Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 703: Correctional Methods
Who is it??

Looking at the young eunuch standing on the carriage, Xiao Ran secretly hoped that it was Wu Man.

It's not just that I enjoy watching Wu Man make a fool of herself; more importantly, Wu Man's methods and temperament are more suitable.

However, the moment their eyes met, Xiao Ran knew who it was.

"Dai Long?"

With those pure and clear eyes, like those of a college student, how could Xiao Ran not recognize that Dai Long was the only one in her team?

If he were a Taoist priest, he would be busy winking and making faces at me right now.

"It's him. This kid has become a eunuch. This identity is quite in line with the Dai family's long-standing desire to be recognized by the country. Although he is a eunuch, to be recognized by the country, he has to castrate himself to some extent."

The two exchanged a glance, and Dai Long, who was called Little Li, immediately turned around, jumped out of the car, and helped the old eunuch walk inside.

Xiao Ran came to the door and took a look. She saw a sign hanging on the door with three words written on it: "Wuxiang Hall".

Xiao Ran glanced at it curiously, but the servant guarding the door scolded with a dark face, "What are you looking at? This is not a place for you to look at. Get out!"

Xiao Ran smiled and nodded upon hearing this, then turned and walked away. After arriving at the alley next to her, she used her mental power to see through the wall and quickly gained a clear view of the place inside and out.

"Oh, it's a bathhouse." Xiao Ran suddenly realized.

This bathhouse is unusual; it was a place specifically for eunuchs to bathe.

In ancient times, surgical techniques were primitive, and eunuchs often suffered from incomplete urination and urinary incontinence due to physiological defects after castration, which easily caused them to develop an unpleasant odor.

Therefore, eunuchs needed to bathe frequently; every three days when it was hot and every five days when it was cold.

There was a place in the palace where these eunuchs bathed, called the Hun Tang Si (or Nong Tang Si), which was specifically for eunuchs to bathe.

However, this place was just a large public bathhouse with limited facilities. Some high-ranking eunuchs would not bathe in such a place, but would come out to bathe instead.

This can be understood as a high-end club in reality that only serves members and does not accept non-members, ensuring that these eunuchs are served comfortably.

Because this place was relatively secluded, although the environment inside was nice, it wasn't very large. Xiao Ran didn't need to climb over the wall to get in. She stood behind the wall, pinpointing Dai Long's location through it, and transmitted her voice, "How are you getting used to life in the palace?"

At this moment, Dai Long was holding the old eunuch's clothes and stood obediently behind him. After hearing Xiao Ran's telepathic message, he looked up at the old eunuch who was soaking in the bath and enjoying himself, and then whispered, "It's alright. Except for not being used to going to the toilet, everything else is fine."

The so-called inner palace has many rules and regulations, not to mention this ghost city full of strange tales. If you were suddenly turned into a eunuch, you probably wouldn't be able to survive even a day.

But Dai Long is different. His family comes from a distinguished background and is a Taoist family with a history of hundreds of years. To put it bluntly, the rules and etiquette in the palace are probably not as complete as those in his family.

This is why Dai Long was able to become the adopted son of this powerful eunuch in such a short time.

"How long have you been here? Have you heard anything about Jin Chanzi and the others?" Xiao Ran continued to inquire.

"There are 28 days in a month, and I'm the only one in the palace. I'm wondering where everyone else is."

Upon hearing Dai Long's reply, Xiao Ran immediately felt something was amiss. Dai Long had been here for so long, so Jin Chanzi should have arrived long ago as well. Why was there no news at all?

Xiao Ran then inquired about the situation in the palace.

"It's too complicated to explain in a sentence or two. I'm currently tied to this old eunuch by a mission, otherwise I would have run away long ago. I guess the situation with Niu Bi and Wu Ge is probably similar."

Dai Long didn't explain the situation in the palace to Xiao Ran, not because he didn't want to, but because the palace was so complex that he didn't understand many things, let alone explain them to Xiao Ran.

"Anyway, the situation in the palace is that you live at dawn and die at dusk. I am now trying my best to gain the power of this Grand Eunuch. Brother Xiao, if you want to enter the Imperial City, you must go through the main gate and never go through the side gate."

Before Dai Long could say more, the old eunuch sitting in the bath looked up and said, "Little Li, come and scrub my back."

"Come here."

Dai Long didn't want to continue talking to Xiao Ran, so he put down the clothes he was holding and went into the bath.

Seeing that the situation was unclear, Xiao Ran stopped talking.

After all, Dai Long's situation is not optimistic right now, and continuing the conversation could lead to his exposure.

Back at Zuixianlou, Shao Hongzhang was indeed slumped over the greasy table, snoring loudly. The smell of alcohol mixed with a deep weariness filled the small private room.

Looking at the face that now appeared incredibly relaxed, even somewhat aged and disheveled, Xiao Ran temporarily suppressed the doubts and heaviness in her heart. "Fine, a good drunken spree is fine. After all, who knows what will happen after tomorrow..."

As predicted, Shao Hongzhang did not drink a drop of alcohol for the next two days.

Initially, the withdrawal symptoms are extremely pronounced.

He was restless, his fingers trembling unconsciously, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead, his eyes filled with a thirst for the drink. Sometimes, he would suddenly stand up and walk to the window, taking a deep breath as if trying to capture a trace of the aroma of wine from the murky air, then slump back down, irritably pulling at his greasy, tangled hair.

But he never asked Xiao Ran for a drink.

This tenacious perseverance impressed Xiao Ran. Breaking a deeply ingrained habit is like cutting flesh and bones; it requires immense willpower and determination.

The first afternoon, Shao Hongzhang spent almost the entire day in a state of anxiety and drowsiness. The next morning, he looked as if he had shed a layer of skin. Although he was still haggard, most of the turbidity in his eyes had faded, replaced by an almost sharp focus.

He spent the entire morning grooming himself. He fetched hot water and clumsily but diligently washed his tangled hair, rubbing it with soap again and again until the grease was gone, revealing the gray strands. Seeing how much effort he was putting into washing, Xiao Ran simply stepped forward to help him rinse it clean.

Now that she had already gotten started, Xiao Ran wasn't afraid of the trouble, so she simply took out her shaving razor and gave Shao Hongzhang a good shave.

The blade glided past his skin, making a soft "shh" sound. Shao Hongzhang kept his eyes closed, the relaxed muscles on his face tensing slightly with the movement of the blade.

Xiao Ran's technique was extremely skillful—steady, precise, and quick—shaving away the thick, unruly long beard and carefully trimming the sideburns and hairline. Finally, she wiped away any remaining soap and stubble with a hot towel and then applied a cool towel to soothe the skin.

When Xiao Ran put the towel away, Shao Hongzhang slowly opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked completely different from the drunkard who had been lying on the table two days ago!

Her graying but neatly combed hair was tied back, revealing a slightly puffy face with loose skin, bearing the marks of long-term alcoholism. The face was crisscrossed with the lines of time and the marks of hardship, and even had a few old scars.

Shao Hongzhang carefully examined himself in the mirror, his fingers gently tracing his bruised chin. A complex emotion flickered in his eyes, ultimately settling into satisfaction. He put down the bronze mirror, looked up at Xiao Ran, grinned, revealing a set of not-so-perfect teeth:

"Excellent skill! Clean and neat, not even a scratch... Hey, it seems the skin on those unlucky guys in the Li family massacre was also done by you?"

Xiao Ran paused slightly as she wiped the razor, then smiled nonchalantly, her tone carrying a hint of cold mockery: "Heh, you're lucky. If it were someone else, knowing so much, I'd probably consider silencing them."

Shao Hongzhang waved his hand dismissively, stood up, and stretched his limbs, his bones making a slight cracking sound. The old official robe he wore, faded from washing but still revealing that it was originally made of fine material, now appeared somewhat crisper.

"Alright," Xiao Ran put the razor back into her sleeve, no longer dwelling on the topic, and cut straight to the point, "Didn't you say you were going to take me to 'see' something today? Where? What are we going to see?"

Shao Hongzhang took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the bustling yet eerie long street outside the window, and the confidence that belonged to the "Director of the Imperial Observatory" returned to his face.

"Haha, don't worry." He chuckled in a low voice, his laughter carrying an all-knowing arrogance. "Even if that scoundrel Huang Chao has turned this place upside down, moved mountains and filled seas, and changed the positions of stars... in the end, this skeleton is still Chang'an City."

"No one knows Chang'an better than me."

Shao Hongzhang said no more, and took the lead in pushing open the door of the private room and stepping out. Xiao Ran followed closely behind.

The two walked down from Zuixianlou and merged into the surging crowd on Zhuque Street.

The atmosphere in Chang'an, the ghost capital, was completely different from the previous two days. Dusk was approaching, and the twilight, like a heavy lead weight, pressed down on the city. But the air was not filled with tranquility; instead, it was filled with a morbid excitement that was suppressed to the extreme.

The shops lining both sides of the street all began selling various kinds of "Zhuangyuan Cakes," which reeked of decay.

These "top scholar cakes" are decorated with words of blessing, adorned with bright red blood.

Examples include Kui Xing pointing to the Big Dipper, Zhu Yi nodding, and passing the imperial examinations three times in a row.

Shao Hongzhang kept his eyes straight ahead. He led Xiao Ran not directly to the examination hall, but instead turned into a quiet, narrow alleyway that reeked of mildew. Deep in the alley was a seemingly ordinary, high, bluish-gray wall.

“This is it.” Shao Hongzhang stopped and stretched out his thin but unusually steady fingers, gently stroking the cold, rough wall.

His gaze became incredibly focused, and his fingertips moved and pressed slowly across the wall with a strange rhythm, as if sensing something deeper beneath the bricks. He muttered incantations in a low, obscure voice, like an ancient prayer or a secret language communicating with the land.

"The Black Tortoise lowers its head, the Vermilion Bird soars and dances, the Azure Dragon meanders, the White Tiger bows submissively, Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, Dui, Qi disperses when carried by the wind, stops when it reaches the water, gathers it to prevent it from dispersing, and moves it to ensure it stops..."

As Shao Hongzhang recited the words, he groped along the wall in front of him, seemingly searching for something. Suddenly, his hand froze, and after carefully tapping the lower left corner a few times, the moss-covered brick suddenly cracked open with spiderweb-like fissures.

“No mistake, this is it!” Shao Hongzhang took a step back and pointed to the brick: “Please, give it a good kick.”

Xiao Ran nodded upon hearing this, and then kicked the cracked brick.

With a loud "click!", a door was kicked open out of thin air in front of the two of them...

(End of this chapter)