Yan Mo had a hunch. If he did not hurry and reduce his scum value, and instead waited for it to pass certain whole-number thresholds—maybe ten, maybe a hundred—then new punishments would probably follow.If that thing really was controlling the rules, then it would definitely operate that way.
So how exactly was he supposed to reduce his scum value?Yan Mo's heart stirred, and he turned to look at Cao Ting."Sister, were you very surprised by what I did?"Cao Ting nodded."You must remember this. If you ever encounter the same situation in the future, especially with relatively minor fractures, this is the kind of emergency treatment you should use. If there are no wooden sticks nearby, you can use similar hard objects that are not easy to break, such as slate or animal bones.
"As he spoke, Yan Mo also showed her the remaining wooden sticks.He had once trained interns before. Cao Ting reminded him of one of them—someone with almost no foundation at all. So he explained everything in the simplest, clearest way possible.Yan Mo never despised students for being slow. He himself had not been especially clever at the beginning.
What he hated were people who wasted opportunities to learn. Anyone who refused to listen carefully, he would remember. He might say nothing on the surface, but later, if they still had not corrected themselves, he would leave them exposed and let them embarrass themselves.
Cao Ting obviously treasured this chance very much.She was surprised, grateful, and listened seriously, nodding again and again. She did not look down on Yan Mo just because he seemed young. What she had just seen had already shaken her deeply. She now fully believed that Yan Mo was a disciple of a Salt Mountain priest, and if she could learn even a little healing knowledge from him, that would be a great blessing to her.
—Taught one person first-aid knowledge for fractures. Scum value reduced by -1. Total scum value: 100000007.So that really worked.
Yan Mo's guess had been correct, and he almost smiled.Still, only one point had been reduced. That was painfully little.After five seconds, a new line appeared in the Guide:—Note: Each time the taught person successfully uses this first-aid method, the original instructor, Yan Mo, will receive a further reduction in scum value.
So it was basically a pyramid scheme.Yan Mo was actually quite satisfied with that.He taught Cao Ting even more carefully now. After all, the remark clearly said that she had to successfully apply the method in the future for him to receive another point reduction.Of course, he could not teach full fracture surgery through such a simple explanation. But at the very least, he could plant the basic concept in her mind, then slowly continue teaching her until she truly understood it.
He believed this ghost place must be severely lacking in knowledge. If that was the case, then teaching people would be one of his best ways to survive.
Finally, Yan Mo concluded, "If it's a more serious fracture, like mine, or like Da He's, where only a layer of skin is still holding things together, or if it's a comminuted fracture, then that's much more complicated. It's no longer just about setting the bones.
It may require surgery—removing broken pieces, resetting the bone properly, repairing blood vessels. And even after surgery, there can still be many later complications."Cao Ting heard many words she did not understand."Complications?""When the bone heals, the wound may close, but the leg might never be the same again.
A broken arm may leave the fingers unable to bend properly, or unable to grip weight. But that is still better than amputation. Unfortunately, given the conditions here, I can't perform proper surgery at all. After all, we don't even have needles.""Needles?""Have you seen anything similar?" Yan Mo asked as he used a wooden stick to draw the shape of a needle on the ground."A pointed tip?""Yes!""There are bone awls and stone cones." Cao Ting immediately got up and brought them back for him to see. "You can use them to pierce skin and bone.
I use them to make necklaces for Da Ren. The face tattoos are also made with bone awls."If Yan Mo had not inherited the memories of this body's original owner, he would have thought necklaces and tattoos were simply decorations.But now he knew better.
These things represented class, status, and division of labor.Different tattoos, different necklace materials, and different styles belonged to different ranks of people. They could not be mixed up casually. Any mistake could result in punishment.Children and women without fighting ability did not have face tattoos.Slaves had their own marks too, usually branded onto the back or shoulder. If a slave was resold or transferred, the old owner's mark would be burned away and replaced, so some slaves ended up with repeated scars on their backs.Yan Mo touched his own face.There was no tattoo there.
That meant this body had never qualified even as a first-rank warrior.If a tattoo was not done properly, it could easily cause infection and fever. His master was clearly not in a hurry to mark him yet, probably because he was too sick.Maybe Yuan Zhan was not afraid of wasting effort on a dying slave. Maybe he was afraid of hurting him more.
Right.When that kid Yuan Zhan returned, Yan Mo had to talk to him and see if he could delay being branded for as long as possible.Once he was officially marked as a slave, escaping slavery would become almost impossible. Unless his own combat strength someday reached the level of a third-rank warrior, he would remain a slave for life.
"Sister, help me get a piece of animal skin, quickly!"Yan Mo saw the priest's disciple coming out of Da He's tent and immediately pushed aside the grass by the road.Although Cao Ting did not understand why, she immediately went into Yuan Zhan's tent and grabbed a scrap of hide from inside.
Yan Mo snatched the hide, ignored whether it was clean or not, wrapped it around his injured leg, then lay down and tied it tightly.Cao Ting was quick-witted. Once she saw what he was doing, she immediately understood.She pushed him flatter to the ground, knelt in front of his leg, and held it down tightly.The priest and the other men strode past them.
The priest's disciple, wrapped in beast skin, walked at the rear. As he passed, he glanced toward them."Hm?"The disciple stopped.Cao Ting's heart seemed to seize.Yan Mo closed his eyes and felt someone approach.The priest's disciple kicked Cao Ting."What is that in the pot?"Cao Ting turned toward the small stone pot and answered fearfully, "It's just some wild grass.
""What is it for?""I… I don't know. I just picked it and threw it in. My brother was beaten badly by his master. He's in great pain. I wanted to save him. Master, please help my brother!"Cao Ting suddenly threw herself down in front of the disciple and pleaded.The priest's disciple gave a cold snort and left.
Cao Ting kept her head pressed to the ground until the priest and his people had gone far enough. Only then did she dare lift it slowly.Yan Mo slowly unclenched his fists.Cao Ting's wit and kindness had saved him once again."Sister, thank you."This time, Yan Mo's gratitude was completely sincere.Cao Ting turned back and smoothed her hair.
A trace of sadness showed in her eyes."I used to have two younger brothers and a younger sister. One brother died. The other two were sold to different tribes. I don't know how they are doing now. You remind me of my eldest brother who died.""Sister, maybe you'll meet them again one day," Yan Mo said as he painfully removed the hide and sat back up.
"I hope so."But Cao Ting clearly did not truly believe she would ever see them again.When Yuan Zhan returned carrying two large animals that looked like giant voles, Yan Mo was still lying at the entrance of the tent.
Cao Ting had already been called back by her own master to prepare dinner.Without Yuan Zhan's permission, Cao Ting had not dared move Yan Mo into the tent.Yan Mo, however, had not been idle.While he was alone, he had taken the chance to summon the table of contents of the Guide to Banishment.
There were only six entries in total.
Article 1: How to Use the Guide to Banishment.
Article 2: Biological Reconstruction Guide.
Article 3: Geographic and Hydrological Guide for the Reconstruction Site.
Article 4: Banishment Q&A Guide.
Article 5: Special Guide. Cannot be displayed until the conditions are met.
Article 6: Penalties and Rewards List.
When he saw the second and third entries, Yan Mo had nearly become excited.If he could access those two things, then even if he could not pretend to be some omniscient god, he would at least have enough knowledge to survive well.
But that excitement died the instant he opened them.First, to unlock Article 2, he had to reduce his scum value by one hundred points.
To unlock Article 3, he needed to reduce it by one thousand points.Second, the Guide did not freely give out knowledge. Every time it displayed even a little, Yan Mo's scum value would increase, and the amount increased would depend on how important the knowledge was.
As for Article 4, it was even more vicious.He could ask only three questions in total. Although asking would not directly increase his scum value, each question required him to bite his finger and use the blood to write the question onto the Q&A page.
Regarding Article 5, there was only one sentence:Conditions must be met before it can be displayed.What conditions?The Guide did not say.
What interested Yan Mo most was Article 6.
But when he opened the reward list, the page was blank.Did that mean there were no rewards?Or simply that he had not yet met the conditions to see them?"Show punishment rules.
"The Guide flipped, and text appeared:—During banishment, the banished must ensure that the scum value never exceeds 100 million points.
Once it rises above 100 million, the banished will be forced to accept punishment. The content of the punishment will depend on how much the scum value has increased.
—After the scum value falls below 100 million, if the accumulated increase reaches 10 points, the banished will be forced to accept a minor punishment. If the scum value rises by more than 100 points at one time, punishment will be determined according to the reason for the increase.Yan Mo pressed down the anger and resentment surging through him.Then he grabbed a wooden thorn and stabbed the tip of his left middle finger.He called out the Q&A page, squeezed out blood, and tried to begin writing.
But the blood would not form words.No matter how he touched the page, the blood gathered into drops and ran down from his fingertips instead.How was he supposed to do this?"Are you playing with me? Why won't it write?"Yan Mo was furious.
His blood was precious right now, and he was wasting it for nothing.The book ignored him.No matter how many times he asked, it gave no response.Yan Mo was so angry he had to force himself to calm down by breathing deeply.Maybe he had missed something.
So he reopened the usage guide and looked again at the instructions for the fourth entry.
—Each time you ask a question, you need to bite your finger…Bite.Fuck.Now he understood.
This damned Guide really was doing its best to bully him.Biting your own finger was far more painful than pricking it with a thorn.But there was no point bargaining with something so rigid.
Left with no choice, Yan Mo stuffed his left middle finger into his mouth and bit down hard.
Then he wrote:—If my scum value reaches zero, what can I get?The answer appeared almost immediately:—You will get what you want most.
The phrase what you want most meant there would only be one choice.What did he want most?What was still worth wanting?A tiny figure appeared in his mind.
Wide, innocent eyes full of trust.Every time he came home, that small child would immediately drop everything, stumble toward him on short legs, wrap little arms around his thigh, tilt up that small face, and plead softly, "Hug… hug…"Yan Mo suddenly covered his eyes."Don't lie to me. Don't lie to me… I'm willing to believe. I'm willing to change and be better. I'm willing.
Just don't lie to me…""Hey! Why are you crying?"A big man lightly kicked him and scolded, "Cry all you want, I still won't give you extra meat!"Yan Mo silently wiped his tears and rubbed his arm.Motherfucker. That really hurt.
Two large rabbit-like beasts were tossed in front of him."So you can move? If you can move, skin them. And be careful—don't ruin the pelts. If you do, I'll kill you."Slaves had no basic human rights.
Not even slaves who had been starving for two days and could barely move.The original owner of this body had not known how to skin animals.But Yan Mo did now, because of the inherited memories.
The two furry beasts had very little blood left in them. Their necks had been twisted, and there was a bleeding wound there. Maybe Yuan Zhan had already sucked the blood out.
"How did you use so much water?"Yuan Zhan kicked the stone knife lying nearby. Seeing that not much water remained in the tank, he frowned, poured the remaining water into the stone pot, then picked up the stone bowl and left.
Yan Mo thought bitterly that now he understood why there were no wooden buckets here.If everything had to be carried in heavy stone containers, no wonder water was so precious.