Answering the call

"Miss, are you looking for a short-term or long-term rental? You look as though this is your first time in our Taiping City. Just so you know, short-term rentals cost a little more than long-term ones, but the advantage is that you can leave whenever you like..."

While the three groups went their separate ways over there, Lu Mingyue had already taken a quick stroll around Taiping City. Following the experiences of Guo Yang and his companion, she found a brokerage with a decent reputation and sought out an agent to show her somewhere she could live long-term.

"To tell you the truth, I'm a corpse collector by family trade. Do you know where I might find a suitable courtyard to rent?"

Prices in Taiping City were by no means low. Lu Mingyue hardly needed to ask before realizing she would have to find a way to earn money.

So she had to put her ancestral craft to use, and that was something she needed to make clear when renting a home.

As for whether she could make money?

Lu Mingyue felt that probably would not be much of a problem.

After all, no matter which world one was in, there were three kinds of people whose money was easy to earn.

The first was children, the second was the sick, and the third was the dead.

"You're actually a corpse collector by family trade, miss?"

Sure enough, when Lu Mingyue disclosed her background, the agent showed surprise but not the slightest distaste. Clearly, corpse collectors had no shortage of customers in Taiping City.

"It concerns how I put food on the table, so naturally I wouldn't dare lie!" Lu Mingyue confirmed with a smile.

The agent put away his surprise and stroked the short beard on his chin. Suddenly, he smacked his fist into his palm and said:

"You really have found the right person, miss! Our city lord has long wanted to improve the city's administration. There are so many cultivators in Taiping City that, even with the city lord's rules in place, some inevitably form mortal feuds. As a result, there are bodies to deal with in the city from time to time."

"But you must have heard, Miss Lu, that those cultivators aren't much different from us mortals in everyday life: two eyes and one mouth. When they fight to the death, though, they often show no mercy, and the one who gets killed rarely leaves an intact corpse. So..."

At this point, the agent smiled at Lu Mingyue, his tone growing a little more serious:

"Our city has already sought out quite a few corpse collectors, but those people either lacked the necessary skill or feared offending the immortals' remains. Over the years, very few corpse collectors have managed to stay in the job for long."

"If yours really is an ancestral craft, Miss Lu, you could give the City Patrol Office a try. We have a few courtyards over that way, too. If you catch the eye of the officials at the City Patrol Office, we can offer you a discount on the rent!"

Sure enough, wherever one went, skilled tradespeople were always in demand.

"Then I'm sorry for the trouble, but please lead the way!"

Brimming with confidence, Lu Mingyue immediately let the agent lead her to the City Patrol Office in the center of the city.

The City Patrol Office was not a government yamen, but an administrative body for Taiping City, established on the city lord's orders and run by his disciples.

If Taiping City were regarded as an Immortal Sect, the City Patrol Office would be equivalent to those sects' law enforcement halls!

Thus, the City Patrol Office was not only responsible for maintaining order in Taiping City, but also had the authority to punish anyone who broke its rules.

That included immortal cultivators!

"But don't worry, miss. Our city lord likes having more commoners and cultivators settle here, so unless someone truly breaks the rules he laid down, the officials of the City Patrol Office won't intervene lightly."

"Though Taiping City's rules are strict, they don't just govern us mortals and those cultivators. They apply to the city lord's disciples, too!"

"So while bullying outsiders might be commonplace in those dynasties, you really won't see it here in Taiping City..."

As the agent led the way, he told Lu Mingyue about the City Patrol Office, looking as though he shared in its glory.

Lu Mingyue played along, occasionally offering a word or two in agreement without showing the slightest impatience.

She knew very well that, though this agent was only a mortal, his tone carried undisguised loathing when he mentioned those dynasties, while he praised Taiping City so highly.

Clearly, this man had most likely broken the law in his hometown and only then come to live in Taiping City.

Otherwise, his attitude could not have been so extreme.

And more than half the commoners and rogue cultivators sheltered in Taiping City had been placed on wanted lists back home and had no choice but to come here to hide.

Wasn't she herself forced to leave the Great Ye Dynasty because she thought she had most likely ended up on Yangguan City's wanted list?

"Miss, this is the City Patrol Office. Go on in!"

A little over a quarter of an hour later, the agent stopped outside a residence guarded by two young men in gray. The plaque above its entrance bore the large characters "City Patrol Office."

"Sorry for the trouble, but please wait here a moment!"

"Of course, of course."

The two gray-robed young men guarding the entrance had noticed Lu Mingyue and the agent long before. As Lu Mingyue approached, the one on the left glanced over her and raised an eyebrow.

"What brings you here, fellow Daoist?"

They were fellow cultivators, and Lu Mingyue had never practiced a secret technique to conceal her cultivation, so naturally he detected her identity as a cultivator.

The agent clearly had not known, however. Hearing the gray-robed young man address Lu Mingyue that way, he immediately looked surprised.

"I heard that the City Patrol Office is recruiting corpse collectors. My name is Lu Mingyue, and my ancestors worked in that trade. I've come today to apply for a position as a corpse collector in your office!"

Lu Mingyue spoke with her hands clasped in salute. Only then did the two young men in gray show surprise.

"A female corpse collector. Now that's a rare sight," the young man on the right said with a smile.

The young man on the left looked Lu Mingyue up and down a few times, puzzlement on his face. "You've already set foot on the path of cultivation, fellow Daoist. Are you certain you want to continue collecting corpses? It isn't exactly respectable work."

"To tell you the truth, I come from a rogue cultivator background and lack cultivation resources..." Lu Mingyue explained to the pair with a wry smile.

That made both of them understand. The one on the left pointed inside the residence.

"Then go on in. As it happens, two cultivators fought on the Deathmatch Platform this morning, and one was sliced to pieces by a metal-element spell. If you can put his remains in order for viewing, I imagine you'll be able to join our City Patrol Office."

Seeing Lu Mingyue's surprise, the young man on the right added:

"Any cultivators who want to fight on the Deathmatch Platform must first hand over everything they're carrying to our City Patrol Office. The survivor can reclaim his belongings, while the dead person's possessions become ours. So there's no need to be so surprised, miss. Our City Patrol Office doesn't collect those people's corpses for nothing."

So that was it!

She'd thought the city lord of Taiping City was being rather too considerate.

It turned out they took all the deceased's possessions, collecting the funeral expenses in advance. That was why they treated the slain party so well!