From Paper Craftsman to World-Suppressing Immortal

"Can't come up with the money, huh? Let's cripple his leg first!"

After Liu San finished speaking viciously, two of the three thugs stepped forward and held Zhang Zhixuan down, while the third swung his stick, ready to attack him.

These henchmen who collect debts for the gambling den are all ruthless, and Zhang Zhixuan is not about to give up easily at this time.

"Wait! Third Master, if you break my legs and I become crippled, how am I supposed to deliver the money to your door..."

"Oh? You have money?" Liu San said with a playful look, gesturing for the thugs to let go.

Zhang Zhixuan struggled to his feet and, without hesitation, took out three silver dollars from the bamboo lining of his basket, and then pulled out three more from the soles of his shoes and crotch.

Six silver dollars were laid out in Zhang Zhixuan's hand, and he had to force a smile and respectfully offer them: "Third Master, would you please accept them?"

"You think you can get rid of me with just a few dollars?"

"How could that be, Third Master? To tell you the truth, I went to Tianjin today and made a deal with a large coffin shop there. This six yuan is a deposit they paid me. I'll deliver the paper offerings one by one, and the money back to you will come naturally..."

Liu San's ugly face was filled with disdain and disbelief: "You, a good-for-nothing spendthrift, can get six silver dollars as a deposit for a few pieces of shoddy paperwork? And keep paying you money?"

"Third Master, you must have a bad memory. When my grandfather was alive, his paper figures were the best in Tianjin. Everyone in the funeral industry respected him as 'Paper Figure Zhang.' Although I'm a spendthrift, I haven't lost my skills. I have some of my grandfather's talent. The old owner of that big coffin shop in Tianjin had dealings with my grandfather in the past, so he gave us this job..."

As Zhang Zhixuan spoke, he pulled out the paper receipt issued by Manager Wu and showed it to Liu San: "Third Master, take a look. It's written in black and white on paper, and it even has the other party's red stamp!"

Liu San didn't know many characters, but he knew what the format and appearance of the receipts and stamps of large shops were, so he believed it to some extent.

Zhang Zhixuan knew that these things alone wouldn't be enough to avert disaster, so he forced a smile and quickly added fuel to the fire, saying, "In this vast Wuliu Town, who doesn't know that you, Third Master, are a righteous and generous man? With your status and position, let alone breaking my arms and legs, even killing me would be a simple matter of a word. But think about it, what use is a cripple or a dead man? It's better to keep me alive so I can continue my business. Everything else is secondary; what matters is that I can repay your debts. Don't you agree? Perhaps you could give me a few more days..."

No matter what ruthless methods they used, Liu San and his group came to collect money from the gambling den. Zhang Zhixuan's words were correct; everything else was secondary, only the money needed to be paid back was real.

"Alright, you're lucky today, kid." Liu San stuffed the six silver dollars into his pocket, raised his hand, and slapped Zhang Zhixuan's face repeatedly, his words full of threat.

"These six silver dollars are your tribute to me today. You also owe me thirty silver dollars. I'll give you five more days. If you can't pay me back in five days..." Liu Sanyi waved his hand.

A thug swung a stick and smashed it down on the water vat in the yard.

With a crash, the water vat shattered on the ground.

"If you can't pay back the money in five days, I guarantee your head will be as black as this water tank."

"Let's go!"

Liu San left with his men.

The dilapidated courtyard fell silent.

Zhang Zhixuan looked at the mess on the ground, feeling utterly exhausted.

"Damn it, six silver dollars only lasted five days..."

"Five days..."

Zhang Zhixuan felt a headache coming on.

It would take at least seven or eight days to complete Guihoutang's order. Even if it was all done and submitted, according to the contract, they wouldn't give him thirty silver dollars.

Go to your uncle's house and plead poverty again? No way, thirty silver dollars is no small sum.

Now, the only hope seems to lie in what the paper-wife said—the thing hidden under the wall of the dilapidated temple.

Zhang Zhixuan was struggling and hesitant, but after racking his brains, he really had no other way to raise thirty silver dollars within five days.

"Forget it, there's always a way out. Things will work themselves out."

Zhang Zhixuan decided to ignore all of this and went into the courtyard to tidy up what he could.

This family was extremely poor, so there wasn't much work to be done. After tidying up, Zhang Zhixuan sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), munching on a cornbread, and summoned the [Hundred Trades] app.

【All Trades: Paper Craftsman】

[Level: Lv1 (10/100)]

[Rank: 0]

【Paper Manipulation Lv1 (Permanent Passive, Upgradeable): A special technique developed through years of experience making paper offerings, increasing the efficiency and quality of all paper products by 40%】

[Upgrade to the next level to unlock skills.]

"Once I finish this batch of orders from Guihoutang, I'll definitely be able to level up to lv2. I wonder what skills I'll unlock then. I desperately need a way to survive right now."

"I have to pay off the mess left by my predecessor. Never mind, I'll take it one step at a time. Tomorrow I'll try my luck at the dilapidated temple." Zhang Zhixuan was planning everything in his mind.

Tonight, the full moon shines like a plate, its bright and clear light illuminating the courtyard.

Zhang Zhixuan made paper offerings in the courtyard by the moonlight, working until late at night, when drowsiness overwhelmed him and he had to go to sleep.

Zhang Zhixuan woke up before dawn the next day.

He carefully placed the golden talisman close to his body, rummaged through his belongings and finally found a rusty shovel. He then walked along the path on the east side of the town toward the dilapidated temple.

The dilapidated temple in Wuliu Town wasn't far; Zhang Zhixuan arrived in about half an hour.

The temple was small and had fallen into disrepair over the years. It consisted of one main hall and two side rooms, with half of the roof collapsed, exposing the dark beams. Most of the surrounding wall had collapsed, leaving only the main gate relatively intact. The words that were originally written on the lintel were now illegible and blurred beyond recognition.

Zhang Zhixuan didn't rush in; he first took a stroll around the outside of the temple.

Behind the temple was a mass grave, with countless graves, some without even tombstones, just wooden sticks stuck in the ground. Some graves had collapsed, revealing the coffin boards inside, with white fungi growing on the rotten wood.

The mass grave was shrouded in thick fog, and from time to time, you could see something moving about in the mist. A few barks of wild dogs could be heard in the distance, but then it quickly fell silent again.

"This place is really creepy, no wonder it's been abandoned."

Zhang Zhixuan muttered something to himself, circled back to the mountain gate, took a deep breath, and went inside.

The weeds in the temple courtyard were waist-high, and the doors and windows of the main hall were gone. It was pitch black inside, and he couldn't see anything. He didn't dare to go into the main hall, so he went around to the back of the side hall and found the base of the wall that the paper wife had mentioned.

The walls are made of blue bricks, and the base of the walls is covered with moss.

"This is it."

Zhang Zhixuan began digging with a shovel.

After digging for a few minutes, the shovel hit something hard.

Zhang Zhixuan squatted down, dug away the soil with his hands, revealing a square corner that felt hard to the touch; it must have been made of iron.

He dug away the surrounding soil and pulled the thing out completely.

This is a square iron box, about a foot in size, with rust on the surface, but you can still vaguely see the exquisite patterns on the edges.

The box lid had a latch, secured with a small brass lock. However, the box had been buried in the ground for too long, and the brass lock had developed green rust. Zhang Zhixuan pulled hard, and the brass lock broke off.

Zhang Zhixuan took out the iron box, weighed it in his hand. It wasn't heavy, but something inside was rattling and making a soft metallic clanging sound.

"What's hidden in here?"

Just as Zhang Zhixuan was about to open the iron box, a rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes behind him.

"Who's there!" He turned around abruptly, gripping the shovel tightly.

After a long silence in the grass, a furry head suddenly popped out.