Do Not Neglect a Good Deed Because It Is Small

Surprise flashed through Yu Qiuyu's eyes. "Lin Qing, you've reached Major Mastery in your Saber Art, haven't you?"

Yu Qiuyu had practiced the saber for seven years, and his Saber Art had only reached Minor Mastery.

The two had sparred whenever they could over the past three months, but until now, every bout had ended in a draw.

Today, though, Lin Qing had put him under tremendous pressure from the first move. His Saber Art was more intricate and varied, faster and heavier than before.

Yu Qiuyu could tell Lin Qing was holding back. Otherwise, he would never have lasted thirty moves.

"Yesterday, by luck," Lin Qing said with a smile.

"I knew it. Lin Qing, your Talent really is enough to make anyone envious," Yu Qiuyu said with a sigh.

The others looked envious too. Most people could not reach Major Mastery in a year; anyone who managed it in five would be considered gifted. Lin Qing could only be called a genius.

Perhaps spurred on by Lin Qing, everyone chatted for a few moments before dispersing to practice. No one stayed to drink and talk as they usually did.

Lin Qing found a quiet spot and began practicing the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake.

He calmed his mind and glanced at the panel. It showed the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake still at Minor Mastery, with progress at 57%.

Three percent to go.

For three months, he had waited in vain for a corpse possessing the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake at Perfect Mastery. He could only practice on his own, which was naturally much slower.

The Reexamination was only a month away. However steady Lin Qing's nerves were, a trace of anxiety crept in.

If a corpse with the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake at Perfect Mastery still doesn't turn up, I'm afraid I won't pass this year's Reexamination.

At his current pace, Lin Qing knew he could not reach Perfect Mastery in a month.

Forget it. Worrying won't help.

He glanced at the panel again. His proficiency in the Tathagata Fist Manual had reached 2%.

I've completely mastered the first move of the Tathagata Fist Manual. That gives me another trump card in a fight, Lin Qing thought.

He took a deep breath, pushed his distracting thoughts aside, and returned to his grueling practice.

He practiced the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake again and again. On the panel, his proficiency in the martial art rose at a painfully slow pace.

Time slipped by, and before he knew it, noon had arrived.

Exhausted from practicing, Lin Qing sat down to rest beneath a pavilion.

Yu Qiuyu, who had also spent the morning training, came over. Sweat covered his forehead, and he kept wiping it away with a white towel soaked in cold water.

"There's another batch of corpses to handle at the Cremation Ground today. Lin Qing, Old Wei, it's your turn on duty. Don't forget!"

Old Wei had been off to the side shooting the breeze with Cao Ge. He stood. "Lin Qing, come on. Let's take care of those corpses."

"Let's go." Lin Qing rose and headed out.

Before long, they reached the Cremation Ground. Lin Qing looked around. There were only three corpses today: two old men and a woman.

There was nothing unusual about the old men. They had died of natural causes. The woman was another matter: she was a dried-out corpse, a chilling sight at first glance.

Old Wei was experienced. After one look, he said, "Nine times out of ten, this was the work of the Bai'e Cult's fiends. Otherwise, she ran into Evil Spirits."

Lin Qing nodded. The Bai'e Cult was one of Great Yuan's largest evil cults, with many smaller factions under it. The Yinyuan Sect, to which Yin Muhua belonged, was one of them.

"Lin Qing, let me handle this dried-out corpse," Old Wei offered. He worried Lin Qing might be frightened. For all his Talent, Lin Qing was still only a boy of seventeen or eighteen.

"No need, Old Wei. Go take a break. I'll handle all three," Lin Qing said quietly.

"Then they're all yours. I'll buy you a drink at noon," Old Wei said with a smile.

Old Wei thought highly of Lin Qing. Whenever they worked together, Lin Qing took all the work on himself. How could anyone not respect a person like that?

Lin Qing first sent the two old men's bodies into the cremation furnace, but gained no valuable martial skills.

One had been a peddler, the other a groom. Lin Qing could only choose a few practical skills.

Finally, he put the dried-out corpse into the furnace. Amid surging flames, the body quickly burned to ash.

At that instant, images flooded Lin Qing's mind, all from the woman named Han Xiuniang.

"Mother, I'm hungry."

"Hold on a little longer, sweetheart. We're almost there."

On the main road, a woman and a girl of thirteen or fourteen trudged toward a distant county town.

The scene shifted.

"Two taels of silver, and you can enter the Han Family as a maid. Listen carefully: once you sign this contract of servitude, your life and death will no longer be in your own hands," said a middle-aged man with a thin mustache.

"Mother, I don't want to go!" The girl clutched the woman's hand, fear in her eyes.

"Sweetheart, you have to. It's the only way I can survive!"

The scene shifted again.

The girl lay naked across a bench. Beside her, a vicious old woman whipped her relentlessly with a hemp rope.

"Mercy! Please, mercy!"

The girl cried out again and again, but the old woman showed no mercy.

The scene shifted once more.

Inside a gloomy ancestral hall, the girl lay on a wooden board before a statue, covered in blood and barely breathing.

Suddenly, a cold-eyed middle-aged man dressed in black approached her. He bared a mouthful of sharp teeth and bit into her neck.

With a scream of agony, the scene cut off.

Lin Qing came back to himself, his heart in turmoil.

The girl had her blood and vitality drained in the Han Family's ancestral hall!

Who was that man in black?

Something's wrong with the Han Family. They're secretly in league with the Bai'e Cult.

Thoughts raced through Lin Qing's mind. He suddenly understood why Cheng Yannian was at odds with the Han Family. Perhaps this was the root of it.

Had Cheng Yannian long suspected that the Han Family had secretly joined the Bai'e Cult and wanted to move against them, only to be thwarted by their power in the city? Was that how things had reached this point?

More possibilities occurred to Lin Qing. After a while, he shook his head.

Forget it. This has nothing to do with me. I'd better stay away from the Han Family before I get dragged into trouble.

Back at the Corpse Collectors' courtyard, Lin Qing ate in the dining hall, then went to the duty room to ask for leave to visit home.

I haven't been home this month. I ought to go back and check on things.

As Lin Qing walked down the street, he passed an alley and suddenly recalled part of Han Xiuniang's memories. They had shown her mother surviving by begging in Black-Clothed Alley.

The alley ahead was Black-Clothed Alley. Lin Qing could have taken the main road home, but after a brief hesitation, he entered it.

Before long, he spotted a disheveled old woman begging beneath a willow tree at the mouth of the alley.

She looked over sixty, her face lined with wrinkles. Her legs seemed weak, and she leaned against a large stone with her eyes half closed. She said nothing until Lin Qing drew near. Then she opened her eyes and said faintly, "Young man, please spare a little. I haven't eaten in almost a day."

Lin Qing dropped a few copper coins into the bowl before her, then turned and left without a word.

Now that he knew, he would help however he could. Lin Qing had always lived by one rule: do not neglect a good deed because it is small, and do not commit an evil deed because it is small.