There’s no other reason—being a yamen runner is a tough job, but it does offer the possibility of becoming a full official.

“By my calculations, the new batch of prisoners should be arriving soon. Let’s hope there aren’t any particularly vicious ones…”

Edward Carter was a bit excited, but also somewhat anxious.

Heishan City is a prison city.

Most of the prisoners from Shunde Prefecture are sent here. After autumn, they are either executed on the spot or escorted with prisoners from other prefectures to the Qingzhou prefectural capital.

In past years, there have been quite a few ruthless criminals who tried to break out of prison.

With danger comes hope for them to become full officials…

“Let’s hope so.”

Samuel Bennett sighed blankly.

From a law student about to enter university, to a refugee, and now a temporary worker at the yamen—he was falling apart.

But he wasn’t entirely without resources.

That cauldron, which seemed to have brought him to this world, was still stuck to his belly like a birthmark.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t use it for now.

The two chatted idly for a bit—where there was another case, who in which family had died, more people falling ill lately, the Liansheng Sect’s business booming, and so on.

Mostly it was Edward Carter talking, while Samuel Bennett listened quietly.

Before long, the official in charge of roll call arrived, exchanged a quick greeting, and went about his own business.

The yamen storeroom was very quiet. After the shift change, Samuel Bennett finished a whole day’s work in just one hour.

The written language of this life was naturally different from his previous one, but math was universal. For someone who had just prepared for the college entrance exam, the work in the yamen storeroom was no problem at all.

After finishing his tasks, he took out a tightly wrapped small cloth bag from the corner.

Opening it, inside was a book and some small stones.

“Hope these stones I’ve eaten are worth it…”

Picking up a stone, Samuel Bennett sighed inwardly and, with a blank face, quickly swallowed it.

Only when he felt a barely perceptible flash of warmth inside his body did his spirit stir slightly.

The rich study literature, the poor practice martial arts. If you’re poor but want to train in martial arts, what do you do?

Eat stones!

As everyone knows, a small stone contains a large amount of inorganic salts. For someone as poor as him, it was an excellent supplement.

As long as you eat the right stones, and eat them fast, you can become a winner in life—a martial arts master is not just a dream…

Of course, that’s impossible. Eating too many stones will only give you a prolapsed stomach.

Samuel Bennett wasn’t a masochist. The only reason he ate stones like snacks was because of that cauldron.

To activate the cauldron required energy, and the source of that energy was actually limited to “dirt” and “stones”…

To open the cauldron, he had already been eating stones for a year…

With the stones, he opened the book on his desk.

In this era, when most people had never traveled more than a hundred li from home, reading was his only way—other than listening to storytellers in taverns—to learn about the world.

Over the past year, he had borrowed a few books and gained a preliminary understanding of this era.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t any dynasty he was familiar with.

“The 404th year of the Great Ming, the seventh year of Qianyuan, Qingzhou, Shunde Prefecture… It really is a completely unfamiliar world!”

Letting out a long sigh, Samuel Bennett put away the book, ready to finish his morning’s work.

At that moment, he suddenly heard a commotion outside the storeroom, accompanied by gasps and exclamations.

“Someone died again?”

Samuel Bennett had just closed his book and didn’t pay much attention.

“Sigh…”

Wearing a straw raincoat and dripping wet, Edward Carter darted into the storeroom, complaining about the puddles everywhere in the yamen, but his expression was a bit evasive.

“Who died?”

Samuel Bennett put away his book and stood up.

“Xiao Yu, you… you need to be strong. Your old man, he…”

Edward Carter lowered his voice, looking pained.

“What do you mean, ‘be strong’? What nonsense are you talking about?”

Samuel Bennett felt a jolt in his heart, stood up, and was suddenly a bit flustered for no reason.

He thought of the old prison guard he’d only met once, who had escorted prisoners to Qingzhou.

In this life, he had no parents. Luckily, he’d been taken in by Granny Yang. By that logic, the old man he’d never met counted as his “foster father”?

“Your old man’s in trouble. Earlier, I saw someone from your clan come to the yamen—probably got word of his death…

No, that’s not right. It should be news that he’s missing…”

Edward Carter spoke in a low voice, not daring to meet Samuel Bennett’s eyes.

Missing meant dead—everyone in the yamen knew that.

The reason they reported him as missing was because if he was dead, the family would get compensation.

Missing,

No need for that…

“How could this be…”

Samuel Bennett’s throat tightened, and he felt a lump in his chest.

When he first arrived in this world, he’d been lost and confused. If not for the old man taking him in, he’d probably have died as a beggar by now.

“Hmph!”

Outside the storeroom came a cold snort, and a burly, tower-like middle-aged man strode in, giving Edward Carter a frosty glare:

“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll rip your tongue out!”

“Constable Harris!”

Edward Carter was scared stiff, his legs nearly giving out.

“Take this—this is Old Yang’s knife!”

The burly middle-aged man raised his hand, and a rusty broken knife landed in Samuel Bennett’s hand.

“This knife…”

As he took the knife, Samuel Bennett’s body trembled.