Chapter 260: Mo Xiuyan

Chapter 260: Mo Xiuyan

Mo Jiuye stood up and tapped on the table at a spot corresponding to the iron lump.

He Zhiran, watching closely from under the table, saw that with just a few taps, a barely noticeable gap appeared where the iron lump met the tabletop.

"Tap it again."

Mo Jiuye responded and tapped the tabletop once more.

"How is it?"

"It hasn't moved. Try tapping different spots," He Zhiran reminded him.

Mo Jiuye continued tapping the tabletop, not very quickly, asking after every three taps.

He Zhiran kept her eyes fixed on the iron lump.

"Don't stop; it should be here. Keep tapping."

She could see that the gap between the iron lump and the tabletop had widened slightly.

Mo Jiuye tapped that spot again, three times, then another three times...

The iron lump gradually separated from the tabletop, revealing a thick iron rod about as wide as a wrist.

There was a button on the iron rod, which He Zhiran cautiously pressed.

In the silent room, a dull sound echoed, and the bookshelf, which had been motionless, slowly moved apart.

As the bookshelf opened, a pungent odor instantly filled the air...

Mo Jiuye took the flashlight from He Zhiran and led the way into the entrance.

It was a small room with hardly any furnishings, except for a bed in the corner.

A person lay flat on the bed. If not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, one might easily mistake him for a corpse.

Mo Jiuye asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

Mo Xiuyan, thinking it was those people coming to humiliate him again, closed his eyes upon hearing the noise.

He was now a cripple, and even death seemed like a luxury.

In this dark room, he had lost track of how long he had been imprisoned. Whenever those people came, they would only bring him some food and water, but otherwise, they would humiliate him.

Mo Xiuyan had grown accustomed to this treatment, hoping that they would be more brutal so he could find an early release.

Hearing this voice, a sense of familiarity stirred within him.

But he never imagined it could be his ninth brother, thinking instead that it was just a hallucination due to missing his family too much.

His rational mind soon overcame his emotions, convincing him that this must be someone new whose voice sounded unfamiliar.

Thus, Mo Xiuyan did not respond and kept his eyes closed, waiting for the next bout of torture.

However, after a long wait, nothing happened.

Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had already approached his bedside.

The bright light from the flashlight forced Mo Xiuyan to open his eyes.

Years without seeing light made him squint against the intense beam.

Years of torment had left Mo Xiuyan unrecognizable. In Mo Jiuye's eyes, the man before him had disheveled hair, a tangled beard with unknown substances stuck to it, sunken eye sockets, and protruding cheekbones. If not for the faint breaths, he would have looked like a mummy.

Despite this, Mo Jiuye still recognized the general features.

He tentatively asked, "Are you Fourth Brother?"

As he spoke, realizing that the strong light was making it hard for his fourth brother to keep his eyes open, he redirected the flashlight elsewhere.

If Mo Xiuyan had thought the voice was a hallucination, hearing his ninth brother call him "Fourth Brother" made it impossible to doubt anymore.

"Ninth Brother, is it really you?"

Mo Jiuye had called him "Fourth Brother" partly to test, as Mo Xiuyan's appearance differed greatly from his memory.

A man who should be around thirty looked like an old man nearing death.

He Zhiran could feel that Mo Jiuye's body was trembling.

He knelt by the bed, his hands shaking as he reached out to touch Mo Xiuyan.

Mo Xiuyan instinctively tried to avoid the touch, but his weakened state made it impossible.

"Ninth Brother, don't... don't touch me, I'm dirty."

Indeed, Mo Xiuyan's clothes were tattered and filthy, covered in various stains.

Mo Jiuye didn't care about the dirt and continued his actions.

When he touched Mo Xiuyan's body, his heart bled.

"Fourth Brother, how did you become so thin?"

Seeing Mo Xiuyan's emaciated form was one thing, but feeling it made it all the more unbearable for Mo Jiuye.

Mo Xiuyan tried to force a smile. "Being alive right now is already a blessing from heaven."

This was not the time for detailed inquiries about Mo Xiuyan's ordeal. He Zhiran reminded him, "Husband, let me check on Fourth Brother first."

As she spoke, she moved to the bedside.

Hearing the term "husband," Mo Xiuyan knew without a doubt that the woman speaking was his sister-in-law.

Given how filthy his body was, there was no way he could allow his ninth sister-in-law to help examine him.

Mo Xiuyan quickly said, "Sister-in-law, Fourth Brother will tell you."

Pausing for a moment, he continued weakly, "Both my legs are broken, and my tendons have been severed. Otherwise, I'm fine."

Otherwise, he's fine?

Given his emaciated state, how could it be considered "fine"?

He Zhiran had lived in this era for over half a year and fully understood the ancient mindset.

Especially between a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law, there was always a need to maintain propriety.

Mo Xiuyan's current condition was far more serious than he admitted. To conduct a thorough examination, advanced medical equipment from her space would be necessary.

Therefore, He Zhiran did not insist on examining Mo Xiuyan immediately.

She planned to wait until the brothers had a brief conversation before administering a sedative to Mo Xiuyan, putting him into a coma, and then taking him into her space.

Whether it was for examining his body or leaving this place, Mo Xiuyan needed to enter her space.

Seeing that his ninth sister-in-law did not take further action, Mo Xiuyan's tense nerves relaxed slightly.

He gave a self-deprecating laugh and said, "Fourth Brother is now just a cripple. Being able to see family again while still alive is enough for me. As for my body, even a divine being couldn't heal it."

Under the light of the flashlight, He Zhiran could see the heart-wrenching disappointment in Mo Xiuyan's eyes.

Anyone trapped in such a dark room would likely think only of when death might come.

"Fourth Brother, believe me; I will find a way to heal you."

Hearing his wife say this, Mo Jiuye couldn't help but ask, "Ranran, can you really heal Fourth Brother?"

He knew his wife was an excellent doctor, but Fourth Brother's condition was not a common illness.

Broken legs might have a chance of healing, but it was still a matter of probability.

Fourth Brother had been missing for years, so his leg injuries were likely old. Regardless of their severity, in this era, he hadn't heard of anyone who could heal them.

Moreover, the severed tendons in Fourth Brother's hands were, in Mo Jiuye's understanding, incurable.