Chapter 208: What Did You Call Me?
The night passed without incident, and time quickly arrived at the next day, the day the army set off.
After a series of formalities, the army finally bid farewell to Chu Qingye who saw them off beyond the palace gates and officially embarked on the expedition.
The battle report from the Western Frontier was delivered to Chu Qingye’s hands via an express relay of eight hundred li; assembling the army took another three days, so they had to force march the entire way, with almost no stops during the day, and even meals were dealt with on horseback.
After this bout of riding, everyone felt it was taxing; Lin Xin felt that if not for her Wood Element Ability allowing her to restore stamina and repair her body anytime and anywhere, she probably wouldn’t have been able to persist; now she immensely missed that high-end SUV in her space.
However, her performance truly astonished everyone; at first, everyone thought Mo Ziyuan was blinded by lust, bringing his fiancée on a campaign, and they were even secretly waiting to see when Lin Xin would fail to persist; as for the result… their faces still hurt a bit now.
The news of the Heir of Dingguo Duke leading the army on expedition was currently neatly placed on a huanghuali table; a man in black sat behind the table, staring at the paper with this news for over half a shichen, his expression constantly changing, scaring the subordinate who delivered the news into not daring to breathe.
“How is Number Seventy-Six?” After a long time, the man in black crumpled the news into a ball; when he opened his palm again, it had turned into a pile of paper scraps.
“He…” The subordinate hesitated, not daring to speak; could he say there had been no progress since the third day? Mo Zichen didn’t know what constitution he had, but he actually developed drug resistance; even with the strongest drugs, aside from making him feel more pain, his body showed no further changes whatsoever.
“Speak!” The man in black’s voice was hoarse and low, carrying a sense of impending storm.
“He has made no progress to this day.” The subordinate closed his eyes and answered as if breaking the jar.
“What a waste!” The man in black slapped his palm on the table, leaving a shallow palm print.
The subordinate stood obsequiously to the side, not daring to speak.
“Go take a look!” The man in black stood up and strode out of the room.
“Ah! Aaaah! It hurts so much, I can’t take it anymore, let me go! Please, I really can’t take it! Ah~” Before even arriving at the place, the shrill wails had already reached his ears; probably from wailing too much these days, his voice was hoarse, sounding especially grating.
The man in black’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper, his steps quickening; the moment he opened the room door, Mo Zichen erupted into another round of agonized howls; the already trembling subordinate jolted in fright, nearly crashing into the man in black who had stopped at the doorway.
“Hmph!” The man in black snorted coldly, lifted his foot to enter the room, and casually slammed the room door shut with a “bang”; the subordinate guarding the door let out a long breath, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, straightened his posture, and stood dutifully guarding the room door.
In the room, besides Mo Zichen soaking in the bathtub, there was a person with a white cloth covering his face, frowning as he pressed one hand on the bathtub lid and the other on Mo Zichen’s head, eyes slightly closed as he sensed something.
Hearing the room door open, he turned his head to look; seeing it was the man in black, he waved to him.
“How is the situation?” The man in black walked over and asked.
“Very strange,” the masked man’s voice surprisingly sounded very young; he said puzzledly, “By reason, with such potent drugs, even a pig should show effects, but strangely, aside from a slight improvement in his body the first two days, from the third day onward, there has been no change at all.”
“Can’t identify the cause?” the man in black asked.
The young man shook his head, “The strangeness is right here: his body has no issues whatsoever, but it’s drug resistant; it’s truly baffling.”
Mo Zichen had just passed a wave of pain; he dazedly opened his eyes, recognized the man in black through his blurry vision, and immediately shouted hoarsely, “Please let me go! I don’t want to modify my body anymore, never again; I can’t take it, please spare me! I beg you!”
The man in black walked to the side of the bathtub, looking down at him, his gaze utterly calm with no trace of emotion; he said flatly, “Try one more day; if there’s still no result tomorrow, then forget it.”
Mo Zichen’s pain-eroded brain didn’t catch the coldness in his tone, only hearing that after tomorrow he wouldn’t have to endure this torture anymore; on his pale, gaunt face appeared the first smile in days, but unfortunately, before it fully formed, his features were distorted by the new wave of pain, and the hoarse, shrill howls once again filled the entire room.
The young man couldn’t stand it and dug at his ears with his hand, his face full of disgust.
The man in black also found it irritating, so he simply took the young man out of the room, instructed the subordinate to continue guarding here and find them if the sounds inside turned wrong, then went with the young man to the empty courtyard.
“You say his body is very strange?” the man in black asked.
“Indeed, I’ve never seen someone who took so many drugs yet failed to improve their constitution, and his brain doesn’t seem damaged either; his mind is still clear. I think he could be studied.” The young man clearly became much more excited at the mention of this.
“What do you want to do?” The man in black clearly knew the young man well and asked directly.
“Hehe, I want to ask what this person’s identity is; if he’s not important, could I use him to… test some drugs.” As the young man spoke, he sneakily observed the man in black’s expression, but since he was masked with a calm gaze, he discerned nothing.
“Test drugs?” the man in black repeated.
“Yes, his body is so unique; though extremely sensitive to pain, it’s very hard to damage. I think he’s simply a natural test subject!” the young man said animatedly.
“Since even these potent drugs have no effect on him, are you sure you can get him to show drug effects for you?”
“Ah? This…” The young man was stumped; he had only thought about how Mo Zichen’s body wouldn’t be destroyed by drugs, but forgot how such a body would manifest drug effects.
“Better forget it!” He dejectedly lowered his head.
“Don’t worry, I’ll find test subjects for you; when the previous ones are used up, just tell me.” The man in black rarely patted the young man’s shoulder affectionately, provided one ignored his raspy, sandpaper-like voice.
“Thank you, Father!” The young man happily raised his head.
“Hm? What did you call me?” The man in black’s voice suddenly turned stern, carrying a chill.
“I forgot, M-Master!” The young man’s face instantly paled, and he quickly corrected himself.
“Remember, from now on here I am your master; call wrong once more and go receive punishment yourself.”
“Yes, this subordinate remembers.” The young man said respectfully.
“Mm, observe Mo Zichen one more day; if it really doesn’t work, then drop it. After all, with so many drug subjects, one more or one less doesn’t matter.”
“This subordinate understands.”
The man in black nodded and turned to leave.
