Lin Shou used the Four Symbols Feng Shui Technique to set the four cardinal directions inside the Corpse-Stitching Shop. With a few simple adjustments, the feng shui of the place improved tremendously.
Lin Shou silently recited the Classic of Burial, circulating his qi through a full cycle.
Each full cycle earned him five days' worth of cultivation.
He had only made a few minor adjustments to the four symbols inside the house, yet his cultivation speed had increased fivefold!
The Classic of Burial truly was a cultivation method renowned for its strange and wondrous effects.
Lin Shou was even happier to cultivate now. Silently reciting the Classic of Burial each day and watching his power soar had become his greatest source of joy.
The days passed, one after another.
That night, after stitching up a corpse in the shop, Lin Shou was free. He was reciting the Classic of Burial inside when he suddenly heard a soft cry of surprise from outside.
At the faint sound, Lin Shou raised an eyebrow.
He activated Subtle Perception. The sound came from the narrow alley between the Qingcheng Teahouse next door and the Corpse-Stitching Shop, and the voice sounded familiar.
"Cough, cough..."
That muffled cough sounded even more familiar.
About half a month earlier, Lin Shou had listened to a storyteller at the Qingcheng Teahouse recount the tales of the Eight Sects of the Jianghu. That had been the first time he tested Subtle Perception, and he'd heard a "Second Miss" coughing in her boudoir.
This was the exact same voice.
Lin Shou lifted the door panels and opened the Corpse-Stitching Shop.
He took a lantern and shone it into the alley.
Over the past few days, Lin Shou had been fussing over the plants in the Azure Dragon feng shui position and had gotten some flowerpots. A few that he hadn't used were cluttering up the room, so he'd casually tossed them against the alley wall. Now they lay scattered across the ground.
A young girl sat on the ground, rubbing her ankle.
Using Subtle Perception to observe her surroundings, Lin Shou figured she must have climbed over the wall from the Qingcheng Teahouse. The alley was pitch-black in the middle of the night, and she'd stumbled over one of the flowerpots he'd left there.
"What are you doing here?"
Lin Shou brought the lantern closer and deliberately spoke in a menacing voice.
"I, I, I... Please don't be scared. I'm not a bad person."
The girl was so flustered and awkward that she was practically stammering. Lin Shou almost laughed. She could barely get the words out because she was so scared, yet she was telling him not to be afraid.
As she spoke, Lin Shou had already reached her.
The lantern light drew near, revealing the girl's face.
When Lin Shou saw what she looked like, he froze for a moment.
Peach blossoms could not outshine her rosy cheeks, nor rival her natural, jade-like beauty.
Her little face was pure and unadorned, her skin like fine jade. She wore no makeup, yet her natural beauty shone through. Her eyes held a sheen of water and a glimmer of light. One look could make a man mistake her for the love of his life, willing to surrender ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers just to pick chrysanthemums with her by the eastern hedge.
Beneath her dark hair, her innocent, fair face was fragrant as pear blossoms. One glance made a person feel cleansed within and wistful for youth, as if recalling the purest, most beautiful first love of their school days.
Unlike the clingy Ning Luowei, whom Lin Shou wanted to push away, this innocent girl won his favor at a glance, like moonlight shining into his heart.
Though Lin Shou had lived two lifetimes, he was momentarily dazed. It felt as if he had returned to the green, carefree days of his youth at school.
But he shook his head, and the memory vanished. The harsh reality before him remained this storm-tossed world.
"What's your name?"
Lin Shou held the lantern up to her as he asked.
"An, An Yunli."
The girl nervously tightened her grip on the bundle she carried on her back.
Lin Shou thought she was such an innocent girl, honest to a fault. Someone asked her a question, and she just answered. She clearly didn't understand how treacherous the jianghu could be.
If the crafty old Lin Shou were out roaming the jianghu and someone asked his name, he'd definitely say he was Ning Luowei.
An Yunli was every bit as beautiful as Ning Luowei, though she looked a little frail and thin.
Her plain hemp clothes didn't fit, their sleeves and hems stopping short of her wrists and ankles. Her joints showed clearly beneath her skin. She was gaunt with illness, skin pale, and her appearance tugged at the heart.
The lantern light showed Lin Shou that her injured ankle had already swollen red. She'd clearly twisted it badly and couldn't stand. He wondered what heartless person had left a flowerpot beneath the wall.
Huh? I was the one who left it there? Never mind, then.
"You smashed my flowerpot. How are you planning to pay me back?"
Lin Shou shamelessly accused her first.
"I, I, I'll pay you. I've saved up some money."
An Yunli flushed, as if she felt deeply apologetic and ashamed for breaking someone else's things. She rummaged through her bundle, but after a long while she only managed to pull out a few copper coins.
"That's not enough. My flowerpot was an heirloom. The Late Emperor once peed in it, and the emperor himself blessed it. It's priceless, and I treasure it more than anything."
Lin Shou lied with such conviction that he didn't even blush.
"Ah, but, but... what should I do..."
An Yunli was at a loss. Lin Shou's words had made her anxious and embarrassed. She thought she'd caused a huge disaster as soon as she stepped outside. How was she supposed to pay him back?
"Good timing. My shop is short-handed. Come with me and work until you've paid off the debt. If you dare slack off, you'd better be ready for the whip."
Lin Shou stepped forward and picked up An Yunli, who couldn't move because of her injured foot. She panicked at once, her speech suddenly taking on the dialect of her hometown in the Shu Region.
"Don't do that! Mother said men and women shouldn't touch! If a girl gets intimate with someone, she has to become his wife!"
"Is that so? What a nice arrangement."
Lin Shou was even less likely to stop now.
The distance was only a few steps. An Yunli struggled in alarm as Lin Shou carried her into the Corpse-Stitching Shop and set her down.
An Yunli felt as if she'd run into a bad person. She frantically looked around for something to fight back with, then saw the corpse on the cold bed beside her. She nearly burst into tears.
She huddled in the corner, trembling like a leaf, terrified.
In her eyes, Lin Shou had become a terrifying demon king, an indelible shadow in her heart.
Seeing her like this, Lin Shou laughed to himself. She couldn't go around without knowing how treacherous the jianghu was. Good thing she'd run into him. Hadn't he scared her straight in one go?
Of course, Lin Shou had deliberately frightened An Yunli, but he couldn't let the injury to her ankle go untreated. Such a beautiful girl shouldn't be left with a lingering ailment because of delayed treatment.
Lin Shou took out a box of ointment. The label read: Yunnan White Ointment.
This had also been a reward from the Record of Selling Corpses. It could treat sprains and other injuries, worked quickly, and was highly effective.
But Lin Shou had never used it. With his current physique, unless he picked a fight with a martial arts expert like Ning Luowei, how could he possibly get hurt? Who could injure him?
This time, he had the perfect opportunity to test the medicine.
When he opened the box, a herbal fragrance filled the air. Using the Compendium of Materia Medica, Lin Shou could vaguely identify its ingredients.
There was plenty of ointment in the box; a dab on his fingertip would be enough.
Lin Shou sat An Yunli down on a chair and drew her injured foot toward him. She was terrified of the demon king before her and let him do as he pleased, not daring to make a sound.
Holding An Yunli's slender ankle, Lin Shou looked at the painful red swelling and gently applied the ointment.
At the same time, he grumbled to himself that Ning Luowei really ought to come take a look. An Yunli's ankle was swollen like this, yet she hadn't made a sound. Ning Luowei would howl and carry on just from getting pricked by a needle. She was a disgrace to everyone in the jianghu.
Lin Shou spread the ointment evenly over the red swelling on An Yunli's ankle. It felt cool. After about the time it took an incense stick to burn, the swelling went down, and the pain disappeared. She was completely healed.
Oh, this stuff worked fast.
Lin Shou thought it was no wonder the medicine had come from the Record of Selling Corpses.
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