What happened in the darkness remained unseen. The figure, lurking in the shadows, vanished completely into the night.

Chu Mu remained seated, leaning against a stone pillar within the innermost security circle. He wasn’t overly vigilant; instead, he calmed his mind and focused his spirit, attempting to commune with the Qi Blood in his body.

According to the Body Refining Technique, the Pile Skill was the foundation for Qi and Blood Cultivation. However, this didn’t mean Qi Blood couldn’t be cultivated without it.

It was just that the unique postural changes of the Pile Skill could better stimulate one’s Qi Blood, allowing for a better perception and control of it, and even enabling the Refinement of the qi absorbed by the body.

Even now, in a seated, cross-legged position, Chu Mu could clearly perceive the Qi Blood in his body and was attempting to circulate and control it.

However, without the support of the Pile Skill, his internal Qi Blood was clearly not as active as it was with the Pile Skill’s support, and his perception of it wasn’t as sharp.

Chu Mu didn’t mind, however. With a calm and focused mind, he continued to silently circulate his Qi Blood, practicing his Cultivation.

Around Chu Mu, the area under the memorial archway was still heavily guarded, with several rings of men. In other parts of town, armored and armed Inspectors could still be seen standing guard everywhere.

Nanshan Town remained just as heavily fortified.

The night passed slowly, with everything proceeding as usual.

At daybreak, the next shift of Inspectors took over guard duty. The Inspectors who had frozen through the night in the dead of winter couldn’t wait to disperse.

"Brother Mu, I’m heading to Doctor Li’s place first."

Chu Mu looked at the eager Xu Yuan and raised an eyebrow. "Going so early?"

"It’s not early at all. I asked yesterday, and Elder Li gets up very early every day."

"Alright."

Chu Mu nodded, not stopping him. The stronger Xu Yuan’s ambition for martial arts, the better it was for him.

After all, no matter what one was doing, it was always good to have a helping hand.

Xu Yuan hurried off. Chu Mu glanced up at the sky. It was already daybreak, but at some point, dark clouds had rolled in, obscuring the sun. The sky grew dim, as if night were about to fall again.

Even in the dead of winter, such weather was a rare sight.

Chu Mu shook his head. ’In times like these, weather like this is hardly a good omen.’

Chu Mu set off, walking straight toward a nearby inn. Although Nanshan Town was nearly under martial law, daily life hadn’t been disrupted. In fact, with the large number of Inspectors transferred to town, the increasingly desolate Nanshan Town had gained a bit more life and bustle.

Though it was early morning, throngs of off-duty Inspectors had already filled the various food stalls and rest stops along the street. This inn, too, was a scene of noisy commotion.

After ordering a bowl of steaming noodle soup and several baskets of buns, Chu Mu began to eat heartily.

Perhaps because of his Qi and Blood Cultivation, Chu Mu had clearly noticed his appetite increasing over the past day or two. He felt especially famished after every session.

"Five baskets of buns to go!"

After taking a few quick bites to sate his hunger, Chu Mu finally had a moment to call out to the busy waiter.

"Right away, Lord Official! Just a moment."

The waiter called back in acknowledgment and headed downstairs, shouting the order.

"I can’t take this anymore!"

"A whole damned night! Didn’t get a wink of sleep, just wandering back and forth in that mine..."

As he took a couple more bites, a complaint from a nearby table caught Chu Mu’s attention.

In Nanshan Town, and especially at the mine, plenty of people went without sleep for a whole night.

After all, the town was already on constant patrol day and night; plenty of men were going sleepless.

’He himself had just gotten off duty after pulling several all-nighters in a row.’

The thousands of men performing Forced Labor at the mine were a serious matter, so it was only natural for them to be guarded at all times.

But Chu Mu had never heard of night duty at the mine requiring anyone to wander around inside it!

He knew for a fact that at night, all the Forced Laborers were managed centrally. The guarding Inspectors mostly just needed to watch over the laborers’ encampment and secure a few key entrances and exits.

’Who would be bored enough to wander around the mine in the middle of the night? That godforsaken place has been excavated for decades. You have to watch your step even in broad daylight. Aren’t they afraid of taking a wrong step in the dark and falling to their death?’

"I don’t remember any patrols being scheduled inside the mine at night, are there?"

"Why were you wandering around in there for no reason?"

Just as Chu Mu was pondering this, a nearby Inspector voiced the very same question.

"You think I wanted to?!"

"In the middle of the night, about a hundred of us brothers were roused from our beds!"

"It was a direct order from the Thousand Households. Who would dare disobey?"

The other Inspector asked again, "Why would the Thousand Households order you to wander around the mine?"

"It was that new Lord Inspector!"

"I don’t know if he’s got water on the brain or what, but he insisted on going into the mine to look around in the middle of the night!"

"Even Lord Thousand Households was trotting along behind him. How could little guys like us dare to say a word?"

"We were in there for the entire night!"

"I’ve been on guard duty at this mine for years, and there are plenty of spots I’ve never been to. But last night, we crawled through every last nook and cranny!"

"Those blasted tunnels are like a maze. A few idiots fell behind and got completely lost. Heard they only found their way out this morning after the Forced Labor crew went in..."

"I just don’t get it. What’s there to even see in that mine?"

The other Inspector mused, "Could they have been looking for something?"

"Lately, hasn’t Lord Thousand Households been taking men around the mine all day, too? They all say there’s treasure in there... Don’t know if it’s true or not..."

The first Inspector scoffed, "Treasure, my ass!"

"We’ve been digging this mine for decades. If there was really any treasure, it would’ve been found long ago. Why would they suddenly start looking for it now..."

"Then what do you think the Thousand Households is looking for, leading men around the mine every day?"

"How many times had you ever seen Lord Thousand Households at our mine before this?"

"Now our Lord Thousand Households practically lives at the mine..."

The two Inspectors chatted idly as they ate.

Every word of their conversation reached Chu Mu’s ears clearly.

’So... that man in white went straight to the mine after he left last night, and then spent the entire night searching it?’

Chu Mu slurped a mouthful of his noodle soup, his brow furrowed slightly.

He remembered clearly. Back when he was on duty at the mine, rumors about a hidden treasure had spread like wildfire, all because Li Jinghong was leading men around the place day in and day out.

But so much time had passed without any further news. And with the uprising and the series of sudden events that followed, Chu Mu had stopped paying attention to it.

’And now, this man in white from the so-called Nanshan Li Family heads straight for the mine on his very first day in Nanshan Town and spends the entire night searching it?’

’The talk of treasure was clearly nonsense.’

’What kind of treasure could it be? Gold and silver?’

’Putting aside everything else, would someone like Li Jinghong really be hurting for gold and silver coins?’

’And would mere gold and silver coins be enough to make Li Jinghong spend all day scouring the mine?’

’That seemed highly unlikely. And besides, would mere silver and gold... compel an Extraordinary Clan from a much higher echelon to send someone specifically to find it?’

’Unless... the "treasure" part of this so-called treasure was something that could tempt even those at a higher level of the Extraordinary realm!’

...