Thousand-Mile Lone Rider

"The great river flows east, its waves washing away the gallant figures of a thousand ages..."

The myna's voice recited the timeless romance of Red Cliff, and Lin Shou, using a beast as his proxy, brought another dawn of civilization to this world.

In the days that followed, Lin Shou spent his time in the Corpse-Stitching Shop playing with the bird.

He fed it minced meat daily; this myna was especially greedy for meat, and would only eat grapes and cherries among fruits, refusing apples and pears—quite picky. Lin Shou often talked to the myna, and with the blessing of Tireless Teaching, the effect was far better than ordinary bird training.

Within three days, Lin Shou no longer needed to deliberately keep the Corpse-Stitching Shop's door closed; he could let the myna fly out to play as it pleased, since it returned every day anyway, having recognized the shop as its nest.

Nonsense, what place could be better than Lin Shou's for good food?

This myna had found itself a meal ticket.

Every day it would come back carrying small twigs for him. Lin Shou didn't understand at first, but later realized it wanted him to build a nest.

You're pretty bold, really not treating yourself like an outsider. Lin Shou was so annoyed he wanted to laugh. He built it a nest at the Azure Dragon Position, but of course not with broken branches—he specially did some carpentry to craft one. This was thanks to the various skills he'd learned from the Record of Selling Corpses; though ordinary carpentry wasn't as bizarre or lofty as the Book of Lu Ban, mastering it still made him a skilled craftsman.

The Azure Dragon feng shui position was already Lin Shou's key cultivation spot, filled with potted plants and koi, forming a small ecological garden. Now with a myna moving in, it added even more vitality, and the feng shui grew better and better.

Lin Shou now silently recited the Classic of Burial during cultivation.

One cycle, thirty days of power gained.

Tsk tsk, not bad. Spending each day as a dandy playing with flowers and birds, even training got faster. This Classic of Burial suited him perfectly.

As for the other feng shui positions, the main stabilizing Black Tortoise Position allowed Lin Shou to practice calligraphy and painting, while the noble White Tiger Position was best for antiques, calligraphy, jade, goldware... all seemed like money-burning, ruinous hobbies.

Moreover, Lin Shou didn't have much corresponding knowledge or skill reserves right now. He hadn't stitched up many dandies, so he wasn't confident in treasure appraisal or stone gambling. Otherwise, he might find a way to visit the famous Capital Ghost Market...

Lin Shou thought he'd consider this matter after the new year. Winter had already set in, followed by the New Year. Northern cities in winter often moved slowly, unsuitable for travel. He'd try his luck these few months, hoping to pick up a trick or two.

That afternoon, an old man and a young man came to deliver a corpse, grief on their faces.

Lin Shou found them familiar and remembered—wasn't this the Chen father and son from the Mingde Ward sauce shop?

Months ago, when Lin Shou first arrived in this world, he'd stitched a corpse and obtained the Paper-to-Silver Art. Through the Lantern of Life, he saw the corpse had been a rogue in life, extorting money at Young Master Chen's wedding banquet, only to be killed by the shopkeeper in self-defense, still shouting "five thousand taels" as he died.

Lin Shou had only seen it in the Lantern of Life, never expecting to meet them today. He lifted the straw mat for a look—the deceased was the shopkeeper who had killed that rogue.

The eyes in the sockets were gone, the weight off.

After the Chen father and son left, Lin Shou cut it open. Same method of death: the five organs, bones, flesh, all gnawed empty. Tooth marks matched, identical.

Was this also eaten by the "demon" from An Mountain?

Lin Shou frowned slightly, lit three sticks of incense before him, and while they burned, he examined the corpse again, finally scrutinizing the soles of the shoes.

Walking mountain roads, there would be mud on the soles, but there was another layer... coal ash?

An Mountain had coal mines. The Yuzhitang Trading Firm operated the large stone coal mine there, supplying all of the capital. If the shopkeeper had been to An Mountain, coal ash on his soles wasn't strange.

The three sticks of incense burned out. Lin Shou began stitching the corpse.

The Record of Selling Corpses appeared, the Lantern of Life rose.

In life, the deceased had been a bodyguard for the Jiangnan Water Gate Escort Agency, constantly traveling on water escort missions. Later, with Eastern Ocean pirates and water bandits running rampant, the southern docks suffered constant harassment, merchant ships frequently looted. This escort business was no easy trade.

Later, the deceased's wife and child told him to quit, living in daily fear. If something happened to him, how would the family survive? The wife said a distant relative was doing business in the capital, so he should go check it out.

Then the bodyguard came to the capital, becoming the shopkeeper at Master Chen's sauce shop. Capable and meticulous, he earned Master Chen's trust within months, settling down. He then planned to bring his wife and child over, making the capital their home.

Master Chen helped send a letter to Jiangnan to arrange transport. Recently, they were passing through An Mountain and would arrive soon, but rumors of demons at An Mountain worried the shopkeeper. He said he'd go meet them on the official road.

He went during the day, standing, and came back the next day, lying down. The corpse was cold, the person gone.

Master Chen was also grieved. Such a good shopkeeper, barely employed a few days, met such a calamity.

Corpse valuation: Xuan rank, fourth grade.

Record of Selling Corpses reward: martial arts technique, Thousand-Mile Lone Rider.

Mountains far, roads long, a lone heroic spirit.

They say morale peaks at the first charge, wanes at the second, and exhausts at the third. This Thousand-Mile Lone Rider was a technique of offensive momentum. The more you prevailed, the stronger your momentum, power sustained, flowing endlessly.

Lin Shou had once fought two hundred Canal Gang members at Shallow Water Pier, feeling exhausted afterward. With this Thousand-Mile Lone Rider method, he would instead grow more spirited the more he fought, more power sustained with each victory, more strength unceasing.

Tsk tsk, you're stacking kill books here?

Lin Shou activated the Thousand-Mile Lone Rider technique, feeling a strong sense of solitary fearlessness.

The next morning, a servant from Master Chen's household came to collect the corpse. The stitching was done, but Lin Shou was still thinking about what he'd seen in the Lantern of Life—the deceased's encounter at An Mountain.

Same thing: eyes eaten first, then all internal organs gnawed clean. But this deceased, having been a bodyguard, had good martial skills and resisted for a while. He hadn't seen clearly what came out of the grave mound, but vaguely caught a glimpse of yellow fur.

Lin Shou compared the tooth marks he'd drawn and had a guess.

So today, Lin Shou went to the Bird Market, specifically checking the stalls selling martens and dogs, looking at the tooth marks on the wooden cages. He finally confirmed that the marten's tooth marks closely resembled his drawing. He found a marten vendor and showed him the drawing.

"Sir, do these tooth marks look like a marten's bite?"

The vendor, a specialist in martens, understood this trade far better than Lin Shou. He could tell the difference just from the drawing, saying:

"No, these should be from a Yellow Weasel."

Yellow Weasels were yellow weasels, creatures steeped in folk legends of evil—like tales of them living in grave mounds, absorbing yin energy from the dead to cultivate into immortals.

Lin Shou nodded. He'd found the right track. He asked the marten vendor:

"Do Yellow Weasels eat people?"