Nine Disciples, Three Remain

"Th-then how are we supposed to deal with this old man?"

"The Thousand Household said to have us transport him to the Patrol Inspectorate."

"What are we transporting him to the Patrol Inspectorate for?"

Chu Mu was astonished.

"According to what the prisoners we captured alive confessed, this old man took in nine disciples in the village back then, and he didn't forbid the other villagers from watching them practice martial arts either."

"That's why, the day we went into the mountains, the fighting was so bloody!"

"And of the nine disciples this old man took in, we only butchered six. The other three have vanished without a trace."

"The Thousand Household had us bring the corpse back because he wants to spread the news and lure those three Rebels over."

"Just three petty thieves are worth going to all this trouble for?"

Chu Mu was puzzled. The words had only just left his mouth, but when his gaze flicked to the old man's corpse, which looked as if it were still alive, he seemed to understand somewhat.

His flesh had not decayed after death!

That one fact alone clearly held extraordinary significance.

And right now, that significance had clearly gathered upon the three remaining disciples of this old man.

Wu Shuo sighed and said, "You brat, you've got good fortune. One injury, and you dodged everything!"

"How does this count as me dodging anything? This doesn't have much to do with me."

"How doesn't it have anything to do with you?"

"The matter of rewards has already been settled. Once the funerals for the brothers who died earlier are finished, the rewards will probably be handed down."

"That little beast Li Gang has already been dismissed. When the time comes, his position will be filled by you!"

At this point, Wu Shuo was visibly helpless. He pointed at the old man's corpse. "The Thousand Household said this corpse is to be guarded by our squad!"

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

Hearing this, Chu Mu's cheek twitched, and he immediately decided in his heart that he had to nurse this injury for a while longer! Then Chu Mu's heart stirred, and he asked, "After Li Gang is dismissed, where will he be assigned?"

Wu Shuo sneered. "Type B Mine No. 19. He can just get ready to spend the rest of his life in the Mine Cave!"

Chu Mu nodded and said nothing more.

Having stood guard at the Mine for quite a few days, he naturally knew what kind of place Type B Mine No. 19 was.

The Type B mining areas were all Mine Caves inside the mine mountain, dark and never seeing the light of day.

For an ordinary patrol inspector to spend every day in that sunless darkness, only getting a rotation once every month or so, was undoubtedly a kind of torment.

And as for Li Gang, judging from Wu Shuo's attitude right now, if he wanted a rotation, there probably wasn't much hope! "Right, wasn't it said that the inspectors from above would be coming over?"

"At a time like this, putting on this kind of show?"

"No idea."

Wu Shuo shook his head. "Going by the timing, they should be arriving in the next couple of days."

"Maybe something delayed them."

At this point, Wu Shuo raised his head and glanced at the night, then waved his hand. "All right, I'll transport this old man over first."

"In the dead of night like this, the longer we delay, the more my heart crawls with dread."

Chu Mu smiled and said, "Then I won't see you off."

"Piss off!"

Wu Shuo laughed and cursed irritably. "Heal up quick and come back. Don't think about dragging it out!"

As he spoke, Wu Shuo also called out to the accompanying patrol inspectors. The corpse-escort convoy that had stopped set off once more, slowly proceeding through the town, which carried a fair hint of gloom.

Chu Mu retreated to the side of the street, watching the group slowly vanish into the darkness. Then he swept his gaze around at the sight of white funeral streamers fluttering over the street, and could not help letting out a soft sigh.

He really did have to heal this injury as soon as possible! This situation was truly far from optimistic.

Perhaps because the casualties in that battle had been too heavy, at this hour, the patrol teams that should have been on patrol were nowhere to be seen.

The street was dim and empty. Chu Mu also hurried along, and before too long, he returned to his own small courtyard.

Perhaps because he had learned the inside story from Wu Shuo, the dim little courtyard made Chu Mu a little more vigilant.

He felt his way through the dark into the bedroom and, carrying his long saber drawn from its sheath, checked the rooms one by one. Only after confirming that there was nothing unusual did he finally light the lamp and return to the bedroom.

The door he had never paid much attention to before was now something Chu Mu brought over a wooden post for, propping it against the door as a second layer of protection.

Leaning beside the stove, Chu Mu once again took the few books he had spent a hundred taels of silver to obtain into his hands.

By the flickering candlelight, Chu Mu began to study them carefully.

This careful reading undoubtedly gave Chu Mu an even deeper experience.

Meridians and Acupoints Diagram, Five Viscera Diagram, Orthopedic Illustration—after studying these three books, the only impression he had was two words: meticulous detail.

They were simply too detailed! Meridians, acupoints, Five Viscera and Six Entrails, bones and blood vessels, skin and flesh tissues...

The feeling they gave Chu Mu was as if a person had been completely sliced open and laid out before his eyes.

And the records in the book were divided into two states, life and death. For instance, what state the heart was in when a person was dying, and what state it was in after death...

Such detail clearly wasn't something that could be achieved by dissecting one or two people.

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

Most important of all was that, according to Old Li, books like this had actually spread widely without obstruction.

The meaning within that, in this era, was clearly anything but ordinary.

At the shallowest level, if a physician came into contact with books like these and had even the slightest dialectical mindset, he would probably be unable to resist personally confirming whether the descriptions in the book were true or false.

With such wide circulation, it was impossible for everyone to do it in secrecy. If even the faintest whisper leaked out...

For example, if Old Li were discovered secretly dissecting corpses, judging by the ethics and morals Chu Mu had seen and heard of in Nanshan Town, Mingxin Hall would probably be smashed to pieces.

Let alone the fact that books this shocking to the world and appalling to custom had not been banned by the Imperial Court of Great Chu, but were actually allowed to circulate freely! "I can't figure it out!"

Chu Mu shook his head. Suddenly, a sense of urgency surged up in his heart as well. He urgently wanted to see this era beyond Nanshan Town.

Was he the one whose sight was blocked by a single leaf, or was it that... this era was inherently unusual? If it was truly unusual, then why was it unusual? On what grounds was it unusual?

Chu Mu lowered his head and glanced at the wound on his abdomen. After sensing it slightly, he made up his mind.

The lamplight was blown out, and Chu Mu slept without taking off his clothes. Under the quilt, he had also placed his Treasure Blade, the one that could sever a hair blown across its edge.

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

Though with his current physical condition, that seemed to have little meaning.

But doing this seemed to let a person feel a little more at ease.

At the very least, he could get a good night's sleep.

The night... was peaceful.

None of the accidents Chu Mu had worried about occurred.

Life that day, and even life over the next several days, was all as usual.

He rose early, read, and went to the Private School to study.

He returned late, then went to Mingxin Hall to read.

He went home at curfew, read... and slept.

Day after day, this simple life continued until the day the rewards for military merit were finally handed down, and only then did it come to a stop.

For such an awards ceremony, Chu Mu, as one of the few lucky ones in the Nanshan Patrol Bureau who could be promoted in military rank, naturally could not be absent...