Ren Qing's eyes swelled with a dull ache, and in a daze, he plunged into darkness.
He couldn't even close his eyelids. All he felt was the heavy tread of footsteps drawing nearer and they were coming from the very direction he was "seeing."
Just as the presence in the darkness was about to reach him…
"Runner..."
Someone nudged his body, and all the strangeness vanished in an instant.
Ren Qing opened his eyes. The world around him now moved sluggishly. The flies drawn by the scent of blood hovered so clearly he could make out the patterns on their wings.
Two trails of tears slowly rolled down his face, making his expression appear even more ghastly.
Li Mian and Li Heng stumbled back several steps, pressing themselves against the wall.
They wanted to flee, but their legs had turned to jelly. All they could do was keep calling out to Ren Qing.
It took Ren Qing several breaths to regain his senses. Though he had begun cultivating the Blindless Method by expending his lifespan, fully mastering it would still take time.
[Ren Qing]
[Age: Seventeen]
[Remaining Lifespan: Five years, eighty-three days]
[Art: Blindless Method]
Moreover, after grasping the Blindless Method, something in his mind seemed to have changed. He'd need to wait until returning to the yamen to investigate further.
"Just a rush of blood to the head, and the wind stirred up some dust, it made my eyes sting," Ren Qing said offhandedly.
The Li brothers didn't press further. Instead, they took on more of the physical labor without complaint.
In Sanxiang City, unnatural deaths occurred daily. As Corpse Burner, avoiding contact with corpses was impossible; which was why bai yi knew better than to offend the yamen runners overseeing them.
Otherwise, if something went wrong, they might die without even knowing how.
Once the bookstore was cleared, leaving only large patches of dried blood; the task fell to the cleaners.
The shop's door was sealed with official strips.
Ren Qing led the Li brothers out of the alley, their arms laden with bundles as they headed toward the open area where the corpse had been left.
Xiao Wu had been waiting anxiously, pacing in circles.
The corpse beside him lay in the most conspicuous spot of the morning market, the hemp cloth wrapping now soaked through with blood.
"Brother Qing... Runner, you're finally here!"
Xiao Wu's relieved shout betrayed his nerves. For someone his age, guarding a corpse alone on a deserted street was no small ordeal.
"Let's go. We've been at it all morning. Once we're back at the yamen, we can finally rest."
The furrow in Ren Qing's brow eased. Now that things were moving forward, the pressure from his dwindling lifespan had lessened somewhat.
The four of them chatted as they made their way through the streets, eventually returning to livelier areas.
Several constables stood not far away, blades at their waists. Seeing the corpse had been dealt with, they nodded at Ren Qing before departing.
In the yamen, constables primarily patrolled the streets and didn't have to handle mutilated corpses; a fact that left Corpse Burners and Cleaners envious.
But yamen positions were hereditary, typically passed from father to eldest son, with duties rarely changing.
Ren Qing's predecessor, for instance, had come from Bazi Village, a settlement a hundred li northwest of Sanxiang City.
Originally, he'd had an elder brother who inherited their deceased father's yamen position, only to die unexpectedly half a year later.
Left with no choice and unwilling to abandon the family's iron rice bowl, the predecessor had reported to Sanxiang City's yamen… only to meet the same fate shortly after.
Back in Bazi Village, the predecessor's mother and younger sister likely remained. Ren Qing still sent them silver each month.
He had no personal memories of them, but Xiao Wu's fragmented accounts painted a rough picture. Since visits were rare, he wasn't worried about being recognized.
The four traversed the western district and reached the city center; the yamen's location.
The main gate boasted red walls and blue-tiled eaves, a plaque reading "Sanxiang County Office" hanging above. Yamen runners streamed in and out incessantly.
For a city housing over a hundred thousand residents, the yamen's scale defied expectations.
It spanned roughly ten thousand square meters, containing 254 rooms. Its four main gates (east, west, north, south) divided the compound into distinct sectors that operated independently.
Identical structures existed in each sector:
The Restraint Hall, Constable Hall, Corpse Burner Hall, the Cleaner Hall and Prison cells, Kitchens, the Magistrate's residence, Immortals & Buddhas Shrine as well as the Courtroom, Training grounds and the Reflection Chamber.
As a western district runner, Ren Qing could only use the West Gate, leaving other sectors unexplored.
"Finally here…"
Xiao Wu rubbed his wrists, weariness creeping into his expression.
A corpse grew heavy as stone after death. Even with four people taking turns carrying it, the strain was immense; let alone hauling other debris.
The Li brothers didn't complain, but their relief was palpable.
"Let's go."
Ren Qing sighed. With so few subordinates, menial labor was unavoidable.
Inside the yamen, plaques bearing mottos like "Clear as a Mirror, High as the Sky" and "Pure as Untroubled Waters" hung everywhere.
A cobbled path led them to the Corpse Burner Hall.
Positioned somewhat remotely, the hall's courtyard had several wells; a necessity, given the frequent cremations requiring distance from living quarters.
The western sector housed three Corpse Burner Halls, each serving two street districts.
Twelve side chambers lined the area, with a corpse storage hut and a furnace tucked in the far corner.
The furnace, cast entirely in iron, resembled a hollow gourd. Its clever design allowed logs to burn for seven to eight hours.
However, the other Corpse Burner team assigned to Hexing Street had been temporarily dispatched outside the city; likely due to a village plague.
The Li brothers placed the bookstore owner's corpse in the storage hut, where a dozen other bodies lay; all Corpse Burners who'd died with eerie smiles.
The furnace could handle three corpses at once, but with Ren Qing as the sole remaining burner, backlogged bodies had begun rotting.
The newest addition would simply have to wait.
"You prepare the furnace. I'll rest in my room."
After brief instructions, Ren Qing retreated to his chamber.
The Li brothers began moving corpses and lighting the furnace, while Xiao Wu fetched meals from the kitchens; noon had arrived.
Seated cross-legged on his bed, Ren Qing closed his eyes, activating the information stream.
He felt the Blindless Method's knowledge converge into a single point, forming a phantom seed.
When his consciousness touched it, the seed took root and sprouted.
Three tender shoots emerged, each leaf patterned with a grotesque eye.
As confusion set in, text materialized on the leaves, accompanied by annotations:
[Single-Eyed: See through illusions.]
[Hundred-Eyed: Create illusions.]
[Double-Pupiled: Foresee an enemy's moves.]
Pausing, he noticed each line corresponded to a shoot.
[Select branch "Single-Eyed"? Cost: 1 year of lifespan.]
Testing the others revealed Hundred-Eyed also cost 1 year, while Double-Pupiled demanded 1 year and 6 months.
After hesitation, he dismissed the stream.
The Blindless Method was already unsettling enough. Choosing a branch might trigger uncontrollable changes.
Until he understood this world's power system, gambling a year of lifespan seemed unwise.
He retrieved the Blindless Method manual from his robes.