The Blood of Youth – CH 042

Chapter 42: Five Grand Eunuchs of Heavenly Revelations

Heavenly Revelations City.

Court of State Ceremonial.

A handsome man with white hair at his temples sat on a prayer mat, his left hand gently counting the Buddhist beads while his right hand rested on a long sword. His lips barely moved as he recited scriptures.

He was one of the Five Grand Eunuchs, the Eunuch of Incense, and also the imperial eunuch in charge of the Court of State Ceremonial. Once upon a time, he wielded a cold sword and rolled up a storm in the martial world, and back then, he was known as the Snowstorm Sword, Shen Jingzhou. Now, he was known as Jin Xian Gonggong.

“Shifu,” a child announced softly as he stepped through the door. He was Bo Yong, who accompanied Jin Xian to the Great Sanskrit Temple months ago.

Jin Xian Gonggong did not open his eyes but softly acknowledged with an “hm” sound.

“Eunuch of Records Jin Yu Gonggong is here,” Bo Yong whispered.

Jin Xian Gonggong nodded, waved a hand, and gestured at Bo Yong to leave.

Bo Yong turned around and walked away quickly, stepping out the door only to run into the tall man wearing a purple python robe still standing respectfully outside the door. His hands were clasped behind his back while he raised his head to look dazedly at the sky. Unlike the other Grand Eunuchs, the Eunuch of Records rarely visits others, but when he did visit someone, he would always appears estranged. He would request a disciple to announce his arrival before stepping into the courtyard, never neglecting etiquette. He was not like the stern and bad-tempered Eunuch of Sword, nor the slick and sly Eunuch of Seal. The Eunuch of Records could always be found sitting in the imperial library reading a book, and at first glance, he looked like a middle-aged Confucian scholar. Hence, inexplicably, Bo Yong really liked this Eunuch of Records, who always had a polite smile for him.

“Gonggong, Shifu invites you to enter the hall,” Bo Yong said respectfully.

Jin Yu Gonggong came back to himself, gave a small nod, and walked into the hall. Bo Yong realized that a butterfly was resting on the Grand Eunuch’s shoulder and felt a jolt of shock in his heart. When an ordinary person moved, a butterfly would immediately fly away from the sudden movement, but even more so for a martial artist. They had a hostile aura about them, and it was impossible for a butterfly to come close to them. What martial arts did the Eunuch of Records master to be able to hide his breath to such a degree? Just as Bo Yong was deep in thought about this, the seemingly slow-moving Jin Yu Gonggong had already entered the hall.

“Jin Yu.” Jin Xian Gonggong opened his eyes, and the fingers that were counting the Buddhist beads stilled.

Jin Yu Gonggong nodded and sat down on a long bench.

Jin Xian Gonggong didn’t get up but returned a slight smile. “What wind has brought you to visit me?”

“Not a gust of wind.” Jin Yu Gonggong shook his head.

“Then what?” Jin Xian Gonggong looked at Jin Yu Gonggong.

“It’s a gust of wind flower snow moon,” Jin Yu Gonggong pronounced solemnly.

After a long silence, Jin Xian Gonggong sighed heavily. “Sure enough, he has walked into that city.”

“Yes. From the moment he entered the city, that game of chess had already begun. Now, we have no choice but to stand above the chessboard. As chess pieces, we must also make our choice.” Jin Yu Gonggong picked up a cup of tea from the table.

“It’s already cold,” Jin Xian Gonggong noted.

“It’s fine.” Jin Yu Gonggong touched the bottom of the cup lightly with his fingers. The bowl of cold tea suddenly came to a boil, and steam rose from the surface. He blew gently on the tea and took a sip.

“Using the Mild Breathing Technique to make tea? If Shifu found out, he’d probably die of anger.” Jin Xian Gonggong chuckled.

Jin Yu Gonggong put down the teacup and murmured to himself, “We have to make a choice.”

“We can’t make a choice. There are three Princes, four generals, and five ministers in the imperial court, as well as the cities and large important families of the martial world. They can all make their own choices. But the Five Grand Eunuchs of the imperial palace have no choice. The name written on the scroll hidden in the plaque of the Hall of Supreme Peace is the one we have to choose.” Jin Xian Gonggong stopped smiling and spoke with a serious tone.

“But I want to choose,” Jin Yu Gonggong said indifferently, but his every word struck Jin Xian Gonggong heavily in his heart.

“Jin Yu! You!” Jin Xian Gonggong was shocked.

“Jin Yu is right. The scroll in the plaque clearly has no name in it right now!” Suddenly, a powerful voice sounded and a purple light flashed. Another person had appeared in the hall.

He had large eyes and thick brows, and he wasn’t angry but still looked very imposing.

Grand Eunuch of Sword, Jin Wei Gonggong.

“Furthermore, we can even influence whose name is finally written on that scroll.” A voice carrying a hint of a smile suddenly sounded, and a plump figure stood outside the hall. His face was full of smiles, but his eyes hid a sharpness that was barely perceptible.

Grand Eunuch of Seal, Jin Yan Gonggong.

“Three months ago, you convened a meeting with the Five Grand Eunuchs, and you told us that you met that person at the Great Sanskrit Temple. Now, we received news that this person has stepped into Snow Moon City. In other words, the chess game that we had thought was an endgame has come back to life. Before this, we were the chess pieces, but now, we can be the chess players.” Jin Yan Gonggong walked into the hall.

“The chess player? Jin Yan, you think too highly of yourself.” Jin Xian Gonggong scoffed coldly.

Jin Yan Gongong continued to smile widely. “When you were still a little eunuch, did you ever think you would one day become the Eunuch of Incense and be in charge of the Court of State Ceremonial? Now that you hold such a high position, why don’t you want to go even higher? How about plucking the stars with your hand?”

“Plucking the stars with your hand?” Jin Xian Gonggong sneered. Beside him, his sword aura surged instantly, and the entire hall seemed to sway with tremors.

“The two of you have been quarreling since you were young. Isn’t it about time you get over your own bad habits?” Jin Yu Gonggong stood up from the bench and waved his hand gently, suppressing the extremely cold sword aura.

Jin Xian Gonggong snorted indifferently. “The Five Grand Eunuchs act only on the Emperor’s orders, and we were adopted by Shifu when we were very young. Has Shifu ever said anything as rebellious as plucking the stars with your hand?”

“I only said to pluck the stars with your hand. I didn’t say anything about competing with the sun and moon. Jin Xian, you’re too sensitive.” Jin Yan Gonggong also flapped his hands to diffuse the situation.

Standing upright with his sword in his hand, the imposing Jin Wei Gonggong finally spoke up, “Jin Yan is right. If it was before, naturally, we must wait for the Emperor to make a choice. But, since that person has reappeared, many things have changed. Now, we’re the only ones who know about it, but when he stepped into Snow Moon City, I’m certain that more and more people will find out. We cannot wait. At the time, you rushed back on swift horses and took only ten days to return from Khotan to Heavenly Revelations. Wasn’t that also because of this reason?”

Jin Xian exhaled a sigh without answering.

“Over the past year, there were over ten groups of people dispatched from Heavenly Revelations City. Do you know where they all went?” A low voice suddenly came from the back of the main hall.

All four of them were shocked. Who could have appeared behind them without a hint of a breath? They hurriedly turned their heads and saw a middle-aged man with white hair, dressed in a purple python robe, sitting in front of the Buddha statue. He was watching them calmly.

The four hurriedly prostrated themselves. “Grand Eunuch!”

All he did was grow up together with the Emperor as a study companion, and he wasn’t in charge of any major palace departments. But he was, for all intents and purposes, the highest-ranking head of the palace eunuchs—Grand Eunuch Jin Xuan.

Grand Eunuch Jin Xuan continued to speak, “They went to Snow Moon City, Unrivaled City, Admirable Desolation City, Jiangnan’s Lei Clan, Central Shu’s Tang Sect, Lingnan’s old-established Wen Clan, Qingcheng Mountain, Wudang Mountain, Shaolin Temple, Yunlin Temple, and even to that land beyond our borders, Outerheaven, as well as the Dark River, whose location is unknown. They’ve sent men to pretty much all the martial clans and sects. The fight in the imperial court is not over yet, but the fight in the martial world has begun.”

The four of them had already stood up, but they exchanged looks with one another, none of them saying a word. Because they didn’t understand what Grand Eunuch Jin Xuan was trying to say.

“Jin Yan, you said that you want to influence the name on that scroll?” Grand Eunuch Jin Xuan suddenly turned to look at Jin Yan Gonggong.

The plump Jin Yan Gonggong was so frightened he started sweating profusely and hurriedly knelt down again. “Grand Eunuch, Jin Yan had a moment of folly and spoke out of hand…”

“It’s fine. You don’t have to be so scared of me.” Jin Xuan Gonggong waved a hand. “We have always been martial brothers, but I didn’t live with the rest of you when we were growing up, so it’s natural that I’m not as close to each other as you all. But, this matter is extremely important to us, and there must be no misunderstanding between the Five Grand Eunuchs. You are right, we indeed have the ability to influence that name. But, we don’t need to.”

“We don’t?” The other four did not understand.

“That’s right, we don’t. Because the name that will be written on that scroll must be chosen by us!” Grand Eunuch Jin Xuan declared loudly.

The four of them were already drenched with cold sweat on their backs. What Jin Xuan just said could have many meanings, but there was one interpretation that could result in all of them losing their heads immediately.

“Grand Eunuch, is there a need for us to send someone to Snow Moon City right away?” Jin Yan Gonggong asked in a low voice. He was the only one who maintained the same expression as always.

“No need. Those people are too anxious because they can feel the fear in their hearts.

“We only need to wait here.

“Entering Snow Moon City is just the beginning. The day he steps into Heavenly Revelations will be the day we enter the chess game!”