Touching a Taboo
It was truly difficult to refuse Yue Guan's hospitality. As a Titled Douluo, a man over fifty years old, he insisted on acting like a rogue, and Zhou You was helpless against him.
He was so pestered that he could only promise to reorganize his theories and put them into writing before he could finally escape Yue Guan's entanglement...
Actually, no. Yue Guan's attention to this matter exceeded his expectations. Before the Thesis was completed, he was not allowed to leave the Spirit Hall. However, apart from that, he was always accommodating to any request.
Whether it's precious medicinal herbs, equipment, rare ancient books, or consumables for experiments, as long as it's within Yue Guan's permission, he fulfills all requests without uttering a single unnecessary word.
He even subtly suggested that if Zhou You wanted to use people directly for experiments, it wasn't impossible to find a way...
Well, it was unexpected, but also reasonable. As Titled Douluo who has weathered decades of storms, his bottom line has always been very flexible.
Zhou You was tempted for a second, but quickly put the dangerous idea to rest. Although the best way to study this topic was through actual dissection.
The bodies of Soul Masters, in particular, are undoubtedly more valuable and representative for research.
However, given the current social context, this approach is unacceptable. Even for academic research, dissecting animals and Soul Beasts is already the psychological limit that ordinary people can accept.
For people... that's taboo!
Zhou You wasn't ready to risk public condemnation by directly launching human experiments, but Yue Guan's eyes flickered, as if he had other plans.
Zhou You, fearing he might cross the line, quickly reminded him, "If you really want to do it, try to choose corpses with no background, those who died accidentally, or Evil Soul Masters sentenced to death. Don't do it yourself!"
He didn't try to dissuade the other party from doing it. As a Titled Douluo, he had his own opinions, and he knew he couldn't persuade him otherwise.
"What are you saying? What are you saying!" Yue Guan's voice was a bit loud, "Me, a dignified elder of the Spirit Hall and a close advisor to the Pope, would I do something that only Evil Soul Master would do?"
If it weren't for the slight lack of confidence in your voice, I almost would have believed you!
Zhou You, too lazy to watch his clumsy performance, said to himself, "After all, we still have to stand in the sunlight, so we should try our best to cherish our reputation."
He had a bit of a headache, feeling that the current situation was beyond his expectations. Although he didn't understand why Yue Guan attached so much importance to this matter, he had no doubt about the other party's ability to execute it.
Sure enough, the next day, Yue Guan brought him a fresh human specimen. Judging from its freshness, the time of death was estimated to be no more than two hours.
Damn, this is absolutely a live kill!
Zhou You saw Yue Guan's eyes light up, and couldn't help but twitch his lips.
"This is..."
"An Evil Soul Master, originally scheduled to be executed at the end of the year." Before Zhou You could finish speaking, Yue Guan immediately replied, pinching his index finger and thumb together to make a "fierce anger" gesture, "I moved his sentence forward by a tiny bit."
He seemed to know what Zhou You was going to say, and then added, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I will definitely not harm innocent people. Anyway, this Evil Soul Master deserves to die, so why can't we make use of him?"
Seeing that Zhou You seemed a little hesitant, Yue Guan mentioned a few cases that this Evil Soul Master had committed, such as massacring villages, raping, and keeping people as slaves. From the perspective of simple justice, he was definitely a piece of trash who deserved to die ten times over.
Zhou You said seriously, "If what you said is true, then this person's life is indeed a waste of food. He would be better off contributing to academic research."
"That's right, exactly!" Yue Guan nodded immediately, pleased that he had overcome his psychological barrier.
But he quickly realized something was off! Could someone who could dissect a corpse without batting an eye really have such high moral standards?
Is this kid trying to shift all the blame onto me so he can feel at ease?
Yue Guan stared at him, but unfortunately, she couldn't see through his disguise.
Zhou You stopped paying Yue Guan and began making preparations.
Although Yue Guan had endorsed it, this matter still couldn't be made public, so the experiment was conducted in Yue Guan's private room.
To be honest, having lived three lifetimes, this was the first time Zhou You had ever performed an in-depth dissection of a human body. His previous understanding of the human body was mostly learned from books.
In his previous life, he rarely did such things, mainly because the world of "One Person" had already reached a very complete level of human anatomy, and because of the [Inner Vision] method, practitioners did not need to verify their ideas through dissection.
Moreover, cultivation is always a spiritual practice, and it is actually difficult to explain the process through physical means; it relies more on inner understanding.
But this life is different. Zhou You's own cultivation system is quite different from the normal Soul Master system. He cannot apply his own knowledge to others, so he must verify his conjectures about the "Soul Master" group through others.
For example, the "Etheric Body" actually refers to the totality of the human body's Meridian System and Qi Configuration. The fact that Soul Masters can cultivate, release Soul Skills, and control Soul Power proves that they must also have a similar system, only it is different from that of the Otherworldly Being.
To understand the difference between the two, Zhou You must personally investigate the actual internal structure of Soul Master. Other methods of observation besides the current one are merely scratching the surface.
This is also why he didn't refuse Yue Guan; what he's doing now would be a major taboo if others found out.
Only someone Yue Guan, who holds a high position of power and is a close advisor to the Pope, could protect him.
Therefore, even though Yue Guan vaguely guessed Zhou You's intentions, he could only continue to provide support.
This Titled Douluo even wishfully believed that She Long, as Zhou You's first teacher, must have done many more outrageous things, and that his actions were nothing compared to that.
Zhou You showed no intention of correcting them, so the master and disciple, each with their own thoughts, began the first human dissection experiment in the history of the Douluo Continent aimed at exploring academic truth.
Zhou You was still the lead surgeon, but this time, Yue Guan could no longer stand idly by; Zhou You forcibly brought him in to assist him.
Since we're already deeply involved, let's go even deeper.
However, considering that Yue Guan has a rather severe case of mysophobia, Zhou You did not let him do it himself, but only asked him to hand over the tools needed to dissect the body and record what Zhou You dictated.
Inside a sealed room.
The light overhead illuminated the area, dispelling all shadows.
The principle of the shadowless lamp is relatively simple. There are many light- Soul Tools in the Douluo Continent, so it is easy to replicate it.
To better conduct this research, Zhou You arranged the work area almost strictly according to the requirements of clinical surgery.
He put on gloves made of fish intestines, a specially made mask, and a distinctive green surgical gown.
Yue Guan didn't quite understand, but for some reason, she felt that Zhou You's outfit looked very intimidating, with an unquestionable authority that made people feel awe.
"Experiment log, record, Douluo Calendar 2632, you write the exact time yourself, it needs to be accurate to the minute."
"Experiment number is tentatively set as 01. Experiment title: 'Observation of Gross Human Anatomy'. Experiment location: Fill in by yourself. Experiment personnel: Chief Surgeon Zhou You, Recorder Yue Guan."
"Experimental Specimen: An unknown male Evil Soul Master, age 46, time of death no more than two hours ago, cause of death..."
He glanced at Yue Guan, who feigned ignorance and wrote directly: Drowning!
"Now, the experiment begins."