A door in the adjacent room opened to reveal a few narrow beds inside, waiting for people to either go inside to be branded or leave at will. 

The narrowed eye tall men stared at the iron brand, seemingly trying to stare at it until a flower bloomed from it. Another silent man with an ordinary face stared at the small door instead with a pensive expression. 

There are also a few that kept their heads bowed, not looking around at all, seemingly willing to obey whatever they are told to do. 

Eventually, the tall squinty-eyed man is still the first one to speak up. With a belly laugh that broke the silence, he said “I am not even afraid of fire and water so what do I fear of a brand? I go first!” 

Without any hesitation, he walked towards the small room, earning him a satisfied smile from the head guard. 

The silent man also smiled and followed after him without a word. 

The few who kept their heads lowered suddenly raised their heads, opened their mouths, seemingly wanting to say something but then immediately gritted their teeth and followed behind. 

With those people taking the lead, a few others followed as well but there were also those that eventually withdrew. Looking at those that left, the head guard nodded his head, and immediately someone quietly followed behind. 

The dozen or so people who entered the small door looked at each other wordlessly. The tall squinty-eyed man gave a hearty laugh “Are we branding the top or bottom? You are not going to brand my dude down there are you?” 

The guard could help but smile and teased him“Judging by your look, not good enough to be a eunuch. Come on, take off your pants.” then pointed at his buttocks. 

The tall guy grinned “Why not brand it on my heart. In the future when I get married, then my wife can admire it. She might ache so much for me that she will kiss it better…how glorious would that be. But on the buttocks, then it won’t get that sort of treatment.” 

The quiet man glance at him and suddenly smiled: “Even if you sir brand it on your heart, there might not be a person willing to kiss it, then wouldn’t it be a waste?” 

“What do you know?” The tall man gave him a side glance, “My wife is very well behaved, she will for sure kiss it.” Taking off his pants promptly, revealing his marble round buttocks, his pale honey color skin gleamed. Hoping right onto the bed, the man slapped his butt and said “Come on! Such a shame for a good piece of meat!” 

Turning his head to jeer at the quiet man: “Are you a girl? Needing so much time just to take off your pants!” 

A man standing by the very edge who had been paying attention to the whole exchange suddenly raised his head to say something when he heard the last sentence but one look at the quiet man he pursed his lips and turned to scratch the wall. (So the whole “scratch the wall” description is the Chinese image of someone shutting themselves into the corner either mentally or physically out of embarrassment or frustration.)

The quiet man ignored the taunting, slowly took off his clothes. His face wasn’t exceptional but his movement was steady, with a special charm to it. On first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anything of note, yet after a few more glances, then it’s difficult to take one’s eyes off him, making one feel like no matter what he is doing, it is an enjoyment to behold. 

Even when it comes to things such as taking off clothes to get branded, he did it gracefully and calmly, not in a hurry, not like he is about to be physically insulted but more like he is the top scholar about to go parading through the street. 

No matter how slowly one takes off one’s clothes, the task eventually comes to an end. The tall man lay on the bed next to him, leisurely propping his head on a hand, surveying his body, and smiled “I thought there would just be blindingly white pale tender flesh, who would’ve guessed there would be something worth seeing.” 

The man lay on his stomach, his head resting on his arms. The skin on his body was as fine as silk, not the boring pasty white nor the masculine honey color of the tall man. His was a velvety white, like that of milk, glimmering in the dim light. The line of his body was smooth and exquisite, his muscle was full of elasticity and strength, laying next to the tall man, both of them made people appreciate the unique beauty of the male body. 

The captain of the guard walked in, his eyes brightened after taking in the room, after hesitating for a moment he suddenly said “Actually, after that last battle, I lost quite a few guards…” 

The Puyuan steward quickly interjects “You might as well pick a few good ones, sir.” 

“Sure, it’s just to add to the guard patrolling outside anyway.” The captain nodded, strode around and slapped the tall man’s butt and laughed “Get up! Come with me.” 

“What?” The tall man covered his buttock and yelled “I am willing to be branded, I want to go to Puyuan. My grandma is still at home, without money to buy medicine…”

“Fool, your butt gets itchy if it doesn’t get burned?” The captain scolded him with a laugh and faked a kick towards his direction, “I have picked you. You have good potential, come to be a guard, you don’t need to be a lowly servant!”

“Thank the captain quickly!” The steward urged with a big smile. 

The tall man blinked blankly for a bit, got up to pull on his pants, then bowed down on the ground towards the captain “Thank you, captain! I will do my absolute best!” 

The captain laughed and helped him up. Looking over at the quiet man, he asked with a hesitant expression “You look like you have good potential too, do you know martial arts?” 

The man shook his head. 

“Sir, I am sure you saw that this kid is different, right?” The steward laughed, “He could be considered to be from a scholarly family. His family has been teachers for generations. He lived in the Southern mountain, but because his father’s untimely death and a school ended up opening in Southern mountain, he had no way to make a living so that’s why he had to indenture himself. I saw that he knew how to read and write, then thought of how His Highness’s study is lacking help so I figured he might be a good fit. However, if you want him sir…” 

“No, no.” The captain quickly waved his hand, “What would I do with a guy who doesn’t know how to fight.” 

The captain walked out with the tall man. A servant came in holding the metal plate with the hot soldering iron on it. When the plate passed by the tall man, his expression was one of relief mixed with regret.

The man laying on the bed turned his head to give the soldering iron a look before turning his head back with indifference. 

The soldering iron pressed on the skin made a long sizzling sound. A scorched smell instantly filled the smoky room, making anyone who smelled it tremble. 

Screaming and howling instantly filled the room. The tall man perked up his ears, feeling as if he can’t hear that silent man’s moan. 

Noticing the captain seems to also be listening intently, the tall man asked with a smile “Captain, where am I going? To be one of His Highness’s personal guards?” 

“Keep dreaming!” Forgetting to keep listening after getting interrupted, the captain rolled his eyes “You are the new kid without any past accomplishment, you would be lucky if you can get into the outer courtyard to guard the entrance!”

“Oh.” Somewhat disappointed, the tall man followed behind the captain, rubbing his chin, a thoughtful expression appeared in his squinty eyes. 

He is thinking…should I go back and get kissed by the soldering iron…

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

Related Posts