Zhang Quan's Fury

Jingyan Palace!

Wen Qingkong was shaken. In his previous life, he had heard this name before. It seemed to be a mysterious underground palace from some martial arts world, rumored to contain the peerless martial art known as the War God's Compendium, capable of allowing one to shatter the void.

Unfortunately, what he knew best in his previous life were Jin Yong-style martial arts stories and television dramas like Wind and Cloud. He had never read a single original martial arts novel.

He had only heard of Jingyan Palace from friends because its reputation was so great.

The four brothers from the Imperial Estate were merely ordinary commoners and had no idea how valuable this treasure map was.

Li Lan'er was just an ordinary village woman and knew nothing about it either.

In a moment of kindness, he had saved Li Lan'er and her daughter, only to receive such a treasure.

Could there truly be something called the Heavenly Dao?

Wen Qingkong put away the treasure map.

He did not stand on ceremony with Li Lan'er.

Seeing that he had accepted it, Li Lan'er let out a great sigh of relief.

Wen Qingkong had given her and her daughter a chance to live, yet he had not slept with her. As a simple and honest woman, this left her deeply uneasy. Now that Wen Qingkong had accepted the treasure map, she finally felt much more at ease.

"Keep the money safe. When Shuang'er gets married in the future, give her a generous dowry so she won't be bullied by her husband's family."

Wen Qingkong added another reminder.

Li Lan'er was delighted. She smiled faintly, revealing that she was somewhat beautiful.

Wen Qingkong thought of how only a few days had passed since the four brothers died. Why had Li Lan'er suddenly decided to sell herself?

He asked her directly.

Li Lan'er's expression darkened, and her eyes instantly reddened.

"Master, you don't know. My husband and his brothers went to accuse the Imperial Estate Eunuch Overseer."

"They died before they even had a chance to speak."

"I am only a woman, raising Shuang'er alone. If I stayed in the estate, I might not necessarily be unable to survive."

"But that eunuch overseer is truly ruthless. He... he actually sent someone to tell me that I was to serve him, or else he would sell me to a brothel."

"I had no choice. I fled in the middle of the night with my daughter. With nowhere to go, I only thought of selling myself so we could have food to eat."

As she spoke, Li Lan'er carefully glanced at Wen Qingkong.

"Please don't blame me for saying this, Master."

"You are a Corpse Seamstress. I heard people say Corpse Seamstresses carry heavy baleful energy, and no one dares approach them, so I followed you."

"First, there would be food to eat. Second, staying in this Corpse Seamstress Workshop, others would find it inauspicious and would not come looking for me."

Wen Qingkong was rather surprised. Li Lan'er could not even read, yet she had such quick wits.

As for that Imperial Estate Eunuch Overseer, he might not keep pursuing a widow and orphan forever.

"It's fine. Few people really come to this Corpse Seamstress Workshop. Live well here."

Li Lan'er nodded.

As they spoke, daylight had fully broken, and breakfast had arrived.

Wen Qingkong had Li Lan'er remain on the second floor while he went down to get it. After the three of them finished eating, Wen Qingkong came outside the Corpse Seamstress Workshop. Sure enough, since there had been no work last night, the Corpse Seamstresses had all slept well. They were all outside in the daytime, basking in the sun and chatting.

When Li San saw Wen Qingkong, he let out a lewd snicker, his gaze vulgar.

Lai Er kicked him, worried that Wen Qingkong was young and thin-skinned and might be angered.

Old Zhou took a puff of his dry tobacco and watched Wen Qingkong with a smile.

"How was it?"

"Now that you have a woman, doesn't this Corpse Seamstress Workshop feel less lonely?"

Wen Qingkong nodded. "Uncle Zhou is right. It really does feel more like home."

Uncle Fang burst out laughing. "Little Wen really is young and quick-witted. That makes sense. It truly does feel like home."

Old Zhou took another puff, exhaled a ring of smoke, and said, "Little Wen, that girl has no blood relation to you. We Corpse Seamstresses suffer from the Five Flaws and Three Deficiencies, so we don't care about all that nonsense. Once you have a son, let that girl become your son's child bride."

Wen Qingkong smiled but said nothing.

Uncle Fang could tell that Wen Qingkong did not quite agree with Old Zhou, and he was afraid the two would start arguing.

After all, people Old Zhou's age always loved lecturing others.

He hurriedly changed the subject.

"With no work day after day, who knows whether they'll still pay us our salaries when the time comes."

Sure enough, once money was mentioned, no one cared about Wen Qingkong's private affairs anymore.

Li San shouted indignantly, "We can barely fill our bellies every day! If they don't even pay our salaries, what's the point of living like this?"

Uncle Fang repeatedly waved his hands, signaling for him to lower his voice.

"What are you shouting for?"

"Have you forgotten how Old Cai died?"

Li San immediately fell silent.

Old Zhou frowned. "That can't be, can it? The salaries of all of us combined don't even reach ten taels of silver. Is the court really going to withhold even that?"

Wen Qingkong deliberately leaned close and said softly to Old Zhou, "Uncle Zhou, the two people we lost still haven't been replaced."

Only then did everyone suddenly realize that Corpse Seamstress House Number Three and Corpse Seamstress Workshop Number Six, whose workers had died, had yet to receive replacements.

In the past, there had been so many refugees that replacements would have been found within a day.

Everyone's expressions turned grim.

Naturally, they no longer had the mood to keep chatting, much less concern themselves with Wen Qingkong's woman. Sighing, they dispersed.

Wen Qingkong also returned to Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine, shut the door, and continued practicing his fists and martial arts.

While Wen Qingkong shut himself in to practice martial arts, inside Zhang Quan's room—

A pale, beardless eunuch sat in Zhang Quan's usual seat, while Zhang Quan stood respectfully below him with a flattering smile.

The eunuch's voice was shrill and carried an air of arrogance.

"That corpse was sewn up well. You couldn't even see the stitches."

"His Highness is very satisfied."

"This is your reward."

With that, he tossed over a pouch of silver, roughly thirty taels.

Zhang Quan promptly knelt. "Many thanks to His Highness! Many thanks to you, sir!"

The eunuch was greatly satisfied with Zhang Quan's attitude. He stood and left. He did not wish to visit this Corpse Seamstress Workshop too often either. Too inauspicious!

After the eunuch left, Zhang Quan opened the money pouch. Looking at the gleaming silver within, he could not help but smile.

Money really was good.

That damn little thief!

He stole every last tael of the hundred-plus taels of silver I had saved up!

If I ever find him, I'll make him wish he were dead!

Zhang Quan thought viciously, but then suddenly seemed to remember something.

Those three corpses had been stitched exceptionally well. Because the fingers on his left hand had been severed, he had focused all his rage on the One-Eyed Corpse Seamster and had not thought much about it.

But thinking about it now, even when Old Cai had both hands, he could not sew that well. With his right hand severed, could he really use only his left hand to stitch the corpses so beautifully that everyone praised the work?

How was that possible?

The only possibility was that someone had helped him.

The only people who could help him were those Corpse Seamstresses.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"You heartless pack of wretches! I must have been paying you too much all this time for you to dare play such tricks behind my back!"

Zhang Quan clenched his right fist, hatred blazing in his eyes.

Having the fingers on his left hand severed was a great enmity. Added to the stolen silver, which he dared not report to the authorities, his fury had reached its peak.

Now that he had discovered someone was secretly opposing him, he was even more enraged. He wished he could hack that person to death with a thousand blows!

How was he supposed to find that person?

Zhang Quan narrowed his eyes slightly. A plan had already formed in his heart.