Going Out

Master spoke with utmost seriousness. Xu Feng agreed without a second thought, promising to study it carefully.

It was no empty promise.

Xu Feng was desperate to read more and learn more! If Master gave him something to learn, he would learn it.

He studied without pause.

He trained without rest!

In a short time, he had gone from a greenhorn who felt sick at the sight of a corpse to a practiced Corpse Stitcher.

The change in him was nothing short of earth-shaking.

That alone showed the gulf between learning of one's own will and having knowledge forced upon one.

There was something else Xu Feng had that Zhao San did not.

Xu Feng could observe everything from his own perspective. Zhao San was still a child at this point; he had seen too little to make comparisons. Xu Feng was different.

Xu Feng watched this world from a "third-person perspective," with Zhao San's entire life to compare it against. So, after only a few days in the game, he had noticed things Zhao San never had.

For one, Master's abilities seemed a little too extraordinary.

And was there something wrong with Luoyin County itself?

Corpse Stitchers had grown out of the trade of stitching hides. At first, their work had simply been to sew corpses together. The craft had indeed grown more refined over time, but in this backwater, Xu Feng found the Corpse Stitching craft Master had inherited remarkably complete.

From Inspection, Auscultation, Inquiry, and Palpation

to the Four Corpse-Sewing Methods,

its system was thoroughly developed, inside and out.

It did not look like the work of one person.

And that was before considering how the craft of Corpse Stitching had been raised to the level of Stitching Calamity.

Second, there was the ever-expanding Lost-Trace Forest.

Xu Feng wondered whether the forest had once sprouted from Li Family Village itself.

In recent years, it had gradually spread.

Then there was the Yellow River, which might come ashore; the mysterious Fisherfolk Village; and Third Grandpa Temple Village, which surely hid an ancient corpse.

It was not a large area.

Yet it was positively overflowing with remarkable people.

Xu Feng wondered whether the feng shui here was somehow unusual.

Was it some extraordinary burial ground?

Or one enormous tomb?

Could the ancestors here have once been wealthy? Had this been the site of some mysterious ancient kingdom?

On Xu Feng's map, Luoyin County was not large. Even counting the surrounding villages, it was only so big. It could not compare to a modern city at all.

Transport was severely limited.

Yet within this small area,

there were already "Crouching Dragons and Fledgling Phoenixes."

Xu Feng had also wondered whether this land held secrets beyond what Zhao San had seen.

Were those secrets buried so deep that Zhao San remained ignorant of them even at the very end?

Xu Feng did not know. But right now, he was Zhao San.

Which meant he could explore this land in Zhao San's place.

He only wished the game's initial warning that "playable content is relatively limited" had been more specific.

Relatively limited.

Relative to what?

A country? The world? Or something more abstract?

Put another way,

was this game a world sealed in a can?

Just as Xu Feng picked up the book to begin studying,

Bang, bang, bang!

Bang, bang, bang!

The furious pounding on the door made Xu Feng tense at once.

He set down the book and looked at Master.

The knocks were heavy and frantic, three at a time—a dead ringer for a midnight death-knell knock! Inside the Earth God Shrine, the sound set his nerves on edge.

Xu Feng glanced at the sky outside. The waning moon was already visible, but it was not even night yet!

"Should I take a look?"

Xu Feng spoke up.

Master shook his head slightly, then motioned for Xu Feng to come with him.

From the storeroom in the tall building, Master took a shoulder pole standing inside and pulled out its carrying rod.

He then motioned for Xu Feng to stand in front while he moved to the side.

Master's meaning was clear: if someone forced their way in,

there would be no discussion.

Master would strike the intruder on the back of the head. With a knock this urgent from someone who had given no warning of their arrival, caution was only sensible.

When Xu Feng reached the door,

the person outside was still pounding on it.

Xu Feng saw dirt shaking loose from the already flimsy door under the blows!

Even the gaps in the door were widening!

"Stop pounding!" Xu Feng shouted. "Keep it up and the door will collapse!"

At his shout,

the person outside stopped and said, "Open the door! Open up! I'm from Master Qian's household in town!"

Xu Feng unbolted the door and opened it a crack. A face lunged eagerly toward him.

The man shouted without pause, "Master Zhao! Master Zhao! It's desperately urgent.

"Wait, you're not Master Zhao?

"Where is Master Zhao?

"I'm from Master Qian's household in town. My master needs a Spirit-Bait, on the same terms as before! Please ask Master Zhao to come! Huh? Who are you?"

Hearing this, Master stepped forward and motioned for Xu Feng to open the door fully.

At the sight of Master, the man looked as though he had found a savior. He rushed inside, seized Master's clothes with both hands, and said, "It'll be dark soon. Master Zhao, please pack your things and come with me at once.

"If we miss the right time, something will happen on the road!"

Master easily pried both hands from his clothes. "I will go. Don't be afraid. But tell me clearly what happened!"

The man was so flustered that his words tumbled out in a jumble, but he did manage to explain. Xu Feng stood to one side and listened without a word.

His brow furrowed.

From what the man had said, Xu Feng could already hear how dangerous this was. There were also things the man could not explain, as though even Master Qian's servant did not know the full story.

Only after he finished did the man seem to notice Xu Feng. "And this young master is?"

"He's my disciple," Master said.

The man brightened and slapped his thigh. "All the better! My master happens to need a pair of Spirit-Baits. Why not have both masters come? The young master will be paid according to the usual terms too!"

"Can you make that decision?" Master asked.

"Rest assured, Master Zhao," the man said firmly. "My master discussed this with me before I came. I can decide this much! What I say is what my master wants!"

Master turned away. "Understood. I'll pack our things.

"You must be tired. Rest in the side room.

"Once I'm done packing, we'll leave together."

The man opened his mouth to speak again, but Master cut him off. "What? You won't even allow us time to pack? Do you mean to tie me up and haul me away?"

The man hastily denied it. Then he glanced at the Earth God Shrine, his face full of wariness and distaste.

He clearly had no wish to go inside and rest.

When he saw Xu Feng looking at him, he gave him a false smile and said repeatedly, "I'll wait right here. Right here for you both."

Master ignored him and called Xu Feng inside to help pack.

More precisely, Master gathered the things while Xu Feng found a large bundle and put them in one by one.

"Master," Xu Feng said, "this doesn't sound like a good job."

Without turning around, Master said, "Of course it isn't. It's nowhere near one. I'm afraid something terrible is about to happen this time.

"Help me pack carefully. I'll tell you about it on the road!"