Chapter 29: Miscellaneous Arts Cultivation

Xishan Prefecture, Changping County.

As an inconspicuous lower-tier county within the Liang Kingdom, Changping County is not particularly famous even within the jurisdiction of Xishan Prefecture; because it is surrounded by many mountains, the county is neither wealthy nor excessively destitute.

There is a saying: rely on the mountains, eat from the mountains; rely on the water, eat from the water.

In years when there isn't enough grain to eat, picking up a blade or axe and heading into the mountains is another way out; one will never truly starve to death.

In other words, the level of public order in Changping County is not very good; it is common for county residents to descend the mountains to farm and ascend them to become bandits, and the county's vegetable market square frequently has a few beheadings to watch, which can be considered one of the few collective recreational activities for the common folk.

The Liang Kingdom has no such rule about autumn executions; firstly, the capital is a long distance away, and secondly, this world has martial artists who leap high and move about, so as long as it is reported to the prefecture city and recorded in the register, those guilty of heinous crimes are beheaded in all four seasons.

It is just that two strange things have happened in Changping County recently.

First, Old Su, who performed the beheadings in the county, seems to have taken leave, and now a young man with an unfamiliar face has replaced him at the vegetable market square to carry out executions; a short sword the length of an arm is much more novel than a ghost-head broadsword, and with one strike, the head and body are severed, drawing gasps from the surrounding crowd.

Secondly, the County Venerable of Changping issued an order that from now on, corpses at the execution ground are to be cremated uniformly by the yamen to prevent epidemics, and even those commoners waiting to collect heart blood to cure illnesses are not allowed to make contact; not even offering money will secure an exception.

This has left the crowd of onlookers in Changping County filled with curiosity, and there is much discussion.

They also lament in succession that the new Guaiyishou has a distinguished appearance, so why did he take up this lowly trade? It is feared that he will not even be able to find a wife in the future.

In a shop near the vegetable market square, Lin Gao hunched his body to the side of the window, listening to the gossip of the onlookers, and could not help but sigh.

As the only corpse-sewer in Changping County, he relied on this craft, along with selling some spirit money and paper offerings, to get by.

But now that the vegetable market square only beheads and does not collect corpses, his livelihood has naturally been affected by relying solely on selling a bit of spirit money and paper offerings.

"Sigh, this world, it never lets the poor live."

Lin Gao lowered the curtain and muttered to himself.

That night, Old Su—that is, the former Guaiyishou of Changping County, Su Kui—carried his own tools of the trade on his back and walked slowly toward the outskirts of the city; along the way, some sharp-eyed people saw him and greeted him from afar with a smile: "Old Su, why haven't we seen you at the vegetable market square for a long time? Could it be that you've taught your apprentice and are about to starve your master to death?"

Su Kui was not annoyed; he just grinned. Don't look at how his ghost-head broadsword is not just for beheading; even wild dogs avoid him when he walks down the street, but in daily life, he is very kind, like a little old man, and never fights with anyone.

In fact, he is only in his early forties, but he looks like he is in his fifties or sixties, which is how he earned the nickname Old Su.

Su Kui left the county town and headed north for several miles, arriving at Baihua Lin outside the city, which is the customary graveyard for Changping County.

Two large white lanterns hung at the entrance of the Yizhuang outside Baihua Lin, swaying in the wind. Su Kui stomped his feet and shouted at a few pairs of green eyes in the woods: "Get lost!" A few stray dogs, nearly the size of calves, whimpered twice, tucked their heads, and retreated into the depths of Baihua Lin.

Pushing the door open and entering, in the drafty Yizhuang courtyard, a dozen coffins were placed in disarray, and two figures were drinking, completely unaffected by the smell of decay.

Su Kui walked closer and saw a few simple side dishes and a pot of warming yellow wine, which looked quite appetizing.

"Old Su, you're here."

Lin Gao hunched his waist and poured him a cup of wine, then complained: "I don't know what that Master Chen is up to; isn't it good to enjoy a life of ease in his Sanyin Temple? For no good reason... sigh."

Su Kui held his ghost-head broadsword in his arms and first bowed politely: "Senior Lin, Senior Ma," before sitting down to take the wine.

Do not look at how all three are practitioners of the miscellaneous arts; he can only rely on the ancestral ghost-head broadsword to draw evil into his body to barely have the cultivation of opening apertures, and he cannot compare to the two people before him who are genuine practitioners of the immortal path.

"Old Su, give us the bottom line: what exactly does that man surnamed Chen mean?"

Lin Gao lowered his voice: "You say he doesn't follow etiquette, yet he sent us invitations to notify us in advance; you say he follows etiquette, yet as a dignified Apprentice of the He Mountain Sect, he is snatching up the work of us lowly people, not even afraid of losing face."

Su Kui gave a bitter smile: "I don't know either. The County Venerable told me directly to cooperate and go home to rest; he might as well have said plainly to let me retire."

"But your ghost-head broadsword hasn't seen blood for nearly two months, right? Is it really okay?"

Lin Gao smiled upon hearing this, though the smile seemed to imply something else.

Su Kui hesitated for a moment, and as if resigned to his fate, replied: "Finding some livestock to slaughter, I can still hold on for now."

In this day and age, being a Guaiyishou is a high-risk profession; just like the heroes in novels who raid the execution ground, they shout 'spare the man under the blade,' and the next second a flying knife stabs into the Guaiyishou's heart without the slightest hesitation.

Not to mention those who seek revenge afterwards; if you can't afford to offend the corrupt officials, can't you afford to offend a beheader? Therefore, any Guaiyishou who can pass the trade down for a few generations usually has some family secret techniques.

Just like the Su family's secret method, which can nurture the aura of blood evil on a ghost-head broadsword passed down for five generations; if one draws the evil into the body, one can have the True Qi cultivation of about ten apertures in a short time.

However, the drawback is that this ghost-head broadsword is like raising a ghost; it needs to behead people from time to time to be nurtured.

The men of the Su family are also prone to shortened lifespans, premature aging, and weak offspring; their inheritance is considered the least prestigious even among the miscellaneous arts.

"I don't know how long this man surnamed Chen is going to keep tossing about. I'm fine; I can live without corpses to sew, but Old Su, Que Daoren, you two are going to have a hard time."

Lin Gao raised his wine cup and took a sip, chuckling: "Que Daoren, I heard your Ma Family has an Ancestor with a Dao Foundation still alive; why don't you go and mediate?"

"Get lost!"

Que Daoren didn't even lift his eyelids and picked up a peanut: "But it is strange to say; that man surnamed Chen originally even bought a few corpses from me, so why did he suddenly start killing people to practice his arts? Although they are death row prisoners, it is completely different from his temperament a few years ago; it is truly bizarre."

"Whether it's bizarre or not is another matter; what should we do now? The three of us are truly miserable."

Beheading, corpse-sewing, and the Yizhuang—this was a one-stop service, and now it has been taken over by Chen Ci alone; even if the three are only practitioners of the miscellaneous arts, they are quite dissatisfied.

The three of them ate the side dishes and drank for a long time, when suddenly Lin Gao winked and whispered: "Why don't the three of us try something?"

"Sigh, I am preparing to change professions and become a butcher; this Su family ghost-head broadsword is not a rare item either, and I have come to terms with it."

Su Kui put down his wine cup and sighed: "My Su family has been passed down through five generations, it is truly pitiful."

"My Yizhuang is also fine; even if I can't receive the corpses of death row prisoners, there are plenty of people who die violent deaths in the wilderness, so I can make do."

Que Daoren also added: "I have guarded this place for twenty years, and I don't want to move either."

"What are you two saying?"

Lin Gao was a bit surprised: "Que Daoren, your Yizhuang is also registered with the prefectural yamen, and it is under the jurisdiction of the Longhu Shan Jiuzhuan Guan. If you write a letter and find a reason or excuse to let the high-merit Daoists of the Jiuzhuan Guan come for a visit, can an Outer Transmission cultivator of the He Mountain Sect really withstand an investigation? Even if nothing happens, it can make that man surnamed Chen settle down."

"Changping County is far away in the mountains..."

"Just try it; at most you'll be scolded and lose some face; at worst, I'll give you a few corpse-sewing needles as compensation."

Que Daoren seemed moved, pondered for a moment, and replied: "Then let's try? Regardless of whether it works or not, you must give me three corpse-sewing needles."

"Deal!"

Sanyin Temple, backyard.

Chen Ci held the Spirit Iron Short Sword, feeling the cold light upon it, even sharper than before.

"Those who can be sentenced to the death penalty of beheading are mostly martial artists who risk their lives on the blade and do not engage in production; their essence and blood are far superior to others. One is worth about seven or eight drops of Essence Refining, and even the poor ones have three or four drops; it's a pity the quantity is still too small."

Chen Ci shook his head. It had been nearly two months since he last went to the Fuhu Altar to deliver Essence Refining. During this period, he had beheaded more than thirty death row prisoners, and along with the livestock he raised, he had only managed to gather four hundred drops of Essence Refining to send to Xishan Prefecture, exchanging them for four merit points.

This efficiency... to be honest, it's a bit low.

But there was no help for it; with spring plowing approaching, many blade-wielders had also gone down the mountain to prepare the fields, causing the number of bandits to plummet, and he could not force the Changping County Venerable to capture death-row prisoners for him.

In truth, this County Venerable was just a mascot who lay flat; as long as Chen Ci was willing to spend silver, this fellow could still get things done for Chen Ci.

But killing the innocent... alas, Master Chen was kind-hearted and could only force the County Venerable to act as an upright official, sentencing to death any wealthy young master in the county city who forced slaves to their deaths, ran usurious gangs that ruined families, or were human traffickers who maimed people for profit—let it not be said he wasn't warned.

However, apart from Essence Refining, another skill had actually made remarkable progress.

Basic Sword Technique: Great Success/27/100 (Ten practices a day, one point of progress every ten days; when intent arrives, the sword arrives, one point of progress per sword strike)

Nothing else, just the familiarity of beheading.

"Clang~"

With a soft sound, the muscles in Chen Ci's arm tightened slightly, and the Spirit Iron Short Sword let out a humming sound, slicing a section off the stone table in the courtyard as if a hot knife through butter.

It made one feel a faint chill just looking at it.

But more importantly, he had not injected any True Qi into the Spirit Iron Short Sword; he relied entirely on sword technique.

To tell the truth, at first Chen Ci was quite resistant to beheading and had wanted to use a concealment technique to muddle through.

Unfortunately, he didn't know how.

But after he read the case files, not only did the hesitation in his heart quickly fade, but it also gave him some insight into the four words "when intent arrives, the sword arrives."

So-called sword moves emphasize that "the heart arrives, the intent arrives, and when the intent arrives, the sword arrives"; no matter how flowery the moves are, even the methods of a Sword Immortal, they likely cannot escape this core element.

Originally, when practicing sword techniques, no matter how many times he practiced the moves, he did not quite understand the meaning of "when intent arrives, the sword arrives," but when killing intent arose in his heart and he struck down with a sword to sever a head, he suddenly understood.

Sword technique, in the end, is a skill for killing.

Sword duels in this world are fierce for this very reason; within five steps, in a single breath, when intent arrives, the sword arrives—it might even be more useful than some Dharma Artifacts or talismans.

"This Basic Sword Technique is still somewhat useful for close-quarters combat, but if one can cast spells, why risk one's life... Flying swords are still better!"

"It's a pity that only the first few times I beheaded prisoners did I have that feeling of 'when intent arrives, the sword arrives,' otherwise I really might not have been able to resist taking a shortcut, killing people to practice the sword until I reached Perfected."

Chen Ci gently stroked the Spirit Iron Short Sword, suddenly feeling that this thing was a bit short; it would be quite good if it were forty meters long.

He looked up at the sky; it was almost time for the Hai hour to practice True Qi.

Accumulating six merit points in three months was not a slow speed, but it was far from enough to exchange for pill formulas or talisman books, and some items also had quantity limits.

For example, that Seven Kill Primordial Spirit True Talisman, as well as the Tiger Sha Breaking Aperture Pill.

Damn it, it's all forcing everyone to compete to the death; in both my past and present lives, I've only ever encountered these black-hearted bosses.

Chen Ci shook his head and was just about to consume Qi and practice his method when a knock came at the door outside.

"Tap, tap, tap~"

"Master, Mr. Su Kui, the Guaiyishou of the county, requests an audience, saying he has an urgent matter to report."

(End of chapter)