The Cleaners' Courtyard was a type of courtyard within which most of the residents only took cleaning-related jobs. These residents were like the janitors of Hua Ding Manor.

In the Outer Courtyards that were shared amongst the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Gates, there were a total of 4 of these specialized Cleaners' Courtyards.

They were distributed evenly by geographical location in the manor, with each gate having exactly one of these types of courtyards.

Naturally, the Southern Gate where Hua Yan was currently in also had one of these types of courtyards. If Hua Yan wanted to know best what happened to the ashes after his fight had ended, this was the place where he needed to try his luck.

It was just that… he didn't know where it was located. He didn't know which courtyard number it was a.s.sociated with, so he couldn't find it without asking someone for some help.

This was only to be expected, since Hua Yan wasn't from this side of the manor. He had spent all of his time in the eastern wing.

When he wasn't there, he was out in the nameless forest making some money. He didn't have the time to go exploring around the manor.

That was for the kids that had a lot of time and youth on their hands. He didn't fit amongst such people because of his own circ.u.mstances. Hua Yan could only inquire about its whereabouts now.

This time, before picking someone to ask his questions to, he decided to look around for a bit. He didn't want to approach someone that would give him poor answers like the kid had earlier.

Hua Yan didn't have a proper control over Frenzy, so it was best that he avoided any kind of situations that could be deemed even slightly tiresome to deal with.

Hua Yan saw some hot blooded youngsters walking around. He decided it would be best to not go through them because they looked arrogant and easily annoyed.

He saw some elderly folk chatting by the pavilions. He didn't want to bother them either because they looked grey with age. They probably wouldn't even understand what he was trying to ask, so he didn't want to waste his time on them.

He saw some bratty children mulling about. He had already been greatly tested by chatting with that one kid. He didn't want to deal with these little monsters anymore.

There were some guards on patrol. After his last bout with them, Hua Yan wanted to stay clear of the law enforcement officers. Every time he saw them, his fists would inadvertently clench into fists, purely through instinct alone.

There were some middle-aged housewives buying stuff by the privately-owned stalls. They looked very gossipy and a ch.o.r.e to deal with. They would probably ask him 20 questions in return for every question he asked.

Hua Yan was getting a headache…

Never had he had to be so careful about chatting with people before. Frenzy was really making life difficult for him by imposing all of these mental restrictions.

As Hua Yan continued to ponder, looking around for targets to talk to, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

A pile of boxes as big as a person were on the verge of tipping over. Hua Yan didn't know why, but he instinctively reached out to help steady them in place.

His palms still hurt from the gla.s.s wound he had received, and his wounds might have re-opened from the rough impact of clas.h.i.+ng with the boxes, but he was as steady as ever. This small amount of pain couldn't even make him flinch.

A few breaths later, the boxes were returned to their normal, equilibrium positions. It was only now that Hua Yan realized that these boxes weren't standing on their own. There was a pair of tiny feet almost completely hidden by them on the floor.

From a distance, it would appear to anyone as if the boxes were moving on their own. Only after coming closer did Hua Yan realize that they were being held up by a person.

The person in question was panicking as she thought that the boxes would fall over and ruin the goods inside. She was somewhat startled when she realized that things didn't turn out like she had antic.i.p.ated for them to. She had obviously been helped by someone.

Setting her boxes down, she wanted to thank the person that had helped her and also check on the items inside the boxes to see if they were in good condition. If they were ruined, she wouldn't be let off lightly.

Seeing her in such a rush, Hua Yan decided to standby and watch in silence.

After confirming that the some of the vials in the box had shattered, Hua Ci's spirit almost left her in shock.

Upon looking closely, however, she realized that the majority of the vials inside were still intact. Hua Ci heaved a heavy sigh in relief. She would be scolded today, but she wouldn't lose her life.

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She looked over to the person that had helped her. She was really grateful that he had saved her from the worst outcome. Though he could've been gentler in his handling of the boxes, she couldn't complain. Beggars couldn't be choosers, and it was indeed an irrefutable fact that he had helped her.

As she was choosing her words, her eyes darted over to the blood on his palms. Thinking that he was hurt by some of the stray gla.s.s from the broken vials, she immediately reached up to his hand and inspected it.

Hua Yan was about to push her away as she neared him, but he feared she would fall over and crack her ribs if he did. She was really tiny, with her head reaching even lower than his shoulders.

Seeing as how she was just checking his hands and not doing anything else, he maintained his stoic expression.

"I-I'm sorry," Hua Ci spouted quickly, "This is all because you tried to help me. This is all my fault. I feel so bad…"

"It was caused by something else, don't worry about it," Hua Yan replied, moving his hands away.

"No!" Hua Ci stopped him, grabbing his hands again, "I can recognize a gla.s.s wound. You got this from helping me. Stay still."

Saying her part, she reached into the satchel by her waist and pulled out a vial and some gauze. She wanted to treat him.

"It's really not your—"

"It'll sting a bit, but bear with it!" Hua Ci interrupted, coating Hua Yan's palms with some soft and cool gel.

Though it didn't really hurt him, he was starting to get annoyed at how easily she ignored his wishes. As Frenzy began to awaken, Hua Yan noticed the girl's hands. She was busy wrapping up his wounds, so she didn't notice his gaze.

They were proportionally small compared to her own body, maybe only half as big as Hua Yan's hands, but this wasn't what he was drawn to. Her hands were stained with all kinds of burns and had numerous white patches of dying skin. They were very worn with use…

Hua Yan really wondered just she had been using them for. They seemed to have been treated so poorly that even those that practised martial arts would be shocked at the sight of them.

Noticing him looking at her, Hua Ci quickly finished up what she was doing and hid her hands away. She turned her head to the side, refusing to look Hua Yan in the eyes, and said something in a barely audible voice.

"I was just playing around with some herbs that I shouldn't have been touching and I might have accidentally permanently scarred myself. Uhhh, it should be fine. Hands don't taste good anyway, so what does it matter how they look."