Yin Gathering

Chen Miao had been practicing drawing talismans, but he had no idea when he would actually be able to make one. He lacked the necessary conditions.

Yin force and yin energy!

He did not know what yin force was, but he could understand yin energy.

Still, he had no idea where to find a place rich in yin energy. Until that condition was met, all he could do was wait.

Only when he found a suitable location could he try drawing a talisman.

Now, though, it seemed he no longer had to wait.

Once he gathered enough yin energy with his Yin Gathering ability, he could try drawing one.

The wisp of yin energy from earlier had been a little too small, though.

After some thought, Chen Miao opened his door and went outside.

Once outside, Chen Miao activated Yin Gathering again.

This time, however, he did not stay in one spot. As soon as the yin energy began gathering, he started walking.

His thinking was simple. If Yin Gathering stopped because it exhausted the surrounding yin energy, could he just move somewhere else?

Wouldn't another location have more yin energy?

Sure enough, Yin Gathering did not stop this time. As he walked, the yin energy in every area he passed through gathered around his body.

Whether there was too little yin energy in the Funeral Home or it was because daylight had fully broken, Chen Miao had to make a complete circuit of the grounds before gathering a palm-sized cluster of yin energy.

After testing it, he found that apart from feeling rather cold, this cluster had little effect on either him or anything around him.

Nor could Chen Miao actively disperse it. He could only wait for it to dissipate on its own.

Judging by his two attempts at Yin Gathering, the more yin energy he gathered and the more concentrated it was, the slower it dissipated.

The earlier wisp had dispersed in just two or three seconds, while this cluster took around a full minute to gradually disperse.

The dispersed yin energy did not entirely leave Chen Miao's vicinity. Instead, it filled his dorm room, raising the room's overall concentration of yin energy a little.

"If this concentration can last, couldn't I go outside and use Yin Gathering a few more times to raise the room's yin energy to a level where I can draw talismans?"

Still, he would have to keep observing to see exactly how long the yin energy could remain.

As he thought about this, drowsiness crept over him.

Rather than fighting it, Chen Miao set the book on his desk, climbed into bed, and fell asleep in his pleasantly cool room.

When he woke again, ten hours had already passed!

An entire day had gone by, just like that.

"So last night really did take too much out of me, both mentally and physically."

After washing up, Chen Miao was about to go out for something to eat when he noticed that the yin energy in his room had almost returned to its concentration before he started gathering it. In fact, it was even a little thinner than it had been that morning.

"Is it because yang energy is stronger during the day, making yin energy dissipate faster?"

That was Chen Miao's guess.

He left his dorm room and prepared to get dinner.

Before that, though, he made a circuit of the Funeral Home.

Aside from a few business staff who were concerned about the cold storage being unusable, most of the people there paid little attention to the matter.

Afterward, a security guard at the East Gate told him that Old Wu, who worked the night shift, had taken some time off.

That was probably the explanation Elder Uncle had given everyone.

Apart from that, nothing else had happened at the Funeral Home.

Still, Chen Miao wondered whether they would need to recruit another cold storage attendant once the door was repaired.

Tang Rui had faced a zombie head-on. Even if the Emergency Affairs Administration had successfully sworn him to secrecy, he probably would not dare return to work.

After dinner, Chen Miao stopped by Elder Uncle's office.

After asking him about it, Chen Miao learned that Elder Uncle had already decided to hire a new cold storage attendant.

Remembering how quickly they had recruited one last time, Chen Miao opened his classmates' group chat, [Complete Funeral Services], and posted the job opening.

The previously quiet group immediately came alive.

"Hearse Drifter (Yu Fei): @Well-Read and Well-Mannered (Chen Miao), Bro Shui, it's only been two years, and you've already made management?"

"You're Playing with Fire (Yan Tao): Bro Shui, do you need another cremation worker? I'm not enjoying the work here!"

"Beauty and Hair (Fang Lingxiu): Didn't you guys know? Chen Miao's Funeral Home belongs to his uncle. Has Chen Miao inherited the family business? Boss, put in a good word for me! @Well-Read and Well-Mannered (Chen Miao)"

Chen Miao was a little surprised by Fang Lingxiu's reply.

She really had guessed right.

"Well-Read and Well-Mannered (Chen Miao): @You're Playing with Fire (Yan Tao), we only have one Cremation Furnace. I'll look you up when the guy retires in a few years, but it's a small town, so the pay isn't great."

"Well-Read and Well-Mannered (Chen Miao): @Hearse Drifter (Yu Fei), ease up on Penguin Speed. Hearses don't have nitro boosts."

"Well-Read and Well-Mannered (Chen Miao): @Beauty and Hair (Fang Lingxiu), sure, I can help you out. If we get any difficult cases, we'll call on you, master!"

Chen Miao had barely finished replying when the group erupted into a flood of messages.

"Beauty and Hair (Fang Lingxiu): Holy shit, he didn't deny it! We're done for. We've got a boss in the group!"

"You're Playing with Fire (Yan Tao): Holy shit, he didn't deny it! We're done for. We've got a boss in the group!"

"Hearse Drifter (Yu Fei): Holy shit, he didn't deny it! We're done for. We've got a boss in the group!"

"Fridge Guardian (Du Jun'an): Holy shit, he didn't deny it! We're done for. We've got a boss in the group!"

"Fridge Guardian (Du Jun'an): @Well-Read and Well-Mannered (Chen Miao), what's the situation over there, exactly?"

"Well-Read and Well-Mannered (Chen Miao): @Fridge Guardian (Du Jun'an), private chat."

Chen Miao opened a chat with Du Jun'an and sent him the cold storage attendant's duties and compensation package. A reply came back quickly.

His wording was tactful, but Chen Miao understood. The pay was too low.

Chen Miao did not think he was greedy. Given the workload, that salary really was a little low for university graduates like them whose degrees were directly relevant to the job.

But that was simply how living costs and wages were in Tianmen County. Even if Chen Miao wanted to raise the pay, it would be difficult to reach a figure Du Jun'an would find satisfactory.

It was a bit of a shame.

After chatting for a while, they ended the conversation.

Chen Miao glanced at the nonsense those guys were spouting in the group, then closed the chat.

At ten that night, Chen Miao made another circuit of the Funeral Home.

This time, he gathered a little more than twice as much yin energy as he had that morning.

So the concentration of yin energy really did differ between day and night, which fit his understanding.

In that case, there might be even more yin energy in the early hours of the morning.

After testing these things, Chen Miao did not continue researching yin energy.

He was still not very familiar with drawing talismans. There was no rush.

Besides, exchanging for all the materials needed to make talismans would cost a fair amount of yin virtue. Chen Miao planned to buy some materials himself first, test the results, and get some practice.

That way, even if he failed, it would not hurt so much.

If he succeeded, all the better!

With his plan settled, Chen Miao lay down on his bed and opened the book again.

Turning to the Inventory section, he reached for the remaining [Lin Ziyang's Memory Fragment].