"Move the statue back a little," Hu Xiaotian said. "I'm being crushed to death. If I die, you can forget about finding out what really happened in Bright Moon Palace." Those words clearly struck Li Yuncong's weak spot. With his hands clasped behind his back, Li Yuncong eased the statue away a little.
Hu Xiaotian gulped down several breaths. Only after the suffocating pressure had eased considerably did he continue, "I've had a peculiar hobby since childhood: dissecting animal corpses. Later, I started dissecting human corpses to study the body's internal structure. That's why I know human anatomy so well, and why I can draw diagrams like these."
Li Yuncong frowned. Hu Xiaotian's explanation did sound credible.
"You can ask Quan Dean," Hu Xiaotian said. "I was the one who amputated his leg. That diagram you mentioned-what was it called?"
"The Heavenly Man Myriad Images Diagram!"
"Right, the Heavenly Man Myriad Images Diagram. Is anything missing from it?"
Li Yuncong thought for a moment. "The person depicted in that diagram was probably a eunuch."
"That explains it," Hu Xiaotian said. "Let me go, and I can prove that I know far more than that diagram shows."
Li Yuncong finally began to believe him and moved the sage's statue aside. Free once more, Hu Xiaotian stretched his limbs and made sure he was unhurt before approaching the writing desk. He ground some ink, picked up a brush, and drew an anatomical diagram of a man's reproductive organ on the paper. The moment an expert made his move, his skill was plain to see.
Li Yuncong stared, dumbfounded. Although he no longer had that particular organ, he had possessed one once. In truth, even if he still had it, his understanding of its internal structure could never have been so detailed and