Stealthy Theft and Sun-Stealing

The winds of change were stirring in Linhe Fang, signaling an approaching storm. Yet, within Linhe Fang, Xu Qing approached life with a simple mindset, haggling over trivial matters all day long.

"They say martial arts schools are bottomless pits. You pay for the training courses, then you have to shell out more for tonics to strengthen your body. After buying the tonics, if you want to learn more advanced techniques, you have to pay again."

It was always the same: given the same talent, whoever spent more money would become stronger.

This model was no different from the flashy, third-rate web games he'd seen in his past life!

Looking at himself, it had already cost him nearly two hundred taels of silver just to advance to an Ironclad Wandering Corpse. By the time he reached Silver Corpse, Gold Corpse, and even the higher Three Transformations of Crouching Corpse, who knew how much more money he'd have to pour in!

The only fortunate thing was that zombies had long lifespans. He could slowly grind for silver and gather the resources needed for each zombie breakthrough.

This day, it was the agreed-upon date with the hunter. Xu Qing closed his shop early and went to the East Market to retrieve the animal hides he'd been longing for.

The hunter wasn't setting up a stall. It seemed he had specifically come to Linhe to wait for his big customer. Once the money and goods were exchanged, the hunter, wrapped in a bearskin coat, left the East Market.

Returning to Jingxia Street, Xu Qing saw, from a distance, bailiffs in official attire lingering by the Corpse Driver's Shop.

They were all old acquaintances. As Xu Qing approached, he habitually asked, "Are you guys here to deliver another one? Let me see. The quality looks good, and the appearance is quite proper. How did he die?"

The bailiff in the lead smiled and said, "This unlucky fellow was a notorious thief on the wanted list. We don't know who he offended yesterday, but someone slit his throat, and he died in the street. When we found him, he was already frozen stiff."

Another unfortunate soul from the Jianghu.

Xu Qing shook his head. Those who ventured into the Jianghu these days had their lives hanging by a thread, always on the verge of fleeing with their tails between their legs.

And it wasn't even easy to die with dignity!

After seeing off the officials, Xu Qing casually hung the two animal hides on the coat rack. Then, he habitually put on his donkey-hide gloves and sprayed his workbench with his homemade disinfectant.

With a complete set of procedures, he prepared to raise the corpse and began reciting the Duren Sutra, turning a page.

The life of this corpse unfolded before him without reservation.

The Jianghu traveler who had his throat slit was named Chen Xiaoyi, a disciple of the Rong Gate, one of the Eight Dark Gates of the Jianghu.

The so-called Eight Dark Gates referred to the Feng (Bee), Ma (Hemp), Yan (Swallow), Que (Sparrow), Hua (Flower), Lan (Orchid), Ge (Burdock), and Rong (Glory) gates.

Among them, the Rong Gate, in simple terms, was involved in thievery. However, those who could call themselves Rong Gate disciples were not petty thieves who stole chickens and dogs; they were solitary, master thieves!

They didn't steal from commoners, nor did they take from the weak, old, or sick. They only stole from those of noble birth or engaged in large-scale transactions.

Therefore, such people were also called "High Buyers."

Chen Xiaoyi was a High Buyer of the Rong Gate. Furthermore, he had a master: Thousand Shadow Hand Pan Qianyin, and he was Pan Qianyin's disciple ranked twenty-first, known as 'Hundred Hands.'

The term 'Hundred Hands' was actually a rating standard for the disciples' skills.

The lowest was 'Ten Hands,' meaning that with a single move, their hand speed was so fast it created ten afterimages, making it impossible to distinguish which hand was real while they stole your money pouch.

'Hundred Hands' was an advanced version. As for 'Thousand Hands,' that was the level of a true master. It was said that someone who reached this level could brush past you, steal your underwear, and you wouldn't even know it!

Even if your eyesight and skills were exceptional, and you noticed something amiss, by the time you turned around to confront the person, you wouldn't be able to find or retrieve the stolen underwear.

Why?

Because the moment your underwear was stolen, the thief would be wearing it, putting it on their own backside!

Although Chen Xiaoyi didn't possess the skills of his master Pan Qianyin, he was still a high-ranking Hundred Hands disciple within the sect. Forget ordinary people; even Inner Refinement martial artists with sharp hearing and keen eyesight would lose several taels of silver before they could leave his presence!

But then again, did this person never make a mistake?

Surprisingly, he actually did!

Just yesterday, Chen Xiaoyi encountered someone on the street. The person was wearing exquisite Shu brocade and white satin, a white robe as soft as celestial clouds. The jade pendant worn at his waist was also a top-grade water-type jade from Yunnan. Such a wealthy young master was practically a walking bank!

Thinking, "Since I'm here, I might as well take it," Chen Xiaoyi brushed past the person, as if by accident, and both the jade pendant and money pouch were in his grasp.

However, before he could even celebrate, the moment he passed, the white-robed youth behind him spoke.

"Your hands are indeed fast, but unfortunately, my sword is faster."

As soon as the words fell, Chen Xiaoyi belatedly clutched his throat, and blood gushed out from between his fingers like it was free.

In his dying moments, he finally understood that he had encountered a true master!

Seeing this, Xu Qing couldn't help but grit his teeth.

However, it wasn't because of Chen Xiaoyi, but because the person who drew his sword was the Demonic Cultivator of the Tianxin Cult who had beheaded Liu Youdao!

"This person is truly capricious, but his love for killing hasn't changed."

Xu Qing made a mental note: if he ever met this white-robed youth again, he would definitely keep his distance and not say a single extra word to him!

This was because, in his limited memory, those who had any interaction with this white-robed youth had rarely ended well.

The Duren Sutra gave its final evaluation of the corpse: Human-grade, mid-tier. The reward was a Thousand Shadow Thievery Technique, involving Stealthy Theft and Sun-Stealing, Uncovering Boxes and Exploring Pouches.

When the Thousand Shadow Technique was cultivated to a profound level, its art could reach the divine, perhaps even giving him a chance to steal someone's underwear.

Unfortunately, he only gained the Hundred Shadow skill from Chen Xiaoyi, so stealing underwear was unlikely. However, pilfering an earring or hairpin was well within his capabilities.

Following the methods of the Thousand Shadow Technique, Xu Qing's hands moved faster and faster, as if on fast-forward. When all the afterimages disappeared, he had completely grasped the core of the technique.

As for other applications of the Thousand Shadow Technique, they would require practice.

For instance, when stealing an earring, he could use the Stealthy Theft Method to remove the earring without touching the hair or skin.

For an item like a hairpin, he would need to use the Sun-Stealing Method of Substitution. He would replace the hairpin with a thin chopstick. The moment he accidentally touched the person, he would quickly swap the chopstick for the hairpin – this was Sun-Stealing.

Xu Qing now understood why Chen Xiaoyi had failed. The Demonic Cultivator of the Tianxin Cult had profound cultivation. If he had only used the Stealthy Theft Method, the opponent would surely have sensed the momentary loss of weight when the money pouch and jade pendant were stolen. But if he had used Sun-Stealing, Chen Xiaoyi's hand speed wouldn't have been fast enough.

Given such a vast disparity, perhaps only the Saint of Thieves, Pan Qianyin himself, could have succeeded.

After pacifying the Rong Gate disciple whose throat had been slit, Xu Qing began to prepare for refining the Ironclad Wandering Corpse.

However, unlike ordinary Corpse Drivers who refined zombies, this time he was going to refine himself!