White Lotus Sect

By the time Wen Qingkong returned to Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine, dusk had already fallen.

Before he even entered, he saw Uncle Fang, Old Zhou, and the others packing their belongings and walking out of the Corpse Seamstress Workshop.

When Uncle Fang saw him return, he asked, "Did you manage to borrow the money?"

Wen Qingkong nodded and deliberately showed an excited smile. "I did. That relative of mine is doing quite well. He was probably afraid I'd keep pestering him, so he lent it to me and told me to work hard. I don't need to rush to pay him back."

Uncle Fang, Old Zhou, and the others all revealed looks of envy.

But they also knew they had no such relatives. No matter what, they could not stay in the Corpse Seamstress Workshop any longer.

Uncle Fang sighed. The wrinkles on his face deepened further; saying they could crush mosquitoes was no exaggeration.

"Let's go."

"If we wait until tomorrow morning, it may already be too late. The Ministry of Justice clerks might come before dawn."

Old Zhou slung his bundle over his back and took a puff from his pipe, his voice laden with deep exhaustion.

Wen Qingkong had only gone out for a short while during the day, yet Old Zhou's back now seemed to have bent.

Uncle Fang nodded at Old Zhou, then forced a small smile at Wen Qingkong. "I'm going back to my hometown, Songzhou. I don't even know whether I'll make it back alive. Little Wen, if you ever have the chance to visit Songzhou, go see me in Gusu Nanlang Village."

"Alright!"

"I'll definitely go."

Wen Qingkong agreed.

Uncle Fang and Old Zhou left together.

After they left, Lai Liu and Li San departed as well, followed by the remaining two Corpse Seamstresses who were not familiar with Wen Qingkong.

The Ministry of Justice clerks had said they would reclaim the workshop tomorrow morning, yet they could not even wait until then. They hurried to leave before the city gates closed that evening.

Once everyone had gone, a sudden feeling of loneliness welled up in Wen Qingkong, leaving his heart strangely hollow.

Setting those thoughts aside, Wen Qingkong pushed open the door and entered.

From this day onward, he would be the only household left in the Caishikou Execution Grounds Corpse Seamstress Workshop.

When he went upstairs, Li Lan'er had already prepared dinner.

After eating, Wen Qingkong said to Li Lan'er, "Once I get the deed tomorrow morning, go out and buy some rice, flour, vegetables, and meat. You can get whatever else the house needs as well."

Li Lan'er gave a soft hum. Her eyes sparkled, filled with longing for her new life.

After dinner, they cleaned up the dishes.

Just as Wen Qingkong was about to rest, his ears twitched slightly. He said to Li Lan'er, "Take Shuang'er to bed."

As he spoke, he flicked out two bursts of force that struck Li Lan'er and Shuang'er's sleep acupoints. He laid them on the bed and tucked them in beneath the covers.

Wen Qingkong went downstairs.

There, a woman in white stood with her hands clasped behind her back. Her figure was tall and straight, and even through the white veil, one could sense the cold aloofness in her eyes.

"Why is yours the only Corpse Seamstress Workshop left along this street?"

"The court has decided to dissolve the Corpse Seamstress Workshops. Ministry of Justice officials will come to reclaim them tomorrow morning. I borrowed money from a relative and bought this workshop so I can continue doing stitching work."

"Everyone else has decided to return to their hometowns."

The woman in white gave a cold snort. "Sure enough, a foolish ruler is in power. Even the Corpse Seamstress Workshops are being dissolved."

Wen Qingkong glanced at her without saying anything.

In truth, he did not think dissolving the Corpse Seamstress Workshops had much to do with whether the ruler was foolish or not.

"Stitch up this corpse."

Wen Qingkong looked at the body already laid out on the cold table. It was Qin Tian's corpse, the one the woman in white had taken away during the day.

"Ten taels."

Wen Qingkong did not immediately get to work.

The woman in white's eyes instantly became two sharp swords, piercing through the veil as they shot toward Wen Qingkong.

"You're taking advantage of the situation?"

"My prices are fair to everyone. Anyone who comes gets the same price."

"Heh, and why should I pay?"

The woman in white sneered. A mere stitching job cost ten taels of silver per corpse. That was even more profitable than robbery.

"First, my skills are excellent. Even when the Corpse Seamstress Workshops were still operating, you couldn't find anyone better than me."

"Second, these are troubled times. Common people can barely afford food, so who has the time to worry about stitching up corpses? Those who come for stitching are not short on money. They want good fortune, and since that's the case, ten taels to you is no different from an ordinary person spending a single coin."

Wen Qingkong looked at the woman in white with complete seriousness.

He had not named this price at random.

Ten taels of silver was not a small sum, but just as he had said, once the court stopped managing such matters, what ordinary person would still care whether a corpse was whole? The living could barely survive, so they would care even less about the dead.

At such a time, anyone still concerned with preserving a whole corpse and having it stitched up would certainly have some money on hand.

Ten taels of silver truly was not expensive for such people.

Meeting Wen Qingkong's earnest gaze, the woman in white inexplicably felt that he had a point.

She tossed out ten taels of silver and motioned for Wen Qingkong to begin. Then she stood to the side without another word.

Wen Qingkong took the money and did not waste time, quickly beginning his preparations.

He first placed Three Incense Sticks before the corpse's head. After lighting them and confirming there was no problem, he cleaned the body once more, overlooking not even the smallest detail.

Wen Qingkong moved quickly, yet with great care, giving his actions a unique sense of beauty.

Watching from the side, the woman in white knew before he had even begun stitching that her ten taels had not been wasted.

This young Corpse Seamstress truly had some skill.

After cleaning the corpse, Wen Qingkong inspected it. The only injury was that its head had been severed, and the blade wound was exceptionally smooth. This was the kind of injury he liked best—simple and convenient.

He looked up at the Three Incense Sticks, confirmed there was no problem, and began moving the needle with astonishing speed.

The woman in white's pupils suddenly contracted. What fast hands! What a fast needle!

She watched as Wen Qingkong stitched at an incredible pace, his control over his force exceedingly precise. Every inch of the corpse's skin was joined together seamlessly, neither too much nor too little, neither crooked nor misaligned.

Such eyesight and control of force were absolutely extraordinary.

Corpse Seamstress, Life's Flashback, witness the mortal world, obtain supreme treasures

The host has stitched one corpse. A Life's Flashback appears.

Qin Tian had been an orphan, raised by the White Lotus Sect.

The White Lotus Sect was a grave threat to the Great Xia Empire. It had rebelled since the founding of Great Xia, failing every time, yet Great Xia had never managed to eradicate it completely.

The White Lotus Sect took in many orphans, raised them, taught them martial arts, and made them serve the sect.

Qin Tian was one of them. There had also been a very young girl with him.

Their training was brutally harsh. Aside from eating and using the latrine, they were either being beaten or on their way to be beaten.

The girl was too young and naturally frail.

She often hid away to cry by herself.

At such times, Qin Tian would find her and gently pat her back like a little adult.

In that cold, heartless White Lotus Sect, this was the little girl's greatest comfort.

Later, Qin Tian learned martial arts and literacy, gradually growing up. The White Lotus Sect then sent him out on missions. Every time he returned from one, the girl would be waiting for him in the sect.

Those were Qin Tian's favorite moments. He would always bring the girl small gifts.

Candied hawthorns, clay figurines, sugar figurines, little animals woven from reeds, and more.

These most ordinary things found on the streets made the girl burst into irrepressible delight every single time.

When she was happy, he was happy too.