CH extra 8

01]

Everyone knew that Ye Jun’s hearing was quite good, but very few people knew just how good it is.

He had keen ears and, needles to say, he paid particular attention to how people’s external and internal breathing, heart rate, and pulse1 influenced each other, and how they reflected a person’s mood and frame of mind. These subtle sounds, which were invisible in the eyes of others, could create impressions in his mind, some people were resolute and brave, like the bright sun on the Gobi desert, and others were sinister and disagreeable, like thorny bushes in the jungle.

Because of this special trait, he could easily judge which people were good to approach, and which people he should guard against; which actions would make people happy, and which actions they’d find repulsive.

When he was young, and Ye Jun had not yet obtained the title of “Ye Jun”, he had no family or friends since he could remember, and wondered about destitute on the streets. Fortunately, his skill of observing people’s words and gestures was first-rate, and he was born with a neat and cute appearance, so he’d actually lived pretty well. While others had to beg for spoiled leftover flour buns and fight against dogs, he could get boxes of exquisite pastries from the beautiful sisters of the magnificent pavilions, and every street urchin within a ten li radius regarded him as their leader.

In the 10th year of Tao Guang2, Ye Jun, who had just turned twelve years old, was captured by the Nightrunner without warning.

When he was captured, he was very surprised, because he didn’t sense any hostility or desire to attack from the person that caught him. He spent a lot of effort, but could not curry favour with them to get his freedom. It was only later that he found out these people were genuinely heartless and numb, like a stagnant pool of water. Just like stagnant water, they had no joy or anger to speak of.

The Nightrunner was the place where he, alongside the other young children caught together with him, would ultimately have the hot blood in their chests extinguished, and be ground down until they became just like lifeless stagnant water.

Among the young children caught with him there were beggars as well as kids from ordinary families. Shock, darkness, the fear of losing loved ones, and the dread of the unknown….. the children took all those negative emotions they couldn’t vent and turned them into hoarse wails and cries.

The confinement of the prison infinitely amplified the clamour of the noise. For Ye Jun, whose hearing was exceptionally sensitive, this was already the cruellest form of torture.

After being locked up for a few days, no one had the strength to cry anymore.

In the eyes of others, the atmosphere in the hidden room was stifled and oppressive, but not for Ye Jun. Their fear and dread was endless, and their heartbeats were still ear-piercing, relentlessly torturing Ye Jun.

It was the first time he’d begun to resent his special trait.

After all, aside from some nice-looking sweet cakes, this special trait had not brought him too many other benefits. He’d not had a single moment of peaceful sleep these past few days.