Stay in the Light

Lu Yuan decided he should hurry home first. The electric lamp above his head was flickering under the strain.

By the time he headed back, the sky had already gone completely dark.

The lights along the streets had grown ever denser.

Beneath a streetlamp, two or three figures wrapped in ragged blankets were curled up together.

One rested his head on an empty wine bottle, while another had curled himself into a ball, his vacant eyes fixed on the shadows at the edge of the light.

Lu Yuan pushed the empty bed past them.

The creaking drew their attention.

The vagrants had only warily raised their eyes at first, but one of them caught sight of the bed Lu Yuan was pushing. His expression froze before he spoke.

"Out wandering at this hour? You must be new to Grim Port, sir."

Lu Yuan stopped, raised a brow, then nodded. "Grim Port? Oh, it is my first time here. Are there any rules?"

"Don't go to the harbor at night. Other than that, stay somewhere with light." He pointed at the buzzing bulb overhead and gave an ugly smile.

"What if the light goes out?" Lu Yuan asked casually.

The vagrant looked at Lu Yuan as if he were an idiot and pointed toward a pitch-black alley nearby.

"Then pray that the lord who runs this town sends someone to fix it soon."

An old man huddled in a ragged blanket beside him muttered softly, "Why waste your breath telling him that? Do you expect this young man to toss you a few Copper Shields for a drink?"

"Shut up, Faye! This has nothing to do with you, you drunk!" The vagrant broke into a broad smile and said, "Sir, I know that having a vagrant strike up a conversation with you at night is dangerous."

"But for Doctor Laisen's sake, I offered you this advice. I assume you're Doctor Laisen's friend?"

"That's right. He asked me to look after his clinic in Grim Port for a while." Lu Yuan showed a trace of surprise and went along with the vagrant's words. "And you are?"

The man waved a hand. "Doctor Laisen saved my life. He pushed me on that bed."

"Grim Port isn't like the inner city. We don't have such good conditions here. So, sir, make sure you stay somewhere with light at night!"

"Don't imitate those lords from outside and lose your life without even knowing why. Hurry home."

Having said that, the man ignored Lu Yuan. He merely lowered his head, looking as though he were saying, Get lost and stop disturbing my sleep.

"I'll remember what you said." Lu Yuan lifted a foot to leave, but after some thought, he added, "My name is Lu Yuan. If you need anything, you can find me at the clinic."

With that, Lu Yuan pushed the Small Bed away without looking back.

Only the vagrant who had just spoken remained, head lowered as he muttered to himself, "Lu Yuan? An Eastern name?"

After returning to the clinic, Lu Yuan locked the door from the inside. Only after scrubbing the foul-smelling Small Bed three times did the lingering chill in his body recede slightly.

After quickly washing up in the bathroom, he lit the fireplace, sat cross-legged on the sofa, took out a fresh notebook, and began planning what to do next.

First came the "experience bars."

Lu Yuan planned to run the most basic test first.

He picked up a copy of Basic Herbology from the Bookshelf on the second floor and began reading.

The contents of this Pharmacognosy book were extremely basic. It recorded the identification and effects of a hundred medicinal herbs, even including methods for making several common medicines.

Although Lu Yuan's knowledge in this field was quite limited, he could still understand the book.

Yet no experience bar appeared in his field of vision.

Lu Yuan was not in a hurry. He continued flipping through the pages until, at the moment he memorized the effect of one herb, the experience bars appeared.

[Basic Herbology: +0.5.../20]

[Imperial Language—Reading: +1.../1000]

Gray-white experience bars surfaced before Lu Yuan's eyes, twitching faintly as he continued to read.

He barely stopped after that. The further he read, the more awake his once-drowsy mind became. The unfamiliar herb names and their detailed effects began automatically arranging themselves in his head.

Lu Yuan kept studying, forgetting the passage of time.

It was not until his neck ached unbearably that his hand loosened. He folded down a page corner and closed the book.

By then, he had already read more than half of Basic Herbology.

[Basic Herbology: 7/20]

[Imperial Language—Reading: 5/1000]

"I actually entered a state of deep learning?" Lu Yuan set down the book, rose to his feet, and gently rolled his neck. Understanding immediately dawned on him.

"It seems the experience bars do more than simply visualize progress."

"In that case, pretending to be a doctor may actually be feasible."

"And..." Lu Yuan looked through the window at the world outside, illuminated by lamplight. A spark of heat flashed through his heart. This world seems to hold many secrets unknown to others.

However, there was still one thing Lu Yuan did not understand: what exactly happened when an experience bar leveled up?

At present, he only knew that raising Sanity could improve his mental resistance. What about the other entries?

As Lu Yuan pondered this, the gray-white experience bars appeared again.

[Sanity II: 1/50 (Experience)][Basic Herbology: 7/20][Imperial Language—Reading: 5/1000][Forbidden Studies—Peeper: 5/10]

Among these entries, aside from Sanity, which came with a line of description, the others had no explanation whatsoever.

The situation was clear now. It seemed only entries that had been upgraded came with relevant descriptions.

That was why neither [Imperial Language] nor [Forbidden Studies] had a detailed explanation.

Imperial Language could be set aside for now. After all, he had the ability to translate, so whether he learned it in the short term would not make much difference.

But if he could see an introduction for Forbidden Studies, perhaps he could deepen his understanding of this world.

He did not dwell on it.

Because Lu Yuan planned to conduct a few more tests tonight and try turning knowledge into actual merchandise.

With that thought, he rolled up his sleeves and walked toward the pile of bottles and jars.

After all, Lu Yuan currently faced a problem: he was hungry.

Although he had inherited this little building, the money left behind by the "unlucky bastard" was pitifully scarce—only a few Silver Shields and several dozen Copper Shields.

Though he did not know the purchasing power of Imperial Shields, it could not have been much.

The little money in the drawer would most likely only be enough for him to survive frugally for a while.

As for researching new herbs afterward, there was no need to even think about it.