Eternal Life Begins with Learning

"So... what are we supposed to do with this old man’s body?"

"The Thousand Households said to transport him to the Inspection Office."

"Transport him to the Inspection Office? What for?"

Chu Mu was astonished.

"According to the survivor we captured, this old man took on nine disciples in the village back in the day. He didn’t stop the other villagers from watching them practice martial arts, either."

"That’s why the fight was so brutal when we went into the mountains!"

"And of the old man’s nine disciples, we only killed six. The other three are nowhere to be found."

"The Thousand Households wants us to bring the body back to spread the word and lure those three Rebels out."

"Just for three petty thieves? Is it really worth going to such great lengths?"

Chu Mu was doubtful. The words had just left his mouth when his gaze fell upon the old man’s lifelike corpse, and he began to understand.

A body that doesn’t decay after death!

This alone held an extraordinary significance.

And right now, that significance was clearly concentrated on the old man’s three remaining disciples.

Wu Shuo sighed. "You’re a lucky kid. Got injured once and managed to dodge all this mess!"

"How is this dodging it? This has nothing to do with me."

"How does it have nothing to do with you?"

"The matter of the rewards has been decided. Once the funerals for the brothers who died are over, the rewards will probably be handed out."

"That little bastard Li Gang has been stripped of his rank. When the time comes, you’ll be taking his position!"

At this, Wu Shuo looked clearly resigned and pointed at the old man’s corpse. "The Thousand Households said this body is to be guarded by our squad!"

"So tell me, does it have anything to do with you or not?"

Hearing this, Chu Mu’s face twitched. ’I’d better milk this injury for a little longer,’ he decided instantly.

Then, a thought struck Chu Mu, and he asked, "After Li Gang is demoted, where will he be assigned?"

Wu Shuo sneered. "Zone B-19 Mine Area. He can prepare to spend the rest of his life in the mines!"

Chu Mu nodded and said no more.

Having stood guard at the mines for many days, he knew exactly what kind of place Zone B-19 Mine Area was.

The Yi Character Mine Area was located entirely within the mountain’s tunnels, where one never saw the light of day.

For a regular Inspector, spending every day in that sunless darkness, only getting rotated out once every month or two, was undoubtedly a form of torture.

And for Li Gang, judging by Wu Shuo’s current attitude, his chances of getting rotated out were probably nonexistent.

"By the way, weren’t the inspectors from the higher-ups supposed to be coming?"

"Why make such a scene at a time like this?"

"No idea."

Wu Shuo shook his head. "Based on the timing, they should have been here in the last day or two."

"Maybe something delayed them."

At this, Wu Shuo glanced up at the night sky and waved his hand. "Alright, I’m going to get this old man transported."

"The longer we delay on a night like this, the more creeped out I get."

Chu Mu smiled. "Then I won’t see you out."

"Get lost, you brat!"

Wu Shuo cursed with a grin. "Hurry up and recover so you can get back to work. Don’t even think about dragging it out!"

With that, Wu Shuo motioned to the accompanying Patrol Officers. The halted corpse-cart procession started up again, slowly moving forward through the somewhat eerie town.

Chu Mu stepped to the side of the street, watching the procession slowly disappear into the darkness. He glanced around at the white funeral banners fluttering along the street and couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh.

’I really do need to heal this injury quickly!’

The situation was far from optimistic.

Perhaps because the casualties from that battle were so high, the Inspector patrols that should have been on duty at this hour were nowhere to be seen.

The streets were dim and empty. Chu Mu hurried along and, before long, was back in his own small courtyard.

Perhaps because of what he had learned from Wu Shuo, the dim courtyard made Chu Mu feel a new sense of vigilance.

Groping his way into the bedroom in the dark, his unsheathed Long Saber in hand, Chu Mu checked each room one by one. Only after confirming nothing was amiss did he finally light a lamp and return to the bedroom.

He even took a wooden beam, something he’d never bothered with before, and braced it against the door for double protection.

Sitting by the stove, he once again picked up the few books he had spent a hundred silver to obtain.

By the flickering candlelight, he began to study them meticulously.

This time, his careful reading left him with a much deeper impression.

The *Meridian Acupoint Atlas*, the *Five Viscera Diagram*, the *Bone Setting Atlas*. After studying the three volumes, only one word came to mind: meticulous.

They were simply too detailed!

Meridians, acupoints, the five viscera and six bowels, bones and blood vessels, skin and muscle tissue...

It felt to Chu Mu as if a person had been completely dissected and laid out before his eyes.

The books even documented the body in two states: living and dead. For example, it described the state of the heart in a living person versus its state after death...

Such detail was clearly not something that could be achieved by dissecting one or two people.

Nor was it something that could be done simply by dissecting the dead.

Most importantly, according to Elder Li, books like these were widely circulated without any restrictions.

In this era, the significance of that was clearly extraordinary.

To take the most obvious point, any doctor who came across such books, if they had even a sliver of a critical mind, would probably be unable to resist confirming the truth of the descriptions for themselves.

With such widespread circulation, it was impossible for everyone to be discreet. If even the slightest rumor got out...

For example, if Elder Li were caught secretly dissecting a corpse, given the ethics and morals of Nanshan Town as Chu Mu understood them, Mingxin Hall would probably be smashed to pieces.

And yet, such shocking, world-altering books hadn’t even been banned by the Great Chu Court and were actually allowed to circulate freely!

’I don’t get it!’

Chu Mu shook his head. Suddenly, a sense of urgency washed over him. He felt a desperate need to see what this era was like beyond the confines of Nanshan Town.

’Am I just being shortsighted, or... is this era truly unusual?’

’If it is unusual, then why? What makes it so?’

Chu Mu glanced down at the wound on his abdomen, assessed it for a moment, and made a decision.

He blew out the lamp and went to sleep fully clothed, his prized saber, sharp enough to sever a falling hair, placed under the covers with him.

If he were startled awake, he could draw the blade in an instant.

Although, in his current physical condition, it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Still, it seemed to offer some peace of mind.

At least he could get a good night’s sleep.

The night... was peaceful.

None of the trouble Chu Mu had worried about occurred.

His life fell into a simple, repetitive pattern. He would wake early to study, head to the private school for lessons, return in the evening to study at Mingxin Hall, and finally come home at curfew to read some more before sleeping.

Day after day, this simple life continued, only coming to an end on the day the military merits were to be rewarded.

As one of the few lucky ones in the Nanshan Inspection Office set to receive a promotion, Chu Mu naturally couldn’t be absent from such a reward ceremony...

...