Human Material

Zhang Tieyi stared at the three specks of golden Radiance and fell silent for a moment.

Then, for the first time, a faint smile appeared on his habitually stern face.

"Not bad. You can stop now."

His tone sounded no different from usual.

But if Chen Ye listened closely, he could hear a trace of delight beneath it.

Zhang Tieyi's expression turned stern. "The young master has accepted the Imperial Court's summons. In a few days, he'll leave for the capital with Lord Xie. Some of the estate guards must accompany him, and we're short of men. You'll go with them."

Chen Ye's expression did not change.

But several things exploded in his mind at once.

The so-called Tiger-Capturing Fist. The kick Zhang Tieyi had given him. The lifespan the Blood Ginseng Pill had eaten away.

All the pieces fit together.

They had never wanted a bodyguard.

And now, out of nowhere, Zhang Tieyi had mentioned guards accompanying the young master.

Sure enough, what Chen Ye had feared was coming.

By the time Chen Ye raised his head, a smile had returned to his face. "It's all thanks to your excellent instruction, sir."

"Save the pleasantries." Zhang Tieyi said, "Keep practicing, and don't slack off. When the preparations are complete, I'll come to the courtyard for you."

With that, he turned and strode away.

Chen Ye stood alone in the empty hall.

Morning light poured through the doorway, spreading a cold white patch across the floor tiles.

He looked down at his abdomen.

The golden Radiance had faded completely, sinking beneath his skin until it vanished.

But warmth still lay buried in his flesh, rising and falling with every breath.

He stood there for a long time.

Over the past few days, Zhang Tieyi had repeatedly asked whether Chen Ye felt anything unusual while training and taking the medicine. Then he had made a special visit this morning. There were also the scraps of information Chen Ye had coaxed out of Gao Qiaoniang.

It was all plain to see.

The Gao Family was using medicine and martial techniques to force something inside him to develop.

His cultivation was not what they wanted.

They wanted him—or rather, the thing inside him that they were ripening.

He did not know what it was called.

But there was no doubt about it. In a sense, he was "human material."

He did not have much time left.

That evening.

As usual, Gao Qiaoniang brought him dinner.

After spending these days together, the two were no longer strangers.

Chen Ye had gradually come to understand her nature, too.

She spoke little, but her heart was not hard. She was kind at her core.

This time, he did not fish for answers. He asked her outright:

"Miss Qiaoniang, the pill Guard Zhang gave me this morning made me feel awful after I took it. Is something wrong?"

Gao Qiaoniang was silent for a while.

It was not one of her usual pauses to find the right words. She simply said nothing.

After a long time, she murmured, "It wasn't this fast before."

"How long was it before the last person started taking this medicine?"

"About a month."

Chen Ye's heart tightened.

He had been given it after only five or six days.

That meant the Gao Family's need had grown more urgent—or whatever was inside him was thriving more vigorously than it had in the last person.

Chen Ye looked at Gao Qiaoniang, his expression turning grave. "Miss Qiaoniang, do you know what this medicine is actually for?"

Gao Qiaoniang shook her head. "I only prepare it. Zhang Tieyi gave me the prescription."

She hesitated, then added, "But Guard Zhang... you'd best not go with him."

Chen Ye looked up at her.

As Gao Qiaoniang spoke, she gripped her sleeves in both hands and kept her voice low, as though afraid the walls had ears.

"The people before you were all sent over to the Xie Family. After that, they..."

Gao Qiaoniang did not finish.

From her expression, Chen Ye could tell they had not met a good end.

Most likely, they were dead.

Chen Ye was silent for a long time, then let out a slow breath.

"Thank you."

He knew Gao Qiaoniang was still a member of the Gao Family. Telling him this much could not have been easy, and she had taken a considerable risk.

Gao Qiaoniang glanced at Chen Ye.

There was no scrutiny in her gaze, nor pity. Only a little curiosity.

In the end, she said nothing. She nudged the food closer, set everything in place, and withdrew as she usually did.

Chen Ye suddenly realized she had probably noticed that he was unlike the other servants.

He neither bowed and scraped nor tried to talk his way around everything.

He was less like a servant than a young master fallen on hard times, or perhaps a gentleman.

Chen Ye gave a self-mocking smile and picked up his chopsticks again.

Gao Qiaoniang left the side room and returned to the kitchen. She picked up the medicine she had prepared and poured it all into the slop bucket.

The dark liquid spread over the scraps, then slowly soaked in.

With a ladle of clean water, every trace disappeared.

The night deepened.

Chen Ye lay in bed, carefully going over everything.

Based on what he had learned so far, he could draw two firm conclusions.

First, the Gao Family really was "raising" something. They were using medicine and martial techniques to force its growth, and the doses would only grow stronger.

Second, there had been others like him. They had all eventually been sent to the Xie Family, and no one knew what had happened to them.

In other words, the Gao Family was not cultivating him. It was ripening him.

Once he was ripe, they would send him to the Xie Family.

What did the Xie Family consider him?

A medicinal ingredient? A tonic? Something else?

He did not know.

But one thing was certain: if he went, he would never come back.

Chen Ye sat up and sorted through every piece of information again in the dark.

His conclusion remained the same.

He remembered Zhang Tieyi's expression when the golden Radiance had appeared over his abdomen that morning. It had not been admiration or satisfaction.

It was the certainty of a man who had waited a long time and finally seen the result.

That moment must have marked his maturity as "human material."

Time was even tighter than he had imagined.

If he waited any longer, there was no telling how matters would develop.

Fortunately, Zhang Tieyi probably would not come every day over the next few days.

This was his last chance. He had to act before the Gao Family sent him away.

Tonight, he would pawn his lifespan once more.

He needed to raise his cultivation until he could face Zhang Tieyi head-on.

The cost no longer mattered.

Only someone who survived would have a future to worry about.

His mind made up, Chen Ye summoned the Pawn System panel.

He stared at the numbers on it and silently did the arithmetic.

Half a year of lifespan could advance the Foundation Cultivation Technique from minor mastery to major mastery. Another half-year should bring it from major mastery to perfection.

After spending a year, he would still have one year of lifespan left for emergencies.

Having made his decision, Chen Ye did not hesitate.

"Pawn one year of lifespan!"

[One year of lifespan deducted. One year of cultivation granted.]

[Foundation Cultivation Technique (minor mastery)] → [Foundation Cultivation Technique (perfection)]

The pain he expected arrived on cue, surging like a tide and sweeping through his entire body in an instant.

This was different from last time. Far more violent, it burst outward from deep within his marrow.

His joints cracked and popped like beans in a hot pan. His flesh seemed to be crushed and reshaped over and over by an invisible force.

Chen Ye clenched his teeth and fought to contain the agony, refusing to let himself cry out.

His body writhed in the darkness like a maggot that could be crushed at any moment.