Adrian sat in the corner of the cell while he waited patiently. It felt as if it was a long wait, but there were no windows nearby to tell the time. Moreover, the lights were very dim and flickering every now and then, so it bothered him ceaselessly to the point where time felt like it passed slower. With nothing better to do, Adrian started to nod off slowly.
Waking him up abruptly, a tied up man was tossed fiercely into the adjacent jail cell with a loud thud. He was gagged with what looked like to be a sock and his arms and legs were tied up.
“Darn ruffian bit me!” complained one guard to the other as he kicked the man.
“The people are getting rowdier and rowdier. I just want to lie around peacefully,” replied the other guard, pulling him back to make sure the man doesn’t get kicked to death.
The guard contorted his face and sighed, “Yeah? I’m feeling a bit woozy. I’m going to go lay down. Keep watch for me?”
Concerned, the other guard nodded his head and patted the other on the back and walked him back slowly, “Get some rest; I’m surprised our private jail is even getting so many people lately. We may have to start packing two to a cell from now on.”
Unperturbed, Adrian tapped his fingers impatiently, wondering when he’d receive his medicine. It should not have taken them this long if they were honestly trying to help. He reasoned that it would probably be easier if he just died in his cell like that. Realizing this, his face contorted and he growled with great animosity. Then, he smashed his hand on the ground, leaving a small dent.
“Ahem,” someone coughed lightly nearby.
Looking up from his corner, Adrian locked eyes with Ren Fang and growled, “What do you want?”
Clearing his throat, he then opened his mouth and then closed it immediately. His eyebrows furrowed as if he was distressed. Finally, his eyebrows returned to normal and he started speaking with extreme clarity.
Looking at the dent on the floor, he responded jokingly, “You know, if you had resisted, we probably wouldn’t have been able to lock you up. Actually, you probably could have just escaped since we can’t bother expending resources on you right now.”
“If this is all you have to say, then leave. If you’re not going to be helpful, then I won’t bother wasting time with you,” Adrian snorted in reply.
“Well, if I were to leave, what am I going to do with all this?” Ren said as he tossed a bag between the cell bars.
Opening the bag and seeing the ingredients for his medicine, Adrian relaxed and asked, “Wasn’t Ling supposed to be bringing this? And why did it take so long?”
“I guess now you feel like talking to me huh?” he smiled snidely.
Adrian crossed his arms and reluctantly nodded his head.
“Well,” he paused to scratch his nose awkwardly and then continued: “First I should probably apologize to you for earlier.” He bowed his head slightly, “I’m sorry. I heard about what happened. She got you into this trouble with his mischievous attitude. In fact, I heard that you were a most impressive tutor. If you don’t mind, I would like to ask you for your advice later. Of course, you will be getting paid.”
Adrian blinked his eyes many times in quick succession in surprise.
Continuing on, Ren pointed to the bag of medicine, “To be succinct, Master Jiang adores his daughter, but Mistress Jiang is especially harsh. She is henceforth unconditionally grounded until further notice, and seeing that it was an opportunity for me to apologize to you, I came instead. Moreover, it is easier to silence you with money than burying you somewhere secretly, especially a man of your talent.”
Adrian raised one eyebrow, “You’re surprisingly honest. However, do explain to me how is it easier? Also, talent? What talent?”
“Hmm, this isn’t matters that you need to know. And please, don’t try me. I’m only answering your questions because I feel like it. I don’t know what family you were from originally, but you seem very stupid for someone who tries to act so smart. Know your position,” Ren bluntly stated.
Realizing that further discussion was pointless, Adrian asked one simple question, “How much?”
“Room and board, three meals a day, and medicine provided whenever you need to take it,” he replied instantly.
Adrian nodded his head vigorously without hesitation.
“You’re not even going to ask what’s the catch?” Ren remarked, bemused.
“No need, I’m not very smart remember?” Adrian sneered.
“Good. Good,” Ren nodded, smiling gleefully, “I’m liking you more and more, you’re learning.”
One of the guards began unlocking the doors for Adrian to leave. The guard looked stressed as he began fumbling between all the keys. It was difficult to tell if the guard was incompetent or stupid.
Annoyed, Ren asked, “Where’s the usual guard?”
“He’s resting, sir. ‘Cause of the busy work we’ve been doing lately, our men have been getting injured here and there.”
“I see, thank you” Ren sighed as he dismissed the guard after the door was unlocked.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
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Ren led Adrian to the mansion next door. The Jiang and Fang family were quite literally close to each other.
Stopping before one of the many rooms inside the mansion, Ren turned to Adrian and nonchalantly said, “Well, this is your room. As for formalities, you are to be my personal assistant. You know your duties; you will be ‘helping’ me with my studies. Well, I suppose this is where I leave you so that you can take your medicine. I wasn’t sure if you were going to eat it all raw or something like that, so I had my servants bring you alchemy tools. Use them as you see fit.”
Watching Ren trailing off, Adrian finally entered the room and sat down to take a breather. He realized he had to calm down and collect his thoughts. He needed some time to digest the sudden chain of events.
With such little knowledge of the world beyond what he had read and the small interactions he had with others due to his obsession with his disease, he was incredibly inexperienced when dealing with people. He understood that very well, especially after being cheated of his family’s inheritance, what little there was of it. No matter how stupid he admitted to being, he would not believe that everything was as simple as it seemed.
Eventually realizing that he cannot comprehend their motivation without some more information, Adrian started spreading the ingredients that he was given. There was more than he had asked for! These ingredients were simple to find, but still fairly expensive in comparative worth to his life. Adrian started inspecting each ingredient, fearing the possibility that the ingredients were maliciously tampered with.
Meticulously analyzing each ingredient, he deduced that the ingredients seemed completely normal. He wondered if this “Young Master Fang” was a nicer guy than he had thought. Slowly, but surely, he measured and carefully proportioned all the herbs and materials.
Mumbling to himself as he worked: “Each season corresponds to an element on the main elemental wheel. Spring corresponds to wind, summer to fire, fall to earth, and finally winter to water. Since it is still summer, the months of fire, I should have less Herbs of Fire and more Herbs of Water. Following the months of fire are the months of earth, which means I should have less Herbs of Earth and more Herbs of Wind. This would equalize the elemental imbalances.”
Adrian himself understood that he wasn’t the brightest, but he had complete confidence in his carefulness. Nodding to himself that this was the correct proportion, he grounded everything into a powder and then tossed it into the cauldron with a splash of water. Turning up the heat, he started to stir.
“Mix, mix, swirl, mix,” Adrian hummed happily. These were the few things he enjoyed in life!
Finally, after a while, the mixture turned into black and looked extremely gross. He turned his nose away and coughed lightly.
“Yup, this is the part I hate the most,” Adrian sighed as he scooped up the mixture and drank it while it was still warm. He had let it cool down before, in fear of burning his tongue, but it had tasted even more disgusting. This was the least disgusting way to take his medicine. If he had more talent, he would be able to utilize the furnace to turn the mixture into a pill.
“Soon,” he thought.
Looking back, he had been taking his medicine biweekly for as long as he remembered because of his unique constitution. It was a strange sickness. He was told that if he cultivated, then he would not live very long. Of course, choosing between a life of hard work and a short life versus a life of freedom and a long life, one would naturally choose the latter. However, he refused to relent and his family had supported him up until their downfall.
Tears started to form in his eyes as he thought about how much his family suffered trying to cure him. Cultivation pills did not grow on trees and neither were the medical expenses. Worse yet, they paid a yearly tuition to hire him a personal tutor, hoping that he would gain the knowledge he needed. Unfortunately, their efforts were ultimately fruitless. Adrian had even spent countless nights in the library trying to find more about his disease, but no one knew. Rather, no one cared – they did not have the luxury to help him when they could barely help themselves. That was how cold and ruthless this nameless country had become.
Worse yet, his family’s business suffered greatly due the rumors about his condition being contagious. Thinking back ruefully, it was probably the work of their business rivals. How dastardly! Business eventually came to a halt. This caused his father and his mother to work tirelessly until they fell ill from the harsh conditions and eventually passed away.
Remembering all this, he steeled his resolution. They were only going to use him up until he was no longer useful. He has to quickly discover his current advantages and disadvantages so that he knew what cards to play. Feeling refreshed after taking his medicine and having formulated an action plan, Adrian slowly drifted off into dreamland.