Second Round of the Family Hierarch Evaluation, part 13 (after battle)
Forgive us... forgive us...!
I am... I'm scared, please...
I am begging you, please... stop... no more...
…….
G-grandma...
What... what is that sound? Why are they... why are these people crying? Why are they screaming?
Little Baoyu. Let me tell you a story of the olden times.
Many years ago, the Shi family used to reign over all of this land.
Other families could hardly hold a candle to us, let alone meet us eye to eye.
On days when my grandfather would grace Daguanyuan with his presence, no palanquins dared to move. And every servant in the house served him, and only him, exalting his very path.
His words were absolute. He shaped the very landscape of Hongyuan with his every command.
What a travesty it is that they dare to presume what they have afforded me is generosity and compassion.
…….
Now... How is subject #4 responding?
Hemoptysis and severe internal organ damage has been observed. Its skin layers are entering status #17 as well.
Mix reagent #3 and #8 at a fifty-fifty ratio, dehydrate it for one Earthly Branch hour, and inject it into subject #2.
Do not forget to shuffle the ingredient labels randomly before numbering them.
Understood, venerable Jia Mu.
An experiment to create the thirteenth branch of Heishou...
I can hardly wait to see the results.
Now close the lids on all reagents.
I will now undo the blindfolds.
Open your eyes, little Baoyu.
But...
But they're crying, like they're in so much pain...
Yes, they are. Which is why you must open your eyes.
…….
…!
Forgive us...! Forgive us...!
G-grandma, I'm scared...
I don't wanna see this... You're... you're hurting them...
Don't worry, little Baoyu, for they cannot bring you harm. They are things condemned to an eternity of pain. Whether you are afraid, whether you are sad, they will continue to suffer.
So, you must continue to witness them, child. Be sure to get a good look at them all.
But... I don't want to.
I wanna go out to Daiyu... to Huan... and play.
A gem is useful only when it sits and glimmers wordlessly in its place, nothing more - for that is the worth inhered in its existence.
We will be visiting here more often from now on, so familiarize yourself.
Young master, did something happen? You look so pale!
You said you were going kiting with Miss Daiyu and young master Jia Huan today, right? Did Miss Daiyu's kite snap your string?
Xiren...
I... I saw something so... horrible there.
There were people... in pain... People... crying. They kept crying for help, but no one would help them, and they only hurt them more...
What are you talking about, young master? What people, where?
At the lab where... grandma brings me...
I thought she was there to assist the Kong family with the creation of a new Bolus? Why would -
I don't know... Said they're gonna make a new Heishou... But I didn't get to see any experiments because they put something over my eyes, and they made me watch people cry...
... How could they.
Young master, have you shared this with anyone else?
Just you, Xiren... why?
... Then you mustn't speak about this with anyone else. Do you understand?
Why? But I'm so scared...
I don't wanna go there anymore...
Young master, I will see if there's anything I can do to help. Anything...
So please, hold on just a little longer...
Thinking back to it now...
I think Xiren was just as scared and lost as I was.
I should have known then that telling her wouldn't have changed anything. Too bad I didn't.
But Xiren now...
The Xiren in his memory was nothing like the Xiren we saw just a few hours ago.
Hong Lu called it... erosion.
Xiren always worried so much about me. More than I did for myself.
And when all the worry and anxiety became too much... I guess she decided to not feel anything at all.
Because she would fit in much better in Daguanyuan as she is now.
…….
I... miss the old Xiren.
Though it seems that I am alone in that sentiment.
So the thirteenth Heishou...
... must have been Jia Mu's real experiment.
... Yes.
She told me that the other experiment was the part of her 'sleight of hand'.
So she was crafting two different Boluses at once, huh...
No one in Daguanyuan's as well-versed in crafting Boluses as grandmother is.
But recipes for Boluses used to create the Heishou are really complicated and well-guarded to the point where no outsider ever learns of their recipe.
Even with her expertise, even with the support of the Kong family, creating a new branch of the Heishou Pack was an entirely different matter.
This brings us to question whether... it really was a thirteenth branch of the Heishou Pack she wanted to create.