What do you mean by saying that the corpses I sew are all ominous creatures?

Time passed by, second by second.

The only sound in the room was the clatter of the keyboard.

About twenty minutes later.

With a resounding "Victory!" from the monitor, the man abruptly flung the mouse away, slumped back in his chair, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Awesome! We finally turned the tables!"

After that, he grabbed the soda on the table and took a big gulp, then, as if he had just remembered there was someone else in the room, he turned his chair to face me.

This time I got a clear look at his face.

He was very young, probably only twenty-three or twenty-four years old. He was actually quite handsome, but his dark circles and pale complexion made him look a bit weak.

At that moment, he had a half-eaten sausage in his mouth, and his dead fish eyes were looking me up and down with a hint of inquiry and amusement in them.

"Be able to sit still, stay calm, keep your eyes focused, and most importantly, be able to pass my test of conscience."

"The Ladder of Inquiry? The formation in that staircase just now? Is this the test Jin Wanliang mentioned?" I thought to myself, but my expression remained as calm as ever.

He swallowed the sausage in a few bites, patted the crumbs off his hands, and said, "It's just that I have a bit too much malevolent aura about me."

I chuckled. "In our line of work, if you want to live long, who can live without a bit of menacing aura?"

After saying that, I pointed to the comic books on the ground: "I think the way you've arranged these books is quite interesting. One Piece is in the Kan position, and Naruto is in the Li position. Water and fire are in harmony. It seems you're a person who pays attention to details."

Upon hearing this, his previously lazy eyes lit up instantly.

He sat up abruptly, looking at me as if I were a rare animal: "You're an expert! I told you Fatty Jin didn't rip me off this time."

"Those country bumpkins who come in will only complain about how messy my place is; they have no idea this is art!"

After saying that, he kicked away an empty Coke bottle at his feet, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from under the table, took one out and threw it to me, and lit one for himself as well.

"My name is Li Qing, nicknamed Blind Li. I heard you're the Corpse Stitcher?"

I lit a cigarette and looked at the young man in front of me, but involuntarily the image of a burly man with a red blindfold appeared in my mind.

Li Qing seemed to have read my thoughts, and said in a clear voice, "How about it? Did you immediately think of the Blind Monk? I spread that nickname around in the martial arts world myself, all for this day!"

"Let me tell you, blindness is my destiny..."

Well, this guy is a hardcore gamer.

Seeing that he was getting more and more excited and talking more and more outrageous, I had no choice but to interrupt him.

"Li Da... uh, Li the Blind, let's talk about serious matters."

Upon hearing this, he exhaled a smoke ring, his tone becoming slightly more serious, "Fatty Jin said you want to ask me to come out of retirement and break a dead man's trap?"

"Yes."

I nodded. "It was a trap set by my grandfather. I don't know exactly what kind of trap it was, but it was very ominous. I suspect there's something underneath it, and I want to know what it is."

Afterwards, I recounted in detail the events of the night I encountered the Miao woman, but I didn't mention a word about my speculation regarding the "Chen Family's Heavenly Garment Strategy".

After hearing this, Li Qing's flippant expression faded slightly, and he lightly tapped the armrest with his fingers. "A sinister situation, there's something underneath...it might be some kind of seal..."

"Scared?" I looked at him and gave him a little provocation.

"Afraid?"

Li Qing chuckled as if he'd heard a joke. "Ever since that old man kicked me down the mountain, I, Li Qing, haven't written the word 'fear.' The more dangerous the situation, the more excited I get. But..."

He changed the subject, rubbing two fingers together, "This kind of dangerous work deserves extra pay."

I raised an eyebrow: "Name your price?"

He stared into my eyes and held up two fingers: "Two hundred thousand, and after it's done, I want you to owe me a favor."

I stared at his fingers and remained silent.

I have 200,000, but I'm worried about favors...

In the world of martial arts, monetary debts are easy to repay, but debts of gratitude are hard to settle.

Especially for someone like Li Qing, whose true intentions are hard to fathom, the debt of gratitude he owes is probably far heavier than the 200,000.

Seemingly sensing my concerns, Li Qing grinned: "Don't worry, it's not about murder or arson. It's just that I see you have a unique destiny, with a restrained aura of menace yet still upright and righteous, making you someone who can accomplish great things."

In the future... I might be in big trouble, and I'll need your life-saving ability to shield me from it.

I stood up and exhaled a sharp puff of smoke: "As long as it doesn't cross my bottom line, I, Chen Yang, will accept this favor!"

"happy!"

Li Qing laughed heartily and shook my hand firmly.

After the agreement was reached, the kid's style instantly reverted to that of an unkempt nerd.

"Alright, now that we've accepted the order, let's get started."

He stubbed out his cigarette in the instant noodle bucket and turned to rummage through the messy room.

"Let me think... This time, when we go to that kind of sinister place, we need to bring some real stuff."

He pulled a worn-out military green canvas bag from under a pile of dirty clothes and started throwing things into it.

"Compass... Hmm, let's get a three-element one, it's more versatile."

"Cinnabar... This is genuine Chenzhou cinnabar. It took me a long time to get it from Fatty Jin last time."

"The ink line... tsk, it's a bit moldy, but I'll make do with it."

Watching him stuff those priceless magical artifacts into his bag like trash, I couldn't help but twitch my eye.

This person is really... careless about details.

Finally, he pulled a long, black box from under the bed.

When this box appeared, I could clearly feel the temperature in the room drop a few degrees.

Li Qing patted the dust off the box, his eyes softening for once: "Old buddy, it's time to take you out for some fresh air again."

After saying that, he slung the box over his shoulder, grabbed a baseball cap from the table and put it on his head to cover his messy, unkempt hair, and then changed into a pair of slightly cleaner sneakers.

"Let's go, Boss Chen."

He gestured with his chin at me, "Take me to see what kind of situation this is."

I nodded, said nothing more, and turned to push open the door.

After we went downstairs, the woman was still leaning against the counter. When she saw us come out, a look of surprise flashed in her eyes.

"You've reached an agreement so quickly?" Her gaze lingered for a moment on the box behind Li Qing. "It seems you're serious this time?"

"Absolutely."

Li Qing whistled, put his hands in his pockets, and swaggered towards the door. "After all, I took their money, so I have to make them owe me a favor. If I don't show some real skills, how am I supposed to survive in Jiangcheng?"

Stepping out of Tingyuxuan, the night outside was even deeper.

I hailed a taxi and turned to the driver, saying, "Driver, to the train station."

"TRAIN STATION?"

Li Qing, who had just put the black box into the trunk, looked at me as if I were an alien when he heard this.

"Dude, what era are we living in? Putting out a fire is like saving a life. Are you planning to take that beat-up car back? By the time you get there, your ancestral graves will probably have been dug up by those bastards and turned into a subway station."