"A deal?!"
Lu Mian narrowed his eyes slightly.
He found Chen Xiuzhu's tone strangely unsettling.
It sounded like a gambler staking everything he owned on one final wager.
"Yes... a deal with everything I have at stake."
Chen Xiuzhu drew a deep breath, anger, sorrow, pain, and other tangled emotions showing in his eyes.
Before Lu Mian could decide how to respond, Chen Xiuzhu began speaking on his own. "I used to be a teacher in a county town near Thousand Chimes Commandery City. My parents died young, and my wife and I had only each other."
"After the day of the Heavenly Calamity, strange incidents kept happening in the county town, so I brought my wife to Thousand Chimes City."
"Back then, Thousand Chimes City didn't have a refugee district or a quarantine district yet. We rented a little courtyard in the outer city, and I earned our living by leaving early and returning late, writing things for people."
"Then, half a month later, I packed up my stall and came home to find my wife missing. I asked every neighbor nearby, but none of them had any clues."
"Thousand Chimes City was already in chaos then, almost completely out of control. Reporting it to the authorities was useless."
"I searched Thousand Chimes Commandery City all night, until I stumbled home in a daze the next morning."
"The moment I opened the door, I saw my wife hanging from a beam inside."
At this point, the usually aloof Chen Xiuzhu's eyes reddened, and his hands clenched tightly.
Lu Mian remained silent.
After steadying himself, Chen Xiuzhu continued, "My wife left me a letter before she died."
"It turned out that a local gang had abducted her and subjected her to every kind of abuse. After coming home, she couldn't bear the humiliation and felt too ashamed to face me, so she hanged herself."
By this point, Chen Xiuzhu could no longer hold back his emotions, and his voice was thick with tears.
Having heard this much, Lu Mian understood the gist. "You want me to avenge her for you?"
Chen Xiuzhu nodded. "Yes... the gang was the Black Snake Gang. Its leader is Yin Qianquan. He's vicious, cunning, and utterly depraved. Nothing pleases him more than violating respectable women."
"But he has plenty of lackeys, and he's powerful. I'm just an ordinary man. Forget avenging my wife-I can't even get near him."
"So I could only swallow my anger and slowly look for a way to avenge her. Later, the unrest in Thousand Chimes City grew worse. I was driven out of the outer city too, and ended up in the refugee district as a corpse hauler."
"I remember how excited I was when I got the Turtle-Snake Boxing Manual. I thought I finally had a chance at revenge."
"But after practicing for half a year, I'd only managed to grasp the basics."
That was the source of his helplessness and despair.
He had never once abandoned the thought of avenging his wife.
No matter how exhausting his work as a corpse collector was, he still practiced every day, yet his progress was painfully slow.
If it took him half a year just to grasp the basics, he might never avenge his wife in this lifetime.
His only option was to borrow someone else's strength to get his revenge.
But as for people capable of avenging her, Chen Xiuzhu couldn't even meet them, let alone persuade them to help.
Then he noticed Lu Mian's terrifying talent.
"Captain, I sympathize with what happened to you."
"But there's no way I can beat him right now."
Lu Mian shook his head and refused.
He had no real friendship with Chen Xiuzhu. He wasn't going to risk his life out of sympathy.
"Don't refuse just yet. Hear my terms first."
"In martial arts, talent isn't everything. Resources and instruction matter too."
"Over the past six months, I've saved about seven hundred and eighty-three taels of silver from searching corpses. I can give you all of it."
"Besides that, I also found a blade manual called the Five Tigers Soul-Chasing Blade. It's no ordinary blade art. Its attacks are fierce and lethal. I think you'll be interested."
"And I won't set any time limit. You can avenge her whenever you're ready."
Chen Xiuzhu listed everything he owned in one breath.
He believed that with Lu Mian's terrifying talent, given some time to grow, Yin Qianlang would become someone he could crush effortlessly.
Lu Mian was tempted.
The silver he had taken after ambushing and killing Luo Shi and the others was indeed almost gone.
Although he had earned a few taels from searching corpses lately, it wasn't nearly enough to cover his expenses.
Chen Xiuzhu's money could save him a great deal of time.
"What level is Yin Qianlang at right now?"
Lu Mian asked.
"Blood-qi perfection. He hasn't entered the cultivation realms yet."
Chen Xiuzhu answered.
"All right. We have a deal."
Once Lu Mian heard that the man was only at blood-qi perfection, he agreed at once.
"Captain, what exactly are these cultivation realms?"
Lu Mian asked another question.
Hearing Lu Mian agree, Chen Xiuzhu let out a long sigh of relief.
He immediately answered, "Everything I know about the cultivation realms is hearsay, so take it only as a rough guide. Once you enter the Guard Hall, you'll naturally learn more."
"The martial arts we practice now, tempering our blood, qi, muscles, and bones, are all meant to nurture a breath of true qi."
"Once you've nurtured that breath of true qi, you've entered the ranks of cultivators."
"There are nine cultivation realms in total. I only know the first three: first realm: qi accumulation, second realm: meridian opening, and third realm: foundation establishment..."
"Anyone who hasn't entered the first realm is collectively considered unranked."
Lu Mian listened intently.
He naturally knew that supernatural powers existed in this world. Otherwise, Thousand Chimes City would have collapsed long ago.
Now, at last, he had caught a glimpse of that supernatural world.
"Lu Mian, with your talent, it's only a matter of time before you become a cultivator."
Chen Xiuzhu spoke earnestly.
"Nothing is certain in a world like this," Lu Mian said calmly.
"Lu Mian, your appearance doesn't match your state of mind at all," Chen Xiuzhu remarked.
"The Heavenly Calamity changed too many things."
"If I couldn't adapt, I would have died on the road long ago."
Lu Mian said.
Chen Xiuzhu understood what he meant. "Let's take these bodies to the Corpse-Burning Valley first."
"I'll go over the details with you the day after tomorrow."
"I hid my savings in different places, so I'll need some time to retrieve them."
He knew Lu Mian wouldn't fully trust him until he handed everything over.
"All right."
Lu Mian nodded.
The two of them loaded the bodies of the youngest man and the others onto the cart as well.
This time, Lu Mian no longer concealed his strength. No matter how fierce the wind and snow became, they couldn't hinder him.
Half an incense stick later, they reached the Corpse-Burning Valley.
Flames soared into the sky above the Corpse-Burning Valley.
Corpse collectors tossed bodies one after another into the great fire burning in the middle of the valley.
Seeing this, Lu Mian and Chen Xiuzhu threw their bodies in as well.
"Rest in peace..."
"In this damned world, death might well be a release."
Chen Xiuzhu murmured to himself.
Lu Mian remained silent.
The snowstorm didn't let up until two days later.
All of Thousand Chimes Commandery City lay beneath a blanket of white snow.
Not only in the shanty quarantine district, but even in the refugee district, many people had frozen to death.
As a corpse collector, Lu Mian had no chance to stop. He was constantly busy.
He had lost count of how many bodies he had carried over those two days.
That day, after finishing his shift at the Dust-Returning Courtyard, he went to the market as usual to buy meat and eggs.
To his dismay, he discovered that the price of every kind of food had shot up by another third.
It was all because of the snowstorm.
But no matter how expensive food became, he couldn't let his cultivation fall behind. Lu Mian could only grit his teeth and buy it.
After buying his food at the market, he returned to the alley and saw a figure standing outside his stone house.
"Captain."
Lu Mian greeted him.
"I have everything ready."
Chen Xiuzhu said quietly.
Lu Mian nodded and unlocked the door.
Before you continue