The Child of Secretary Two

The butler gave a satisfied look at the children standing frozen in place, then walked gracefully to the left wall of the hall. He stopped before a row of dust-covered cabinets and gently knocked. The cabinet at the end swung open.

A hunched man holding a lantern slowly rose from inside.

Before he came out, it was hard to imagine that such a small cabinet could hold such a big person.

But once he emerged, it somehow seemed perfectly reasonable. It only made one wonder all the more what was inside the other cabinets.

The butler gave the hunchbacked person a slight nod, then led the dazed children to a half-height door in the left wall at the far end of the living room.

He pushed it open, revealing a staircase that led deep underground.

It was pitch-black, and no one could tell how far down it went.

At the butler's light clap, the children filed through the little door.

Han Su followed obediently. Everything in this Ancient Castle gave him plenty of ideas for escape, but he only dared choose the option with the best odds.

Taking risks was necessary, but he had to eliminate as many of them as possible. He was certain that if he died here, he would be truly dead. All the lives that came after this one would be meaningless.

The dungeon was pitch-black. There was only a narrow wooden ladder leading to the little door they had entered through, and no windows.

Locked in here without even a glimmer of light, Han Su could only keep track of time in his head, noting when the children around him cried and when they began to talk.

No one, Han Su included, knew how long they would be kept here. They occasionally heard crows outside, along with the frightened, stifled cries of children upstairs, which came from somewhere higher in the castle through some unknown material.

All the children huddled together beneath an invisible blanket of fear. They didn't even dare cry out loud, afraid their sobs might attract something.

The first day is Night of Crying. The second is Night of Silence. The third is Night of Joy. The fourth is Night of Transformation...

He silently memorized the milestones in his mind.

In Han Su's experience, the best time to escape was during the day after Night of Joy on the third day, before Night of Transformation arrived on the fourth.

Last time, he had tried to take the children willing to trust him out during that window.

But this time, he didn't plan to wait. He was leaving tonight.

Besides the fact that the key was on the Pale Giant and would be relatively easy to steal, he had two other reasons.

First, the children would be especially restless tonight, which would distract several of the monsters.

Second, Han Su knew that after sending him and the other children down into the cellar, the butler, whose body was wrapped in withered vines, would leave.

The only one left to guard them would be the hunchbacked person with the lantern. Although he had strength no child could match, he was bound by the rules.

He was only a servant, so he didn't dare hurt the children.

That was his chance!

In the darkness, all the children huddled in one corner. Every so often, someone would let out a stifled sob, but no one dared do anything else.

They didn't know how long they'd be locked up, or whether something terrifying might happen at any moment.

The pitch-black cellar was especially frightening. Children were afraid of the dark, afraid there might be monsters lurking in it. They wanted an adult, wanted to get out, wanted to cry, but they were also afraid of the monsters outside, so they didn't dare cry loudly. All that could be heard was a chorus of sniffles.

Only Han Su remained calm, slowly surveying his surroundings.

Since he'd decided to leave tonight, the sooner, the better.

His body was only nine years old, weak to begin with. The longer he waited, the less strength he'd have, and the slimmer his chances of escape.

As he thought, he looked up at one part of the cellar. It was pitch-black there, with a rusted iron pipe about three or four meters high. At its end lay a jumble of sacks and broken floorboards, but a fresh plank had been nailed over them.

Just as I thought. They've sealed up this hole too.

Once, he'd climbed up through it and escaped the cellar, then found a way upstairs and tried to find an exit. Now he'd have to think of something else.

"You're all scared, but I'm not."

As Han Su thought this, one of the children huddled together with the others clenched his fists and spoke through his tears. "My dad's definitely coming to save me. If you do what I say, I'll have him save you too."

"My dad is really powerful."

"My dad's Secretary Two, but he has more power than the mayor. All he has to do is nod, and any disobedient gardener gets beaten to death and thrown into the garden for the dogs. So my dad's definitely coming to save me."

"When he gets here, all these monsters, all these monsters will be locked up. If you don't listen to me, you'll be locked up too."

"..."

When children were afraid, they wanted someone to rely on, even if that person bullied and scolded them. So the Parted Hair Kid Brother's words brought a little hope to the small cellar, and some of the others echoed him.

"I'll behave, I'll behave..."

"..."

Nearby, Han Su simply watched coldly. He rarely thought a child was rotten, but the Parted Hair Kid Brother was an exception.

At such a young age, he was already a fucking stupid, rotten, selfish brat.

The last time Han Su escaped the cellar, he had just climbed up the iron pipe when this kid popped out and ordered him to pull him up first. Han Su had refused, of course, and the kid had suddenly started screaming.

His shouts had made Han Su panic. In his haste to pull up his leg, he'd torn it open on an iron nail, slowing him down. Half-Woman had nearly caught him.

Besides, he'd heard the kid say many times that he was the child of Secretary Two.

Whenever he was locked in the cellar and got scared, he'd boast desperately about how powerful his father, Secretary Two, was.

From eavesdropping on him several times and testing his claims, Han Su already knew that, if the kid was telling the truth, his secretary father had at least three to five lives on his hands.

People who'd cut flowers badly, broken dishes, or made Madam angry...

He'd even bragged about wanting to touch a maid's breasts. When she wouldn't let him, he'd pretended to have a stomachache and claimed she'd fed him something left over from the night before. Then he'd watched the maid get beaten to death.

The look of smug delight on his face sent a chill through Han Su, a grown man.

Still, there was something strange about it. After Han Su escaped, the families of all the children had come looking for him.

Some were rich, some were powerful, but none seemed to be this so-called Secretary Two.

In theory, Secretary Two was the most powerful person in Qinggang City after the mayor. If his child had been kidnapped too, the city's media would have made a huge story of it. Yet Han Su had never heard a thing.

Could his identity be so sensitive that they've kept it under wraps?

Han Su couldn't figure it out. But no matter what, this time my chance to escape rests on you...

As the children tried to work up their courage with boastful talk and eager agreement, Han Su forced himself to stay calm. In his mind, he pictured most of the castle's layout below the fifth floor.

The principle is to avoid anything that might be dangerous, but it looks like I'll have to take a risk right from the first step this time...

As he thought, he looked up the stairs, toward the half-height door at the top. He remembered the monster who came down with a lantern whenever the children in the cellar cried too loudly, threatening them with a hoarse "Heh, heh."

Once he'd made up his mind, Han Su got to work immediately.

He listened as the Parted Hair Kid Brother kept telling the others how powerful his father was, growing so carried away that he seemed to have forgotten his fear. Then Han Su nodded enthusiastically and said, "Your dad's Secretary Two? The really powerful official who can kill someone and keep the Public Security Bureau from investigating?"

"..."

The Parted Hair Kid Brother was taken aback by Han Su's agreement, but quickly puffed up with pride. He crossed his arms and looked Han Su up and down. Noticing the black jacket he was wearing, he said, "You know how powerful my dad is?"

"Then I order you to take off your jacket and give it to me. I'm cold."

He raised his chin and added smugly, "If you do what I say, I'll let you wipe my butt when I poop. Everyone in my family fights for the chance to wipe my butt."

As he spoke, he even glanced around.

He already needed to poop, but he'd been holding it in because he was scared and didn't know how to wipe himself.

"Good," Han Su said. "Found the right person."

Then he swung his hand and slapped him across the face.

The Parted Hair Kid Brother was stunned. Clutching his cheek, he stared at Han Su in disbelief, as if that slap had shattered his entire worldview. Even his own father had never hit him. Violence was a completely different dimension to him.

"My older sister broke a plate your dad liked, and he had the dogs tear her apart. My younger sister made your mom angry when she was in a bad mood, and they broke her leg and threw her out."

"My cousin was framed by you and killed. My other cousin cut a flower badly, and your family buried him in the garden..."

"..."

Han Su shouted, clawing and thrashing as he rushed forward and slapped him again and again, like an evil spirit come to take revenge.

Given the age of his soul, hitting this kid was a bit like an adult bullying a child. But who could blame him, when the whole kid's family was so loathsome?

He wasn't even hitting him that much. One slap for each life taken wasn't unreasonable, was it?

Besides, he wasn't lying. All those suffering people were his brothers and sisters!