Chapter 39: The Wind and Snow are Coming

New Year has arrived.

It is just that the Great Liang has no concept of a New Year.

And so.

Su Chen spent his fourteenth lonely New Year's Eve in the pharmacy.

"The old Emperor departs, the new Emperor arrives. I wonder how long this little Emperor of Great Liang can hold on."

With nothing to do.

In the pharmacy, Su Chen carved several wooden tablets. The first was Emperor Tianwu, who reigned for twenty-four years; he had arrived in this world in the seventh month of his twenty-third year.

The second wooden tablet was for the failed Seventh Prince, an emperor who didn't even have a temple name, whose reign lasted only a few short months before Great Liang was "rectified" and returned to the "right track."

The third wooden tablet was for the "rectifying" Emperor Jianwu, who reigned for ten years.

In the pharmacy, Su Chen held a dagger and carefully carved the third tablet—the new Emperor Jianwu, the boy emperor who had caused the Great Liang throne to derail once again.

Indeed.

This boy emperor had not taken a new temple name, but had directly inherited the title of Emperor Jianwu, making him the new Emperor Jianwu. This year was, in fact, the eleventh year of Jianwu.

"The emperors of Great Liang are all short-lived. I wonder how long you can last."

"I hope you can bring some fresh air."

Su Chen placed the carved tablet of the new Emperor Jianwu onto a wooden rack.

Then.

He opened the doors to welcome the first day of the New Year.

He swept the fallen snow from before the door.

But it was meaningless; this year's wind and snow showed no sign of stopping. Instead, they grew more violent. The gale brought a deluge of white snow, as if attempting to swallow the Great Liang imperial capital, which had been swaying in the wind and rain for thirteen years.

"Master Xu."

A black-robed eunuch passed by the pharmacy in a hurry. He greeted Su Chen with a forced smile before quickly vanishing from sight.

A day passed.

In the pharmacy, Su Chen spent the entire day reading medical books, yet not a single customer came for a consultation.

This was not normal.

The New Year had brought a once-in-a-century blizzard. Normally, the colder the winter, the more low-level eunuchs and palace maids would fall ill, and his business would be better.

But there was nothing.

"So, just how many people must die in this winter before it ends?"

Su Chen stayed up all night, unable to focus on the words in the medical books.

In the pharmacy, he listened intently to the howling wind and snow, as if hearing the countless souls who had died in the imperial palace crying out their grievances within the storm.

The next day, Su Chen opened the pharmacy early.

The imperial palace grew increasingly desolate.

The snow within the palace grew thicker and thicker, left untended. He wondered if the little black-robed eunuchs responsible for the snow removal had also died.

At noon.

In the purification chamber, carts after carts of ignorant youths were brought in. Soon, brand new little black-robed eunuchs were born.

Even the pharmacy was assigned a youth.

He was somewhat delicate in appearance. Biting his lip, he curled his body in a corner of the pharmacy like an injured small beast. Even with medicine applied, it was difficult to hide the pain in certain parts of his body.

And the shame of losing his manhood.

"I don't actually need an apprentice assigned to me," Su Chen said to the blue-robed eunuch before him.

He did not know this blue-robed man.

Clearly, he was neither a recent promotion nor a subordinate of the other red-robed managers.

"This is the Emperor's will."

"This winter has been too harsh; many eunuch servants need to be replenished. This is only the beginning. Perhaps you, too, will quietly vanish in this winter. Who knows?"

The blue-robed man sneered and turned to leave.

For a moment.

Only Su Chen and the little eunuch remained in the pharmacy.

A heavy silence fell.

"My name is Xu Ge, Xu Ge of the pharmacy. I know a bit of medicine. You can take some coagulating powder from the cabinet; it will help the wound heal faster."

"In the pharmacy, you can learn some medicine from me. In thirty years, when you leave the palace to return to your hometown, you'll have a skill to make a living..."

"Of course, that is if you can last thirty years..."

Su Chen proactively broke the silence.

The little eunuch was somewhat stunned and said nothing. Only after Su Chen left did he drag his painful lower body to find some coagulating powder and eat it.

Over the next few days.

Su Chen lived alongside the little eunuch. Once the boy's lower body had gradually healed, he became diligent and nimble, taking over all the chores in the pharmacy.

And so.

Seven days passed.

In those seven days, there had not been a single customer.

It was more than just abnormal; it was inconceivable.

The eleventh year of Jianwu.

The tenth day of the first month.

Wind and snow raged.

The new little eunuch of the pharmacy was shivering from the cold as he cleared snow at the entrance. Su Chen, wrapped in thick cotton clothes, leaned against the pharmacy door, staring blankly at the somber and deathly silent imperial palace.

Soon.

Carriages arrived one after another, hauling cold, withered corpses, being pulled out of the palace.

Dozens?

It was more than that.

It was likely numbering in the hundreds.

It wasn't just the low-level black-robed eunuchs; even palace maids and some green-robed eunuchs with cultivation had become corpses.

Nine out of ten of them were familiar faces Su Chen recognized.

"The world's suffering always flows toward those capable of enduring it, until those who can endure it can endure no more, and become cold corpses..."

Su Chen fell into an even deeper silence.

Anyone who could come to the pharmacy for medicine or treatment and was known to Su Chen was a person of miserable fate within the palace.

Miserable people.

Naturally, no one would care if they died.

If one practiced demonic arts, these people were the best nourishment.

"Brother Xu, many people have died recently. Concubine Luo told me to warn you—it's best not to go out lately. Perhaps these people didn't die at the hands of demons..."

Linglong ran over from the cold palace, panting heavily as she spoke to Su Chen.

Concubine Luo practiced martial arts. Although her level was not high—only the mere fourth rank—her clan had once guarded the demon mountains on the northern border of Great Liang and dealt with many demons. She could naturally tell if demons were consuming lifespans.

"Fragmented demonic manuals, life-stealing secret arts..."

"Their appetites are growing larger."

"At first, it was just the black-robed old eunuchs, then the young eunuchs, and now they aren't even letting the green-robed ones with cultivation go."

Su Chen waited patiently.

A few more days passed.

The eleventh year of Jianwu.

The end of the first month.

Su Chen traveled through the imperial palace, the imperial city, and even beyond the city walls. With eyes that could observe the flames of lifespans, he was certain that the one in the palace whose special life-flame he feared most had vanished.

Even a first-rank Grandmaster, or even the Grandmaster demon, Emperor Taizu of Liang, did not have life-flames so unique that they made Su Chen wary.

"It is time."

"Tonight is the best opportunity."

"Third-grade Jade Marrow; the time has been long enough."

"I shall break through the threshold of the second rank!"

"Perhaps, tonight, the Wind and Snow Sword shall see the light of day once more."

Su Chen looked toward the distant Imperial Study, his expression inscrutable.

He was ready to break through.

From third-grade Jade Marrow, into the second-rank Viscera Realm!

Just then.

The new little eunuch from the pharmacy came to Su Chen's side. He opened his mouth, hesitating, before finally speaking.

"Master, you are a good eunuch."

"I heard that the eunuchs in the palace are all wicked people with twisted hearts. You are a good man. My name is Ye Xuan, and I want to call you my godfather so I can take care of you in your old age..."

Su Chen laughed helplessly.

As for taking care of him in his old age, he feared the boy would never live to see that day.

"I am only twenty this year, only about six or seven years older than you. Kid, there's no need for you to look after my old age..."

Su Chen scolded him jokingly and waved the dim-witted little eunuch away.

Night.

Deepened.

In the pharmacy, the Star-迷 (Star-Lost) Grass was burning slowly.

Xiao Xuanzi, who had been on night watch, felt his head sway and fell into a heavy sleep.

The door to the inner room pushed open.

Clad in a black eunuch's robe, with hair as dark as ink, eyes like stars, and a spine as straight as a sword, he possessed an extraordinary aura that commanded respect. The number one traitor wanted by the entire realm of Great Liang had appeared.

(End of Chapter)