DLMSWSHH Chapter 6

Posted by , ? Views, Released on April 22, 2026

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TL: Hua

Chapter 6: Bath

Over the next few days, Zhong Ming was snatched by the Spider Duchess for a grooming session every time his workday ended.

For the first two days, Zhong Ming followed the giant spider obediently to avoid Jack. But by the third day, he couldn’t take it anymore. His head was spinning; he just wanted to find a corner to sleep in. However, he was grabbed by the collar by the duchess’s mouthparts and dragged into her room anyway.

The Spider Duchess rested her chin on the little servant’s thigh, enjoying the youth’s gentle grooming, purring with comfort. In contrast, Zhong Ming, who hadn’t closed his eyes in three days, was bleary-eyed and exhausted to the extreme.

“Hey.”

Finally, at the breakfast table, Matthew reached out and caught Zhong Ming’s head just before it dived into a soup bowl.

The young man frowned, his green eyes scanning him. “What’s wrong with you? Didn’t sleep last night?”

Tao, sitting across the table, let out a sneer. Zhong Ming jerked awake, pressing a hand to his forehead where a red mark had formed from the near impact. “Sorry… thank you.”

Matthew withdrew his hand, his gaze lingering on the heavy dark circles under Zhong Ming’s eyes. Opposite them, Tao was also watching him, his narrow eyes glinting behind his glasses, lips curled in a mocking arc. One look at Tao and Zhong Ming knew the man had nothing good to say, likely another attempt to slander him, so he spoke up first:

“The mistress keeps making me comb her hair.”

Being interrupted made Tao’s face darken instantly. Zhong Ming lowered his gaze and said softly,

“I haven’t slept in three days.”

There was a hint of weakness in his voice. Across from them, Madam Mary’s sharp eyes peeked out from behind her newspaper, her brow furrowed. “What are you acting so aggrieved for? Serving the mistress is your duty!”

Zhong Ming wanted to say he wasn’t aggrieved, just answering Matthew’s question. But seeing Madam Mary’s glaring face, he swallowed his words and subconsciously bit his lip.

Unexpectedly, this made Madam Mary even angrier. She folded the newspaper with a sharp snap. “If you have something to say, say it! Who are you making that face for?!”

Zhong Ming didn’t know what face he was making to upset Madam Mary. He didn’t know what to say. After a stiff silence, he finally managed, “I… I want to rest for a bit.”

Madam Mary glared at him, her withered skin taut.

Zhong Ming felt a chill run down his spine under her gaze. Only after a long moment did he hear her say, “…Fine. As an exception, you are permitted to rest today.”

Dropping those words, Madam Mary stood up abruptly and walked out with hurried, tiny steps, muttering to herself:

“Pouting like someone bullied him…”

Hearing this, Zhong Ming instinctively touched his lips. I wasn’t pouting?

At that moment, Matthew, sitting beside him, let out a low chuckle. When Zhong Ming looked over, Matthew masked his smile and stood up.

“Come on, I’ll take you back to your room.”

Tao let out another sneer and stood up so sharply his chair screeched against the floor. He slammed the door on his way out. Zhong Ming, used to this behavior, stood up obediently and followed Matthew.

After many days, he stepped into the basement again.

The familiar musty smell filled the air. The sunlight was blocked out. The old wooden stairs creaked under Matthew’s feet, and the atmosphere seemed to dim along with the lights. Zhong Ming followed behind Matthew, glancing at his profile, noticing the young man’s high brow furrowed in an unconscious scowl.

It seemed Matthew didn’t like coming down here either. Zhong Ming thought to himself. The living conditions between the upper-level and lower-level servants weren’t just slightly different. They were worlds apart. What caused such a massive gap?

A moment later, Matthew stopped in front of a room. The weathered wooden door creaked open. Zhong Ming stood outside, looking through the dust motes.

The dim room was a semi-basement. Like the lower servants’ dining hall, there was only a thin sliver of a window at the very top of the north wall, letting in a few pale rays of sunlight that hit the grey floor.

There were two iron-framed bunk beds in the room, seemingly sleeping four people in total. The beds were made with identical white sheets, pillows, and blankets. Looking at the furnishings, Zhong Ming breathed a sigh of relief. This employee dormitory was better than he had imagined.

A faint memory of another dormitory flickered in his mind, perhaps from his university days in his past life. It had triple-decker bunks like a train sleeper car, with many more beds crammed in.

“This is your room,” Matthew’s voice rang out. He frowned as he surveyed the space, then looked back at Zhong Ming.

Zhong Ming was still trying to remember how many people lived in his college dorm, so to Matthew, it looked like he was dazed.

“…Alright.” Zhong Ming suddenly felt a hand on his lower back, pushing him into the room. Matthew pushed him to one of the beds: “This is your bed.”

Zhong Ming’s eyes landed on the sheets smelling of bleach. Perfect, it’s a bottom bunk.

Just then, a hand pressed down on his shoulder, and Matthew, sitting beside him, leaned down, his warm breath brushing against his ear: “Don’t worry, just make do here for now; in a few days—”

The rest of the words were swallowed between his teeth. Zhong Ming looked up in confusion, only to see Matthew give him a small smile. “Get some rest first.”

The wooden door closed, plunging the room into deeper gloom. Zhong Ming stared at the shut door, but before he could process Matthew’s words, a wave of intense exhaustion flooded his brain. He collapsed onto the bed fully clothed, buried his face in the coarse pillow, and fell into a deep sleep almost instantly.

—

Zhong Ming had a dream.

It was the same dim room, the air tinged with the scent of mildew, and a quilt that had grown stiff from being laundered too many times. He lay in a bed that offered little warmth, staring at the dust motes floating in the air; in his eyes, those tiny specks of light looked like miniature spirits.

In the distance of his vision stood a large stained-glass window. Outside, a pointed bell tower was visible; though humble, its peak proudly bore a small cross.

Perhaps because the weather was too cold, he lay in bed, unwilling to get up. After an unknown amount of time, a dull bell began to toll.

Dong, dong, dong—

Three times in total.

Zhong Ming felt a premonition: the nun was coming.

Sure enough, the sound of heels clicking on the floor drew closer until a black hem appeared in his line of sight.

“Xiao Ming, get up quickly. Everyone is waiting for you.”

A cold, somewhat stern voice spoke. Zhong Ming instinctively pulled the quilt over his head to hide.

Seeing this, the woman’s voice softened slightly. “Hurry up.”

Someone sat on the edge of his bed and patted his shoulder through the quilt. “If you’re late, there’s no food. If you don’t eat, you won’t grow tall.”

Zhong Ming still didn’t move. In my memory, he often did this; when the weather was cold, he would stay in bed and not get up, and he wouldn’t eat breakfast, not that there was ever much to eat anyway.

The nun seemed helpless against him. She sighed and pushed him harder. “Zhong Ming, stop lying in bed. Get up now, everyone is waiting—”

Then, her movements became more violent and more forceful. Her voice began to distort. Zhong Ming was shaken until his head ached; unable to bear it, he snapped his eyes open!

Li Yizhi’s face appeared before him.

“Oh, you’re finally awake.” The tall Asian youth squatted by his bed, his phoenix eyes curving into a smile. “You were sleeping like a pig.”

Zhong Ming stared blankly at his face for a moment, then suddenly bolted upright.

“Ugh!” Li Yizhi was struck by Zhong Ming’s forehead and clutched his nose with a cry of pain.

“What was that for?!”

“I remember now.” Zhong Ming sat on the bed, his expression dazed as the dream scene replayed in his mind. In a cold, sparse convent, he had been raised by nuns.

“I’m an orphan. I was abandoned under the church bell tower… The sister hoped I would have a bright future, so she named me ‘Zhong Ming[1].'”

“Oh, really?”

Li Yizhi rubbed his nose, looking a bit surprised. “Zhong Ming” sounded like an incredibly common Chinese name; he hadn’t expected it to carry such a meaning. He blinked, then suddenly reached out and ruffled Zhong Ming’s hair twice.

“Poor little thing.”

His tone was gentle, a smile hanging on his face.

Zhong Ming glanced at him and lightly brushed the hand away. The daze faded from his face, returning to his usual expressionless state. He said softly:

“I want to take a bath.”

“Oh, the bathroom is out the door and to the right.” Li Yizhi withdrew his hand smoothly and reached into a drawer under the bed to pull out a towel and a bar of soap. “Here, take these.”

“Thank you.” Zhong Ming took the items and stood up. He looked out the window; the sky was completely dark. He had actually slept the entire day.

Li Yizhi stood up as well and asked with a grin, “Want me to go with you?”

“No need.” Zhong Ming felt that Li Yizhi was acting a bit like those high school girls who go to the restroom in pairs. He shook his head and closed the door, blocking Li Yizhi’s disappointed face behind it as he headed down the right side of the hallway.

The bathroom was easy to find because humid steam was leaking through the door cracks.

Soap and towel in hand, Zhong Ming pulled the door open. A cloud of mist immediately billowed out. He narrowed his eyes instinctively.

Zhong Ming flinched, his eyes snapping wide as a tall silhouette emerged through the steam.

It was Jack.

Jack stood in the bathroom, shirtless. His dirty-blond hair was soaked, and his powerful muscles rippled through the mist as he moved.

Zhong Ming’s eyes widened. His gaze drifted down the man’s torso, not for any scandalous reason, but because Jack’s back was covered in various pale-blue and grayish wounds. There were no signs of healing; the insides of the open gashes were a bruised purple. One wound even pierced through his right shoulder to his back, deep enough to see the bone. Through the raw muscle, Zhong Ming could actually see the heart beating inside the chest cavity.

“Who’s there?”

A coarse, low voice rang out.

Zhong Ming froze in place, watching Jack turn his head to fix his gaze on him.

[1] 钟 [zhōng] bell; 明 [míng] bright