But now, apart from a little black mud and some grass clippings, the skin on the back of that hand was smooth and firm. Where was even the slightest trace of blisters or festering sores?!
Steward Zhao's pupils contracted slightly, and he stared at that hand for a full two seconds.
Chen Xuan sensed that venomous gaze, and his heart pounded wildly. Outwardly, however, he remained composed as he pressed his right hand another half inch into the mud pit, letting the murky black sludge cover its back completely. At the same time, he raised his filthy, tear-streaked face and called timidly, "Steward Zhao... do you have any other instructions, sir? I'll wash the fodder clean right away. I won't slack off..."
Steward Zhao drew a deep breath and rubbed his right thumb hard over the string of copper keys at his waist twice. In the end, however, he asked nothing. He merely gave a meaningful, cold snort, flicked his sleeve, and left.
Only after Steward Zhao's footsteps had vanished completely at the end of the narrow passage did Chen Xuan realize that the cold sweat soaking his back was even heavier than when he had taken those five lashes!
That old fox... he's definitely suspicious already. He just can't figure out what kind of dogshit luck I stumbled into, or he's afraid of startling the snake in the grass without solid evidence! Chen Xuan inwardly gritted his teeth.
Just then, Liu San, who was being supported to the stable entrance by two menial slaves, did not look back at Chen Xuan. Instead, he cast a look of utter venom in the direction Steward Zhao had left.
He spat out a mouthful of blood-streaked saliva. His teeth ground audibly around the gaps in his gums as he muttered in an extremely low, indistinct voice:
"Old bastard... using me as your spear to test someone, were you? Then turning your back on me when something went wrong... fine. Chen Xuan, you little bastard, once I've wiped off this blood and come back, I'll shove that death sentence of leading the Third Miss's vicious horse, Treading Snow, this afternoon onto you! That beast's been going mad these past two days. Let's see how you get trampled into mincemeat under its hooves!"
A full ten paces away, the menial slaves beside him merely thought Liu San was groaning in pain. Not one of them heard what he was muttering.
But Chen Xuan, kneeling in the mud, twitched his ears slightly. With the extraordinary hearing of Early-stage Bright Force, he caught every single word of that malicious scheme leaking through Liu San's missing teeth!
This isn't just anger. That bastard's already plotting to use the Third Miss's vicious horse to kill me? And that old bastard Zhao De...
Chen Xuan slowly lowered his eyelids, concealing the flash of savage killing intent in his eyes, and silently opened his ledger of life and death in his mind:
No rush. I'll put it on your tab for now. Liu San, today I only collected two front teeth as interest. Since you're in such a hurry to die, when we lead the horse at the training grounds this afternoon, we'll see who ends up collecting whose corpse!
Only after the menial slaves watching the spectacle and Xiao Liuzi, the lookout in the distance, had scattered to their respective work did Chen Xuan brace his hands on his knees and slowly limp to his feet out of the muddy water.
He did not hurry to gather the hay on the ground. Instead, he first retreated into the shadows of the stable and gently moved the right shoulder he had used to ram Liu San.
"Hiss... I still hit a little too hard just now."
Chen Xuan lowered his head to look at his fist, earnestly reviewing the incident in his mind. I only meant to use a bit of clever force to send Liu San sprawling face-first like a dog eating shit and knock out two teeth to vent my anger. I never expected the hardness of my bones, bolstered by the blood and Qi of Early-stage Bright Force, to far exceed my estimate. I nearly smashed his kneecap outright. Although Zhao De sent him to Blind Liu in the outer courtyard and I've managed to bluff my way through for now, this has sounded a warning bell-I still don't have precise enough control over my soaring strength! The next time I pull a dirty trick on someone, I have to control my force down to a hair's breadth. Only then will my act leave no trace!
For a veteran schemer determined to trample the entire marquis's residence underfoot, this lesson in controlling his strength was far more important than the gain of breaking one of Liu San's legs!
"Neigh-"
Just then, a soft, affectionate sound came from the stall beside him.
The bay horse, fiery red all over, poked its big head through the wooden rails and gently rubbed its wet nose against the muddy back of Chen Xuan's hand.
Chen Xuan raised his hand and stroked the bay horse's warm neck, chiding it with a quiet laugh. "All right, stop rubbing. I'm covered in mud. You saw how I sent that bastard Liu San flying just now, didn't you? Keep that horse mouth of yours shut tight. If you dare make so much as a peep about it outside, I'm docking you two handfuls of black beans tonight!"
As though it understood, the bay horse gave a loud snort, spraying a heavy blast of scorching breath onto the back of Chen Xuan's right hand-right where the heir, Xiao Yuxuan, had scalded him with boiling tea yesterday.
Chen Xuan's hand, which had been stroking the horse's mane, suddenly stopped in midair.
Feeling that simple warmth on the back of his hand, his mind drifted for a moment, and he abruptly remembered something from his previous life-
Back when he had worked like an ox or a horse at an advertising company in his previous life, he had also fed a stray yellow-coated Shiba Inu downstairs from his rented apartment. Every day, when he dragged his half-dead body home after working overtime until two or three in the morning, he would pass a twenty-four-hour convenience store and spare two yuan to buy a starchy ham sausage to toss to it. Later, that silly dog had etched the sound of his footsteps into its bones. Even in the darkness twenty meters away, the moment it heard the dragging steps of his leather shoes, it would come running to meet him, wagging its tail for all it was worth.
Then the company's cash flow broke down and it went bankrupt. His landlord threw him out, and he moved away overnight. He left in such a hurry that he never even had time to feed that dog one last ham sausage.
"Heh... why am I thinking about this?"
Chen Xuan tugged the corner of his mouth in self-mockery. Within two short breaths, his eyes regained their ice-hard coldness. "That's what's good about animals. Give one a mouthful to eat, and it'll remember your kindness for a lifetime. It'll never stab you in the back. But the people in the Marquis of Zhenbei's Residence are different-these jackals in human skin will only chew you up, skin and bones, and swallow you whole the more you give way and try to please them! If I want to survive here, if I want to drag those lofty nobles off their high horses, kindness is useless. All I can rely on is having fists hard enough and a heart black enough!"
"...All right, back to work. Don't let those watching outside catch anything they can use against me."
Chen Xuan withdrew his hand, turned around, and bent down to begin gathering the hay strewn all over the ground.
He picked up the fodder stained with muddy water, shook off the mud and sand, and put it back onto the wheelbarrow. Since entering Early-stage Bright Force, his every movement carried a deftness as smooth as drifting clouds and flowing water. Yet he deliberately held back his steps, making his heavy breathing and the sluggish way he bent over indistinguishable from that useless stable hand of yesterday.
After tidying up half a cartload of fodder, he moved straight on to the tedious chores that repeated day after day: clearing horse manure with a large iron shovel, hauling well water to rinse the troughs, scrubbing the coats of more than a dozen horses with a stiff-bristled brush, and topping up their fresh drinking water.