The morning market was bustling with people, and even the heavy rain could not stop the vendors from shouting with their unique singing voice.
Suddenly, the crowd fell silent, their eyes looking somewhere with fear.
Two gloomy-looking government servants carried the body wrapped in linen on a wooden board and walked out of the alley. Blood dripped down the wooden board and onto the bluestone bricks.
The crowd whispered.
"Another death?"
"It's so unlucky."
"I'm afraid this is the third time this month..."
"Look not, look not."
Seeing this, the people dispersed and left, and even the stalls hurriedly packed up their things, as if to avoid the plague.
The two government officials carried the body to a more open area as if there was no one around.
The older government servants were dressed in black, with a thin figure and slightly sunken eye sockets, giving people the impression that they were suffering from overwork.
His cuffs were embroidered with the words "Fuxu Chaoyong", and a two-foot water and fire stick was tied around his waist.
Although the yamen servants are in the government, they are just servants who are driven around in the yamen. The water and fire sticks are only used as personal protection tools.
Another young government official was thirteen or fourteen years old. The black clothes he wore were slightly ill-fitting and did not have the words "Fuxu Official" on him.
This is a white servant, who often works under a formal government servant and takes several years to be promoted.
They put the body down.
The leading yamen servant couldn't help coughing because he was carrying heavy objects, and it took him a few breaths to stop.
Bai Yi asked with concern: "Brother Qing, are you okay?"
The yamen servant replied with a hoarse and low voice: "It doesn't matter if I have an old problem. Xiao Wu, you can watch here while I go to the shop."
"Brother Qing..."
Xiao Wu looked very frightened, his legs were shaking a little, and his voice was as thin as a gnat.
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
The yamen servant named Ren Qing patted Xiao Wu on the shoulder and walked quickly towards the alley.
His steps were a little frivolous and his breathing became heavier, which showed that his heart was by no means as calm as he appeared on the surface.
Ren Qing walked into the depths of the alley, and the smell of blood assaulted his nostrils, so strong that it made people feel sick to his stomach.
A dilapidated bookstore came into view, and two white servants under twenty were standing at the door. They couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Ren Qing.
"Send someone."
Ren Qing nodded to the two of them, and then said: "vomit if you want to, and then quickly go into the house to pack your things. It must be done as soon as possible. You don't want to stay here, right?"
"Okay, send someone..."
Li Jin and Li Heng were brothers, and they were very similar in appearance. They had no foothold in the yamen, so the talent was given to Ren Qing.
Xiao Wu took the initiative to defect from somewhere else. He and Ren Qing's father were from the same hometown.
The Li brothers came to the corner of the alley, leaned against the wall and retched.
Ren Qing endured the nausea. On the one hand, he didn't want his subordinates to look down on him, and on the other hand, he was afraid that he would faint because he was too weak.
He took a deep breath and opened the wooden door of the bookstore.
I saw that the room was covered with pieces of flesh and blood, and the bookshelf was swayed here and there. There were no books placed on it, so it looked unusually empty.
The body of the shopkeeper that was moved out before was originally kneeling behind the door.
His hands were spread out, with the eyeballs dug out in the palms of his hands.
This has been handled by the Yamen once before. It is hard to imagine what the scene was like before.
Ren Qing is in charge of Tanjie in the west district of Sanxiang City, and he is classified as a fire worker among the government officials.
His duty is to burn the corpse and the deceased's personal belongings, so it stands to reason that there will be no danger.
But just like the shopkeeper in a bookstore, anyone with a discerning eye will know that he died a tragic death.
A few days ago, there were eight firemen in charge of Tanjie, but something went wrong when they smelled an inexplicable smell while burning a dead body.
All the fire workers fell to the ground, with weird smiles on their faces before they died.
Ren Qing seems to be the only one who survived, but in fact his body has been replaced by his soul. In his previous life, he was just an ordinary office worker.
He spent the next few days in a hazy state after traveling through time. Fortunately, he didn't have much contact with people, so he didn't notice anything strange.
It's a pity that time didn't allow him to further adapt.
A large number of lines surged in front of Ren Qing's eyes, outlining chaotic patterns and finally forming several paragraphs of text.
【Ren Qing】
[Age: seventeen]
[Shouyuan: five years and one hundred and thirteen days]
This is a magical power that Ren Qing was born with. As long as he touches others, he can check their longevity, but that's all.
The reason why he only had five years left in his life was because his internal organs were severely depleted after he came back from the dead.
And strangely enough, the upper limit of lifespan for people in this world is generally only about fifty years old, and by the age of forty they are already old and dying.
Although Ren Qing has not yet found a way to extend his life, after asking around for information, he found clues from government officials with different positions.
Generally speaking, if there is a sudden death, the jailer will come to check first, and after confirming that there is nothing wrong, then the fire workers like Ren Qing, and finally the soap slaves who clean up the blood and dirt.
Ren Qing had never come into contact with the jailer, but he suspected that the jailer was a monk who had mastered magic. Otherwise, how could Sanxiang City maintain its apparent stability.
So he bit the bullet and worked with three inexperienced white servants to deal with a weird and inexplicable mess.
Ren Qing tidied up the house carefully.
After a while, Li and Mian bravely walked in.
They wrapped the pieces of meat in the linen cloth they carried with them, and even took the wooden furniture into pieces and took them away without leaving anything behind.
"Send someone, there is a book in the crevice of the bookshelf."
Li Mian handed the book to Ren Qing.
He didn't dare to look at it at all. Any action taken by Bai Yi must be approved by the Yamen servant, so as to ensure that no accidents would occur.
Ren Qing took the book and suddenly felt a pain in his mind.
He fell to the ground, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.
"Send someone!!!"
Li Heng and Li Mian wanted to get closer, but Ren Qing reached out to stop them.
"It's okay, I'm okay."
Ren Qing let the two of them continue to clean up, while he sat at the door of the bookstore to rest for a while, with the book tightly grasped by him.
The moment he touched the book, Ren Qing's magical power was actively triggered for the first time, and the flow of information gathered in front of his eyes.
[no purpose method]
[The old monk Baimu learned from the Shou Leng Yan Sutra that to practice this method, you must dig out both eyes, and take the eyeballs with medicine, and they will grow back after seven or forty-nine days.]
Ren Qing's arms were holding the book in his arms. After a cup of tea, some information appeared.
[After your eyes are dug out, you will be trapped in boundless darkness, and you will be able to see things that ordinary people cannot see. Those who have achieved this practice can eat their eyes alive to recover from injuries and prolong their lives. Human eyes are the best.]
After another moment, new information about Wumufa appeared again.
[One-Eyed Man: Seeing Through Illusions]
[Hundred Eyes: Creating Illusions]
[Those with double pupils: predict the enemy first]
Ren Qing couldn't help but swallow, his heart couldn't help but beat wildly, and his face had a sickly flush.
[It can consume thirty days of life, and the exemption price is controlled]
The method of practice is right in front of you, and it can also extend your longevity. Even if it is a bit weird, it is better than waiting for death.
With a thought in his mind, thirty days of life were fleeting.
Ren Qing didn't want to change because of hesitation.
Besides, all the residents in this alley have been evacuated, so it will attract less attention than the crowded yamen.