Be Passive In The High Martial World

Chapter 6: Childhood Days in the Muddy Water Bucket

"Dong Da? Dong Da?"

Zhang Sheng suddenly pushed his companion, who was lost in thought, and asked in confusion, "What are you laughing at?"

Dong Da snapped back to reality and shook his head, saying, "Nothing, I just haven't slept all night, so I'm not feeling too well."

"Well, you better perk up. Those Liang Kingdom cultivators are fierce. We need to be extra careful during our patrol and report any suspicious activity immediately."

"I know."

Dong Da nodded and followed behind Zhang Sheng, a few steps behind, looking around.

This was the outskirts of the imperial city, with houses lined up in a simple and plain manner, mostly serving as residences for the musicians of the Supreme Frequency Temple.

The Supreme Frequency Temple, responsible for ceremonial music and temple rituals, may not be well-known to the public. But when it comes to another similar official institution, the Musical Department, it is definitely famous.

Both are involved in music and dance, but while the Musical Department is known for its indulgence in smoking and drinking, with no taboos, the Supreme Frequency Temple is responsible for the emperor's dignity and oversees ritual music and dance.

However, Emperor Liang Wen, Su Yu, was a refined man who only enjoyed the pure and elegant music, not the decadent tunes.

As a result, the work that should have been handled by the Musical Department was given to the Supreme Frequency Temple, almost causing the Musical Department to become unemployed...

Chen Kuang was originally a scattered official in the Supreme Frequency Temple's Grand Music Office. Although he was a musician who was summoned and dismissed by high-ranking officials, he also held a proper official title of Eighth Grade.

If one day he could return to his home, where he was blinded and sold a bushel of rice, it would be considered a triumphant return.

These residences had similar structures and were difficult to distinguish.

But fortunately, the musician had told him a good way to judge—

Both his and Yue Zheng's residences had a low-hanging branch of a crabapple tree at the entrance, which would brush against his hair every time he passed by.

Dong Da focused his gaze and observed carefully.

He found that almost half of the houses had planted crabapple trees at their entrances, which were now half withered, with fallen petals covering the ground.

Dong Da: "..."

He shouldn't have believed that blind man!

A blind man who only knew what trees were at his own doorstep, how could he know what trees were at others' doorsteps?

What a waste of effort!

Dong Da spat and was about to catch up with Zhang Sheng when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He looked again carefully.

"There don't seem to be many houses with crabapple trees. If I search all of them, it won't take much effort..."

Originally, the patrol task was randomly assigned from the prison guards who were on their shift, but today he took the initiative to take on the task, and the sergeant praised him for being ambitious.

The patrol route was fixed, but the timing was flexible... as long as the other person could help provide an alibi.

After a brief consideration, Dong Da suddenly clutched his stomach and groaned in pain.

Zhang Sheng heard the commotion and nervously turned around, asking, "What's wrong? Is there something happening?"

Dong Da's face was filled with pain as he said, "I... I have a stomachache. Maybe I ate something unclean yesterday..."

Zhang Sheng didn't suspect anything and said, "No wonder you've been restless today. What should we do?"

"Ouch, why don't you... you go on patrol first, and I'll go to the nearby houses to relieve myself. I'll catch up with you later."

"Well... alright."

Zhang Sheng instructed, "You better hurry. I'll only wait for you for fifteen minutes!"

Dong Da quickly nodded.

He watched Zhang Sheng walk away and then hurriedly rushed into the nearby houses, searching frantically.

"Where is it? The golden cup in the glass box... This blind man really dares to say anything. Even if there are a few young musicians, no matter how many rewards they receive, how could they get their hands on these things?"

"If the emperor truly appreciates them, would he still live in this rundown place? Does he really think I'm a fool?"

He wasn't a fool. The dying musician's words were definitely nine lies and one truth, exaggerated to the extreme.

Dong Da turned around and found a silver ingot. He smirked in satisfaction.

"But... as long as I can find this one true thing, I'll make a profit. If he didn't lie, it would be a huge profit!"

There were about fifty taels of silver buried in the cellar under the bed in front of him, not as much as the claimed two hundred taels, but it already exceeded his imagination.

Dong Da looked at it greedily, thought for a moment, stuffed the silver ingot in his clothes, and then buried the rest of the silver again.

It wasn't easy to sell official silver from the Liang Kingdom, but someone like him, a lowly person, had his own connections.

When Dong Da emerged from the cramped cellar, a puppet suddenly fell from the bed above.

The puppet was very old, with extremely poor sewing skills. The stuffing of cotton and millet leaked out, making it impossible to see its original appearance.

Faintly discernible on the sewn words above were the phrases "poor and incompetent, the abandoned child has nowhere to return."

"What a piece of junk?" Dong Da frowned and threw it aside.

He closed the cellar, checked the time, and muttered to himself, "I won't bother looking for the glass box anymore. It's all nonsense. How could a musician be rewarded with an emperor's elixir?"

Dong Da turned around and suddenly saw a dark figure standing at the door, staring at him with a pair of crimson eyes.

"What... elixir?" Dong Da was so frightened that he took two steps back and fell to the ground, terrified.

"Black... Black Armor Guard?! I-I-I didn't do anything, I just... just had a stomachache and was looking for a toilet..."

Different from the Black Armor Army, the Black Armor Guard was Li Hongling's twenty personal guards who were monitoring the prison through their spiritual senses.

The Black Armor Guard impatiently took a step forward.

One of Dong Da's arms flew off instantly!

Blood splattered all over the ground.

"I'll talk, I'll talk!" Dong Da was in excruciating pain, covered in cold sweat, and hoarsely said, "That musician said that Yue Zheng is close to Emperor Liang and was once given an elixir, which is kept in a glass box!"

The Black Armor Guard nodded. "Very well."

Dong Da breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly felt a cold hand armor grabbing his head and lifting it forcefully.

He raised his head in confusion and found himself looking into the crimson eyes of the Black Armor Guard.

"Search for it!"

The Black Armor Guard let go, and the head rolled to the ground.

Behind him, a large number of soldiers wearing black armor flooded into the street, searching door to door.

Zhang Sheng, who had just left, was also captured and had his head chopped off on the spot.

The Black Armor Guard seemed to remember something and ordered, "This matter must not be leaked. Who is currently serving as the prison guard? That musician and... forget it, there are only fifteen people, kill them all."

He waved his hand, and his subordinates respectfully retreated.

...

Chen Kuang held the bowl of rice soaked in soup and felt a hot, glaring gaze directed at him, as bright as a white light bulb.

He glanced sideways and indeed saw a short figure sticking to the railing with eager eyes.

"Gurgle."

He swallowed his saliva.

The prison cell was empty and echoed.

Chen Kuang secretly chuckled and looked at the rice soup in the bowl. Suddenly, he sighed with regret, "Ah, why is there a bug in this rice soup? How can I eat it now?"

"Neither do I have an appetite. It's better to pour it out," he pretended to search around, feeling annoyed, "But I have to sleep in these places. Where should I pour it? Why don't they provide a slop bucket in the dungeon?"

Next to him, a mysterious voice solemnly said, "Here, here, the slop bucket is here."

"Really? Where?"

"You can't see it, let me tell you. Just take three steps forward and move a little to the right."

"Oh..."

Chen Kuang walked over and stood still, trying hard not to look at the serious little kid in front of him.

She looked up, staring straight at the bottom of the bowl.

She accurately shifted her foot to the side, nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, it's here. You can pour it."

Chen Kuang tilted the bowl in his hand, and the thin rice soup flowed down like a waterfall.

The young slop bucket's eyes lit up, and she opened her mouth to catch it.

She also had extraordinary talent. She didn't even need to close her mouth. With a few movements of her throat, she swallowed all the thin porridge in her mouth.

Queen of Liang Kingdom looked at this pair, one pouring and one catching, dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)