Yamen Runner

A ray of dawn broke through the darkness, spilling over the imposing walls of an Ancient City.

The Great Xuan Dynasty had stood for nearly a thousand years. Its administration had decayed, its officials had rotted. Pale golden light illuminated this commandery city, illuminating every grand or crumbling building, yet it could not illuminate the dark, corrupt hearts of men.

Chen Mu wore a standard yamen runner's uniform, a broad-bladed saber hanging at his waist as he walked through the narrow alleys. The pungent stench of blood filled the air, making him frown slightly.

He walked a little farther.

Along both sides of the somewhat wider road lay seven or eight corpses, scattered in all directions. Their condition was utterly gruesome. They seemed to have been hacked apart by a flurry of blades, almost beyond recognition, and one wall was even plastered with blood and flesh.

"Ah, Black Sand Gang men. Looks like they've been wiped out this time."

Another yamen runner standing beside Chen Mu sighed. "A year ago, no one around here dared provoke the Black Sand Gang. But after the one backing them fell, they declined step by step. Now even a few little kittens managed to wipe them out clean."

"Shh, stop talking. This has nothing to do with us. Sweep, sweep!"

The third yamen runner made a silencing gesture, then picked up his tools and stepped forward to clear the street.

Chen Mu looked at the horrific scene, his brows furrowed, but in the end, he merely shook his head.

He had been in this world for two years, and he had seen such sights more than once. This commandery city, which looked magnificent and majestic on the surface, was in truth a lawless land brimming with chaos, conflict, and slaughter.

Gang fights like this, where entire families were exterminated, were common occurrences. Even in the outwardly solemn and splendid Inner City, corpses were thrown out every day. They Yamen Runners were supposedly serving in office, but in reality, they were only responsible for sweeping up afterward.

Chen Mu had once seen a colleague say a few words too many while drunk. The next day, his corpse had inexplicably appeared in a roadside ditch. The higher-ups had not bothered with it at all; they had not even asked a single question.

Sweep up!

Chen Mu raised his sleeve and waved it, driving away some of the pungent bloody stench before following his colleagues.

In truth, in this chaotic commandery city, being a yamen runner was already considered a good job. As long as one did not speak recklessly, meddle in other people's affairs, or offend one's superiors, and simply kept one's head down and behaved oneself, it was generally quite safe—unlike the common folk, who lived in constant fear.

He had his father, whom he had only met a handful of times, to thank for getting this job as a yamen runner. His father had once been an old yamen runner and knew a few people. When he fell gravely ill, he had exhausted every means to arrange this post for him, then promptly breathed his last.

Only—

This yamen runner job had not ultimately allowed the original "Chen Mu" to live for long either. Later, a serious illness had taken his life as well. The current Chen Mu was no longer the original owner of this body, but a soul from Earth, also named Chen Mu, who had inherited this identity.

Though Chen Mu in his previous life had been nothing more than a small fry, he had struggled and scraped along at the bottom of society for many years. At the very least, he knew how to read the room and watch his words. Thus, even after suddenly arriving in this unfamiliar world, he quickly settled in and safely passed two years.

The group stepped forward and got busy, dividing up the task of handling the corpses.

Like the others, Chen Mu pretended to clean while casually feeling around the bodies... Searching corpses was an unspoken understanding among Yamen Runners like them. Usually, there was little to find; any silver had long since been taken away. But if they were lucky, they could occasionally pick up a little that had slipped through the net.

For lowly Yamen Runners like them, even finding a few scattered copper coins was enough to be happy about.

Chen Mu searched through the clothes of the corpse assigned to him, only to find them completely empty. At the same time, he caught sight of Liu San nearby stuffing something into his own pocket.

Why am I the one who gets nothing every time?

Chen Mu felt somewhat puzzled. In the past two years, he had handled no fewer than two hundred, if not three hundred, corpses, but he had never once found silver. He had barely found any money either—only two or three times in total, and only a few scattered copper coins each time.

Everyone understood the rules, so he would not ask Liu San what he had found. Still, it was obvious that Liu San had gotten something.

Unwilling to accept it, Chen Mu continued dealing with his corpse, feeling his way downward. Suddenly, his fingers encountered something strange. He had indeed touched something—a small paper booklet, it seemed.

Chen Mu's heart immediately tightened.

Silver and coins could be taken. Valuable ornaments such as jade pendants could also be taken freely. But strange things could not be casually taken, especially paper items like this. Who knew whether they might bring trouble?

Yet after hesitating, Chen Mu still lifted it slightly and peered through the gap. What he had found was a somewhat tattered booklet made of yellow paper. He could vaguely make out the words, "...Wind Blade Technique."

"Hm."

Chen Mu's heart stirred, but his hands calmly concealed the movement as he quietly tucked the booklet away.

If he found something like account books or maps on a corpse, it was best to pretend he had never seen them. For one thing, they were useless to him; for another, they might bring trouble. But if it was a damaged blade manual, it should not be too much of a problem. Most likely, others had not wanted it. Otherwise, the killers would have taken it during the night.

Liu San and the others noticed Chen Mu's movements as well, but after exchanging glances, they tacitly chose not to come over and ask.

"Let's go!"

After working for a while, they loaded the corpses onto a small wooden cart and pushed it out of the city.

Not far north of the city were the Mass Burial Grounds.

Chen Mu, Liu San, Li Liu, and the others hauled the bodies all the way there, then tossed them down on the spot. There was no need to bury them. Wolves roamed here at night, so the corpses could feed the wolves. When they had time in the future, they could hunt a few wolves and sell their pelts for drinking money.

Of course, the truth was that none of the three wished to remain outside the city for long. Within the city, their yamen runner uniforms still counted for something. But outside, where war and chaos reigned, who cared who anyone was? Every extra moment they stayed meant another measure of danger.

After hurriedly dumping the corpses, they rushed back toward the city. Only after entering through the gates did they all let out a long breath.

"Chen Er, what do you say today? Want to go drink together?"

Liu San looked at Chen Mu with a cheerful grin.

His real name was not Liu San. His surname was Liu, and his given name was Song. But he was third among his siblings, so everyone called him that. Chen Mu had an elder brother who had died young, making him second in the family, so others also called him Chen Er.

"No."

Chen Mu waved a hand.

Of course he wanted to drink wine, eat meat, and listen to music in the pleasure houses, but his pockets were simply too empty.

Being a yamen runner was said to be relatively stable work, but in truth, it brought in very little money. Most of it was skimmed away by the officials above, leaving him with barely enough for daily food and drink. If he wanted to spend lavishly on wine and women, it was completely insufficient.

Moreover, Chen Mu had a younger sister at home, seven years younger than him. She had to stay hidden in the house all day and dared not go out. That was effectively another mouth to feed, far beyond the circumstances of Liu San and the others, whose family situations were fairly decent.

Liu Song looked at Chen Mu, who was about to leave, and said with a smile, "Chen Er, your younger sister is about old enough to marry. How about I find a way for her to marry into a wealthy family? At least she'll have food and clothing without worry in the future, and you can get a sum of silver too. Life would be much more comfortable. What do you think?"

Having worked alongside Chen Mu for years, he knew Chen Mu's circumstances. Back when Chen Mu's father had become critically ill, treating him had nearly drained the family dry. Now Chen Mu worked as a constable but earned little, and he still had to support a younger sister who could not conveniently leave home to work. Compared with the even lower-class poor, he did not lack food and would not starve, but in every other respect, his life left much to be desired.

At Liu Song's words, the smiling face of an innocent little girl appeared in Chen Mu's mind. He smiled faintly and said, "Wait another two years. She's still too young."

When he had arrived in this world, this body had still been gravely ill. Only twelve-year-old Chen Yue had remained by his side, bustling about to bring him water and feed him meals, allowing this body to slowly recover.

Though he did not share the previous twelve years of memories and affection, after two years together, he had long accepted her as his younger sister. Besides, even when he had first arrived in this world, he could never have traded her for silver. Such behavior was no different from that of a beast.

"Fine. If you ever change your mind, tell your big brother."

Liu Song did not press him. With a chuckle, he patted Chen Mu's shoulder, then left to drink with Li Liu.

After parting from Liu Song and the others for the moment, Chen Mu walked along the alley to the main street. At a street corner, he took out ten Xuan Coins and bought two coarse-flour steamed buns before heading home.

"These prices..."

Chen Mu weighed the few remaining Xuan Coins in his pocket and shook his head slightly.

According to his past memories, more than ten years ago, one Xuan Coin could buy a steamed bun. Now, it cost five. It was not that steamed buns had become more expensive, but that Xuan Coins had gradually become worthless due to all the private and indiscriminate minting.

This directly affected bottom-rung Yamen Runners like him as well, because the wages distributed to them were always calculated in Xuan Coins. Though their pay had symbolically increased by one string in recent years, compared with the plunge in the value of Xuan Coins, it could not make up for anything at all.

As for the portion lost in between, who knew whose hands it had fallen into.

Very soon.

Chen Mu returned to his home in this world.

It stood on the outskirts of the South District, among a row of somewhat dilapidated tile-and-wood houses in what counted as a slum. Calling it a row was generous; there were only two rooms in total. One was a woodshed for cooking and piling up clutter, while the other was a bedroom for living in.