Chapter 8: Age is Not an Issue

  He took off his mask, washed his hands with clean water, and began to record the characteristics of the corpse. Then he analyzed the possible diseases and recorded them in detail on a large black notebook provided by Professor Fei.

  After doing all that, he finally stood up, his face a little pale, his long eyelashes trembling constantly: "Teacher, is there anything else to do?"

  Fei Jie looked at him, furrowed his brow, and didn't expect the little guy to be so bold.

  Without waiting for him to speak, Fan Xian finally couldn't bear the nausea and ran under the eaves, letting out a loud "whoosh" as he started vomiting violently. Only when his dizziness had slightly subsided did he stand up again.

  A hint of tenderness floated in Fei Jie's eyes as he thought to himself, "Is it too cruel to let a four-year-old child come into contact with the most terrifying things in life?" Until he saw Fan Xian spit, Fei Jie suddenly realized that only at this moment did Fan Xian truly look like a little kid, rather than always seeming to have another soul hidden inside.

  "Never mind, just have a rough idea for now, let's talk about it next time."

  Before Fei's words had fallen, Fan Xian's clear voice said: "It's a pity that Danzhou Port is a small city and there are too few deaths. Otherwise, we can find a fresh corpse."

  Fei Jie's heart skipped a beat, and he slowly turned his head to face Fan Xian's eyes that were as clear as water, trying to read something from them. After a long while, he coldly said: "Why..."

  "Huh?"

  "Why aren't you afraid? Why aren't you angry with me for making you do these things?" Fei Jie found it puzzling, furrowing his brow as he looked at the little guy.

  Fan Xian lowered his head and said respectfully: "Because the teacher said to poison someone for me to observe and learn, I was very scared, so I'd rather come to dig up a corpse."

  "So there's still something in this world that you're afraid of."

  "Yes." Fan Xian looked at him pitifully, "Xiao Xian is only four and a half years old."

  "Age is not an excuse." Fei nodded and then shook his head: "Although you are young, maybe there are some things you don't understand, but you should know that as a noble's illegitimate child, in the years to come, you may face many plots and harm. Sometimes this cheap sympathy can be a deadly weapon against yourself."

  After saying this, Fei Jie had a strange idea that maybe everything he said was understood by the little kid in front of him. At this moment, the morning light suddenly shone into Fan Xian's half-raised eyes, reflecting a very wonderful luster.

  Fei's brow furrowed slightly, and he felt that the little boy's eyes were quite eerie. In this life, he didn't know how many people he had killed with poison. During the Northern Expedition of the previous emperor, the poisonous liquid he had configured had killed at least tens of thousands of soldiers from the Northern Wei State. If one were to talk about karma, he was destined to go to hell, but why did he feel an inexplicable fear when looking at the cute little boy in front of him?

  The unearthed nameless graves were rearranged, and an old and young strange master and apprentice began to walk eastward along the sky light. As they walked, Fei Jie suddenly asked: "You must be very curious, right?"

  "Hmm." Fan Xian nodded slightly, a sweet smile on his face with a hint of shyness, "Teacher is very kind to me."

  Fei Jie didn't expect the kid to answer irrelevantly, and he couldn't help but laugh bitterly: "You can still laugh at this time, I really doubt your nerve and brain maturity."

  "Laughing is better than crying."

  "That's right." Fei's gaze turned to the distant city wall, and he frowned, saying: "Your father's estate in Kyoto is very large, and there will be many people who will fight with you for it in the future, so you must become stronger and learn more."

  Fan Xian didn't say a word, but in his heart he was thinking that his father, the Marquis of Southern Jiang, had always been trusted by the Emperor and therefore hadn't been sent to any external post, but instead stayed within the capital.

  The previous year, Kyoto was in a state of political turmoil, and it is unknown how many princes and nobles died in the coup. In the end, His Majesty the Emperor firmly controlled the situation, slaughtering countless royal and noble families, but his own father, who was also a noble, miraculously maintained the emperor's trust, and this official became even more powerful as a result.

  But Fan Xian still couldn't understand what kind of family property would lead to his own death and make his father invite the most feared inspector from Kyoto to be his teacher.

  "I understand that in the future, there will definitely be people who want to kill me, so my teacher taught me how to use poison. Actually, it's because they're afraid I'll be poisoned to death."

  "Not bad, there are many ways to kill someone, but the most convenient and least likely to attract attention is to use poison." Fei Jie placed his hand on top of his head and gently stroked it twice. "My task is to teach you these aspects within a year, ensuring that no one will be able to poison your food and kill you in the future."

  "Why is it now? Were you not afraid of being poisoned to death in the past?" Some questions had to be asked clearly, so Fan Xian couldn't help but ask, letting his opponent perceive his maturity beyond his age.

  Fei Jie smiled, but there was an inexplicable sinister tone in his smile: "Because last month, the concubine of Count Sannan gave birth to a son, which means that the estate of the count's mansion has added another competitor. And that concubine happens to have some connections with certain people in the Supervisory Institute. Your father is worried that something will happen to you here and it's not convenient for him to send someone to protect you for a long time, because that would make you surface too early. So he arranged for me to teach you."

  Fan Xian noticed that Fei Jie used two titles, Count South and Father.

  "I'm a bastard." Fan Xian smiled sweetly, "According to the laws of our country, I shouldn't have the qualifications to inherit my father's title. Auntie shouldn't be too worried about me, right?"

  "What can be said for certain in this world?" Fei Jie replied casually, "Although the five masters have been secretly protecting you, he can't be your nanny after all. The poison in the food may not kill him, but it can easily kill you. And you don't know, if you die, how many people will accompany you to send their lives."

  Fan Xian's confusion deepened as he wondered what kind of power and influence his father, whom he had never met, possessed in secret, far exceeding that of an earl.

  ……

  ……

  The morning light was faintly warm, and Fei Jie held his small hand as they walked towards the city of Danzhou. The two figures, one tall and one short, cast long shadows on the ground. Fei Jie looked at his still somewhat pale face: "Actually, dead people are not scary at all."

  "Yes."

  "Don't use that kind of aura to control your emotions again. If a person's emotions can't be properly vented, even if the tyrannical aura inside you is really cultivated to its peak, it will only become a monster that only knows how to kill."

  "Yes." Fan Xian obediently dispersed the true energy in his body and stopped forcing himself to control his fear and disgust towards the corpse.

  At this moment, Fei Jie suddenly said: "There is still a piece of rotten intestine in your sleeve, are you going to go home and braise it?"

  "Ah!" A small cry of surprise from a child and a sinister laugh from a certain bad teacher echoed through the quiet suburban path.