Deduction

"Fourth Brother?"

Zhou Buren called out.

He noticed that his younger brother had been lost in thought for rather too long, tightly clutching the Buddha Amulet he had given him.

This hardly looked like a positive attitude. It looked more like he was giving up on himself.

Hearing his voice, Zhou Muzhi returned his attention to reality. With his mind now settled, he shook his head.

"I'm all right."

Looking at his younger brother's haggard appearance, Zhou Buren knew he could not keep waiting around. He stood up, his sleeves swaying as he spoke.

"Rest here, Fourth Brother. I'll go to Head Constable Tie's house right now!"

With that, he turned without hesitation and quickened his pace, his footsteps thudding against the ground.

As the footsteps receded, the room belonging to Zhou Muzhi fell quiet once more.

The maid waiting outside had received instructions from the old steward. Afraid of disrupting the young master's important business, she dared not enter without being summoned.

Zhou Muzhi put down the Buddha Amulet. This jade tablet contained only those few points; once absorbed, there were no more.

His second brother had left so quickly that he had not had time to ask whether there were any similar objects.

"No rush. I'll ask when Second Brother comes back. At least there's finally some good news."

Zhou Muzhi comforted himself.

He checked his deduction points, his mind whirring as he considered how best to use these hard-won points.

Deduction points could, in theory, deduce anything.

His first thought was the Body Condensation Method he had asked about last night. At present, the likeliest way to escape the curse that would kill him within three days was the Blood-Knocking Pass.

He closed his eyes and silently recited the hundred-word cultivation formula.

A moment later.

His eyes opened again.

Disappointment flashed deep within them.

The result was obvious: he had failed.

Perhaps because he had not even begun cultivating it, this Body Condensation Method, which was nothing more than a verbal formula, could not yet be deduced.

Did he really have to pin his hopes on the so-called True Immortal Temple?

Or on Constable Tie, whom his second brother had mentioned?

Those hopes were far too tenuous.

Zhou Muzhi's gaze happened to fall on the exceptionally thick white candle, and he watched the little flame flickering atop it.

This was the countdown to his death.

A considerable portion of the candle had already burned away. It would last another two days at most.

He shook his head.

Zhou Muzhi rose from his chair. His body had recovered considerably again and regained some strength, but feeling his limbs gradually coming back under his control brought him little joy.

He started toward the bed, his hands clasped behind his back.

One step.

Two steps.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Zhou Muzhi turned halfway around to face the square table, his gaze settling firmly on the still-thick white candle.

The firelight flickered in his pupils.

His brow lifted, and he changed direction again, walking toward the candle.

He paused for a moment.

Since this candle has the miraculous power to preserve life...

The thought appeared in his mind.

Zhou Muzhi reached out with both hands, his arms trembling slightly. His fleshless fingers drew closer to the white candle inch by inch, until both hands closed around it.

A thread of coolness traveled from his palms up his arms, through his chest, and to the crown of his head.

A shiver ran through him.

His mind instantly cleared as well.

The panel popped open, showing a new change.

[A candle touched by a trace of true intent, a painstaking creation by an Incense Maker of meager skill]

[Effect: can preserve the lives of those afflicted by curses, evil, baleful intent, calamity, and the like. The duration of protection depends on the condition of the person being protected]

Hmm?

It could actually display information about special items. This function was rather heaven-defying.

After all, this was not a game world reduced to data. It was only normal for other people to look at something without knowing its origins.

There was more text on the panel, and Zhou Muzhi read on.

[Current deduction paths: 1. Gain a trace of true intent and obtain Nine Heavens Profound Intent (effect: maintains a perfect condition for a limited time). Deduction points required: 1;

2. Enhance the candle's effect (effect: extends the duration of protection, depending on the number of points used). Deduction points required: 0.1-1.5]

Zhou Muzhi's expression shifted slightly.

Inwardly, however, he was making calculations.

The first deduction result could restore him to perfect condition, but only for a limited time.

The second meant exactly what it said: the more points he invested, the longer the candle protecting him would last.

If he had a backup plan, waiting a while would have been fine. The problem was that he had none. Even this candle had only been obtained after his parents begged someone for it.

Prolonging the effect was meaningless.

With that impulse, he chose the first deduction.

In a flash.

The coolness vanished from the candle in his hands.

The candle's flame went out.

The candle was still the same candle, but whatever had been inside it was gone.

Zhou Muzhi felt heat spread throughout his body. He had still been very weak, but moments later, it was as though he had swallowed a powerful restorative pill, and his strength returned completely.

Being healthy and being sick were truly as different as heaven and earth.

He turned toward the large mirror on the wardrobe. The Zhou Muzhi reflected in it had an exceptionally rosy complexion, and every trace of sickliness had vanished.

The change was simply miraculous.

But it was only temporary. He brought up the panel.

[Name: Zhou Muzhi]

[Status: cursed (temporarily sealed)]

[Skill: Nine Heavens Profound Intent (time limit: twenty double-hours)]

[Deduction points: 0.5]

"Phew!"

He exhaled a stale breath.

It felt as though a thousand shackles had been lifted from his body.

Now that I'm in perfect condition, I have to learn martial arts as soon as possible!

Looking at the forty-hour time limit, Zhou Muzhi understood that he had little time left.

First, learn martial arts.

Second, ask his second brother for objects similar to the Buddha Amulet.

The martial path ahead would inevitably need to be paved with a large number of deduction points before he could eliminate his crisis completely.

Fortunately.

He had managed to take this most difficult first step.

With his vitality restored, Zhou Muzhi walked out from behind the screen and surveyed his surroundings: the washstand, the spittoon in the corner, and the wooden coat rack by the entrance.

Then he went forward and pushed open the door, bringing the view outside into sight.

This was a rear courtyard. Apart from his room, there were matching side rooms and a main room in the middle.

The maid waiting outside looked young and had a graceful figure. She wore a thin, padded blue-green jacket over a finely pleated skirt and was the bed-warming maid assigned specifically to serve the fourth young master.

The moment she saw Zhou Muzhi appear, she lowered her head and bowed, her voice clear and delicate.

"Fourth Young Master!"

Zhou Muzhi shifted his gaze to her. The memories in his mind had already told him how to respond.

He gave a light cough.

"Xiaozi, take me to Lao Xu."

His tone was the same as ever.

The maid, Xiaozi, gave it no further thought. She immediately answered and led Zhou Muzhi toward the front gate.

Only after leaving the rear courtyard did he realize how large the Zhou family estate truly was. An ancestral property expanded over who knew how many generations, it had incorporated three or four ordinary residences in a row.

They passed through a blue-brick corridor from the rear courtyard into the middle courtyard, where Xiaozi stopped outside an open space covered in gravel and sand.

A low wall enclosed this space, with a round gateway left in the middle.

A gray-toned, single-story building had been built in one corner of the open space. The guards hired by the Zhou family generally lived there.

Zhou Muzhi had only just stepped through the round gateway when he saw Lao Xu staring at him with wide eyes.

His gaze seemed to reveal disbelief.

"Lao Xu, I came to ask you which martial traditions in this county would suit me."

Lao Xu hurriedly concealed his surprise. Any more of it would have been impolite. Still, someone who could remain just like a living person after Half-Immortal Xu's verdict...

In all these years, Lao Xu truly had never seen such a thing.

Hearing the young master's question, he immediately began listing the various established families with martial traditions that he had committed to memory.