Passing on the Trade

New words gradually came into focus, and Xu Feng saw them clearly.

[Main storyline one: You learned a trade as a youth and made no mistakes. Master did not die because of you.]

[Main storyline, act two: Master Qian's Troubles]

[Master Qian's Troubles: Master Qian in the city has recently encountered troubles he cannot speak of, and he needs someone to resolve them.]

[Under your master's guidance, sew a corpse and earn a rating higher than "barely satisfactory."]

[Work with Master to handle a strange incident and earn a rating higher than "disappointing."]

[Under your master's guidance, sew a demon corpse rated "ominous."]

[Complete these tasks to unlock a game feature: the Affinity Panel.]

Xu Feng quietly read through the requirements for the game's second act.

Then he quickly began to analyze them.

The second act seemed to have a great many tasks, but he could actually complete them all at once. For instance, while dealing with Master Qian's troubles, he could both sew a corpse and handle an ominous incident.

After all, when people hired corpse stitchers like them, it was hardly to invite them to a feast.

And the information itself revealed things the game had not stated but that were presumably common knowledge.

For instance, "ominous."

"Ominous" was probably a classification for ghosts and spirits.

Judging by the tasks, too,

people like them, who dealt with death so often, had ways to contend with ghosts and spirits.

But "Master Qian"—

Xu Feng was certain he had not seen the Qian residence on the map.

The map showed only terrain he had passed through, such as the Earth God Shrine, along with places marked by name: the Yellow River, Luoyin County, and the market entrance where executions took place.

Everywhere he had not been, apart from Luoyin County and the nearby villages,

was shrouded in the fog of war.

Still, Xu Feng figured he did not need to seek out Master Qian. Master Qian would come looking for him.

After all, Master Qian was the one with a problem that needed solving.

It was not Xu Feng and Master who had a problem and needed to find Master Qian.

Just as he finished analyzing the task panel, another line of text appeared before his eyes: "[In the task 'Under your master's guidance, sew a corpse and earn a rating higher than "disappointing,"' you exceeded the requirements, raising the final rating by one level.

Your Master, Zhao Er, has gained a great deal of affection for you.]"

Xu Feng asked, "What does affection do?"

The game replied: [Compare it with reality.]

Compare it with reality?

When Xu Feng tried to check the exact value of that affection, a notice told him it was not yet available.

Only after completing the tasks would Xu Feng be able to see the precise value. But there was no doubt about it: the higher his affection, the better.

After all, in a place where a trade passed from master to apprentice, how much Master taught him depended

first on affection,

and second on Master's conscience.

As he thought this over, Master finished burning the paper and gestured for Xu Feng to take over.

Xu Feng went over. After last night's "first job," his Master's expression had grown much warmer toward him.

The man seemed, in a word, satisfied with Xu Feng.

While Xu Feng burned the paper, his master stood beside him and instructed him. "When you're sewing a corpse, you must always remember that these were once living people.

Even though they're dead, they were once just like you and me.

And now they're the ones who put food on our table. Don't treat them lightly!"

Then he took a bowl containing something Xu Feng could not identify—cinnabar or blood—dipped a finger in it, and smeared it on the teeth of the stone carving in the west room.

He formed a "lotus flower" with his hands and murmured something under his breath.

Xu Feng took it all in. His Master did not need to tell him to remember; Xu Feng committed every detail to memory.

His Master led him through the rites that followed.

First came washing hands and feet; second, driving off ill fortune and foul air.

The water for washing their hands was medicated. His Master did not mention the recipe, and Xu Feng did not ask.

After washing, they patted their bodies with pine and cypress branches and stepped over a fire basin. Once that was done, his Master said, "I'll make breakfast. You sit tight and get some more sleep."

Perhaps there was another half-sentence he had left unsaid—and there was. His Master had meant to add, "Get some more sleep. Youngsters love their sleep."

But after thinking it over, he found it too sentimental and kept quiet.

Xu Feng did not insist on cooking, either.

While his Master built a fire and cooked outside, Xu Feng leaned against a pillar in the side room and slowly drifted into a half-waking doze, swiftly recovering his strength.

He would need it for the lessons ahead.

He intended to devour everything he could learn.

Apart from those profound mysteries that required the right opportunity to master,

Xu Feng had no intention of letting a single piece of knowledge slip past him.

And affection would undoubtedly be the key to breaking through.

I have to raise my affection with my tall, thin, middle-aged Master!

Turning that over in his mind, Xu Feng drifted into a hazy sleep. He did not know how long he had been out when his Master nudged him awake.

Xu Feng opened his eyes and found a small table in front of him.

Food and drink had been laid out on it.

Seeing his apprentice awake, his Master said, "All right, let's eat!"

Xu Feng waited for his tall, thin Master to pick up his chopsticks. Breakfast was balls of wild greens and black-flour buns.

Xu Feng did not mind. He ate heartily, though he kept watching his Master as he did.

His Master caught him after only a couple of glances.

Noticing his apprentice's gaze, his tall, thin Master—Zhao Er—asked, "What are you looking at me for? Have I got food on my face?"

Xu Feng hurriedly said, "No. I was thinking about what you taught me last night."

That piqued his Master's interest. He set down his chopsticks. "Let's hear it."

Xu Feng organized what his Master had said the night before and repeated it back to him in order.

At first, his tall, thin Master thought little of it.

But as his apprentice recounted the events of the previous night, Zhao Er's expression began to change.

He put down his bun and listened for a while, then passed the wild greens and half a bun from his own bowl to Xu Feng.

Xu Feng said, "Master, I'm full."

Thin as a bamboo pole, Zhao Er brushed that aside. "A growing lad can eat his old man out of house and home. Your Master was a child once too. I know how much a youngster can eat!"

Eat some more!"

Xu Feng accepted the bun and greens and began eating.

He could tell his Master was especially pleased by his summary.

But Xu Feng had also forgotten something.

The ability to learn was a skill in itself.

Xu Feng still did not fully understand this era.

A complete, workable way of reasoning, good habits, and what people called common sense were treasures built up through untold labor and resources.

None of these appeared out of thin air. The original Zhao San had certainly possessed none of them.

But Xu Feng did.

So when Xu Feng recounted everything that had happened the previous night in such an orderly fashion, the corners of the tall, thin Zhao Er's mouth began to lift. His face was not dark but rather sallow.

He seemed to smile so rarely that it looked awkward on him. After a brief smile, he forced it back down, though inwardly he was delighted.

Seeing that he had nothing else to feed his apprentice, he took out his wine gourd and had a little himself.

A fine apprentice and wine to drink. What bliss! What bliss!