Eternal Life Begins with Learning

The clamor at the Inspection Office on the day of the award ceremony was rivaled only by the day the monthly stipends were handed out.

It was nearly time to report for duty when Chu Mu finally arrived at the Nanshan Inspection Office.

The modestly sized Inspection Office was already a hive of activity, bustling with people.

In just over a month, after a single bandit-suppression campaign, the ranks of the Inspection Office’s several hundred Inspectors had seen a massive turnover.

Chu Mu himself was a recent arrival and didn’t know many people to begin with. Now, as he looked around, almost every face was a stranger.

"Team Leader!"

"Team Leader!"

As he walked into the Inspection Office, Chu Mu had planned to find an out-of-the-way spot to stand around like he used to. But the series of greetings that followed caught him completely off guard.

One unfamiliar face after another, each calling out "Team Leader" with a respectful tone.

It was only then that Chu Mu seemed to realize he was no longer the obscure, ordinary Inspector he had been before.

Suppressing bandits in the mountains, taking several heads, and being one of the very few Inspectors to be promoted—it was enough to earn him a bit of a reputation in Nanshan Town.

’Team Leader...’

He scanned his surroundings, taking in all the eager and attentive faces. Chu Mu slowly savored the title, an indescribable feeling welling up inside him.

In both his past life and this one, it was the first time he had ever experienced such a sensation.

’This feeling... isn’t half bad, is it?’

’It wasn’t a craving for power or fame... it was just that this feeling seemed to give him a much greater sense of security.’

’Martial Arts was his internal strength, the security he granted himself.’

’And this... this was external. The security that came with a rise in power and status.’

Chu Mu smiled, seemingly having learned without a teacher how to make small talk with one Inspector after another. The confidence and foundation his Martial Arts had given him were quietly changing him.

It wasn’t until the call to assemble rang out that Chu Mu finally stopped his idle chatter with his colleagues and headed for the assembly point.

An award ceremony should have been a joyous occasion, but the atmosphere at the Nanshan Inspection Office this time was starkly different.

After all, the Inspectors were all local men, and the Inspection Office was a local Government Office. The deaths and injuries had all taken place right here, in their community.

This time, with over a hundred Inspectors killed or wounded at once, the blow to a small place like Nanshan Town was devastatingly heavy.

The sea of new faces in the Inspection Office, combined with the grieving families of fallen Inspectors who had come to collect their compensation, cast an indescribable pall of depression over the ceremony.

Compensation for the dead, promotions and riches for the living.

In a way, the promotions and rewards for Chu Mu and the other survivors were glaringly conspicuous amid the somber mood.

Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, the award ceremony was extremely brief.

It was handled much like the distribution of the Monthly Stipend: everyone went up one by one to receive their reward, then they were hastily dismissed to go their separate ways.

Joy and sorrow are not shared. While some departed with heavy hearts, there were, of course, those who were happy.

Chu Mu wasn’t exactly overjoyed, but he was currently surrounded by a chorus of congratulations.

Promoted from an ordinary Inspector to a team leader...

His Monthly Stipend increased by five silver, and including the Black Gold, it was an increase of ten silver per month.

His Armor was also upgraded from the standard-issue Cotton Armor of an Inspector to the Iron Plate Armor of a team leader.

The title "Team Leader" was also engraved on his Inspector’s Waist Token.

The position of team leader wasn’t high-ranking, but it meant Chu Mu had gone from being managed to managing others.

With more than a dozen Inspectors under his command, his authority was not to be underestimated.

Surrounded by everyone, Chu Mu had to navigate the pleasantries for some time. He ended up promising to host a banquet at Fengyue Tower that evening before he could finally slip away from the Inspection Office.

His injuries had yet to heal, so despite his promotion, it was clear Chu Mu wouldn’t be able to assume his new duties for some time.

After leaving the Inspection Office, Chu Mu didn’t linger and headed straight for the private school.

He had been learning to read for over a month. Before, when reading popular books, he could get by with a bit of guesswork. But now that he was tackling professional medical texts, which were directly related to his Martial Arts, he couldn’t afford to guess.

He had to be able to read them thoroughly.

That meant he had to become fully literate.

Having attended the private school for over a month, Chu Mu knew the way by heart. He wound his way through the alleys and soon arrived outside the main gate of the Chang Mansion.

The mansion gates were open, and the clear sound of children reading aloud drifted out.

With tuition and expenses easily costing tens of silver, this era clearly defied the old saying about "poor scholars and rich warriors."

Instead, it was "rich for scholarship, and even richer for Martial Arts."

Yet, here at the Chang Mansion’s private school, there was no shortage of young students.

After all, they were situated right next to the Treasure Mountain that was the Nanshan Iron Ore. The slightest bit of profit skimmed from it was enough for many to make a fortune.

The cost of an education was high, but for many people here, it was nothing.

The scholars of this era were no different from those in the history of his past life.

They all studied to pass the imperial examinations and earn official titles: Child Scholar, Scholar, scholar...

Each step was a new level, and each rank... a whole new world.

Even now, Chu Mu hadn’t decided whether he wanted to continue down the path of a scholar.

After all, compared to the benefits of official titles and government positions, the path of Martial Arts... seemed far more alluring.

Lost in thought, Chu Mu stepped into the private school.

By this point, Chu Mu’s literacy journey was already in the fast lane.

He could recognize and understand most basic characters. Now, his purpose in coming to the school was mostly to work through the medical books he had gotten from Elder Li.

The only difference between studying here at the private school and studying at Mingxin Hall was his goal. Here, he focused on deciphering the characters and terms in the medical books that he didn’t recognize or understand.

At Mingxin Hall, he would learn the actual medical knowledge contained within, laying the foundation for his Martial Arts practice once his body had fully healed.

He spent the entire morning and afternoon studying. It was dusk when Chu Mu finally walked out of the Chang Mansion, and from there, he headed straight to Fengyue Tower.

A celebratory banquet for his promotion—such social obligations were unavoidable in this day and age.

It was long past the midnight curfew when Chu Mu and the other Inspectors finally emerged from Fengyue Tower.

The so-called curfew clearly held no sway over a group of Inspectors fresh from a night of revelry.

After all, they were the ones who enforced the curfew.

After watching his drunk and drowsy colleagues and superiors depart one by one, Chu Mu finally started for home.

With his injuries still healing, he couldn’t afford a night of debauchery. At Fengyue Tower, he hadn’t touched a single drop of alcohol, nor had he indulged in the slightest.

Chu Mu touched the wound on his abdomen. A faint, tingling numbness confirmed how well it was healing.

In just a few short days, a wound that had nearly disemboweled him had already healed to this extent.

The medicinal formula Elder Li had prepared was clearly working miracles.

’It shouldn’t even take a month.’

Chu Mu mused to himself. At this rate of healing, he estimated he would be fully recovered in another ten days or so.

Lost in thought, Chu Mu’s slow, steady pace came to an abrupt halt.

Subconsciously, his hand went to the hilt of the saber at his waist.

In that same instant, his gaze locked onto the roof of an inn to his left.

He could just make out flickering figures in the darkness—several people clad in black, leaping across the rooftops like nimble monkeys. In just a few bounds, they vanished from his sight.

...