She was called Forty-Three. Like everyone else here, she had no name. She remembered nothing from before she came here, except for the white pear blossoms that stretched across the road, blocking the carriage, and the fields filled with shepherd's purse. That was her entire childhood memory.
Then came the training—the training to become a death warrior. The ultimate goal of this training was to extinguish a person's humanity and fear of death, leaving behind only the loyalty of a dog.
Many years later, she often wondered if she had damaged her mind with the drugs during that time. How else could she have fallen so deeply for that bastard?
In truth, compared to the other death warriors, she was clearly unqualified. She was terrified of death, so much so that she didn't mind learning how to be a dog just to stay alive.
* * *
When Forty-Three entered, more than ten young women, like her, with their faces veiled in black, were already standing in the hall. She walked straight through them without glancing aside and knelt before the beaded curtain that separated the hall, fixing her gaze a foot in front of her knees.
"Master."
"Kun Seventeen is ill. You will take her place," said a voice from behind the curtain, so indistinguishable between male and female that it was clearly intentional.
"Yes." Forty-Three responded without hesitation, even though she had no idea what task she was being given.
"Very well, come in," the voice commanded.
Forty-Three did not dare to rise, so she bent forward, placing her hands on the ground, and crawled in while still kneeling. As soon as she passed through the swaying curtain, she stopped.
A pair of dark green satin boots with intricate embroidery appeared silently in her line of sight, and a subtle fragrance drifted into her nose. A sudden chill rose in her heart, and before she could understand why, a hand pressed down on her head. Her expression changed slightly, but only for a moment before she returned to normal, resigning herself to fate as she closed her eyes. She allowed the powerful internal force to enter through her Baihui point, instantly destroying the martial arts skills she had honed for more than ten years.
A mouthful of fresh blood spilled from her lips, and she collapsed, pale, onto the floor.
"Aren't you curious why I stripped you of your martial arts?" The person seemed intrigued by her silence.
Forty-Three coughed, still tasting the metallic sweetness in her throat, and softly replied, "Yes." There was no trace of resentment in her voice. Since being brought into the dark factory, the first thing they were taught was to say "yes."
The person seemed to remember this and smiled slightly, waving a hand. "You may all leave."
"Yes."
By the time Forty-Three backed out from behind the curtain, the person was already gone. She struggled to her feet but did not dare to turn around, continuing to back out of the room while facing the curtain. Just as she stepped over the threshold, a sudden cough from inside startled her, causing her to almost stumble. Fortunately, the person inside didn't notice.
The overseer was waiting for her outside, handing her a purple silk pouch without a word, and then arranged for her to board the waiting carriage.
Forty-Three knew that inside the pouch was her next mission.
* * *
Mei Lin… Mei Lin, is it?
She leaned her forehead against the window frame, listening to the laughter of the other women in the carriage. A strange mix of excitement and melancholy welled up in her heart. From this moment on, she would be called by this name. Forty-Three, the number that had followed her for fifteen years, would be forever buried in that dark factory—a place she didn't even want to think about.
From now on, she had a name, an identity, and even a family she had never met before. She had taken the place of another woman.
Among the three hundred beauties accompanying Princess Zigu from Xiyan to Dayan for a diplomatic marriage, she was not the only one who had been substituted. The women whose names began with "Kun" were specifically trained for this purpose. She had merely been lucky to seize an opportunity. Perhaps, after nearly five years of deceiving them, the overseer had finally grown tired of her and decided to get rid of her in this way.
Well, so be it. At last, she could leave that place filled with rot and death and see the beautiful flowers etched deep in her memory. Even without her martial arts, even with the poison in her body that would flare up every month, it was still far better than a life where she had to constantly fight for survival.
Autumn had already set in. The forests along the official road were lush and green, with shades of deep red and pale yellow scattered among them, vibrant as spring flowers. But they were not spring flowers, and as the carriage drew closer, she could see the withered yellow leaves swirling in the wind and falling with a soft rustle, filling her with a sense of fleeting sorrow.
Mei Lin didn't like this sight, so she looked away and smiled as she listened to the conversation of the other women in the carriage.
1 Comments
Thanks for the chapter
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