That night, amidst the sprawling ruins, The Welcome Inn—Nanshan Town’s only inn—had a rare surge of business.

Some came with their families in tow, while others, like Chu Mu, carried all their worldly possessions, looking just like refugees.

Teams of Inspectors moved back and forth along the streets, some cleaning up the ruins, others visiting the sites of funerals to perform the reviled act of unsealing coffins for autopsies.

Nanshan Town was once again thrown into a clamor that night.

Chu Mu stood at the window, gazing at the clamor on the streets below, and couldn’t help but sigh.

A single mine had doomed Nanshan Town, and even the whole of Qinghe County, to a future with almost no hope of peace.

A complete and utter hotbed of conflict.

His uniform could spare him a great deal of trouble, but at the same time, it inevitably dragged him into one storm after another.

’Greed... I’m still too greedy...’

Chu Mu let out a long breath. All his current troubles stemmed from his own greed.

Otherwise, given the current situation, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to find an excuse to leave this hotbed of conflict. In fact, it would be quite easy.

Ultimately, he was just too greedy. He couldn’t bear to let go of even the faintest hope.

Chu Mu slowly opened his hand. A faintly glowing Jade Slab rested in his palm.

After staring at it blankly for a moment, Chu Mu looked away and took a deep breath, clenching his fist around the Jade Slab once more.

Chu Mu’s gaze shifted, not to the clamor on the street, but to the three-story pavilion diagonally across from him.

Which was... Mingxin Hall!

His gaze lingered for a moment before shifting again, this time to a stack of medical books at his feet.

There were a dozen or so medical books in the stack. Only nine of them were from Mingxin Hall; Chu Mu had bought the other half from various other sources.

After studying medicine for over half a month and developing a discerning eye, he had easily discovered a significant difference between the medical books from Mingxin Hall and those he’d bought elsewhere.

Every single volume Elder Li had given him, regardless of the specific medical topic, was detailed to an extreme degree.

Take medicinal herbs, for example. In other medical books, a description of Ginseng might, at most, touch upon its medicinal properties and where it grows, all in a very general way.

In the books from Elder Li, however, the description of Ginseng was meticulously detailed and well-researched.

Its properties, how those properties changed under different conditions, its relationship with the human body, its benefits and harms—everything was laid out in extreme detail.

Ambiguous terms like "a dash," "a small amount," or "a suitable portion" were common in other texts, but they were completely absent from Elder Li’s books.

Each medical book read like... like a report compiled after countless experiments.

Scientific, rigorous, and empirical!

Everything pointed to one conclusion: these books, this knowledge, could not have originated from the mundane world he knew.

And Elder Li’s recent remarks... had hinted at this very fact.

Chu Mu was deeply curious about Elder Li’s identity. It was a curiosity that held both his greed and his hope.

But he was even more intrigued by the hints of an Extraordinary World.

’That high and mighty Extraordinary World... it seems it’s not what I imagined...’ 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

...

After a sleepless night, Nanshan Town had only just regained its tranquility by the next morning. Chu Mu sat with his eyes slightly closed, his mind clear and empty, as Qi Blood slowly circulated throughout his body.

The window had been left open all night, and a fierce chill continuously poured into the room. Yet, warmed by the circulation of his Qi Blood, wisps of steam rose from his body and swirled around him, creating a rather mystical sight.

Chu Mu didn’t open his eyes until the sun began to rise, and the first rays of light streamed through the window, bathing him in a golden glow.

He walked to the window. From the height of the second floor, he could overlook most of Nanshan Town. The golden light of the rising sun spilled across the sprawling rooftops, where unmelted snow reflected a blinding glare. The early morning bustle had already begun.

The main doors of Mingxin Hall, diagonally across the street, were already wide open. Chu Mu could even see a few apprentices bustling about.

After watching for a moment, Chu Mu looked away. He walked over to the stove, gathered the medical books that had been drying by the fire all night, and tucked two of them inside his coat before leaving the room.

The inn had already become a gathering place for the recently increased number of Inspectors in Nanshan Town. Now, with the addition of a dozen or so displaced families, it was exceptionally bustling in the early morning.

After finishing a bowl of hot noodle soup, Chu Mu didn’t linger at the inn and headed straight for Mingxin Hall.

He wasn’t too concerned about his home, which now lay in ruins.

So many households had been affected, including those of powerful figures. The He Family was already on the brink of total ruin; unless they wanted to be wiped out completely, they had no choice but to handle the aftermath properly.

"Elder Li."

"You’re here."

Seeing Chu Mu walk in, Elder Li glanced up and pointed to several large burlap sacks piled by the counter. "A new batch of medicinal herbs arrived last night. Go sort them."

"Alright."

Chu Mu agreed, but after a moment’s hesitation, he walked up to Elder Li.

Elder Li put down his brush and looked at Chu Mu. "Is something the matter?"

Chu Mu asked tentatively, "Elder Li, did you hear about what happened last night? About He San of the He Family dying and coming back to life, his reanimated corpse causing a rampage?"

Elder Li frowned. He pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.

"To be killed by a Resentful Soul, for the corpse to be tainted by Yin Qi, and then to rise again as a living corpse to wreak havoc... that is not a rare occurrence."

’Yin Qi, a living corpse...’

Chu Mu mulled over these two new terms. Seeing that Elder Li didn’t seem to be avoiding the subject, he grew bold and asked another question.

"If a corpse is tainted with Yin Qi, will it always turn into a living corpse?"

Elder Li shook his head. "There’s a certain probability."

Chu Mu pressed on, "May I ask, Elder Li, what factors influence the probability of a corpse tainted with Yin Qi reanimating as a living corpse?"

"Many factors are at play."

"For example, the weather at the time of death, the environment where the body is kept, the concentration of the tainting Yin Qi, and, of course, the most important factor is whether the person, before death, was..."

He stopped mid-sentence. Elder Li chuckled lightly and changed the subject. "These matters are far too remote for ordinary people."

"You will naturally encounter many things when the time is right. When it is not the right time, it is best not to force the issue."

"Brother Mu, you have only just begun the path of Qi and Blood Cultivation. You should keep your mind focused and not try to run before you can walk."

Hearing this, Chu Mu sighed inwardly with regret, but there was nothing he could do.

"I... have learned my lesson."

Chu Mu clasped his hands respectfully. Taking the hint, he asked no more questions. He walked over to the side and, as Elder Li had instructed, began sorting the wide variety of medicinal herbs.

...