Yinmen

Master Zhao Er was not the only one watching the passersby.

Xu Feng was watching them too.

Most wore pale linen clothes. Their faces were wooden, with little life in them.

The whole city felt lifeless.

It was nothing like the "lively," "animated" crowds he had seen at executions before.

By the time they finished eating, afternoon had only just begun, yet the county seat still felt strangely empty. Master took Xu Feng around the streets.

Xu Feng took the chance to open the [Map]. Sure enough, the places he had walked through now had names marked on them.

The place where they had just eaten was called the Yao Family Restaurant.

The restaurant seemed to divide the county seat in two.

To its west and north, houses stood scattered, likely home to the poor. On the other side, buildings stood row upon row, with at least some sense of order. The streets were broad and well kept; that was probably where the wealthy lived.

The map gave no names for those districts, but the buildings alone let him glimpse the leopard through the hole and judge the whole from a small part.

They went first to a medicinal herb shop, then bought some food and a bottle of wine. Finally, they rented a wheelbarrow.

Xu Feng meant to step up and push it, but Master shoved him aside.

Zhao Er said, "I'm still alive. It's not your turn to push."

With a steady creak, Master set off with the wheelbarrow!

Xu Feng saw that they were heading west. He carried things in both hands, most importantly a bottle of wine.

"Master, we're not going home," he said. "Where are we going?"

Master replied unhurriedly, "We don't come into town often. Now that we've eaten our fill, we have work to do!"

"First we'll stop by your Uncle Liu's place and pick up a few things!"

"All right, Master. Let me take a turn."

"You've only had a few days of full meals, and you want to fight me for it?

"Quiet. Walk beside me. Even the city hasn't been safe lately.

"If anyone comes near you, shout at them. Man or woman, young or old. Especially anyone who looks friendly. The friendlier they look, the more careful you must be. Understand?"

"Yes, Master!"

Xu Feng certainly would not let that warning go in one ear and out the other.

Fortunately, they met no trouble along the way. The Uncle Liu they sought was the executioner they had met before. He, too, worked in a Yinmen trade: like corpse stitchers, executioners held a lowly profession in official service.

But even among lowly trades, some stood above others.

Yamen runners and executioners, for instance, were both lowly trades, yet their standing was higher than that of corpse-stitching leatherworkers.

In some places, a folk saying even went, "Better a homeless dog than a corpse stitcher."

Once they left the city, Xu Feng saw those thick willow trees again. Looking at them, the thoughts that had grown stiff from days of reading began to loosen.

He looked at the willows.

Then he glanced back at the lush green hills in the distance.

Xu Feng finally saw what was wrong.

There were too many trees. This place was far too green.

In other words, there was too little demand for firewood.

Which meant there were too few people here!

Outside the city, the scarcity of people was plain to see.

They could even hear wolves howling from somewhere in broad daylight.

By the time they reached the settlement outside the city, Xu Feng had counted barely a dozen people along the way, all traveling in groups.

Uncle Liu lived in the settlement too. Though they called it a settlement, Xu Feng suspected the Executioner had simply been barred from living in the city.

It was the same reason they lived at the Earth God Shrine: to stay away from other people.

Sure enough, farther along, great willows lined both sides of the road, but not a soul was in sight. Walking there as master and disciple felt eerie, with only the wheelbarrow's ceaseless creaking in their ears.

Thankfully, the road was not long. Before long, they saw a high rammed-earth wall, with its south-facing gate wide open.

There were no neighbors nearby. Master slipped free of the wheelbarrow's harness and took Xu Feng forward with him.

The courtyard was silent. Just inside the entrance stood a small stone carving on the right.

Xu Feng could not tell whether it was his imagination, but as he passed, he felt the carving watching him.

He looked at it too and found that, like the one at the Earth God Shrine, it had a layer of blood smeared across its lips. It could not be fresh blood, for even now it was bright red.

Inside the courtyard, two grubby children stared at them wide-eyed. The corpse stitcher did not go near them. He merely stepped over the threshold and called out in a drawn-out voice, "Old Liu! Old Liu! If you don't come out, I'm taking your little ones away!"

At that, both children burst into tears with a "Waa!" and ran into the house!

Xu Feng did not know whether to laugh or cry. He had never known Master had this mischievous streak. But after the children ran off crying, Xu Feng became certain he had not imagined it.

Something flashed through a side room. In that instant, every hair on his body stood on end and his heart raced, as though he had come face-to-face with a wild beast.

Without thinking, he raised the bottle of wine in his hand, ready to use it as a weapon.

Master sensed his sudden fear and squeezed his hand. "Don't panic. I'm holding on to you, so you're one of us. Their Wangcai is clever. He'll understand."

"Wangcai..."

It sounded like a dog's name.

But if that dark shape was a dog, it was far too big.

Just then, perhaps drawn by the crying or by the corpse stitcher's voice, a burly man came out of the main hall.

Seeing Xu Feng's tall, thin Master, the man grinned. "You old bastard! I've been waiting for ages. You finally made it!"

The man was Uncle Liu, of course.

He was not wearing what he had worn at the execution ground. After coming out, he spotted Xu Feng as well. "Good lad! Well, do you still recognize your Uncle Liu? I could tell this boy was sharp. How about it—has he entered the trade?"

Before Xu Feng could answer, Zhao Er said, "He has. From now on, he's my apprentice. He may even inherit my craft. You'll be dealing with him in the future."

"Good, good, good!"

Uncle Liu pulled a small cloth pouch from his robe and tossed it to Xu Feng. "Consider this my congratulatory gift. It's for the boy, so don't refuse!"

Xu Feng caught it in a fluster and looked at Master.

Master nodded. "Since your Uncle Liu gave it to you, take it."

With that, he took the wine from Xu Feng's hand and motioned toward the house.

The dark shape did not appear again. The two adults went into the main hall to discuss business without Xu Feng, leaving him in a side room.

He did not see the two children again. Uncle Liu's wife came out briefly, praised Xu Feng, then disappeared too, leaving him sitting alone on a chair, rather bored.

Seeing no one around, he felt the cloth pouch in his hand and opened it a little. A line of text appeared.

[Item detected]

[You obtained an equippable item: Protective Talisman]

[This item can be equipped]

[Equip it?]

[Yes/No]