Lin Shou

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Lin Shou (林寿)
Alias(es)	Little Nine
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	No. 9 Corpse-Stitching Shop; Small Yin Sect
Occupation/Role	Corpse stitcher; burial worker
Status	Alive
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
10 days of cultivation power	19	Obtained the Heaven-grade Classic of Burial; each qi circulation initially produced one day of cultivation power.
Slightly over 2 years of cultivation power	21	Consumed a Snake Gallbladder and Century-Old Ginseng, each granting one year of power; his enhanced punch could knock down a copper basin from two meters away.
10 years of cultivation power	24	Improved the shop’s Four Symbols feng shui, raising each cultivation cycle to ten days; could punch through a copper basin with one finger.
20 years of cultivation power	29	Supplements and daily cultivation raised his power further; Dog Skin Plaster expelled impurities and stabilized his foundation.
40 years of cultivation power	40	Reached forty years during the Autumn Examination corpse-stitching period.
7 wen of Humanistic Talent Qi	44	Established a Temple of Literature through the Classic of Haoran Qi and accumulated seven Confucian “articles” of talent qi.
15 wen of Humanistic Talent Qi	46	Continued studying and stitching Examination Hall corpses, increasing the Temple of Literature to fifteen wen.

Background

Lin Shou transmigrated from Earth into the Great Jing Dynasty during the fifty-ninth year of Ganhuang’s reign. He awoke in a corpse-sewing shop opposite Caishikou execution grounds and inherited the life of a low-status corpse stitcher responsible for preparing bodies for burial. 1

After stitching Squire Gao’s corpse, Lin Shou discovered that the Record of Selling Corpses could reveal a deceased person’s life through the Lantern of Life and grant rewards based on the corpse’s valuation. His first major reward, the Human-Faced Beast-Heart Fruit, gave him the forbidden Beast-Making Art. 2

He initially survived by maintaining the public image of a simple-minded, harmless stitcher. Beneath that facade, he carefully accumulated rewards, trained his body, learned practical trades, and avoided involvement in official disputes. 3 31

His survival of the Bureau of Corpse Management’s haunted grave-robber corpse marked a turning point. The incident earned him the growth-type Burial Shovel and the Heaven-grade Classic of Burial, giving him a true path of cultivation. 18 19

Appearance

Lin Shou’s inherited body was initially frail and undernourished. Strength Pills, Dog Skin Plasters, cultivation, and sustained training transformed it into a lean, muscular, highly conditioned physique, though he usually hides the change beneath coarse linen clothing. 15 16

• Originally skeletal and weakened by malnutrition. 15
• Developed dense musculature, exceptional flexibility, balance, and bodily control. 16
• Keeps the appearance of an unremarkable, somewhat foolish corpse stitcher to avoid attention. 15 31

Personality

Lin Shou is pragmatic, observant, and self-preserving. He generally refuses to involve himself in court politics, sect conflicts, or other people’s dangerous secrets unless they threaten his own life, livelihood, or the stability of the Capital. 13 28 35

His apparent foolishness is a deliberate shield. He can lie convincingly, negotiate under pressure, hide his abilities, and redirect suspicion when necessary, as shown after defeating the Ghost Sha Butcher. 11 22 31

Despite his cynical outlook, Lin Shou has a clear personal boundary. He stopped Wang Er’s greed-induced collapse before it became fatal, helped expose the source of the leprosy outbreak, protected fellow corpse stitchers during the Autumn Examination, and quietly aided An Yunli’s illness. 9 23 35 39

He also improves the lives around him through small, consistent gestures: feeding fellow stitchers, treating Bureau clerks well, and turning the bleak corpse-stitching district into a more communal place. 17 36

Abilities & Skills

Record of Selling Corpses

After stitching a corpse, Lin Shou can access the Record of Selling Corpses.

• Activates a Lantern of Life that shows the deceased’s history and final circumstances. 2 6
• Assigns corpses a value from Yellow through Heaven grades and grants rewards accordingly. 4 18
• Has awarded martial arts, cultivation methods, medicines, craftsmanship, literary knowledge, and unusual artifacts. 7 19 44
• Some Heaven-grade valuations are anomalous and do not provide a clear Lantern of Life, including the grave robber and the Examination Hall’s Master Statue. 44

Corpse-Stitching Needle Technique

Lin Shou mastered corpse stitching through the Golden Corpse-Stitching Needle and Flesh and Skin Scroll.

• Repairs wounds ranging from cuts and burns to crushing injuries and poison damage. 7
• Can stitch living people with extraordinary precision, leaving Ning Luowei’s many wounds without scars. 11 12
• Improved further after stitching Ning Luowei 23,900 times in one night. 12 14
• Can stitch objects and prosthetics as well as corpses, though not every repaired object triggers the Record of Selling Corpses. 44

Classic of Burial

A Heaven-grade cultivation method that develops Lin Shou’s physical life force, called the Vitality of All Things.

• Automatically draws in surrounding qi when silently recited. 19
• Strengthens his meridians, muscles, bones, acupoints, and dantian. 19
• Cultivation speed depends on feng shui rather than remaining fixed. 19
• His shop’s Four Symbols feng shui arrangement raised each cycle from one day to five days, then ten, twenty, and eventually thirty days of cultivation power. 22 24 35 50

Feng Shui

Lin Shou learned residential feng shui from the Ten Books on Yang Dwellings.

• Mastered the basic Four Symbols Feng Shui Technique: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. 21
• Reconfigured the No. 9 shop to accelerate cultivation and improve its overall environment. 21 22
• Continues developing the Azure Dragon position with plants, koi, and Little Red’s nest. 50

Burial Shovel

The Burial Shovel is a growth-type divine weapon that strengthens through repeated burials.

• Began as an ordinary shovel with effectively unlimited growth potential. 19
• Absorbs the remnants of those buried with it. 19
• Became durable enough to leave large notches in a Hundred-Refined Blade without damage after Lin Shou took burial work. 24
• Shattered Ghost Sha Butcher Zhang Tianhen’s hundred-jin guillotine and knocked him unconscious in one strike. 30

Physical Enhancement and Martial Skills

Lin Shou combines cultivation with medicines and practical combat techniques.

• Strength Pills dramatically improved his strength, muscle density, stamina, flexibility, and control. 15 16
• Dog Skin Plasters cleanse impurities, heal old injuries, refine his body, and stabilize cultivation gained from supplements. 16 29
• Amateur Kung Fu provides dirty but effective self-defense techniques such as groin kicks and eye gouges. 7
• Acupoint Striking Technique lets him immobilize, silence, weaken, or torment opponents through subtle strikes. 29
• Thousand-Mile Lone Rider builds momentum over consecutive victories, allowing his fighting spirit and sustained force to grow during prolonged combat. 50

Paoding’s Ox-Carving Method

A method that removes the upper limit of Lin Shou’s learned techniques.

• Allows any mastered martial art or craft to improve through continued practice. 29
• Applies to both combat techniques and non-combat skills such as calligraphy and corpse stitching. 29 40

Subtle Perception

A deduction skill gained through studying two spot-the-difference scrolls.

• Integrates subtle sensory clues into logical conclusions. 10
• Enables lip-reading, scent analysis, sound-based deductions, and observation of a person’s health or circumstances. 10 21
• Grew more effective as Lin Shou accumulated broader knowledge from corpse-sale rewards. 24
• Helped him recognize Ning Luowei’s disguise and identify the wider Fortune-Longevity Paste conspiracy. 10 27

Paper-to-Silver Art

An art created through Greed-Abstinence Silver.

• Turns the greed in a person’s heart into silver indistinguishable from real silver. 5 8
• The silver brings misfortune and intensifies greed if kept. 8 9
• Burning the silver turns it to green smoke and purges the greed associated with it. 5 9
• Lin Shou used it to punish Wang Er for stealing a dead porter’s savings, then burned the silver before Wang Er died. 8 9

Beast-Making Art

A forbidden Jiangbei heretical art also called the Nightmare Bewitchment Art.

• Grants knowledge of human and animal anatomy, including nerves, organs, bones, and spines. 2
• Contains methods for turning humans into beasts and beasts into humans. 2
• Is explicitly described as a sinister and venomous demonic technique. 2

Book of Lu Ban: Human Replacement

A fragmentary craft for replacing human body parts with wood, earth, metal, or stone.

• Allows Lin Shou to create articulated prosthetic limbs. 15
• His wooden hand uses threads as artificial sinews and can grasp, form a fist, and perform detailed motions. 15
• He later used remote-controlled Medical Mechanical Hands to stitch dangerous corpses from a distance. 18
• One such hand was corrupted after being grabbed by the haunted grave robber corpse. 18

Medicine and Toxicity Resistance

Lin Shou has accumulated substantial medical knowledge and resistance to disease and poison.

• The Compendium of Materia Medica gave him broad knowledge of herbs, medicines, formulas, and preparation. 21
• The Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases taught diagnosis through observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking. 21
• Snake Gallbladders and Bear Galls increased his poison resistance; repeated use eventually maximized it against ordinary toxins. 21 29
• A Medicinal Bath of Six Diseases Immunity made him immune to illness. 33
• He diagnosed An Yunli’s condition and anonymously prepared prescriptions to extend her life. 23 24

Three Immortals Return to the Cave

A Concealment Art learned from Color Sect artifacts.

• Lets Lin Shou hide objects on his body without detection. 27
• Can conceal objects several times larger than a person, including the Burial Shovel. 27
• Functions as a portable storage space for his Medical Arm and other tools. 27

Yellow Millet Dream

A Dark-grade ability gained after eating a bowl of Yellow Millet.

• Allowed Lin Shou to defeat the entire Shallow Water Pier Canal Gang alone. 43
• Prevented the gang members from remembering his appearance or what he did to them. 43
• Created the public rumor of a “Yellow Millet Immortal” punishing the Canal Gang. 43

Classic of Haoran Qi

A Heaven-grade method for cultivating Humanistic Talent Qi.

• Built a Temple of Literature in Lin Shou’s chest. 44
• Uses Confucian classics to accumulate talent qi and literary “articles.” 44 46
• Enhances his learning, eloquence, literary grace, and ability to debate through Confucian principles. 44
• His righteous qi can intimidate heretical paths and empower literary techniques. 44
• Cannot presently incorporate Legalist or Eclectic texts because its foundation is Confucian. 46

Literary and Teaching Arts

Lin Shou possesses several skills derived from scholarship and talent qi.

• Eidetic Memory lets him retain texts after reading them once. 40
• Ma Liang’s Brush can animate painted birds, flowers, insects, and fish briefly with talent qi. 44
• Spear of Lips and Sword of Tongue turns speech into a weapon; with talent qi, he can use recitation for defense or attack. 44
• The Elixir of the Unbroken Tongue grants exceptional verbal stamina, pronunciation, dialect imitation, and tongue control. 44
• The Ruler of Preaching and Teaching can impart knowledge-based abilities, but its scope depends on Lin Shou’s available literary talent. 44 46
• He used the ruler to teach Qingcheng Teahouse’s black dog regular script and three hundred Tang poems. 46

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Golden Corpse-Stitching Needle — Core tool of his perfected corpse-stitching technique. 7
• Burial Shovel — Growth-type divine weapon strengthened through burials. 19 24
• Medical Mechanical Hands / Medical Arm — Remote-operated prosthetic hands created through the Human Replacement technique. 18 27
• Ma Liang’s Brush — Brush that briefly animates paintings when fueled by Humanistic Talent Qi. 44
• Ruler of Preaching and Teaching — Teaching tool capable of imparting skills within Lin Shou’s literary capacity. 44 46
• Wall-Chisel Light-Stealing Lamp — Stores and releases surrounding light. 41
• Three Immortals Return to the Cave — Concealment Art used to store and carry oversized items. 27

Relationships

• Ning Luowei — The real Scalp-Cutter. Lin Shou stitched her extensive injuries without scarring, after which she began delivering tofu to him daily and persistently pursuing his attention. 11 12 20
• An Yunli — Sick younger sister of Qingcheng Teahouse’s Shopkeeper Xia. Lin Shou treated her sprained ankle, prepared life-extending prescriptions, and gradually earned her fearful gratitude. 22 23 37
• Shopkeeper Xia — Proprietor of Qingcheng Teahouse and An Yunli’s sister. Lin Shou’s positive impression of Xia contributed to his decision to help An Yunli. 8 23
• Seventh Master — Fellow corpse stitcher and drinking companion who shares his regrets about a lost love with Lin Shou. 36 37
• Eighth Master — Fellow corpse stitcher whose son’s tragic death Lin Shou learns of through a Lantern of Life; Lin Shou keeps the truth from him to spare him pain. 36 38
• Bureau of Corpse Management clerks — Initially distant from Lin Shou, but gradually become familiar with him because of his hospitality and reliability. 18 36
• Little Red — Lin Shou’s myna. He feeds and trains the bird, builds it a nest in the Azure Dragon position, and benefits from the added vitality it brings to his feng shui. 50
• Qingcheng Teahouse’s black dog — Lin Shou used the Ruler of Preaching and Teaching to teach it calligraphy and Tang poetry. 44 46

Story Role / Major Arcs

Scalp-Cutter Affair

Lin Shou identifies Ning Luowei as the real Scalp-Cutter when she attempts to enter his shop disguised as a woman in distress. Rather than expose her, he later stitches her wounds in exchange for leverage and avoids becoming entangled in the official investigation. 10 11

After the authorities execute a hairy-moled scapegoat, Lin Shou uses the Lantern of Life to uncover the framing and deduces that Ning Luowei’s victims were dealers connected to Fortune-Longevity Paste smuggling. 27 28

Grave Robber and Cultivation

Lin Shou accepts a dangerous Bureau of Corpse Management assignment involving a haunted grave robber corpse. His preparation with remote mechanical hands lets him survive the corpse’s trap, leading to the Burial Shovel and Classic of Burial. 18 19

Ghost Sha Butcher Incident

When White Lotus Sect butcher Zhang Tianhen reaches the No. 9 shop during a citywide killing spree, Lin Shou defeats him with one blow from the Burial Shovel. He then pretends ignorance and allows the Six Fan School to credit the capture elsewhere. 30 31

Heavenly Punishment Outbreak

Lin Shou investigates the Heavenly Punishment disease connected to Red Person Hall and helps the authorities locate the outbreak’s source. Though motivated partly by preserving his own lifestyle and feng shui, his actions contribute to containing the Capital’s leprosy crisis. 32 34 35

Autumn Examination

To protect his fellow stitchers and obtain more Record rewards, Lin Shou convinces the Bureau registrar to assign him all dangerous Examination Hall corpses. He survives the entire examination period without incident, develops his Humanistic Talent Qi, and leaves the hall’s supernatural mystery unresolved. 39 40 44 46

An Mountain Corpse Case

After receiving the corpse of the Chen Family Sauce Shop’s former manager, Lin Shou finds signs matching the monster responsible for other An Mountain deaths. The corpse rewards him with Thousand-Mile Lone Rider, while the larger threat remains unresolved. 50

Notable Quotes

“Time to stitch.” 12

“Average.” 11

“If the Great Jing fell, what was that to him?” 28

Trivia

• Lin Shou often sleeps directly on the corpse bier after finishing his work. 3
• He uses the public perception that he is “the little fool from the Corpse-Stitching Shop” as cover for his actual intelligence and strength. 5 31
• His regular script became skilled enough that a calligraphy enthusiast could allegedly value it at a thousand gold. 40
• He taught a dog poetry and calligraphy before acquiring any human students. 44 46