In the deepest reaches of the Ten Directions Secret Prison.
Every effort had been made to improve the conditions. It was warm and dry, and brightly lit.
The children rescued from that den of horrors had all been settled here. Like Su Bonian, they received the highest level of protection, along with medicinal broths painstakingly prepared by Lu Changfeng to stabilize their ravaged bodies, nourish their depleted lives, and, as far as possible, awaken the reason buried beneath drugs and terror.
The oldest of these children was only eleven or twelve, the youngest just seven or eight. They should have been carefree, bringing joy at their parents' knees. Instead, every one of them was skeletal, like a guttering candle in the wind.
Their vocal cords had been severed at the root. Unable to form any meaningful syllables, they could only force broken "huh, huh" sounds from their throats.
More heartbreaking still, the Soldier Blood Tonic had left indelible marks on them, causing varying degrees of "Ape Transformation":
Some children had abnormally long arms that hung limply below their knees; some were covered in a sparse layer of dark red hair; others had grown accustomed to crawling on all fours, their spines slightly bent, their forms resembling apes.
Like frightened little animals, they huddled in the corners, pressed against one another. In the desperate silence, all that could be heard was their heavy, labored breathing, like broken bellows.
Lu Changfeng came every day to administer acupuncture and medicine, using Shennong Qi to channel the violent medicinal power within their bodies and soothe their damaged meridians and souls.
At first, their eyes had been numb, holding nothing but instinctive fear, and they would attack reflexively. But after several days of attentive treatment, the gentle scent of growing things and touches that carried