Corpse-Stitching Shop

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Corpse-Stitching Shop (缝尸铺)
Alias(es)	No. 9 Corpse-Stitching Shop
Affiliation	Bureau of Corpse Management; Ministry of Rites; Imperial Medical Academy
Occupation/Role	Government-run corpse-processing shop; prepares damaged bodies for burial
Status	Active
First Appearance	1
Location	Across from the Caishikou execution grounds in the Great Jing capital 3

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Standard No. 9 shop	3	A small government-provided workroom with a cold bier, assigned to Lin Shou as part of the capital's network of twenty-four corpse-stitching shops.
Four Symbols Feng Shui layout	21	Lin Shou establishes Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermilion Bird positions using plants, a wooden lucky cat, a landscape scroll, and red lanterns.
Feng Shui-enhanced cultivation site	22	The completed layout increases the effectiveness of Lin Shou's Classic of Burial cultivation to five days' worth of progress per circulation.
Refined Feng Shui layout	24	Further adjustments raise cultivation gain to ten days' worth per circulation.

Background / History

The shop is one of twenty-four corpse-stitching establishments built near Caishikou by the Ministry of Rites. The Imperial Medical Academy and the Ministry recruit, train, house, and manage its corpse stitchers through the Bureau of Corpse Management. The workers are effectively hired laborers; leaving the trade would cost them both lodging and the right to remain in the capital. 1 3

Corpse stitching is a “dark gate” profession alongside executioners, coroners, coffin bearers, and paper-doll makers. Its purpose is to restore incomplete bodies before burial, as an intact corpse is considered essential for the deceased to rest peacefully. The profession is hazardous enough that safe retirement among corpse stitchers is virtually unheard of. 1

Lin Shou became the shop's No. 9 stitcher shortly before his transmigration. After successfully restoring a decapitated execution victim on his first recorded night at the shop, he awakened the Record of Selling Corpses, which lets him witness a stitched corpse's life and obtain rewards. 1 2

The shop later became Lin Shou's base for cultivating, developing new techniques, and handling increasingly dangerous corpses. Following the haunted grave robber case, Lin began using remotely operated wooden Medical Mechanical Hands to stitch corpses from a safer distance. 18 26

During the Autumn Examination, Lin secured the right to handle the Examination Hall's corpses himself. The No. 9 shop processed nearly every corpse from the nine-day event, and no corpse stitchers died that year. 39 40 46

Premises

The shop is a small, damp, cold workroom lit by candles and centered on a cold bier used for stitching and temporary rest. Lin Shou also sleeps on the bier during the day, following the profession's nocturnal schedule. 1 3

• The shop stands directly opposite Caishikou execution grounds, where families collect the bodies of executed prisoners and bring damaged remains for restoration. 1 3
• It is adjacent to Qingcheng Teahouse. 3 21
• Lin Shou received Bureau approval to build a stove inside the shop. 10
• Its Vermilion Bird position is marked by two large red lanterns converted into advertising signs: one reads “digging graves,” and the other “burying people.” 21
• The Feng Shui arrangement includes potted plants at the Azure Dragon position, a wooden lucky cat at the White Tiger position, and a mountain landscape scroll at the Black Tortoise position. 21

Operations

Corpse Preparation

The shop restores bodies for burial by sewing wounds and severed limbs, applying powder to seams, grooming hair and brows, and dressing the dead in burial clothing. Once work is complete, relatives may claim the body for funeral rites. 1 3

Night-Only Work

Corpse stitchers work at night and rest by day. The trade holds that yin qi at night permits the recovery of the deceased's scattered souls and spirits; regardless of whether this belief is true, violating established rules is considered dangerous. 2 3

Incense Protocol

Before beginning work, the stitcher lights three incense sticks at the corpse's head and waits for them to burn completely.

• Three evenly burning sticks indicate that stitching may proceed. 3
• Incense that extinguishes repeatedly or burns into a “two short, one long” pattern warns that the corpse is dangerous and should not be stitched. 3
• The death of the No. 20 stitcher was caused in part by beginning work before the incense had fully burned down. 14

Government Control

Private corpse-stitching is prohibited under Great Jing law. The Bureau of Corpse Management controls the trade, assigns bodies, and manages the capital's shops; unauthorized private practice is punishable by beheading. 15

Dangerous Corpse Assignments

The Bureau grades stitchers by fate and assigns corpses accordingly. After surviving the grave robber's haunted corpse, Lin Shou and the blind stitcher of No. 1 became the only capital stitchers rated top-tier Heavenly Sha Lone Star; corpses other shops cannot handle are sent to their shops. 39

Corpses too dangerous even for No. 1 and No. 9 are transferred to the Six Afflictions Pavilion, which also handles victims of infectious diseases. 35 39

Notable Incidents

• Record of Selling Corpses awakened — Lin Shou's successful restoration of a beheaded prisoner triggered the appearance of the Record of Selling Corpses within the shop. 1
• Ning Luowei's treatment — The Scalp-Cutter entered the shop while injured and hired Lin Shou to stitch hundreds of wounds without leaving scars. He completed 23,900 stitches over the course of a night. 11 12
• Haunted grave robber case — Four stitchers died attempting to finish the final stitches on a grave robber's decapitated corpse. Lin completed the task remotely with spare Medical Mechanical Hands after the corpse corroded his first wooden hand. 17 18
• Ghost Sha Butcher's defeat — Zhang Tianhen was knocked unconscious outside the shop after attacking Lin Shou. Six Fan School officers later found the butcher chained at the entrance and questioned Lin about the incident. 30 31
• Autumn Examination workload — The shop received four corpses on the first night alone after Lin secured the Examination Hall assignment, eventually processing nearly all corpses from the event. 40 46

Relationships

• Lin Shou — Resident No. 9 corpse stitcher; he transformed the shop from a dangerous assigned workplace into his base for corpse-selling, cultivation, burial work, and Feng Shui experiments. 1 21 24
• Bureau of Corpse Management — Oversees the shop, provides workers and corpses, regulates alterations such as Lin's stove, and assigns dangerous work according to fate ratings. 3 10 39
• Ning Luowei — Entered the shop seeking scarless wound treatment; afterward, she continued visiting Lin and delivering tofu. 11 12 15
• Qingcheng Teahouse — Next-door establishment; its wall provides a gathering place for corpse stitchers listening to stories, and its proximity limits the shop's Azure Dragon Feng Shui placement. 7 21
• Other corpse-stitching shops — The No. 9 shop belongs to the capital's network of twenty-four shops. The deaths at No. 6, No. 15, No. 18, and No. 20 demonstrate the profession's high mortality rate. 1 5 17
• Six Fan School — Investigated the incapacitated Ghost Sha Butcher at the shop entrance following the White Lotus Sect massacre. 31

Trivia

• The shop's number is painted on its lintel. 3
• Local residents commonly dismiss Lin Shou as the “little fool from the Corpse-Stitching Shop” when he advertises or behaves unusually. 16 24
• Lin's red-lantern advertisements frighten nearby children and discourage ordinary pedestrians from passing the shop at night. 21
• Despite its grim function, the shop's Feng Shui improvements make it an unusually effective cultivation site for the Classic of Burial. 22 24