New 'Home'

The White Lotus Sect was an organization that specialized in rebellion. Its structure and discipline far surpassed anything ordinary people could imagine.

Such an organization naturally would not permit romantic relationships, especially when the girl's status had undergone such a tremendous change.

When Qin Tian returned from another mission, the girl had already been chosen as the Holy Maiden, someone a White Lotus Sect disciple like Qin Tian could never look up to or touch.

Like every other White Lotus Sect disciple, he could only kneel on the ground, bow his head, and listen to the Holy Maiden's instructions.

He could no longer gently pat her back when she was sad, silently staying by her side.

Qin Tian was unwilling to accept it, but there was nothing he could do.

His talent was what it was. He could not even cultivate a set of Hundred Step Divine Fist to perfection, let alone any other martial art.

That day, an elder of the White Lotus Sect came to find him.

She was an old crone, her skin like withered tree bark, her hair snowy white. Leaning on a cane, she regarded him with cold light in her triangular eyes.

The elder announced the White Lotus Sect's latest decree.

Qin Tian was being transferred to Yujing City, where he would pose as a wealthy merchant and gather important intelligence on the imperial court. When necessary, he would also be responsible for assassinations.

Qin Tian knew this was the White Lotus Sect's warning to him.

The elders had always seen what had happened between him and her.

It was only because the Holy Maiden had been happy, and had not yet taken her position at the time, that the elders had been somewhat lenient. Now that the Holy Maiden had formally assumed her role and held such exalted status, she was naturally no longer someone Qin Tian could approach.

If not for their concern for the Holy Maiden, Qin Tian would have been killed outright.

Qin Tian could only leave. He could not defy the White Lotus Sect because he lacked the ability to do so.

On the day he left the White Lotus Sect, Qin Tian looked back. Wind and clouds churned atop the mountain, while a beauty in white gazed from afar. Their eyes met, both filled with reluctance.

After arriving in Yujing City, Qin Tian faithfully carried out his duties. He hated it, he refused to accept it, but he could not resist.

And so, he remained in Yujing City until he reached middle age.

Not long ago, he received his latest order: assassinate Grand Tutor Yuwen, the imperial court's chancellor.

For Qin Tian, whose cultivation was at the innate realm, assassinating Grand Tutor Yuwen was no different from a sheep walking into a tiger's den.

Yet the White Lotus Sect had its rules. With an order before you, even if a mountain of blades and sea of fire lay ahead, you still had to go.

So Qin Tian made his move.

The result was the battle on the long street, where the Black Cloaks beheaded him.

Until his death, he never saw the girl again.

Though the flashback seemed long, it did not take much time to play through in Wen Qingkong's mind.

Once the flashback ended, the system's mechanical voice sounded in his mind again.

Host has obtained Hundred Step Divine Fist.

Wen Qingkong felt his cultivation increase considerably once more.

By all rights, after gaining the inner strength of the monk, Zhou Wu, Zhao Liu, the bandits of Mount Xiong Guang, Qin Tian, and the others, he should have broken through to the grandmaster realm long ago.

Yet he did not feel the slightest sign of it, and could only assume his accumulated strength was still insufficient.

"Done."

Wen Qingkong glanced at the woman in white.

The woman in white seemed to be lost in thought, staring blankly at Qin Tian.

Only after Wen Qingkong spoke did she give a soft acknowledgment and walk over to the cold bier. She carefully examined Qin Tian's neck, but there was no trace of needle or thread, as though his head had never fallen off.

"Do you think he's handsome?"

The woman in white suddenly asked an utterly baffling question.

Wen Qingkong paused, then replied blandly, "He's all right."

The woman in white stared at Qin Tian. Though white gauze concealed her face, Wen Qingkong could sense something strange in her gaze.

"He isn't good-looking, he has no money, and his martial arts aren't even that impressive. Why did Senior Sister never forget you, even unto death?"

She was murmuring to herself, yet she made no effort to avoid Wen Qingkong.

Only then did Wen Qingkong realize that the White Lotus Sect Holy Maiden in the flashback was this woman in white's senior sister.

Whoosh!

Wen Qingkong watched as the woman in white's whip coiled around Qin Tian's corpse. Then she leaped away, swiftly vanishing into the night.

Wen Qingkong put away the silver, locked the doors and windows, then practiced a round of Hundred Step Divine Fist. Every punch stirred the wind, every strike howled with force. With the final blow, from five zhang away, his fist wind extinguished the candle.

Though the woman in white had said Qin Tian's martial arts were nothing special, he had devoted his entire life to the Hundred Step Divine Fist. His mastery of this boxing art was truly formidable.

Wen Qingkong felt that among innate martial artists, there might not be many who could defeat Qin Tian.

Wen Qingkong went up to the second floor and slept.

The night passed without incident. Before dawn the next day, the Ministry of Justice clerk had already arrived, pounding loudly on the front door.

Wen Qingkong was speechless.

Old Zhou had been right after all. This fellow had come remarkably early.

Signaling to the awakened Li Lan'er to keep sleeping, Wen Qingkong went downstairs and opened the door.

The Ministry of Justice clerk's triangular eyes rolled about.

"Do you have the money ready?"

Wen Qingkong took out the banknote.

The Ministry of Justice clerk accepted it with delight.

"Not bad, not bad."

"Here's the deed. We owe each other nothing."

With that, he stuffed the property deed into Wen Qingkong's hand and left with the banknote.

Wen Qingkong carefully inspected the deed. After confirming that everything was correct, he put it away securely.

Though the clerk was detestable, he kept his word and did not cause any further trouble.

From this day forward, Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine belonged to him.

As dawn broke, Wen Qingkong handed the ten taels of silver from the woman in white to Li Lan'er.

Li Lan'er was now more like his older sister, taking care of his daily needs. He divided the second floor into two rooms: one for Li Lan'er and her daughter, and one for himself, without disturbing one another.

Today, he and Li Lan'er would go out and buy all their daily necessities.

Things like pots, bowls, ladles, basins, as well as a certain amount of vegetables, meat, rice, and flour.

Wen Qingkong planned to partition off a kitchen in one of the side rooms on the first floor, specifically for Li Lan'er to cook in.

The other half of the side room would continue to store Black Dog Blood, ink lines, and other items to prevent Corpse Transformation.

The market where Wen Qingkong and Li Lan'er bought their things was only a few steps away.

Caishikou Execution Grounds was originally the entrance to the market. With its heavy foot traffic, executions and beheadings were always carried out there to intimidate the people.

While Wen Qingkong and Li Lan'er were shopping at the market, they saw soldiers of the Five City Garrison arresting people everywhere. They held portraits in their hands and looked thoroughly vicious.

Clearly, the woman in white's killing of three Black Cloaks yesterday had enraged the imperial court.

Moreover, Qin Tian had attempted to assassinate Grand Tutor Yuwen, the imperial court's chancellor. That was a grave crime.

Wen Qingkong and Li Lan'er quickly finished their shopping. Just as they were about to return, two soldiers stopped them, one of whom looked Li Lan'er up and down.

Wen Qingkong swiftly slipped some loose silver to the soldier.

"Sir, we're just ordinary people. Please show us some mercy."

The soldier weighed the silver in his hand. Li Lan'er was no exceptional beauty either, so he waved them off, signaling for Wen Qingkong to take her away.

Wen Qingkong saw soldiers in the distance taking advantage of the situation to drag away pretty women. He felt the coming of this chaotic age more keenly than ever; danger lurked everywhere.

Li Lan'er's face had gone deathly pale. If those soldiers had taken her away, she did not dare imagine what her fate would have been.

After returning home, Wen Qingkong partitioned off the first-floor side room, built a kitchen, and set up an earthen stove.

Li Lan'er put away the rice, flour, vegetables, meat, pots, bowls, ladles, and basins.

Little Shuang'er, despite her young age, swept the floor in a proper, earnest manner.

That desolate Corpse Seamstress Workshop gradually began to resemble a home.