"That's all? Is there anything else?"

Shen Muzhi thought about it seriously, and finally told the truth:

"That's all. I haven't even exchanged more than a few words with Uncle Jing, and I know nothing about your background or origins."

Shen Muzhi paused briefly at this point, glanced at Yan Xiao, and then continued:

"Now that you've asked, there's something I feel I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Yan Xiao asked, her face full of curiosity.

Shen Muzhi glanced at her, a fleeting hesitation crossing his eyes, but finally said:

"At first, I didn't understand why Uncle Jing could age so quickly, but now that I've learned the mental cultivation method and have internal strength, I know."

That was caused by his high consumption or depletion of internal energy in a short period of time. And this consumption not only depletes internal energy, but also consumes lifespan.

Given Uncle Jing's condition back then, I'm almost certain that the chances of him still being alive are virtually nonexistent.

After Shen Muzhi finished speaking, he kept observing Yan Xiao's state.

Yan Xiao was not the original owner of this body; she just wanted to find out if she was hiding any danger and had no feelings for that Uncle Jing.

Hearing about this, I'll just treat it as a spectator's experience.

The news that Shen Muzhi told her wasn't entirely useless.

A few days ago, she realized that the poison in her body had many similarities in its pathway to the poison that Lou Guyu had been poisoned with.

She was initially puzzled, wondering why someone with Lou Guyu's special constitution couldn't withstand this kind of poison for long.

How did the original owner, an ordinary person, manage to coexist with toxins throughout his body for so many years and even survive for another two years?

The information she has obtained from Shen Muzhi allows her to roughly guess that it was Uncle Jing who, seeing that the original owner was truly beyond saving and not wanting her to die, used his life's worth of internal energy to temporarily protect the original owner's heart meridian.

This can be considered as sacrificing one's own life to extend the original owner's life.

I just don't know who that Uncle Jing was to the original owner, or what his fate was.

Regardless, it's quite admirable that someone could go to such lengths for the original owner.

But now, as Shen Muzhi said, this person is probably long gone. The original owner also died for some unknown reason, leaving this mess for her.

Thinking of this, Yan Xiao couldn't help but sigh.

But when her gaze fell on Shen Muzhi, she immediately perked up again.

She stood up abruptly, walked a few steps to Shen Muzhi, and spread her hands out in front of him.

Caught completely off guard, Shen Muzhi was about to ask Yan Xiao what she meant when Yan Xiao said:

"What's that mental cultivation technique? Let me see it!"

Yan Xiao felt that Shen Muzhi's current martial arts skills were so powerful that they must be related to the mental cultivation method left behind by Uncle Jing.

If she learned these techniques herself and had the same strong internal strength as Shen Muzhi, plus the moves taught by Man Yi, wouldn't her life be even more secure?

Shen Muzhi saw through Yan Xiao's thoughts at a glance, but he was destined to disappoint Yan Xiao.

"I can give you the mental techniques, but you can't practice them."

"Why?" Yan Xiao's eyes widened like saucers, filled with great confusion.

Shen Muzhi seemed somewhat troubled. He habitually rubbed his fingers together, and his mouth opened and closed several times without him being able to say the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Yanxiao immediately became displeased upon seeing his reaction and eagerly continued to press for answers:

"What do you mean? Tell me!"

"Cough~"

Shen Muzhi coughed lightly, turned his gaze to the side, and said in a serious tone:

"It's nothing, there's just one condition for learning the mental cultivation method left by Uncle Jing: you must be a virgin."

"What the hell?"

Yan Xiao was dumbfounded. She really hadn't expected such a melodramatic thing to happen. This was not mentioned at all in the book.

She was somewhat disappointed, and glared at Chen Muzhi with resentment, her tone filled with doubt and unwillingness:

"How is that possible? If that's the case, you'll have to remain a virgin forever?"

Seeing that Yan Xiao had misunderstood, Shen Muzhi quickly explained:

"No need. Once you've mastered the technique, you can get married and have children. It won't have any impact. Otherwise, why would I agree to marry you? Wouldn't that be deliberately delaying your life?"

What do you mean? You don't actually want to consummate your marriage with the original owner, do you?

In the original book, didn't you ignore all the attempts by the original owner to please and seduce you? How come you've lost all your principles now that there's a living girl around?

That's not the point! The point is, buddy, do you have such unusual tastes? Or do you think it all looks the same with the lights off? You can compromise, but I can't!

Yan Xiao really couldn't help but want to complain, but when she looked up, she saw a suspicious blush on Shen Muzhi's earlobe.

"Um?"

Yan Xiao blinked hard, wondering if she had seen wrong.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that Shen Muzhi's earlobes, which had initially only shown a slight redness, had gradually spread all the way up to her neck.

His reaction made Yan Xiao start to question the meaning of life.

'No way? Shen Muzhi was stammering just now, was it because he was shy? His character is supposed to be just clueless about love, right? It wasn't said he was innocent! A decisive yet innocent man? Are you kidding me?'

Shen Muzhi had no idea what Yan Xiao was thinking, and instead felt very uncomfortable being stared at by Yan Xiao.

Yan Xiao's words and excited attitude made him think that she was testing him with her words because she was worried that he would not consummate the marriage with her in the future.

He hadn't forgotten that the woman sitting opposite him was his lawfully wedded wife; the reason they hadn't consummated their marriage was because she was still young.

But now she's seventeen, and I'm twenty-one. Most couples and their children are probably old enough to call me "Dad."

Logically speaking, they should have consummated their marriage long ago.

I have held her back all these years, yet she was willing to take care of my sister in such a difficult situation. Now that we have met again, as her husband, I should take the initiative to consummate our marriage.

In his mind, once the wedding ceremony is completed, the couple is husband and wife, and husband and wife should consummate their marriage, have children, and live together for a lifetime.

As for love, it's too abstract and intangible to him; in his current understanding, it's just lust at first sight.

After all, back in the village, marriages and children were arranged by the elders in the family. Some people didn't even know what kind of woman they were marrying until the wedding day, but they still lived their whole lives together.

In the military camp, when you hear men discussing women, they mostly talk about how pretty they are, along with some inappropriate remarks for children, mostly driven by lust.

He'd seen plenty of beautiful women, and they all seemed no different from pretty flowers on the roadside. Getting along with them was too much trouble, so he figured he might as well find someone to spar with and have some fun.

His wife, though not very pretty, had done so much for him, which was quite remarkable, and he had no complaints about her.

Thinking this, Shen Muzhi suppressed his embarrassment, looked at Yan Xiao who seemed lost in thought, and said in what he considered to be the tone of a head of the family:

"Don't worry, I won't be a heartless person, and I won't hold you back. Once we get to Jiangbei, I'll arrange things between us!"