Lying Down to Live, Yu the Second

Fang Shu unconsciously took a few steps forward.

But when he tried to get a clearer look, the crowd before the hall was too dense. In the blink of an eye, the figure vanished from his sight, gone who knew where.

When Fang Shu came back to himself, the startled suspicion still lingered on his face.

He muttered, "That can't be right. That can't be right."

The figure that had startled him just now—the height, the way he walked—was astonishingly similar to the second uncle in his memories!

But as far as Fang Shu knew, his second uncle was living quite comfortably in the immortal market, eating well and drinking fine liquor. He had even joined one of the market's Daoist halls as an outer disciple.

At present, his second uncle should have been striving to enter a sect. There was no way he would come to this Blood-Replenishing Hall to sell blood for a living!

Fang Shu paced by the foot of the wall, repeatedly trying to suppress the distracting thoughts in his mind. Yet that familiar figure kept surfacing in his head despite himself.

So he gritted his teeth.

He headed toward the Blood-Replenishing Hall as well, determined to confirm whether it was real or not. Otherwise, it felt as though a huge stone were lodged in his heart.

"Surely not," Fang Shu muttered to himself as he walked.

He touched his throat again and thought, Second Uncle had enough to spare to give me a spell and a demon tongue. If he had to sell blood to survive, how could he afford such things?

At the entrance to the Blood-Replenishing Hall, the attendant who had spoken to him earlier hurriedly greeted him warmly when he saw Fang Shu approach. "Oh! Fellow Daoist, you're here. Please, this way."

Fang Shu merely nodded, passed by the man, and walked into the hall on his own.

As he passed the crowd queuing to sell blood, Lü Daoist and the others, bellies thrust out, spotted Fang Shu and cheerfully greeted him.

"Brother Fang, you came too!"

"Brother Fang, hurry over! We saved you a place in line."

Lü Daoist and the others even bickered with the people behind them.

"Cutting in line? What cutting in line? You look like a proper man, so why do you speak so unpleasantly?"

"He's one of our brothers!"

Fang Shu paused slightly, cupped his hands toward them, then continued forward.

His gaze swept through the line of people waiting to enter the hall and sell blood. He did not see the figure who might have been his second uncle, and the stone in his heart immediately dropped by more than half.

Even if that man was Second Uncle, he probably wasn't here to sell blood. He was likely here to buy blood for refining artifacts, or to purchase medicinal herbs, he thought.

The Blood-Replenishing Hall's main business was buying blood, so naturally, it sold blood as well.

Moreover, from what Fang Shu had heard along the way, the Blood-Replenishing Hall was also one of the finest medicinal herb shops in the market. It had the backing of a force called Greenwood Daoist Hall, and it even kept quite a few alchemy masters within its premises. It was extravagantly wealthy, controlling at least a full tenth of the medicinal herb trade in the market.

As he walked deeper into the hall, waves of medicinal fragrance rushed into Fang Shu's nose and mouth, making the qi and blood within his body faintly stir with greater vigor.

At last, he saw that figure who might have been his second uncle inside the hall.

Sure enough, the man was not among the people lining up to sell blood.

But Fang Shu came to an abrupt halt, not daring to take even half a step closer.

The figure had his back to Fang Shu and was pacing hesitantly along the edge of the crowd.

From his faded Daoist robe, he pulled out a slip of paper. Then he raised a wooden board and hung it around his chest before hunching over to speak with those preparing to sell blood.

His face was piled with smiles as he repeatedly bowed and nodded. He seemed to be peddling something, yet was too embarrassed to say it outright.

Fang Shu vaguely made out the words "blood voucher" on the wooden board hanging from the man's chest.

Most of the blood sellers he approached showed interest at first, only to impatiently drive him away moments later.

"Isn't your blood voucher a scam? If one share can be sold as one and a half shares, why not sell it yourself? Why come begging me?"

Others questioned him. "Did you really draw it from a chance lot? Or did you steal it?"

The man who might have been his second uncle flushed red at those words. He seemed to want to explain, but in the end, he merely sighed, forced a grin, nodded, and patted his chest.

Just then, a Blood-Replenishing Hall attendant passed by and laughed merrily. "What else could it be? He's already sold blood this month, and sold quite a lot too. If he sells any more, he'll sell himself to death.

"But he's afraid the blood voucher he worked so hard to draw will expire, so he's here selling the voucher instead."

After mocking him, the attendant pointed at the man and cursed, "You Blood Ghost!

"Other people at least name a price when they sell, or split it seventy-thirty. How come you want someone else to help you for free, while all the extra money they earn goes entirely to you?"

"Pah! Wishful thinking!" The attendant spat fiercely before walking off.

Upon hearing this, everyone in line understood. Some took the chance to drive down the price, while others even wanted to freeload off the blood voucher.

Someone even kicked out a foot and shouted, "Get lost!"

The figure who seemed to be Fang Shu's second uncle did not get angry when others cursed him.

Nor did he resent it when they hit him. Instead, he apologized, then moved on to the next person, utterly without temper.

Seeing the man toyed with like this, and finding that the more he looked, the more the man's build resembled his second uncle's, Fang Shu's heart immediately filled with a bitter, indescribable feeling.

A trace of panic also rose within him. For some reason, he did not dare step forward and identify the man directly.

So Fang Shu retreated to the side and silently walked back to Lü Daoist and the others, intending to ask one of them to go up and identify the man for him.

But at the last moment, Fang Shu changed his mind.

He took a pearl the size of a pigeon egg from his sleeve pocket, sought out the enthusiastic attendant at the hall entrance, and asked him to take a look at the man wearing the sign.

He asked whether there was a scar beneath the man's left ear.

The attendant weighed the pearl in his hand and had not been willing at first. But when he saw Fang Shu's air of an ordinary mortal, his eyes shifted, and he demanded that Fang Shu make sure to come to him when he sold blood later.

Only after Fang Shu agreed did the attendant finally walk over.

Just as Fang Shu thought the enthusiastic attendant would casually help him take a look—

Who would have thought that the attendant would march straight over, his expression changing as he called out to the man who might have been Fang Shu's second uncle, "You! Come here and let me take a look!"

Then he grabbed the man by the hair and roughly pulled it aside to inspect him twice.

Even treated with such rudeness, the man still showed no temper. Only after the attendant released him and waved him away did he bow at the waist and leave.

Fang Shu could not help clenching his teeth at the sight.

When the attendant returned, Fang Shu quickly turned sideways and walked outside the hall again.

"There's no scar beneath his ear, but there's one right on his earlobe," the attendant said familiarly and warmly when he found him.

Fang Shu was immediately dazed upon hearing this.

Seeing his expression, the Blood-Replenishing Hall attendant smiled. "What, are you related to that Yu the Second?"

The attendant shook his head and said, "If you are relatives, I'd advise you to stay away from that fellow. Don't go up and acknowledge him, or he might latch onto you.

"That guy's rotten through and through. He doesn't farm the land, doesn't mine ore. As for hunting demons or treasure-seeking, he doesn't dare do any of that either."

As he played with the pearl Fang Shu had given him, the attendant continued muttering, "Every month, he just sells blood in the market to scrape by. He used to say this was called 'lying down to live'—wanting nothing, seeking nothing, lying down and living early.

"But now, that guy's gotten so lazy he doesn't even speak anymore. The only time he shows a little life is when he shakes the chance lots. He's a walking corpse through and through.

"Hey! What are you glaring at me for? Are you two really relatives...?"

The attendant clenched the pearl in his hand and glared back at Fang Shu. Then he trotted away in small steps, afraid Fang Shu would go back on his word and demand the pearl back.

Only after the man had gone far away did Fang Shu withdraw his cold gaze, his expression turning desolate.

There was no mistake!

That Blood Ghost peddling blood vouchers was undoubtedly his second uncle!

Not only did the man have a scar on his earlobe, even his nickname was Yu the Second.

Fang Shu leaned at the entrance of the Blood-Replenishing Hall, secretly watching that bowed and scraping back amid the crowd. His gaze was incomparably complicated.

He stepped over the threshold, wanting to go forward and acknowledge him. Yet his other leg remained rooted outside the doorway.

In the end, Fang Shu withdrew the leg that had crossed into the hall and merely watched silently from afar...