My Full-time Servant/Lover

XII: This Beau Sneaks Out With The Emperor

Like a sack of rice, Emperor Yin Renshu carries his clumsy little eunuch on his shoulder. He leaps from eves to eves quietly. Every step's calculated. Every landing is like a light dip of the dragonfly's legs on the waters. Though it's broad daytime, everyone in the royal imperial palace didn't notice the swift movements of one of the former disciples of Wan MoliHua Palace.

Good thing, this continues until they finally got out of the palace walls. Yin Renshu chooses a narrow alley to stop. He landed his feet on the ground before letting Xu Zhengming stand with his own feet.

"Prepare the writing equipment." Yin Renshu ordered.

"Yes, your majesty." Xu Zhengming answered as he grabs the writing materials inside the bag he's been carrying.

"Don't call me that outside the palace." The emperor realized it too late. He didn't tell his eunuch beforehand that he should stop the honorifics now that they're hiding their identity.

Xu Zhengming, "Then what should I call you?"

The emperor responds, "I think Renshu is fine."

For a moment, Xu Zhengming hesitated. "But... isn't your name known to the public?"

Yin Renshu waves his hand. "Nah, only the people inside the palace know my name. Outside the imperial palace walls, they know me as Emperor Yin of the eighth generation." He pauses before continuing, "And besides, except my sister and my teachers in Wan Moli Hua Palace, no one calls me that way. Sometimes, it's nice if someone calls you by your name. You'll be reminded where you came from."

Xu Zhengming can't help but sneer. "I didn't know your majesty is sentimental."

Yin Renshu puts on the hood of his cloak.

"I told you to stop calling me that." He said and walks past Mingming without even glancing at him.

"Ah, my bad, my bad. Renshu it is." Xu Zhengming laughs and follows the emperor.

He also puts the hood of the cloak on that the emperor lends to him before they go out on that narrow alley.

They started inquiring at the town square first where the first incident happened. The number of people they asked doesn't matter anymore. They are all saying the same thing. According to all witnesses and survivors, it was just an ordinary day. Nothing unusual at all until some people started acting strange. They've got bloodshot eyes. They're drooling and seem not to hear anything. Then the incident happened. The strange people started to bite others, then their victims started to act strange as well and later on starts biting people too.

Some witnesses also said that they saw a vicious ghost that attacked a small house of one family and bit them all. Then that family started to bite others until chaos was born.

"We're not making any progress at all. Shizun told this information to us already." Yin Renshu throws himself in a wooden chair.

The two of them stopped at a restaurant. It's already lunchtime and so, they decided to have a lunch break. The place isn't very luxurious but is presentable enough. Since it's already time for lunch, the place is a little crowded but luckily, they found themselves a vacant table.

"Masters, what would you like to order?" The waiter came to their table with smiles.

"What do you want to eat?" Yin Renshu asked.

With a wide grin, Xu Zhengming asked, "Your treat?"

Yin Renshu, "If I won't would you be able to pay?"

Well, this is a little below the belt for Mingming but he couldn't care less about it. He rarely got himself a benefactor so he better seizes the chance.

"I'd like to order the most expensive dish you have."

"..."

Yin Renshu felt he just got taken advantage of by this little eunuch of his. In any case, the emperor did not mind it at all.

"Two servings." Xu Zhengming added.

"Right away, sir." The waiter was about to go to the chef's kitchen but Xu Zhengming called out again.

"Wait, he didn't order yet. What would you like to eat, Renshu?" He emphasizes his name at the end of the sentence. His lips bear a teasing smile.

Yin Renshu raised his eyebrows, "Didn't you order for two servings?"

Xu Zhengming answered casually, "Yes, both are mine."

Yes, Yin Renshu knew it. He's got taken advantage of this shameless servant!

He clears his throat and speaks to the waiter. "Alright, I'll just have a bowl of wonton and a steamed bun."

"Coming right up, masters!" The waiter quickly headed to the kitchen.

Mingming then leans on the table and beams a smile on his majesty. "You haven't eaten your breakfast earlier, and you're just having a bowl of wonton and a steamed bun. Aren't you hungry?"

Yin Renshu looks at him with an indifferent facial expression, "No, and I am not a big eater like you. You're like a pig."

"Pig?" Xu Zhengming gritted his teeth as he forced a laugh. "This face? A pig?"

As far as he knows, he's not inferior to Pan An's looks.

"Mn." Yin Renshu nods as he looks at him like he's telling what he thinks is the truth. "And besides, wonton noodle soup is my favorite."

"Aiiisshhh..." Xu Zhengming won't push through his luck so he stopped arguing with the other. Their age gap might be not that too far but he still is an emperor of the imperial dynasty.

"Can you review the information we got? Maybe I just missed something." The emperor demanded.

Xu Zhengming unfolded the papers that contain the records of the information they gathered. "No. I don't think Renshu has missed anything. Everything you said just now is exactly the same thing as in the records."

Yin Renshu thinks deeply for a while and remembered something. "There's this one detail that we haven't got yet. My shizun said the vicious ghost was once a eunuch when he was alive."

Xu Zhengming, "Oh, he was?"

"Mn. It's said that the cause of his death was a failure during his castration." Yin Renshu explained,

"Pfft..." Xu Zhengming tried to suppress his laughter. Well, can't blame him, that was a lame cause of death. "See? It's a good thing I didn't have mine castrated!"

Now that Xu Zhengming thought of it, if this eunuch seeks revenge, he should go after that physician who castrated him. He should not have his vengeance against the common people who have nothing to do with him in the first place.

"I'm sorry masters but are you discussing the incident yesterday?" A man in his middle fifties came closer to them. By his looks, he seems a commoner.

"What can we do for you?" Yin Renshu asked in a serious tone.

The mid-thirties man looks more attentive after the emperor avoided the question. "It really must that incident. Are you perhaps cultivators? I can give you some information. I know the eunuch you are talking about when he's still alive."

"Speak." Yin Renshu said with authority.

"The truth is, his name is Ye Feng. He also grew up in this town. In fact, we are acquaintances. More or less twenty years ago, Ye Feng entered the palace as a eunuch. However, before he could even serve as one, he got really sick. The process of his castration failed him and decided to go home to recover. But the world is truly cruel, his condition got worse day by day and suffered until his last breath."

"How sure you are that this vicious ghost that haunted this town is the one you know?" Yin Renshu interrogated him.

The man didn't seem to get overwhelmed by this pressure Yin Renshu is throwing at him. He seems so sure about what he was talking about. "Sir, I have seen it with my own eyes! I am one of those who have seen him go out of that small house. I can't possibly be mistaken. I may not have seen him for the last ten years but I am sure that was him."

Seeing that Yin Renshu is still doubting him, he added, "I know that you do not fully trust me but I want to help this old acquaintance of mine to rest in peace."

The emperor thinks for a while before he speaks, "Does this acquaintance of yours got buried with his body incomplete? It's said that if a eunuch dies and got buried without his shaft, he will haunt men and cut theirs as well. He won't stop this act until he finds his. Perhaps this is the case?"

The man immediately answered, "The learned sir isn't wrong about dead eunuchs searching for their detached manhood. However, good sir, the detached part of him got buried with him. I know that because I was there at his funeral."

"I also think that's the case, Renshu. Come to think of it, it's been at least twenty years since he's buried but isn't it strange that it took him such a long time to search for his lost part?" Xu Zhengming speaks his thought, "If he's going to start this incident in any way, he should have done that a long time ago."

"Perhaps someone robbed it?" The man said.

Xu Zhengming puffed a laugh. "Pfft... who would rob that such thing?"

"It's actually not impossible." Yin Renshu said in an indifferent tone. "Whenever a eunuch got a promotion, he needs to present this thing."

Xu Zhengming got dumbstruck. Is that really the case?! If he got promoted, will he rob such a thing too? But on the second thought, he doesn't think this temperamental emperor in front of him will give him a promotion.

Yin Renshu continues, "I don't think it's impossible for someone to enter the palace as a eunuch without the process of castration." He pauses and gives Xu Zhengming a smirk. "One factor is that this person got a connection to a politically powerful person in the imperial palace. Of course, it's possible to silence the royal physician and keep this little secret. Since they're not castrated, what would they present? That's the time they'll rob the graves of the deceased eunuchs. "

Hearing this, the little eunuch got goosebumps. He feels uneasiness with the emperor's sharp gazes. Well, he's guilty of this factor that his majesty mentioned after all.

"Mister, will you lead us to his burial place?" Yin Renshu asked the man.

The stranger's face lightens up and happily nods. "Of course, good sir. I'm willing to lead the way. This is the last thing I could do for him."

"Alright, let's go." Yin Renshu rises from his seat.

"Wait!" Xu Zhengmiing stopped him.

"What?" The emperor throws an annoyed glare at him.

"We haven't eaten yet!" Xu Zhengming rarely got himself someone who'll treat him for a meal. Will he even let this golden opportunity go? Of course not!

Yin Renshu exclaimed, "But this is important!"

Xu Zhengming exclaimed back, "But I'm hungry!"

His little eunuch makes a face of discomfort. The truth is, he's not that hungry, it's just he might not get this golden ticket later. This emperor is temperamental in the first place! Also, he felt bad for the chef who's probably preparing their orders by now, and for the smiling waiter who cheerfully entertained them.

Yin Renshu is prideful but not selfish. He couldn't just force someone not to eat just because he's not that hungry. In the end, he sits back on the chair. "Ugh... fine." He then looks at the man, "Mister, can we go after we have our meal?"

"Yes, we can! Please take your time, good sirs. I'll patiently wait for you at my table." He said before returning to his table.

It didn't take too much time before their meal got served by the waiter. The man indeed did not rush them and waited for them to finish.

After they ate their meal, they immediately headed into a hill on the border side of the town. It was where the burial mounds of the Ye family were, the same place where Eunuch Ye Feng was buried.

Although it's daytime, the tall trees can't allow the sunlight to pass through that made the place a little dark. In addition, the weather today is cloudy. The cold breeze makes the atmosphere even more creepy... and unpleasant.

As they pass through several tombstones, Mingming's face gets uglier the further they walk.

"Ugh... what's this smell? I feel like puking." The smell of rotten flesh makes Xu Zhengming feel nauseous. The closer they get to the area, the stronger the foul smell gets. Even their guide can't help but cover his nose and mouth with his palm.

"Don't you dare vomit what you eat earlier. Those are expensive, much expensive than my meal." As a former cultivator, the emperor isn't bothered at all. He's used to these kinds of situations and even encountered worse.

"I know, I know... ugh."

"This is..." They all stopped their steps. The man can't find the right words to say.

Eunuch Ye's tombstone is on broken pieces and scattered on the ground. The ground itself also has a big c***k on it. Bellow is the wrecked wooden coffin where the body used to lie.

"The thief seems... violent?" Xu Zhengming offhandedly comments after seeing the scene.

"Thief? Is there really one?" His majesty felt strong yin energy in the area. And the epicenter of the dark energy is coming from the wrecked coffin.

As he's investigating further, Yin Renshu noticed white silk underneath the fragments of wood from the coffin. His phoenix eyes narrowed, he thought, this might give them some leads on what really happened. It could be something that the culprit left behind.

The emperor endured the unpleasant smell and leans on the pit. He carefully picks the fragments that trample the white cloth and tossed it somewhere else.

When he completely removed all the obstacles, he discovered that this silk actually wraps something inside it.

Without any hesitation, he picked it up. This thing also has dark energy on it. Whatever it is must be able to give them some clues.

"Your ma--- Renshu, what's that?" His curious little eunuch approached him.

His majesty didn't answer him and instead uncovers the hidden object.

"...."

No one speaks for a while. The three of them just stared at this shaft on Yin Renshu's hands.

"That's... uh..." Xu Zhengming knows what that object is. Although the time and the world's process made it look different now, it is still recognizable. Their guide also knows, as well as Yin Renshu. They know very well what that is because each of them has one.

"It's not stolen..." The man is still lost in his thoughts.

"..."

Yin Renshu didn't say anything. He doesn't want to. He is a cultivator and cultivated for almost a decade but never in this lifetime did he thought that he will be holding someone else's manhood.

The emperor is right. This indeed gives them a clue. Through this, they confirmed that it wasn't stolen and the deceased eunuch is probably being manipulated by someone.

Then a loud and hoarse howl echoed behind them made the man and Mingming flinch in surprise. Good thing, his majesty is always ready for this kind of situation wherever he goes. Yin Renshu immediately grabs a couple of talismans from his sleeve, ready to attack at any moment.

Just a couple of seconds later, a loud and hurried series of thud is heard.

"What's happening?" The little eunuch's knees start to tremble and his heart pumps faster just like their guide.

"Stay behind me." Yin Renshu said with his eyes looking in the direction where the commotion comes from. The two then quickly hides behind him.

Not too long after that, the creature reveals itself in front of them. The monster has a body of a human but its flesh is all rotten and looks like it's undergoing the last stage of decomposition. He wears the same uniform as Xu Zhengming - it's the dead eunuch, Ye Feng! Since his body long became stiff, he can't bend his limbs. Thus he could only hop and stretch his arms forward for mobility.

Yin Renshu didn't waste any more time and tosses the talismans in the air, made a hand seal, and controlled the yellow papers to attach themselves to the walking dead. A second later, the papers explode along with the monster.

Mingming asked anxiously, "Did you get him?"