An exhaustion deeper than any survival instinct finally crashed over me. These men were from the Wen Clan. For the first time since descending Lague Mountain, I allowed myself to stop fighting. A good sleep… and if I never woke up, then let fate decide.
Hours later, consciousness returned.
The first thing I saw was vertical steel bars. Cold, familiar. A jail cell.
Food and water had been placed just inside the bars. I ate and drank without hesitation. If the meal was drugged or poisoned, the other prisoners sharing this dim corridor would probably claim it tasted fine anyway. No point asking.
I leaned against the cold stone wall and let out a loud, trembling cry.
"I'm scared! Where am I?! I'm a righteous cultivator… my comrades…" I choked out a few fake sobs for good measure. "What happened to them?"
At first, the guards ignored me. But the moment the word "comrades" left my mouth, the atmosphere shifted. I could almost hear their minds clicking—recent news, a group of righteous cultivators wiped out, the scent of wealth and opportunity hanging in the air.
One guard near my cell reacted fastest. He pushed past the others and approached the bars, eyes narrowed.
I looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes and pulled out the old scroll I had kept hidden.
"My grandfather… he passed away," I said, voice cracking convincingly. "I'm all alone now. Many terrible things happened. This is all that remains—his will. It says I must go to the Wen Clan."
The guard's face twisted. I could practically hear his internal curse: What a headache this brat just dropped on me. He had noticed the order of my words—mentioning comrades first, grandfather second. First impressions mattered.
Still, he unlocked the cell.
"Don't struggle. I know you have enough strength to walk. Follow me."
I felt a quiet surge of satisfaction as I stepped out of the prison.
The corridor was a long tunnel, tall enough for two men to walk side by side. Cells lined both walls from end to end. The walls were carved from raw rock, though most of the surface was covered in thick green moss, hiding the original color. At first my legs trembled from exhaustion, but after a few steps, strength slowly returned. My body felt strangely refreshed. Even my karma felt fuller, and the thin white thread of my luck seemed slightly thicker than before. All those insane stunts must have paid off in some invisible way.
After a long walk, we left the tunnel and entered the inner circle of the Wen Clan outpost. The hall we entered was large enough to hold thirty people comfortably. The floor was a deep, polished red, while the walls were painted a rich green. Slightly elevated compared to the tunnel, the space carried an air of modest authority.
As for the height of the hall, I can only estimate that it is visibly taller than the tunnel, since I am weak in math.
My first thought was blunt: Even though you're the head of this root clan, isn't it a bit ridiculous to sit on a throne like some emperor when this isn't even a proper branch family?
Seated on that elevated throne was Tiang Wen himself.
He looked me over calmly and began asking about my grandfather and family situation. I didn't know the exact details about my grandfather's rank ascension, but it is more reliable to describe his crazy behavior., so I relied on vague memories. I recalled a sentence my mother once said and wove it into my story.
"I don't know why, but my grandfather suddenly went mad. My parents told me to run. When I returned… I only found their corpses. I took what looked like a will from the ruins. Later, many people seized our family fortune, claiming they were 'protecting' it for me and would return it soon." I lowered my head. "After that, I completed the awakening ceremony and left the mountain to join a group of righteous cultivators who were hunting unorthodox scum. They were all rank 1, supported by a rank 2 initial cultivator… but a rank 2 peak-tier serpent slaughtered them all. I used my skill to escape. That's how I ended up here."
Because I had mentioned "comrades" earlier, the timing worked in my favor.
Tiang Wen's expression turned somber. The guard quickly explained, "We recently killed a rank 1 serpent. It must have used dragon blood to revive itself, which lowered its rank. The boy managed to escape."
Tiang Wen studied me for a long moment before speaking.
"You have suffered greatly at such a young age. In honor of the debt I owe your grandfather, I can only offer you two choices."
I bowed slightly. "Thank you for your generosity, Master."
Tiang Wen thought to himself, Such a glib tongue for one so young.
He continued, "First option: Serve my Wen Clan. Earn contribution points and eventually purchase a potion to heal your hands. You may live in the core circle. Second option: Live in the outer circle with your hands crippled. However, I will have you made a eunuch. I have no desire for a spineless man wandering the core circle—especially if my daughter were to ever take an interest in you by a dogshit luck."
I was stunned.
In my mind, I screamed: There is no better time than now for the system to appear!
But nothing happened.
Why does every other motherfucking protagonist get a system after being isekai'd, but not me?
The choice was deliberately cruel for a young man. They didn't mind waiting while I struggled with it.
After a long silence, I lowered my head and answered with a steady voice:
"For your daughter to fall in love with me… only fate knows. I choose to live in the outer circle… as a eunuch."
The hall fell deathly silent.
Tiang Wen, the three elders beside him, and even the guard stared at me with faces full of utter disbelief, as though they had just heard the most ridiculous sentence in their entire lives.
what can i do without hands which is a hassle