Qin Geng Tried Paper Effigy Making and Returned to the Su Residence

Night lay heavy. The white lanterns outside Rouge Studio spun in the wind, casting a deathly pallor over its storefront.

Qin Geng stepped inside.

His seventh senior brother, Lu Xingmin, was painting the brows and eyes of a freshly made Paper Girl.

The brush tip was exceedingly fine. Dipped in vermilion and black ink, it moved in careful strokes until the paper figure's eyes seemed to come alive, glimmering with an eerie spirit.

Lu Xingmin saw Qin Geng enter but kept working. Only after the last stroke did he set down his brush and let out a long breath.

"It's this late, and instead of counting silver dollars in a lady's arms, you've come to my gloomy little shop?"

Lu Xingmin teased him as he picked up a rag and wiped the paint from his hands.

Qin Geng pulled up a chair without ceremony and came straight to the point. "Seventh Senior Brother, I want to learn your craft."

Lu Xingmin paused, his brows rising. "Which craft? Making paper effigies or reading feng shui?"

"I want to try both."

Qin Geng's voice deepened. "Now that the Dragon-Guard Office has hung up its sign, everything ahead of us will involve these ghostly arts. The Magic Artifact in Aunt's hands has made her a target, and the foreigners are plotting to sever the Dragon Vein. If brute strength is all I have, I'll be stumbling around blind. Someone could sell me off, and I'd still be counting the money for them."

"A few more skills won't weigh me down. I want to learn something from the Netherworld Office trade to keep myself safe."

Lu Xingmin looked Qin Geng up and down, then shook his head before nodding.

"You're thinking along the right lines. But in this trade, affinity matters—and your Fate Pattern