The White Moonlight Shining into the Bottom of My Heart

Lin Shou deployed the Four Symbols Feng Shui Technique, fixing the four symbolic directions within the Corpse-Stitching Shop. With a simple arrangement, the feng shui environment was vastly improved compared to before.

Lin Shou silently recited the Classic of Burial, circulating his qi through his meridians.

With each full circulation, he gained five days' worth of cultivation.

This was just a minor adjustment of the shop's internal four symbols, yet his cultivation speed had increased fivefold!

The Classic of Burial truly lived up to its reputation as a bizarre and mystical cultivation method.

Lin Shou now cultivated with even greater joy. Each day, silently reciting the Classic of Burial and watching his power soar had become his source of happiness.

Days passed one after another.

That night, after stitching up a corpse in the shop.

Lin Shou had some free time and was reciting the Classic of Burial indoors when he suddenly heard a soft cry of "Ah!" from outside the shop.

Hearing the faint sound, Lin Shou raised an eyebrow.

Subtle Perception activated; the sound came from the narrow alley between the Qingcheng Teahouse and the Corpse-Stitching Shop. The timbre was very familiar.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

The suppressed coughing was even more familiar.

About half a month ago, Lin Shou had been at the Qingcheng Teahouse listening to a storyteller recount tales of the Eight Sects of the Jianghu. That was when he first tested his Subtle Perception ability and overheard a "Second Miss" coughing in her private chamber.

The voice was identical.

Lin Shou lifted the door plank and opened the shop door.

Carrying a lantern, he shone it into the alley.

Over the past few days, Lin Shou had been messing with potted plants for the Azure Dragon feng shui position. He'd brought in some flowerpots, and a few unused ones had been cluttering up the room, so he'd casually tossed them by the alley wall. Now they lay scattered all over the ground.

A young girl was sitting on the ground, rubbing her ankle.

Observing with Subtle Perception, Lin Shou deduced she must have climbed over the wall from the Qingcheng Teahouse. In the pitch-black night, she'd stumbled in the dark, accidentally stepped on one of his discarded flowerpots, and fallen.

"What are you doing here!"

Lin Shou raised the lantern closer and barked in a deliberately frightening tone.

"I, I, I, you mustn't be afraid, I'm not a bad person."

The girl was flustered and clumsy, her words slurring. Her sentence almost made Lin Shou laugh—she was so scared she could barely speak, yet she was telling him not to be afraid.

As he spoke, Lin Shou had already walked closer.

The lamplight drew near, illuminating the girl's face.

Lin Shou froze for a moment when he saw her clearly.

A peach-blossom face, redder than any bloom, yet not matching the natural jade of her countenance.

This little face was pure and natural, like jade itself, unadorned by makeup, a plain beauty. Her eyes held water, her gaze held light, enough to make one fall for her at a single glance, willing to abandon ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains just to pick chrysanthemums by the eastern fence with her.

Beneath her dark hair was a fair, innocent face, like the fragrance of a pear blossom. One look made the heart feel clean, evoking memories of youth, as if recalling the most beautiful and pure first love.

Unlike the clingy Ning Luowei, whom Lin Shou wanted to push away, this innocent girl won his favor at first sight, like a white moonlight shining into the depths of his heart.

Even Lin Shou, who had lived two lives, was momentarily dazed, as if he had returned to the green campus days of his youth.

But he shook his head, the illusion shattered, and the reality before him was still this precarious world.

"What's your name?"

Lin Shou asked, holding the lantern to illuminate her.

"An, An Yunli."

The girl tightened her grip on the bundle on her back, frightened.

Lin Shou thought to himself that this naive girl was too honest, answering whatever she was asked, clearly unaware of the dangers of the Jianghu.

If it were the wily old fox Lin Shou, when someone in the Jianghu asked his name, he'd definitely say he was Ning Luowei.

An Yunli's beauty was radiant, no less than Ning Luowei's, but she seemed frail and sickly, a bit too thin.

Her ill-fitting, plain hemp clothes were too short, revealing her wrists and ankles, where the bones and joints were clearly visible. She was plagued by illness, skin and bones, pale as death, a pitiful sight.

Lin Shou shone the lantern on her injured ankle, which was already red and swollen. She had clearly sprained it badly and couldn't stand. He wondered what heartless person had left a flowerpot under the wall.

Ah? It was my flowerpot? Then never mind.

"You broke my flowerpot. How are you going to pay for it?"

This shameless Lin Shou was the first to accuse.

"I, I, I'll give you money. I've saved some."

An Yunli's face flushed red, as if she felt very sorry and ashamed for damaging someone else's belongings. She fumbled in her bundle but only managed to pull out a few copper coins.

"That's not enough. That flowerpot was a family heirloom. The late emperor once pissed in it, the current emperor consecrated it. It's priceless, the apple of my eye, my precious treasure."

Lin Shou lied with a straight face, not even blushing.

"Ah, this, this... what do I do..."

An Yunli was at a loss, flustered and embarrassed by Lin Shou's words, thinking to herself that she had only just come out and already caused a huge disaster—how was she supposed to make amends?

"Just so happens my shop is short-handed. Come with me, work until you've paid off the debt. If you dare slack off, get ready for the whip."

Lin Shou stepped forward and scooped up An Yunli, whose injured foot couldn't move. An Yunli panicked, her native Shu Region dialect slipping out in her haste:

"Don't you do this! Mama said men and women shouldn't touch! If a girl has skin-to-skin contact, she's gotta be the man's wife!"

"And that's a bad thing?"

Lin Shou had no intention of stopping.

It was only a few steps away. An Yunli struggled in panic as Lin Shou carried her into the Corpse-Stitching Shop and set her down.

An Yunli felt like she'd run into a bad guy. Frantically looking for something to fight back with, she spotted the corpse on the cold bed nearby and nearly burst into tears from fear.

She curled up in the corner, trembling like a leaf, utterly terrified.

In her eyes, Lin Shou had already become a fearsome Devil King, a shadow she couldn't shake from her heart.

Seeing her like this, Lin Shou laughed inwardly. She couldn't go around not knowing the dangers of the world—lucky she ran into him. Wouldn't this scare her into remembering the lesson?

Of course, scaring An Yunli was one thing, but the injury on her ankle couldn't be ignored—it needed treatment. Such a pretty girl, letting the injury fester would be a shame.

Lin Shou took out a box of ointment. On the box were written the words: Yunnan White Ointment.

This was also a reward from the Record of Selling Corpses, capable of treating bruises and sprains with fast results and good efficacy.

But Lin Shou had never used it before. With his current physique, unless he picked a fight with a martial arts expert like Ning Luowei, how could he get hurt? Who could hurt him?

This time, he had a chance to test the medicine's effects.

Opening the box, a herbal medicinal scent filled the air. Lin Shou could vaguely identify some of the ingredients through the Compendium of Materia Medica.

There was plenty of ointment in the box; a finger's scoop was enough.

Lin Shou placed An Yunli on a chair and pulled her injured foot over. An Yunli was terrified of the great Devil King before her, letting him do as he pleased without a sound.

Lin Shou held An Yunli's slender ankle, looked at the pitiful swelling, and gently applied the medicine.

At the same time, he grumbled inwardly: Ning Luowei really ought to see this—swollen like this, not a peep. You get one needle prick and you're howling like crazy, a disgrace to the martial world.

Lin Shou spread the ointment evenly over the red swelling on An Yunli's ankle. A cool sensation spread. In about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the swelling subsided, the pain vanished completely—she was fully healed.

Oh, this medicine is pretty potent.

Lin Shou thought to himself, no wonder it's a reward from the Record of Selling Corpses.