The Book Passed Down (Thanks to Chi Yu)

At that, Master looked a little dejected.

The air grew heavy.

Xu Feng said, "Master, with me around, I'll make sure you live out your natural years, won't I?"

He thumped his chest for emphasis.

Even Xu Feng couldn't help thinking how good it was to be young.

When words like that came from a young man, they carried a natural vigor and fearlessness.

It made sense.

Even if he went a little too far, people would make allowances.

"Young heroes rise" and "ignorance is fearless"—some of those sayings weren't flattering, but people understood what they meant.

Besides,

Xu Feng meant it. Why else was he working so hard?

To find a perfect path through life!

On that path, Zhao San wanted Master not to die because of him. But Xu Feng wanted more. Unless this was like the game, where Master vanished into thin air once the first-stage objective of keeping him alive was complete...

Master would still be there for everything that followed.

As the saying went, "An elder at home is a treasure."

That was exactly how Xu Feng saw it. If Master stayed alive to help him tackle the challenges ahead, things would be so much easier!

That was how you snowballed an advantage!

Anyone who had played games knew how powerful a snowball could become once it got rolling—and that held true outside games, in the real world.

Even if its effect dwindled to almost nothing by the end, a huge early lead would still help!

Sure enough,

Xu Feng's seemingly boastful words swept away Master's gloom.

Master laughed. "Oh? You've been talking bigger and bigger lately, boy!

"You have no idea what you're up against!

"We Corpse Stitchers see too many strange things in our lifetimes. Few of us come to a good end.

"What have you seen, boy? You haven't even encountered a proper Demon Corpse, yet here you are making grand claims.

"Careful that the wind doesn't blow your tongue off!

"Remember this, boy: we have no one backing us. If we provoke something we shouldn't, even the gods we worship won't be able to protect us!"

Xu Feng kept playing dumb. "Don't we have Yin Virtue to protect us?"

Master said, "Yin Virtue? Of course it can protect us. With enough of it, even gods and Buddhas might make an exception for you, and you could become an immortal or a Buddha yourself! But how much Yin Virtue would that take?

"So much that even the Three Officials would have to make a note of it in their ledgers, I'd wager!

"You couldn't amass that much by saving a region, or a county, or even over several lifetimes!

"We certainly can't hope for it!

"If it were as simple as you say, what would Corpse Stitchers everywhere have to worry about? We'd all be living in comfort, with great houses to spare."

Master grew wistful toward the end. Xu Feng said, "You never know!"

Master fell silent.

He hadn't realized his apprentice was such a stubborn mule!

Then again,

who didn't like hearing kind words?

Even the most stubborn mule was merely hard to coax!

Learn its nature and stroke it the right way. Where someone had a desire, there was an opening.

Even knowing Xu Feng's words were empty, Master felt better hearing them.

It was as though Xu Feng had found the spot behind the wild mule's ear that it loved to have scratched.

Once a person felt good, he talked more.

And with their growing rapport helping matters along, Master looked at Xu Feng and felt a stir in his heart. "Still, the Yin Virtue you're after really is here in the Lost-Trace Forest.

"If you can settle the matter of Li Family Village, you should have enough for what you want!

"It's just that your abilities still fall short.

"You haven't learned all the skills of a Corpse Stitcher yet.

"Until you become one, you won't find your way to Stitching Calamity! And without that foundation, I couldn't teach you the art of Stitching Calamity even if I wanted to!"

Xu Feng's heart gave a sudden leap. Master was relenting!

Had he heard that right?

Stitching Calamity!

Xu Feng even took a moment to check his panel and see whether his second task counted as complete. It didn't.

The second task was to learn about Stitching Calamity and obtain Master's permission.

He had accomplished only the latter.

He had obtained Master's permission.

He hadn't learned a thing about Stitching Calamity yet!

So Xu Feng asked, "Master, what is Stitching Calamity? Is it part of our craft as Corpse Stitchers?"

Master said, "That's where you're mistaken. The craft of a Corpse Stitcher is one thing; Stitching Calamity is another. It's connected to Li Family Village and, in fact, to our line of Corpse Sewers.

"As far as I know, Stitching Calamity is a craft unique to our lineage, with a greater and a lesser form! Even your master only learned the Lesser Calamity-Stitching Art, not the Greater Calamity-Stitching Art!"

Xu Feng asked, "What are the Lesser and Greater Calamity-Stitching Arts?"

Master looked at Xu Feng with an ambiguous smile. "Haven't you already seen the Lesser Calamity-Stitching Art? It can't stitch calamities, but it's very effective against ill omens."

This time, Xu Feng was genuinely stunned!

He said, "Master, does the Calamity-Stitching Art really stitch calamities?"

Master said, "What else?"

Xu Feng thought he had already let his imagination run wild, but he hadn't expected the name to be so literal. As for Master saying he had seen the lesser art before...

I've seen it before...

Xu Feng racked his brain, then thought of the "bamboo grove" that had appeared behind Master that night, and the face within it.

Was it that face?

Xu Feng looked up. Master had vanished. When he returned, he had a book in his hand.

He held it out to Xu Feng.

Xu Feng took hold of it without thinking, but Master wouldn't let go.

Xu Feng blinked in confusion.

Master said, "Give thanks with a clasped-hands salute."

Xu Feng understood and saluted Master with clasped hands, only for Master to deliberately swat him on the shoulder.

It was clear Master had been holding that back ever since they set out today.

The fact that he had waited until now to let it out was impressive.

Master said, "Not to me. To the book."

Only after saluting the book did Xu Feng ask, "Master, why do I have to salute a book?"

Master's expression turned solemn. "Because this book truly matters. It must be passed down to future generations. It's even more precious than Incense Divination.

"When I die, it'll be yours."

He handed the book to Xu Feng.

Xu Feng saw that its cover bore no title.

Master said, "This book is called the Corpse Manual. It describes in detail how corpses change. Inspection, the first of Inspection, Auscultation, Inquiry, and Palpation, is covered in this book.

"Read it thoroughly and you'll understand Inspection! Corpse Awakening, Corpse Reanimation, Corpse Transformation, Demon Corpses—even corpses in the broader sense. Once you understand what's written here, you'll understand what you're dealing with!

"Judging by what you've shown me, you'll still need time to learn Bone-Shaping and Portrait Sketching.

"But reading a book? I expect you'll grasp its true meaning in just a few days."

Master said, "Once I've tested you, I'll teach you Auscultation next! But I'm warning you now: if you fail to learn it, I really will take the paddle to you!"