My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

Canaan crouched on the rooftop, looking out by the faint firelight.

The firelight flickered on and off; it was a torch held by He Jin.

The torch was probably damp and wasn't burning very well.

The orange flames flickered uneasily in the cold air, expanding and contracting as if something unseen was breathing into them.

With each leap, it would suddenly stretch He Jin's shadow long, casting it onto the mottled wall behind him.

Most of the plaster had peeled off, revealing the yellowish-brown mud underneath. He Jin's shadow twisted and turned on the uneven surface of the wall, sometimes stretching, sometimes folding, flickering in the dim firelight, like a vengeful ghost.

Those who are timid can just take a look and go enjoy the good life.

He Jin stood there in the center of the hall, making no other move. He was like a wooden stake driven into the ground, completely still.

The torch in his hand occasionally crackled and popped, scattering a few tiny sparks that drew a fleeting arc of light in the darkness.

It's unclear whether he was listening for any sounds around him to make sure no one was following him.

Canaan lay prone on the roof, barely daring to breathe.

He pressed himself against the roof tiles, his chest pressed low, like a pancake spread out on the roof.

The night wind blew in from every part of the air, howling and howling. When the wind swept across the roof tiles, it even brought a slight whistling sound. It brushed against Canaan's earlobe, cold as if a knife was scraping his bones.

His knees were pressed against a few pieces of broken tile, which were hard and cold. The eunuch's robe was a little small, so he put on the outermost layer to make it look more natural.

The chill seeped through the thin fabric and crept up his bones, making him feel like his knees were about to freeze off.

Canaan didn't dare to change his position, and after a while, the numbness began to spread from his toes upwards, first to his ankles, and then to his calves.

The night sky overhead was a deep, dark black; the moon and stars were nowhere to be seen, only layers upon layers of clouds completely sealing off the entire sky.

Occasionally, a dog barks or two can be heard from the village at the foot of the mountain. The sound is carried far and thin by the wind, as if it comes from another world.

After he finished treating his legs, which had completely lost all feeling from the knees down, turning them into two numb pieces of wood, there was finally a new movement below.

He Jin suddenly spoke, his voice rising from the gap in the tile, becoming somewhat muffled after being amplified.

Canaan's spirits lifted, and he pressed his ear even closer to the crack in the tile. The rough edge of the tile scraped against his earlobe, cold and piercing.

He only heard He Jin mumble a few words in a language he couldn't understand at all.

The pronunciation had a sticky, guttural quality and a rolled "r" sound, as if it had been chewed up and then put back together, which sounded like a cat meowing in heat to Canaanites.

Before he could even process what language it was, two people suddenly emerged from behind the dilapidated Buddha statue in front of He Jin.

The Buddha statue is only half intact; the other half collapsed at some unknown time, and the clay at the broken edge is a dark yellow color in the firelight.

The remaining eye was half-open, the gold paint at the corner of the eye had long since peeled off, leaving only a layer of grayish white, staring blankly ahead, without sorrow or joy.

The two people were also dressed as Great Flame People, wearing coarse cloth short jackets with several patches on the surface, the stitches large and sloppy.

A hemp rope was tied around his waist, with the end of the rope casually tucked into his belt.

His feet were covered in thick cloth shoes, which rustled as he stepped on the rubble.

As soon as the two emerged, they bowed to He, their five fingers interlaced and raised to their chests, their waists bent extremely low, their movements swift and respectful. A soft rustling sound came from the rubbing of their clothing.

They looked at He Jin with reverence and addressed him in hushed tones as—

"That face".

The address sounded exceptionally clear in the empty, dilapidated hall. The two words fell steadily, like two pebbles thrown into a still pond, creating ripples that were then swallowed up by the darkness.

He Jin nodded without saying anything, and the three of them went back inside the Buddha statue.

The towering stone statue was hidden in the darkness, leaving only a dark outline, which swallowed the three figures one by one.

After that, there was no further news.

The dilapidated temple was so quiet that only the creaking of the broken window frames in the night wind and the soft whooshing sound of the flame on the torch left by He Jin being pulled by the wind could be heard.

Canaan lay on the roof, the cold wind blowing, and he could almost hear the sound of blood flowing in his ears, a rumbling sound that made him feel a ringing in his ears.

Just as Canaan was beginning to suspect that there might be some secret passage behind them, and that these people had already run away through it, the three of them finally emerged.

He Jin had changed his clothes and was no longer wearing the palace eunuch's uniform.

He changed into a dark gray coarse cloth robe, over which he wore a worn sheepskin vest with the cuffs tied tightly, and on his feet he wore a pair of high-top, thick-soled cloth boots.

He casually rolled up the eunuch's robes and stuffed them back behind the statue.

One of the two men had a flag on his shoulder, loosely rolled up on the flagpole, from which the character "商" (meaning "merchant") could be vaguely discerned.

The three of them disguised themselves as a small merchant caravan.

Then the other one of the two ran to the wall and started rummaging through the straw.

The straw was piled high, forming a small mountain in the corner, and the surface layer had become moldy, covered with a layer of grayish-green fuzz.

He reached into the haystack and rummaged around for a while, then suddenly pulled out a cart.

The wooden wheels of the cart creaked as they rolled over the uneven ground.

The cart was also loaded with fur goods; the furs were rolled into bundles and tied tightly with hemp rope, glistening with an oily sheen in the firelight.

Canaan was dumbfounded; the preparations were so complete.

Compared to them, his disguise made him look like a complete greenhorn.

Then the group went down the mountain under cover of darkness.

He Jin walked at the front, his steps steady, with a bundle on his shoulder containing some money and supplies.

The other two pushed the cart from either side, the wheels bouncing and making a dull thud on the mountain road.

The shadows of the group were cast behind them by the torch held in front of He Jin, stretching out in varying lengths on the rugged mountain path.

The night wind swept in from the depths of the mountains, making the withered thorns by the roadside rustle.

After descending the mountain, they continued northward, their indistinct figures gradually swallowed by the darkness.

Canaan didn't follow them after he descended the mountain. Those two were clearly skilled fighters, and following them any longer would be too risky.

Moreover, he felt that the intelligence he had now was sufficient.

Taking advantage of the fact that it was already completely dark and most people outside the capital were asleep, he went to the nearest town and stole a set of clothes that were half-wet and half-dry hanging out to dry.

The clothes hung on a bamboo pole, swaying back and forth in the night wind. The fabric was still damp and felt cool against his skin.

But there's no time to change anymore, so it's better to leave as soon as possible.

Canaan then embarked on his journey back to the Western Regions.