章 26: Chapter 24 Moving House
The next day.
Fortuitously, the continuous drizzle from the day before had cleared up, making this day from early morning dazzlingly sunny. The bright sun dispelled the gloom of the city, forcing all filth to disappear without trace.
Chen Mu was unaware of the underlying currents that surged through the night.
However, he always prepared for danger in times of safety, well aware that opportunities and crises coexist. While being promoted to Head Constable certainly placed him in a higher position, it also meant facing more difficult troubles and dangers. To overcome these obstacles and rise above, he could only rely on his own strength.
Therefore, he did not slacken in his cultivation even for a single night, waiting only to move houses before he began practicing the Skin Toughening Method.
Moving to a new home is generally a troublesome affair, but for Chen Mu, it was quite simple since there was almost nothing in the house worth moving. The only ones he needed to take along were Chen Yue and Wang Ni.
Dressed in new clothes and freshly washed, Chen Yue followed Chen Mu out of the house.
Since the age of twelve, Chen Mu rarely took her out, and even when he did, he would disguise her to appear dirty and unkempt, indistinguishable in gender, short and ugly. Now, at last, she could go out wearing new clothes.
Chen Mu held no particular attachment to the two old houses. Outside, the constables were already waiting. Once he came out with Chen Yue and Wang Ni, a few constables escorted them to the back streets of Ninth District.
Very soon.
They arrived at the place.
It was a residence located just two streets behind the City Defense Division. Although not a deeply hidden luxurious home, it featured proper redwood doors and a front that was cleaned thoroughly, with rows of clean and tidy houses inside.
This residence consisted of a front and rear yard with three rooms each, lengthwise and crosswise, offering ample space. Even if he housed three to five old servants and maids, it would not feel cramped—it wasn't a house ordinary families could afford.
"My lord."
An elderly servant waited outside. Upon seeing Chen Mu, he respectfully bowed and then led Chen Mu inside while explaining the layout of the residences to him.
"Master Min doesn't usually come here, so it's only me, an old servant, sweeping the dust and fallen leaves daily. My lord, if you feel there are not enough hands to help out, buying from the market is also very easy."
Having finished introducing the house, the old servant stood aside cautiously.
In these chaotic times, serving a powerful person was a highly sought-after position. Though it meant entering servitude, it liberated one from various heavy taxes and harassment by gangs. Even without regular pay, at least there was no worry about food, making life relatively easy.
Towards Chen Mu, this new master, he naturally did not dare neglect any detail, fearing that displeasing Chen Mu could lead to his expulsion and leave him without refuge.
"I prefer quiet; there's no need for extra personnel for now," said Chen Mu, waving his hand to the old servant.
The residence was neither small nor particularly large; one old servant to clean the yard was enough. Chen Yue now had Wang Ni with her, so there was no need for a maid either; maintaining the status quo was best.
Upon moving into the spacious new home, Chen Yue became very lively. She examined every corner of each room, while Wang Ni obediently followed her, not interrupting.
Chen Mu, however, did not join in Chen Yue's play but went to the backyard by himself.
The backyard was reserved for residing, consisting of a main house and two side rooms. Chen Mu let Chen Yue pick any room she liked. After looking around, she chose the western side room, while Chen Mu took the main house. Previously, the siblings had been forced to squeeze into one room, even sharing a bed during winter; now, at last, they had separate rooms.
"This finally looks decent."
Chen Mu entered his main house, nodding slightly as he observed the spacious and bright outer room and inner bedroom. He then sat down on a yellow wooden chair, pondered for a moment, and took out a stack of yellow papers from his chest.
On the papers was the 'Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique'.
He had closely inspected and memorized it last night; however, unlike the Blade Technique, the Skin Toughening Method relied on external materials for practice. Therefore, he hadn't been able to start last night and still needed to purchase items today.
Rather than calling it the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique, calling it the 'Golden Sand' Skin Toughening Technique was more apt. The method involved digging a pit, lying down in it, and then covering oneself with fine sand particles before pouring over a medicinal powder concoction repeatedly.
It stated that typical Skin Toughening Methods often used coarse salt for abrasion or wooden logs for impact, either grinding the skin repeatedly to encourage regeneration or enduring repeated impacts and beatings. Each method could cause some hidden injuries to the body, which might not be noticeable when young but could lead to various problems in old age.
On the other hand, the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique was significantly gentler, relying more on specially prepared medicinal powders and using cool sand to temper the intensity, achieving a balanced and mild effect, making it one of the least harmful methods.
"The Skin Toughening Method is a cumulative endeavor, one year to Minor Achievement, another year to Major Achievement, and another to Perfection ..."
Chen Mu muttered as he read the description on the paper.
Specifically, it generally took three years for an ordinary person to achieve Perfection, but this time frame was not fixed and depended on each individual's skeletal foundation and compatibility. Often, the higher the quality of the skeletal foundation, the faster the Skin Toughening progressed.
Compatibility was about the 'Medicinal Powder's alignment; after all, some have a cold constitution, others hot, some are Yin, and others are Yang. If one could completely match the Yin Yang and Five Elements to the Medicinal Powder, adapting extremely well to the body, one could even practice excessively, moving from training twice a day at dawn and dusk to three times a day, which would naturally speed up the progress significantly.
"My foundation seems to be just above average, I wonder how the compatibility is."
Chen Mu showed a contemplative expression.
Having a foundation that's above average sounds good, but in reality, as long as one isn't born with deformities, hunchbacked, or lacking in bones, it's considered a 'medium' foundation; above average is just slightly better than that of an ordinary common person.
However, what Chen Mu was most concerned about wasn't the issues of foundation and compatibility, but whether the Skin Toughening Method, like the Blade Technique, could also rely on the system to accumulate Experience Points?
Thinking about it, he acted.
The prescription for the Golden Jade Skin Toughening Method had two parts, one for internal use to strengthen Qi-Blood and one for external application to toughen the skin. The two prescriptions used different medicinal herbs, and although neither was of the exceptionally rare sort, anything related to medicinal herbs was generally quite expensive in these times.
After personally purchasing them at the pharmacy and roughly calculating, Chen Mu found that if he followed the twice-a-day regimen, it would require nearly two hundred taels of silver a year, an amount most ordinary families couldn't afford.
Fortunately, he was now fairly wealthy, possessing at least three hundred and some taels of silver, and having become a Head Constable, he naturally had ways to earn silver, so he could afford it.
Busy the entire day, it was nearly dusk.
Chen Mu sent Chen Yue to the front yard to play, and then lay down in a dugout pit in a corner of the backyard, covering his body with sand. He then picked up the water jug placed beside him and poured the prepared medicinal soup from his feet up to his chest.
Lying in a sand pit was something Chen Mu had enjoyed doing at the beach in his previous life, but the sensation was immediately different when the half jug of Skin Toughening Medicinal Soup poured down. The warm medicinal soup seeped into the cold sand grains, mixing together and coming into contact with the skin, immediately triggering a burning sensation that rolled all the way up from his feet.
For a moment.
Chen Mu couldn't even tell if it was painful or exhilarating.
It felt like countless ants were trying to burrow into every part of his skin, a mix of subtle pain, itchiness, and a faint feeling of relief, creating an indescribably strange sensation.
About a quarter of an hour later, this feeling gradually began to subside.
Chen Mu picked up the jug and poured the medicinal soup again... repeating this three times, he finally used up the first batch of the medicinal soup.
He climbed out of the sand pit.
Chen Mu didn't feel much stronger physically; instead, he felt a general numbness and weakness, so weak that he couldn't muster any strength. He called for Chen Yue, and with Wang Ni's help, he returned to the house and climbed into a wooden tub to wash off.
"Brother, why did you bury yourself in the pit? Are you training some kind of technique?"
Chen Yue asked curiously as she poured water for Chen Mu.
Leaning weakly against the tub, Chen Mu let Chen Yue add water and responded with a smile, "Yes, how about Yue'er also practices some techniques?"
"No way."
Chen Yue made a face at Chen Mu and said, "I won't be silly enough to bury myself like that."
With that, she ran out.
Chen Mu laughed and shook his head, lying comfortably in the warm water. He then summoned the system panel and noticed a new addition under the Raging Wind Blade Technique and Gale Blade Technique.
[Golden Jade Skin Toughening Technique (Incomplete)]
[Experience: 11]
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