Early in the morning, white mist spread through Smelting Town as Li Mo opened his eyes.
The others were still sleeping soundly. He nimbly got up and went to the courtyard, washing with well water while stretching his limbs to loosen his sinews and invigorate his blood.
Smelting Town had no crowing roosters, only waves of insect chirping.
Li Mo caught a cricket and examined it. Aside from its deep-autumn lethargy, he found nothing unusual.
He was certain that Smelting Town possessed cultivation methods. After all, the Mortal Realm had no means of suppressing Death Sickness.
Only at dawn did the children gradually awaken.
Li Mo pretended he had only just risen. He shared dry rations with Zhao Zhu over water and chatted about what they had seen and heard in Smelting Town.
A moment later.
Accountant Wu arrived late, his deformed spine making him walk somewhat slowly. Behind him came four stewards of different appearances, along with a group of servants.
Li Mo's heart hammered. Wu Wanfeng gave him an exceedingly strange feeling, perhaps because of the aura around him that made one's hair stand on end.
The children stood in a line, submitting to the stewards' scrutiny.
"You... you..."
Wu Wanfeng pointed at two children, indicating that they should stand in the corner.
How could the children dare object?
Li Mo immediately noticed that the selected children showed obvious signs of premature aging. As he recalled, they had always been frail since childhood and had even nearly died young.
"What a pity."
A smile appeared at the corner of Wu Wanfeng's mouth as his tongue licked his exposed gums.
"You cannot even survive the Fetal Stage. You were born with lowly fates. Once this is over, you two will follow me to the Miscellaneous Servants Hall."
Li Mo's pupils dilated. The Book of Fortune welled up with fragments of memories about the Heart Beast Sect, chiefly information concerning several cultivation realms.
The Fetal Stage was likely equivalent to a Mortal Realm martial master from seven thousand years ago.
"Kehehehe..."
Wu Wanfeng gave a strange laugh. His gaze swept over the children as he said with satisfaction, "People are born to suffer Death Sickness."
"Yet Death Sickness comes in different forms."
"When an infant is still within the Womb-like Organ, it encounters Fetal Stage Death Sickness."
Wu Wanfeng spoke in a strange cadence, word by word. "Fetal Stage Death Sickness cannot be avoided. If one is born with all five viscera intact, that counts as surviving it."
Li Mo glanced at the two isolated children. It seemed their weak constitutions since childhood were due to incomplete internal organs.
This World was truly bizarre.
Even those born with incomplete internal organs could survive. The price was merely the inability to cultivate.
Wu Wanfeng narrowed his eyes and said, with a touch of madness, "Do not count yourselves fortunate. There are nine kinds of Death Sickness, appearing at different ages."
"Do you feel your pulses slowing?"
"The Death Sickness you are experiencing now causes the viscera to stagnate and decay. It is called Childhood Stage. It fully erupts at twenty, and by fifty, the Death Sickness worsens to the utmost. Kehehehe."
Li Mo's scalp went numb.
Eternal Life was accompanied by eternal damnation. Nothing could be more ironic.
He felt somewhat despairing. Even if he survived Childhood Stage Death Sickness in Smelting Town, new Death Sicknesses might emerge decades later.
Li Mo swept his gaze over the children. Most were still muddle-headed about Death Sickness, but Ma Ergao, one of the older children, looked extremely tense, his legs trembling without cease.
Fetal Stage and Childhood Stage had originally been ancient terms for different ages.
Fetal Stage referred to an unborn fetus.
Childhood Stage referred to children whose hair was tied into twin knots like horns atop their heads.
But in a world of Eternal Life, they had become synonyms for Death Sickness.
Ma Ergao could not help asking, "Lord Wu, if... if one cannot endure Childhood Stage Death Sickness, what... what happens?"
Wu Wanfeng wore a look of delight as he admired Ma Ergao's terrified expression.
The tallest and most powerfully built man among the stewards consoled him, "As long as you survive Childhood Stage Death Sickness, you need not worry for the next thirty years. Naturally, the drawbacks of each Death Sickness differ."
"If one fails to survive the Fetal Stage, one's limbs begin to atrophy after the age of twenty, until one loses the ability to move."
"If one fails to survive the Childhood Stage, the viscera will completely rot by fifty, hollowing out the body and breeding corpse worms that gnaw away at it."
"Do not worry. The Pawnshop naturally has a Dharma Gate for surviving Childhood Stage Death Sickness."
Just as I thought, Li Mo thought. He then began observing the four stewards. Their clothing revealed quite a bit of information.
The speaking brute stood over six feet tall, with thick joints. There was not a shred of flesh on his palms, exposing gray-black White Bone. The token at his waist bore the character for "miscellaneous."
The woman appeared gentle and refined, but her face was painted in heavy makeup, like a corpse about to be laid in a coffin. Her waist token bore the character for "painting."
The middle-aged man's skin was swollen and pallid, and an unpleasant fishy stench emanated from his body. His eye pupils were like needles, and his waist token bore the character for "jade."
As for the old woman in the corner, her arms were only half the normal length. They were tucked within her sleeves and folded before her chest. Her waist token bore the character for "porcelain."
Wu Wanfeng cupped his hands and said, "Esteemed Stewards, please each choose three children. I have some work assigned by the Shopkeeper, so I shall take my leave first."
The burly man nodded in reply. "As you should."
Wu Wanfeng left the courtyard with the children who had failed to survive the Fetal Stage. The fate awaiting them was likely that of servants at the Pawnshop.
"Then I shall not stand on ceremony."
The burly man swiftly selected Ma Ergao, Zhao Zhu, and one other child. He chose those who were strong and sturdy, then likewise strode quickly out of the courtyard.
"Xu Hu, why are you in such a hurry? The Porcelain Hall has not received any newcomers for years. Shouldn't we take a careful look?"
The old woman felt along the children's backs, clicking her tongue all the while.
After hesitating briefly, Li Mo took the initiative to approach the Underworld Makeup Woman.
"Esteemed Steward, this lowly one learned to read and paint at home, and I also know a little carpentry."
"A bit clever."
The Underworld Makeup Woman covered her mouth and chuckled, tacitly accepting Li Mo's pledge of loyalty. She then chose the cousins Li Qingfang and Li Zhuang before leaving the courtyard.
Li Mo lowered his head. His Eidetic Memory made his mind unusually active.
Once he saw the waist tokens, he realized that they represented categories of antiques. He had occasionally dealt with them in his previous life and possessed some theoretical knowledge.
"Porcelain," "calligraphy and painting," "Jade ware," and "miscellaneous items."
Li Mo had no time to investigate how the four antique categories were related to beast control, but with his Eidetic Memory, calligraphy and painting undoubtedly suited him better.
"Big Brother..."
Li Qingfang and Li Zhuang timidly clutched at the hem of Li Mo's clothes.
Li Qingfang was just over five, while Li Zhuang was slightly older at seven. They were Li Mo's cousins, though they had not interacted much in the past.
"Follow Steward Hu and learn how to work patiently. Just keep your mouths shut."
From the greetings offered by servants along the way, he learned the Underworld Makeup Woman's surname.
The Underworld Makeup Woman glanced at Li Mo, a trace of approval showing in her eyes. She had not expected to find such a tactful child in a mountain village.
Li Mo led the siblings and soon arrived at the Calligraphy and Painting Hall in the western district. Before they even drew near, they could smell the rich scent of ink.
The moment Steward Hu entered the Calligraphy and Painting Hall and handed Li Mo over to the painter who taught painting, he vanished from sight.
Because Li Qingfang and Li Zhuang were too young and still had to begin with literacy, servants took them to the school belonging to the Pawnshop.
Li Mo looked around the Calligraphy and Painting Hall. Its atmosphere was oppressively terrifying. More than a hundred workers sat before Desks, endlessly repeating their paintings.
At the center of the Calligraphy and Painting Hall stood a Wooden Figure covered in acupoints and meridian pathways, along with a Porcelain Tiger Beast bent over in search of food.
The apprentices copied the statues without pause, even when their fingers bled.
Once they finished, they threw the rice paper onto the floor, where it had piled into a thick layer. Only a small number earned the painter's favor and received a little silver.
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