SGT CH134: My Shadow Guard Has Made No Progress

◎ After a year of training, he has actually regressed; simply no progress at all. ◎

Inside the Imperial Study.

Several imperial physicians were treating the wounds of the person on the couch.

The eldest Head of the Imperial Hospital quietly withdrew, came to the Emperor’s side, and bowed:

“Your Majesty, there are many wolf bite marks on the former Commander’s body, but they did not hit any vital points. The former Commander has a strong physique; with a few months of proper recuperation, he will fully recover.”

“Wolves?”

Mousse frowned.

Mousse had originally thought Shadow One was ambushed by those who held a grudge against him [Mousse] but didn’t dare attack him directly, targeting a shadow guard released from the palace instead to exact revenge.

Because Shadow One’s internal energy was sealed, he was no match for the attackers and was seriously injured.

But hearing the Head Physician’s account, those hideous, bloody wounds were caused by wolves.

This was very strange.

There were no wolves inside the Imperial City.

Even near the official roads outside the city, a wolf pack couldn’t possibly appear.

It couldn’t be that Shadow One went into the barren mountains and wild ridges alone, happened upon a mass grave, and encountered a pack of wolves.

Mousse was puzzled. His fingers resting on the desk moved slightly, signaling the shadow guards to investigate.

In the shadows of the palace corners, two figures quietly departed without attracting anyone’s notice.

Mousse raised his eyes and saw the Head Physician looking like he wanted to say something but stopped.

“If there is anything else, speak.”

The Head Physician lowered his head and kept his voice low:

“On the inside of the former Commander’s arm, there is a black line extending from the wrist to the heart. This involves royal secrets, so this humble subject dare not make rash judgments.”

Mousse’s brain buzzed. He stood up abruptly, walked quickly past the Head Physician, and approached the bed surrounded by the physicians.

The physicians packed up their things one by one and bowed as they retreated.

Mousse walked to the bedside and yanked open the half-covered robes on Shadow One.

Sure enough, he saw the black line on his skin extending to his heart.

Mousse’s eyes widened in shock.

This was the backlash of the Blood Oath.

When every shadow guard follows a master, they must consume a special drug made with the master’s fresh blood as a catalyst, swear a blood oath, and pledge loyalty.

Royal members used blood to feed and control shadow guards.

To the royal family, the so-called Blood Oath was just a means of control.

But to the shadow guards, it was no different from poison.

Every month thereafter, the shadow guard needed to take an antidote granted by the master.

Otherwise, on the night of the full moon, their heart would feel like it was being twisted by knives, and their whole body would be in agonizing pain.

Last night was the full moon.

Mousse’s face turned pale.

Why was Shadow One suffering from the Blood Oath backlash?

Didn’t he take the antidote?

Mousse bent down to rummage through Shadow One’s clothes, searching him quickly.

He found nothing.

Before exiling Shadow One from the palace, not only did he give him a bottle of antidote to suppress the Blood Oath, but he also gave him a bottle of his heart’s blood.

That was the true, complete antidote.

Enough to let a shadow guard regain their freedom.

But now, both bottles of antidote were missing.

Mousse gritted his teeth in anger.

Was it easy for him to draw blood?

Shadow One actually lost the stuff?

He deserved to die of pain!

Although he really wanted to dump Shadow One and let him fend for himself, seeing the floating light screen nearby, Mousse had to intervene.

His stock of antidote had all been given to Shadow One.

It was too late to make it from scratch now.

Mousse could only order:

“Bring a bowl and a knife.”

In a short while, a young eunuch presented the items.

Mousse dismissed everyone.

Then, he picked up the dagger from the tray and heated it over the candle flame.

He took a deep breath, mentally prepared himself for a while, then raised his left hand and slashed his palm with the dagger.

Bright red blood flowed out, and a faint, metallic sweetness spread through the room.

Shadow One, lying on the couch, seemed to be having a nightmare. His brows were tightly furrowed, and fine sweat appeared on his pale face.

Mousse usually used silver needles to draw blood. Using a dagger for the first time, he couldn’t control it well; the blood flowed too fast, and he didn’t have time to catch it with the bowl.

He could only hold his hand directly to Shadow One’s lips.

All the medicinal ingredients in the Blood Oath antidote were merely auxiliary; the most important thing was the catalyst—the master’s blood.

Fresh blood stained Shadow One’s pale lips red.

His sharp brows furrowed even tighter, as if he had fallen into a deep nightmare.

His lips were pressed tight, his body tense to the point of trembling, and cold sweat drenched his face.

Mousse couldn’t get him to swallow it no matter what and wanted to curse in anger.

Blood flowed from the corners of Shadow One’s tightly pursed mouth down to his jaw. Not only did he fail to feed him, but it also looked like a murder scene.

To avoid wasting any more, Mousse first dripped the blood into the bowl.

Then he took out a bright yellow handkerchief and simply wrapped it around his hand.

He used the bowl to catch some tea and swirled it to mix evenly.

Mousse held the bowl in one hand and glanced at the person on the bed who was still frowning deeply.

With an injury on his hand, feeding a comatose patient was too difficult to maneuver.

If he accidentally spilled the water, it would be a waste.

Mousse called a young eunuch over, handed him the bowl, and told him to feed him.

The young eunuch squatted by the bed with the bowl, stirred the dark tea with a spoon, and held the bowl to the lips of the person on the bed.

The person on the bed, whose eyes had been tightly closed, opened them at that moment and suddenly choked the neck of the person next to him.

The young eunuch, having his throat seized, shuddered in fright.

The tea spoon fell into the bowl with a piercing clatter, and most of the water in the bowl spilled out from the trembling.

“Stop!”

Mousse didn’t expect Shadow One to wake up suddenly.

And to move so quickly after waking up, when clearly he looked like he was dying from heavy injuries just a moment ago.

He walked over quickly and saw Shadow One looking up at him blankly, a trace of trance and confusion emerging in his dark eyes.

And the other party’s hand was still on the young eunuch’s neck, just not applying force.

With Shadow One’s martial arts attainments, even with his internal energy sealed, relying solely on hand strength and finger techniques, he could kill the person under his palm in an instant.

He wasn’t acting now, which meant part of his consciousness was awake and he could communicate.

Mousse stared at his dazed, unfocused eyes for a moment and said:

“Let go!”

Hearing his voice, the person on the bed subconsciously let go.

Only his expression remained dazed, as if half-asleep and half-awake, unable to distinguish between illusion and reality.

Mousse withdrew his gaze and ordered the young eunuch:

“Continue feeding. Don’t shake your hands.”

Having just walked before the gates of hell, the young eunuch tremblingly held the bowl, tried hard to control his shaking hands, and slowly brought the water in the bowl to the person on the bed.

The person on the bed smelled the scent in the tea and his eyes immediately widened.

He stared dead at the bowl of dark tea, his chest heaving, his body tense, as if he would strike at any moment.

“Don’t move.”

Mousse stared at him and commanded: “Open your mouth.”

When his command fell, Shadow One seemed to be under a immobilization spell, only staring blankly, no longer moving.

His lips also opened subconsciously.

But when the bowl containing the tea approached, he snapped them shut again.

Mousse: “?”

Has he gotten bold?

He dares not listen to We?

Mousse said angrily: “Pour it down his throat!”

The young eunuch bit the bullet and continued. Saying “pardon the offense” in his heart, he pressed the bowl against Shadow One’s lips, used some clever force to pry open Shadow One’s mouth, and poured the water in.

Because of the Emperor’s order, Shadow One dared not move. He could only watch helplessly as the blood-tinged tea was poured into his mouth, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

The tea, rich with the smell of blood, flowed down his throat and into his stomach.

Shadow One could no longer hold it back; he violently pushed the young eunuch away and leaned over the edge of the couch to vomit.

He hadn’t had food or water for days; what he vomited up was the tea that had just been poured down.

Mousse was standing close. When he heard the commotion, he subconsciously lifted the hem of his robe and took a step back.

Then he stared in astonishment at Shadow One leaning over the edge of the couch.

He watched helplessly as he vomited all the tea.

In the end, with nothing left to vomit, he still retched over the side of the bed, as if trying to vomit out his bile.

Mousse had always been afraid of pain. In the past, when making medicine for the shadow guards, he only used a fine needle to draw a few drops of blood.

This time, seeing Shadow One’s serious condition and fearing the amount wouldn’t be enough, he endured the pain and cut his palm with a dagger.

The result? Shadow One actually vomited up all his precious blood!

Mousse was so angry he turned and left.

The bright yellow hem of his robe flashed past in the field of vision and disappeared completely.

Shadow One, leaning by the bed, stiffened for a moment. The light in his eyes dimmed completely, and he curled up in pain.

As soon as Mousse walked out of the Imperial Study, he heard the warning sound from the light screen.

[Scum Gong Value +6]

[Current Scum Gong Value: 99]

[Warning! Warning! Current Scum Gong Value is too high. Please complete the task as soon as possible and undergo rehabilitation!]

Mousse: “???”

Are you kidding me?

It was so hard to lower it by five points, and it rebounded to ninety-nine in an instant.

It’s even higher than at the beginning.

Is this reasonable?

“Is it that We don’t want to treat him? It’s clearly that he doesn’t want to live!”

Mousse felt unjustly accused.

But this sky screen didn’t listen to his grievances.

It only constantly urged him to complete the task as soon as possible.

[Note: When Scum Gong Value reaches 100, rehabilitation is considered a failure.]

[Rehabilitation failure means death!]

Mousse kicked the pillar next to him in anger, then hissed softly, retracting his foot in pain.

After holding back his frustration for a long while, he finally ordered the palace servants following behind:

“Go, clean him up and send him to the bedchamber.”

He couldn’t stay in this Imperial Study anymore.

As soon as he got close to it, he thought of someone vomiting inside, and what was vomited was his bloody water.

Annoying.

Mousse walked away.

He strolled around the Imperial Garden to cool off, tormented a few unlucky carp, and had the palace servants send them to the Imperial Kitchen for an extra dish at dinner.

It wasn’t until the sky was turning dark that Mousse walked back under the constant urging of the light screen.

The sleeping palace was very quiet.

As soon as he entered the hall, the palace servants withdrew of their own accord.

The head eunuch Li Defu walked at the very end, closing the door for him with a face full of smiles.

Mousse: “…”

Many red candles were lit in the hall; it wasn’t dim.

Warm incense that soothed the mind was burning in the incense burner; it smelled very good.

Mousse felt the palace servants were doing unnecessary things.

And they misunderstood his intentions.

But this was indeed a solution.

Mousse paused, then slowed his steps and walked towards the inner hall.

On the dragon bed, there was a figure rolled up in a soft quilt.

Mousse approached and met eyes with Shadow One, who was lying quietly on the bed.

Shadow One had obviously been cleaned well and re-bandaged by the palace servants.

His face was scrubbed clean, and under the reflection of the room full of red candles, he actually had a bit more color.

Even his originally deep, deathly silent black eyes held a few inconspicuous fragments of light.

Their gazes met. Shadow One’s eyes trembled, and he quickly lowered them in silence.

He lay stiffly on his back, holding his breath, motionless.

How boring.

Mousse thought to himself.

After a year of training, he has actually regressed.

Simply no progress at all.

Mousse turned aside to change his clothes.

The antidote for the Blood Oath doesn’t necessarily have to be the master’s fresh blood; other things work too.

Since he vomits when drinking blood, let him eat something else.

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