Unemployed Harbinger Bird

Li Lan'er insisted, and Wen Qingkong didn't refuse.

Her having such thoughts proved that his helping her and her daughter was worthwhile.

"Alright, there's nothing else to do for now."

"It's still noon. I'll just clean the dirt off him. The stitching will be done at night."

Li Lan'er nodded her head slightly and hummed in agreement before taking the initiative to prepare lunch.

Wen Qingkong cleaned off the dust that Zhao Xuan had accumulated from being in prison, and then left the body on the cold couch, preparing to start stitching after dark.

"Caw! Caw! Caw!"

Suddenly, a familiar bird call rang in his ears, harsh, hoarse, and depressing, making people feel irritable.

Wen Qingkong pushed open the front door of the first floor and looked up. He saw a total of nine Harbinger Birds staring at him with their black eyes on the tree at the entrance.

Wen Qingkong couldn't help but laugh, "Are you all unemployed too?"

With the Corpse Seamstress Workshop disbanded, the Harbinger Birds, which were specially trained to detect whether the Corpse Seamstress had died, were naturally useless.

"Caw! Caw!"

One of the Harbinger Birds kept calling out to Wen Qingkong.

Wen Qingkong recognized that this one should be his Harbinger Bird.

He shook his head and waved for the Harbinger Bird to fly in.

Unexpectedly, the nine Harbinger Birds actually understood what he meant and flew into the first floor through the open door in a puff of smoke.

Wen Qingkong was surprised and closed the door.

He took some millet and scattered it on the ground.

The nine Harbinger Birds landed and began to eat.

"What cute birds."

"Uncle, where did you get them?"

Sun Shuang'er's cute and innocent voice sounded as she cautiously approached the Harbinger Birds.

This was the first time someone had said the Harbinger Birds were cute.

Wen Qingkong couldn't help but shake his head.

"These are Harbinger Birds, they were raised by the Ministry of Justice, and were originally used to assist the Corpse Seamstress."

"Now that the Corpse Seamstress Workshop is gone, it is estimated that the people from the Ministry of Justice are unwilling to keep them, probably because they think they are unlucky."

"They are familiar with the Corpse Seamstress Workshop, so they all flew back."

"My place can be considered a place for them to stay. During the day, the windows on the second floor can be opened to allow them to enter and exit on their own."

Li Lan'er was cooking. When she heard what Wen Qingkong said, she wiped her hands on her apron, "Just do as Mr. says. It's good to have them nine as companions."

Soon, after eating the millet.

The nine Harbinger Birds didn't fly away, but jumped around on the ground.

When Sun Shuang'er wanted to touch them, they didn't dodge.

This bit of spirituality surprised Wen Qingkong.

Wen Qingkong found a thick tree branch about three zhang long and placed it on the corner of the first floor, which could be used for the nine Harbinger Birds to perch on.

Looking at these nine Harbinger Birds, Wen Qingkong had another idea in his heart.

The nine Harbinger Birds were originally to assist the Corpse Seamstress in his work, so he could let the nine Harbinger Birds keep an eye on the burning of the Three Incense Sticks during the stitching process, and they could call out to remind him if there was an accident.

Otherwise, if he stitched alone, he would have to check the burning of the Three Incense Sticks from time to time, which would be a waste of time.

Soon, it was the third quarter of Xu time, and the sky was completely dark.

Li Lan'er and her daughter Sun Shuang'er had dinner and went to sleep in the room on the second floor.

Wen Qingkong had his fill of food and wine and began today's stitching.

He looked at the nine Harbinger Birds lined up on the tree branch.

"Help me keep a close eye on the burning of the Three Incense Sticks, and whether there are any changes in the corpse."

"Inform me in time if there is a problem."

"If you understand, call out."

"Caw!"

The Harbinger Bird that originally followed Wen Qingkong called out.

In order to distinguish the nine Harbinger Birds, Wen Qingkong named them Little One to Little Nine according to their original room numbers in the Corpse Seamstress Workshop.

Seeing Little Nine call out, Wen Qingkong laughed, it was really spiritual.

Wen Qingkong turned around, looked at Zhao Xuan's corpse, his expression solemn, and cupped his hands and said, "Chief Zhao, I know you died unjustly, but grievances have their reasons and debts have their debtors. I will stitch you up to preserve your whole body. If you want revenge, don't turn into a zombie here."

After saying that, Wen Qingkong lit Three Incense Sticks and placed them in the incense burner in front of the corpse's head.

As soon as the Three Incense Sticks were lit, Wen Qingkong immediately began to work. First, he meticulously cleaned and tidied up the corpse, then changed it into a new set of clothes. He even applied a degree of makeup to the face, concealing the ghastly pallor of death.

Only after completing these tasks did Wen Qingkong begin to stitch.

Enhanced by his martial arts, his stitching skills were incredibly fast and of a high standard, unmatched by almost anyone.

The wounds left by the executioner were especially suited for him to work with.

A dozen or so breaths later, the stitching was finished.

His skill was still excellent; no trace of stitching could be seen on the neck, as if it had never been beheaded.

[Corpse Seamstress, Revolving Lantern, Observing the Mortal World, Obtaining a Treasure]
[Host has sewn a corpse, Revolving Lantern appears]

The mechanical voice belonging solely to the system echoed in his mind once more.

Chief Zhao Xuan's life also slowly unfolded before Wen Qingkong's eyes like a long scroll.

Zhao Xuan's father was an escort, and his lifelong wish was to have his own escort agency. Unfortunately, during one escort mission, Zhao Xuan's father was ambushed and killed by the Thirteen Bandits of White Wolf Mountain, Shaanxi.

That year, Zhao Xuan was only fifteen years old.

Then, unexpectedly, the fifteen-year-old Zhao Xuan, alone, rode his horse for three days and nights, stormed White Wolf Mountain, and single-handedly killed all thirteen bandits.

Zhao Xuan rose to fame in one battle and joined his father's former agency—the Capital City Dongan Escort Agency.

An Tong, the chief of the Dongan Escort Agency, greatly admired Zhao Xuan. When Zhao Xuan was nineteen, he married his only daughter, An Ya, to Zhao Xuan, who was the old woman Wen Qingkong had seen that day.

The following scenes in the revolving lantern showed Zhao Xuan escorting goods, practicing martial arts, his loving relationship with his wife, the birth of their daughter Zhao Anmin, and later Zhao Anmin's marriage, among other things.

Zhao Xuan's reputation among the escort agencies in Yujing City grew, and the Dongan Escort Agency's fame also increased.

This continued until this year.

Zhao Xuan was about to undertake an extremely special escort mission.

It was a palm-sized box made of golden silk nanmu, with intricate patterns carved on it, exquisitely elegant in shape, and locked with a mechanism.

According to the person who delivered the box, anyone who tried to force it open would damage the contents inside.

Wen Qingkong noticed that the person who entrusted Zhao Xuan with the escort was a scholar, handsome and refined. He memorized the man's face, feeling that he would meet him again in the future.

The scholar entrusted Zhao Xuan to deliver the wooden box to the Jiangnan Yan Family.

If the locked wooden box had already made Zhao Xuan wary, then the scholar's high price of ten thousand taels of silver shocked Zhao Xuan even more.

What exactly was inside this wooden box?

Why would it command such a high price?

Zhao Xuan was reluctant to accept this escort mission, but his daughter and son-in-law encouraged him to take it.

Ten thousand taels of silver was equivalent to three years of their hard work.

Zhao Xuan also knew that his family's expenses were high. Under the earnest persuasion of his daughter and son-in-law, he finally accepted the mission, personally taking action and using the most elite forces of the Dongan Escort Agency to escort the goods to the Jiangnan Yan Family.

Unexpectedly, it was this very escort mission that brought immense disaster upon Zhao Xuan.