Chu Mu walked into his room. The once spartan room was now completely transformed. Dozens of books were stacked neatly on the desk.

Among them were books from Elder Li, as well as some medical texts circulating outside that Chu Mu had acquired from bookstores through his connections.

Beside the bed stood a row of medicine cabinets, which held various medicinal herbs Chu Mu had purchased from Mingxin Hall. Of course, the quantity of each herb was small.

Their main purpose was to allow Chu Mu to better recognize and distinguish the appearance and types of herbs, and to understand their medicinal properties.

At the foot of the bed was a small stove with an earthenware pot on top, mainly used for brewing decoctions.

Shennong tasted a hundred herbs. In a medical system like this—one based on combining herbs and using their properties for treatment—a healer could never apply them effectively without personally experiencing their effects.

The same was true for the connection between Medical Skill and Martial Arts.

And when it came to this principle of "Shennong tasting a hundred herbs," this era undoubtedly possessed a unique advantage.

The Cultivation of Qi Blood allowed one to clearly perceive any change in their body, and naturally, to clearly perceive the specific effects of medicinal properties.

Even with deadly poisons, if one was prepared, they could gather their Qi Blood to directly seal off the toxin. They could even expend some of their Qi Blood to expel the toxin completely.

Of course, this was all on the condition of being prepared. Otherwise, once the poison spread, there was nothing that could be done.

Such an almost cheat-like advantage would have undoubtedly made countless traditional Chinese doctors from his past life burn with envy. When those doctors tasted a hundred herbs, they had no way of experiencing the medicinal properties so clearly.

Besides, every medicine is a potential poison. Tasting a medicine meant letting that poison enter the body. It was hard to imagine how those healers from his past life, without Qi and Blood Cultivation, had managed to establish such a complete system of traditional medicine.

Chu Mu felt a wave of emotion for some reason. He picked up a medical text and leaned back to read.

He had always been an early riser, and there was still some time before his shift. Chu Mu naturally wouldn’t waste it.

The pages turned. To use a famous quote from his past life, he was absorbing knowledge like a sponge.

And in fact, that was exactly what was happening.

Knowledge is power. Chu Mu was already beginning to understand the truth in that phrase.

About a quarter of an hour passed before Chu Mu put down the medical text in his hands. He casually picked up a bookmark made from a leaf, placed it between the pages, grabbed a few more medical texts, and headed out the door.

It was the dead of winter. A bitter wind howled, and the heavy snow had continued for several days. The entirety of Nanshan Town was once again blanketed in snow and wind.

There weren’t many pedestrians on the streets, and most were hurrying along. Beneath the eaves on either side, Inspectors could occasionally be seen taking shelter from the storm. The inns and taverns, however, were bustling with noise.

The large black dog that Chu Mu had named Wangcai followed behind him, tail wagging. Man and dog walked down the street, braving the wind and snow.

From a great distance, one could clearly see the corpse swaying in the blizzard. Perhaps because it had been sucked dry into a husk, it had remained that way for nearly a month without the slightest sign of decay.

The surroundings were the same as always, but with no activity for over half a month, even the strictest watch had inevitably grown lax.

Chu Mu was already used to it. This kind of life was no different from his previous guard duty at the mining camp—find a place to sit, and then... read.

"Wangcai, come here!"

Chu Mu walked over to a set of steps under the eaves and sat down, then waved to Wangcai, who was looking around.

The pup was very bright. Seeing Chu Mu call him, he scampered over, tail wagging eagerly.

"Sit!"

Chu Mu gently pressed down on Wangcai’s head, and the pup immediately sat obediently in front of him.

The reason he brought the dog on duty was simple. After all, people need to eat, and so do dogs. Lately, Chu Mu had been running around outside so often that he didn’t have time to feed the pup, so it was better to just let him tag along.

"Brother Mu."

Seeing Chu Mu arrive, Xu Yuan ambled over.

Chu Mu asked casually, "How’s your training going?"

Xu Yuan leaned against the door’s threshold stone, saying listlessly, "I’m almost there. The main problem is I can’t quiet my mind. I’m always getting lost in stray thoughts."

"Brother Mu, do you think I just don’t have a talent for Martial Arts?"

"You sensed your Qi Blood on your very first try. I’ve been struggling for days and still haven’t felt a thing..."

"You’re too impatient."

Chu Mu glanced at the listless Xu Yuan and pondered for a moment before saying, "Qi and Blood Cultivation is about stillness. How can you quiet your mind when you’re so agitated?"

"How about this: don’t try to practice for the next few days. Just read. Read quietly for a few days, and then try again."

After speaking, Chu Mu didn’t wait for Xu Yuan’s reply. His gaze returned to the medical text in his hands. His long-term, conscious focus had already trained him in the habit of mental stillness.

Soon, the clamor of the outside world was ignored by his conscious mind, pushed aside by his focus. In his eyes and in his heart, there were only the lines of text in the book.

In over half a month, Chu Mu had already read through more than ten medical texts. The one he held now was the sixteenth.

Reading them through, for him, meant at the very least memorizing them until he could recite them fluently. Beyond that, it meant understanding the text and its meaning.

Chu Mu’s idea was very simple: read, and read a lot!

The path of Medical Skill was as vast and complex as the sea. So, he would read every medical text he could get his hands on, leveraging the advantage of his "Spiritual Radiance Blessing" to its fullest to build up his medical foundation.

Once his theoretical medical knowledge reached a high enough level, gradually applying that theory to practice would be a natural next step.

Chu Mu focused on his book, and beside him, Xu Yuan also became absorbed in his. The surrounding Inspectors were either gathered in twos and threes by the bonfire or had ducked into the inns and taverns lining the street to eat and drink.

Everything was as it always was. The guard seemed strict, but in reality, most had grown complacent. Over half a month of peace was enough to dull anyone’s vigilance.

And so it seemed to be. For a full day, Chu Mu read quietly while the other Inspectors idled away the hours chatting. Still, nothing happened.

At dusk, the wind and snow continued to rage. The next shift of Inspectors arrived to take over guard duty. Another day of standing watch—another day of getting by—was over.

Chu Mu glanced at the corpse, now covered in wind-blown snow. His gaze flickered, and he couldn’t help but think of that boy again.

There hadn’t been any movement for over half a month. It seemed to suggest that... those Rebels had truly given up on revenge, and on their master’s body.

’I hope so...’

Chu Mu shook his head. If they really had given up, it would be a good thing for him.

His life had a routine now, and he had his own plans. If possible, he hoped this peace would last.

It would be best if that boy never appeared again, and if he never had to set foot in that mining camp again...

...