However, with his medical skill, he could discern that most of these were old scars, not recent ones, but the oldest among them was the tattoo.

The tattoo, unlike the tattoos of the previous life used to express personal style, was a punitive mark in ancient times, used for social status division.

Ancient texts recorded that during the Song Dynasty, those convicted of crimes like robbery or those on death row were tattooed before being sent to the military camps.

These tattoos were largely to prevent camp soldiers from deserting, and were mostly insulting, used to designate identity and distinguish from normal soldiers.

"Besides this... there is the Death Warrior."

Su Mu’s eyes flickered. Though he couldn’t confirm whether among them was the Purple Shirt, his thoughts spun rapidly—his batch of Death Warriors were all quite young, the oldest being less than twenty at the time.

At that moment, Su Mu stretched out his hand to touch the head of the Purple Shirt, and after a moment of bone examination, he showed a look of surprise; the bone age of the Purple Shirt was thirty-three or thirty-four years. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"No, the bone age doesn’t match."

Su Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly. At this point, he could almost rule out that the Purple Shirt was from the same batch of Death Warriors as himself, but he couldn’t completely dismiss the suspicion. Perhaps the force that the young master belonged to had nurtured more than one batch of Death Warriors.

A few years ago, the person in charge of the Death Warriors vanished. A few years later, the Purple Shirt was the only clue related to the Death Warriors that Su Mu could find in the Qingyun Three Counties; moreover, the dissipated breath within the Purple Shirt’s chest was also similar to that of the Gu Insect.

Recalling the battle just now, Su Mu also noticed one point: the Purple Shirt’s sword techniques were fierce and deadly, clearly cultivated from a pile of corpses. Everything made Su Mu more convinced of his own speculation.

Having finally found some clues, Su Mu was unwilling to give up, as he hadn’t forgotten that the Pharmacist’s death only temporarily suppressed the Gu Insect within him but did not eliminate it completely.

The Purple Shirt may be dead, but there was another person alive.

"If Purple Shirt is Yi Er... is the Celestial King of the Black Mountain Army also a Death Warrior... Yi Yi?"

His mind racing, Su Mu, beneath the White Eagle Mask, unleashed a burst of Power from his palm, grabbing a torch from the ground and throwing it onto the Purple Shirt’s corpse.

Amidst the flames, Su Mu ascended the steps, when suddenly, urgent and excited footsteps, along with scolding voices, reached his ears.

"Wu the kid, why are you still so reckless in your actions?"

"We three have eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice; how could it be your place to save us... unless you want us three to die and face the Old Master with shame?"

"Right, has Su the kid returned to the Forging Workshop? Is there any news from him?"

Faced with the questioning of the three masters, Wu Lie was silent.

The footsteps approached, and several figures appeared on the path ahead of Su Mu.

The familiar figures of Chen Yuntian, Zhao Ju, and Lin Ruoshui—the three masters’ handiwork was evident in the mountain’s inferno.

When the three noticed the Thousand Man Commander, who was on guard at all times, leaving hurriedly, and shortly after hearing the chaos below the mountain, they made a decisive move, setting fire to the warehouse filled with coal and materials used for forging.

Their original plan was to hide first and then escape down the mountain while the Black Mountain Rebel Army fought the fire as it grew.

Unexpectedly, they heard a powerful voice that left them feeling like they were dreaming.

"I am the Taiping Dao Envoy, here to avenge Sect Leader Gongsun; now the chief villain is exterminated, anyone holding a weapon will die within five breaths!"

The three, overjoyed beyond their expectations, could hardly believe their ears, and out of caution, they waited a bit longer before hurrying down the mountain. Upon ascending the steps, they exchanged glances, their eyes moist with the wild joy of surviving a disaster.

Later, the three masters, on their way, encountered Wu Lie, who had come to the rescue. The three, wanting to maintain dignity, pretended to be calm and scolded Wu Lie in their elder’s manner, but their tone was full of comfort.

Having barely escaped the dragon’s den and tiger’s lair, the three didn’t forget to inquire about Su Mu’s current situation.

"Envoy Senior!"

The silent Wu Lie suddenly saw a figure ascending the steps, trembling all over, and immediately spoke respectfully.

At this, the three masters also hurriedly bowed in salute, while curiously examining this Taiping Dao Envoy.

"Thank you, Envoy Senior, for saving our lives."

Seeing the three masters’ scrutinizing behavior, Wu Lie showed fear, worried that the three would provoke this killing god, and quickly led them away from the Black Mountain Forest.

As they passed by each other, the boulder weighing down Su Mu’s heart finally fell. He journeyed through the fire-ravaged camp without gaining much.

After descending the mountain, a flash of Spiritual Light in Su Mu’s hand revealed a cloth bag he retrieved from the Purple Shirt’s body. Upon opening it, his eyes lit up with fervent brilliance.

On the yellowed cover of the Secret Manual, there were three ancient characters: Five Elements Technique!