi really starved to death, what good would that do? Wouldn't the two of them still be trapped here?
One unlucky person, or two people plus one enemy suffering misfortune—which was more worthwhile? No matter how Xue Yan thought about it, he felt An Liu should abandon An Wu instead of coming here to live or die with him.
Did these commoners really hold their own lives in such low regard?
Moreover, by blocking the cell door, An Wu and An Liu had not only offended the bald monks of Anguo Temple, but also the people inside the cell.
Not everyone was so tough. Even Xue Yan himself had given up. Before An Wu and An Liu arrived, some people had already begged the warrior monks for food, saying they were willing to obey. It was just that Anguo Temple seemed to have a procedure: they had to starve people for a certain number of days before proceeding to the next step.
After An Wu and An Liu blocked the door, not only could Ben Zhi not leave, but the victims could not leave either. After a day, when the warrior monks saw that An Wu and An Liu would rather not sleep than stop blocking the door, they ate fine wine and delicacies outside the cell. While Xue Yan and the others were starving miserably, they told them that they would starve to death because An Wu and An Liu were blocking the door.
The tactic worked remarkably well. Although Xue Yan said nothing, the others began complaining about An Wu and An Liu.
When An Wu and An Liu gave no response, the complaints became abuse. The abuse bred resentment, and eventually they even felt that their hunger was entirely An Wu and An Liu's fault, cursing them to move aside and stop blocking the door. At that moment, the perpetrators and victims became united against a common enemy, condemning their shared foe together.
Yet An Wu and An Liu still gave no response.
Xue Yan really wanted to know what they were feeling. Emotionally speaking, they had dragged Ben Zhi down here, which amounted to taking a little revenge for Xue Yan and the others. Rationally speaking, by blocking the door, they were actually protecting Xue Yan and the others from being taken away by the warrior monks.
Yet no one thanked them. Everyone hated them for causing trouble.
Outside the cell were the enemy's mockery and torment; inside the cell were their own people's abuse and resentment.
But they were like two reefs, silently enduring the waves of malice crashing against them.
Let the wind and waves rage. I will remain unmoved.
Xue Yan's gaze shifted from disdain at the beginning to nothing but incomprehensible curiosity later on.
What exactly were they persisting for?
What exactly were they waiting for?
What exactly... were they?
By the third day, everyone was exhausted. They were all waiting for the moment An Wu and An Liu collapsed, and everyone knew it would not be long. Even a messenger could not withstand three days without eating, drinking, or sleeping.
Xue Yan lay on the filthy straw. He had gone six consecutive days without eating anything and had only drunk water. Now, merely staying conscious was already an extravagant hope.
I'm about to die, Xue Yan thought.
That was fine, too. He could die with his innocence intact, without disgracing the Xue family's name.
In my next life... I hope I can live in a world where no one starves to death...
In his daze, he seemed to see someone walk up to him. Then a pill mixed with water was forced into his mouth. The pill dissolved the moment it entered, carrying a strong medicinal taste, but it was not bitter.
Thump.
His heart began beating powerfully.
The hunger in his stomach quickly faded. His sluggish mind gradually cleared, and even this body that had gone several days without any food began recovering its strength at an unimaginable speed!
Xue Yan opened his eyes and crawled up. He saw An Liu feeding pills mixed with water to everyone lying on the ground. One by one, those who had taken the medicine crawled to their feet. Although their bodies were thin and their faces pale, their vitality was visibly returning!
"I'm not hungry anymore. I'm not hungry!"
"Give me another one! I feel so much better after taking it!"
"What kind of miracle medicine is this?"
"Blood Replenishment Pills!" Compared with the clueless crowd, the well-informed Xue Yan immediately revealed the truth. "These are pills produced only in secret realms. You actually have so many!"
The commotion in the cell naturally attracted the warrior monks' attention. When they saw the people who had been starving for days crawling up one after another and heard Xue Yan's voice, they immediately realized something was wrong. They planned to split up, with one person watching the cell while the other went to inform the rest.
Just then—
Whoosh.
As the sound of his breath flowed like a long river, the muscles on An Wu's body, which was blocking the cell door, suddenly swelled. His veins bulged. Although he still looked like a slender youth on the outside, his surging vitality was enough to make it impossible for anyone to ignore his presence!
Anyone who was a messenger would surely recognize what had happened to An Wu!
"You actually changed classes!?" The warrior monk stared in disbelief. "In a place like this, at a time like this, how could—"
Clang!
A White Iron Straight Blade suddenly appeared in An Wu's hand. He swung it, sending two crescent-shaped blade arcs flashing out and instantly severing the iron bars of the cell!