The white pearl trembled for a brief moment before a tiny black dot appeared inside of it. Then, like an ink spilling onto a canvas, this tiny black dot spread to cover half of the pearl.
"Wonderful! This child possesses a Divine Constitution!"
The old woman couldn't help exclaiming when she saw the change in the pearl. The old man then added.
"It's the rare Darkness Element Constitution. If we plan this right, we can sell him to the Shadow Messengers Guild for a good price."
The old woman nodded repeatedly before turning to the silent young woman.
"Young Lady, what do you-"
However, before the old woman could ask the young woman's opinion, the pearl in her hand suddenly began to change once again. The ink-like color faded before being replaced with a bright pink color. But unlike before, when the black only took up half the pearl, this pink color not only swallowed the whole pearl, but it even began seeping out. An overly intoxicating smell soon engulfed the room.
"This—This is…"
The old woman was so shocked out of her wits by this scene that she could not form a coherent sentence. The old man was equally dumbfounded, but he managed to speak.
"Why is it this Divine Constitution, is this child not a boy?"
As the old woman and the old man were stirring in their confusion, the young woman spoke as she stepped forward.
"Not bad, to think our Nine Desires Pavilion would find someone who possesses the Heavenly Dao Cauldron Constitution."
The young woman took the baby from the old man and gently held him in her arms.
The old man hesitated for a moment, then spoke up.
"Young Miss, this is odd. How can a male child possess such a constitution? Could the pearl have malfunctioned?"
Without looking up from the baby, the young woman responded.
"What's odd about it? The Heavenly Dao Cauldron Constitution is formed when one possesses the Extreme Yang and Extreme Yin Constitutions. Both male and female possess Yang and Yin energies within them, but one is more dominant than the other. It's rare for a male to possess an extreme Yin Constitution, but it's not unheard of. So, having both to then form the Heavenly Dao Cauldron Constitution is not impossible, it's just never been recorded in history before."
"Then, what is to become of this child? Will we sell him to the Shadow Messenger Guild, or…"
The old woman's words trailed off, but the young woman knew what she wanted to say, and she calmly responded.
"What's there to choose? He will work for our Nine Desires Pavilion. Our customers have always been Young Masters from Clans and male Sect Disciples, but now we have a chance to branch into a new market."
The old man and old woman turn to look at each other, not sure what to think of their Young Miss's words.
The young woman, however, ignored them. The baby in her arms was slowly opening his eyes.
"What a strange child you are."
The young woman commented.
The baby didn't show any reaction after waking up; he just stared at the young woman's face with a dazed look.
However, the baby suddenly blinked, and clarity seemed to appear in his eyes. He then looked around curiously before fixing his eyes back onto the young woman.
Upon meeting the gaze of the baby, the young woman had a strange sensation that this baby was observing her. Not like how a baby a few months old would observe someone, but how a child aware of their surroundings would observe someone.
"...Strange child indeed."
The young woman said before she raised her hand and touched the baby's forehead with her finger that glowed a faint white light.
Ah Mieu was confused.
The last time he was awake, he had climbed up to the window and looked outside. It was daytime then.
Judging by the darkness, maybe a couple of hours had passed since he was asleep. However, everything drastically changed during those hours. Now his mother was lying dead on the floor, while his brother was missing. He also didn't know who these people were.
Ah Mieu wanted to keep his eyes open and find out what was going on, but this strange light made him feel extremely drowsy.
As Ah Mieu slowly fell asleep, he wondered how long it would be until he awoke.
….
…
..
Thirteen years later…
On a bed in a luxurious room, two figures were tangled together under the red bed sheets.
"Ah~… Ah~…"
With each movement from the boy on top, the girl underneath would let out weird noises despite her unwillingness to do so. The boy's movements were too wild; he was like a mindless animal.
"This damn Mute, slow down."
The girl said and carelessly slapped the boy's head.
However, as if he didn't hear the girl or feel the slap, the boy continued his actions at the same exaggerated pace. Like a mindless animal who only knew how to follow its instincts, he was too engrossed in this act that gave him immense pleasure to shift his attention.
The girl, seeing this, was beginning to regret coming to this place. However, the Mist Bound Sect was recruiting disciples in a month, and to secure an Inner Disciple position, she needed to increase her Innate Talent.
The girl gritted her teeth and decided to just endure this humiliation. With the Nine Desire Pavilion's reputation, no one would know she came here, not even those from her Clan. She could not imagine what would happen if the word got out. But if this increased her Innate Talent as she was told, then she would do anything, even give up her purity to this Mute.
However, as soon as that thought finished forming in the girl's mind, the boy's movements halted.
Seeing this, the girl frowned and looked up at the boy.
"I told you to slow down, not to stop! Continue, so I can get this over with."
The girl urged, but the boy leaned away and stared at her with a bewildered expression. He then glanced at his surroundings, but the red mesh covering the bed did not allow him to see where he was.
"This… Where. I. Am?"
Ah Mieu voiced his thoughts, unconsciously using his vocal cords. As soon as he did, he reached up and touched his throat in surprise.
"Is… My. Voice. Sounds? Wait. I. Speak?"
Ah Mieu then hurriedly glanced down at his hands and body, only to realize he was no longer small. However, he happened to catch sight of the girl beneath him. She was staring up at him with a shocked expression on her face, but her expression was not what Ah Mieu was focused on. He was instead focused on the fact that she was not wearing any clothes.
Well, he was not wearing any clothes either, but his mother would usually allow him to crawl around the room naked, so the feeling of having no clothes on wasn't unfamiliar. Though what he did find strange was the uncomfortable sensation he felt where he and the girl seemed to be connected.
Although Ah Mieu found the current situation odd, he still wanted to figure out where he was since he was now awake, so he asked the girl.
"Where. I. Am?"
Even though he only learnt a few words from the limited times he was awake when he was still a baby, Ah Mieu thought he still managed to get his question across.
However, after recovering from her shock, the girl narrowed her eyes at Ah Mieu and coldly said.
"So, you're not a Mute. This is not what the manager told me. However, whether you can speak or not, it is none of my concern. If I waste any more time, my family will notice that I left the Clan. So, enough talking and continue!"
Ah Mieu could not understand everything the girl said, but he managed to piece together what he understood. But even then, he was still confused.
Ah Mieu wanted to open his mouth to ask another question, but before he could, he felt his thoughts become sluggish. This made him panic as it was a sign that indicated he was about to fall asleep again.
Not wanting to spend the remaining time asking this girl questions, Ah Mieu tried to hurriedly get off the bed to look around, but the girl wrapped her legs around his waist, stopping him.
"Where are you going? How dare you leave without completing your job!"
'What is wrong with this fool? Why is he suddenly acting strange? Did the Nine Desires Pavilion deceive me? Does this person truly have the Heavenly Dao Cauldron Constitution?'
As these questions swirled in the girl's mind, her anger started to rise by the second.
Meanwhile, Ah Mieu was struggling to get free, but he quickly realized this girl was unnaturally strong. Feeling his thoughts slowing down even further, Ah Mieu released a reluctant sigh and gave up.
'How long am I going to be like this? When can I stay awake?'
That was the last thought Ah Mieu had before his mind went blank.
Seeing that Ah Mieu had returned to 'normal', the girl angrily urged him to continue, and with a dull expression, Ah Mieu complied.