Chapter 39: Spliced Person

When Xu Yuan finished hanging the laundry, Lin Wanmo was just walking to Wang Shen's doorstep.

Wang Shen's folded-basket shop was at the west end of the alley, and how long could an alley possibly be?

This showed the incredible speed of Xu Yuan's clothes-washing!

The shop does not open at night.

The canal bypassed Ghost Wushan and flowed past the southern side of the county town.

About seven or eight li from the county town, there was a dock where boats on the river darted like shuttles; hundreds of coolies in the town made their living off the dock.

Those pulling carts or carrying goods, with no fat left in their bellies, would come to the folded-basket shop for a meal.

Wang Shen's shop had been open for over a hundred years; it was also a family business.

Wang Shen's parents were of the same generation as Xu Yuan's grandfather and were among the first residents of Riverwork Alley.

The small storefront in front was used for business, while the room behind was Wang Shen's residence.

The stepmother entered through the back door; the rear room was narrow, cramped, and dim, filled with a strange, greasy aroma.

No one was in the room; from the attic came a series of chopping sounds.

Thump, thump, thump!

"Wang Shen?" Lin Wanmo called out toward the staircase.

The chopping stopped; after a moment of dead silence, a head floated out from the stairwell.

Its hair was gray and disheveled, its expression wooden and cold.

Seeing Lin Wanmo, the head revealed a kind smile: "Little Mo has arrived."

Then footsteps echoed from the attic, and a body descended the stairs.

The head and body moved in sync, separated by a distance of three feet.

Halfway down the stairs, the body suddenly slipped and tumbled down the steps.

But the head floated safely above, looking worried and calling out to itself: "Oh dear... be careful!"

The body rolled down with a clatter, hitting the ground with a thud and scattering apart like building blocks.

Two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet, and internal organs like the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys rolled out from the torso...

Scattered across the floor, yet not a single drop of fresh blood was seen!

Lin Wanmo sighed, turned back skillfully, and closed the door tightly to prevent passersby from seeing and getting a fright.

Then she helped Wang Shen reassemble the hands and arms first.

"That's enough, that's enough, I'll do it myself," Wang Shen said cheerfully.

Truly a frantic scramble, piecing the entire body together and stuffing the five viscera and six bowels back into the belly.

Finally, she caught the floating head with both hands and pressed it onto the neck; the spine didn't seem quite aligned, so she rotated it left and right a few times until, with a crack, it moved freely again.

"It's done..." Wang Shen had just spoken when she suddenly grinned, reached into her belly to adjust the position of some internal organ, and only then felt comfortable.

"This time it's truly done."

Lin Wanmo felt heartache: "Wang Shen, you have suffered so much."

Wang Shen smiled cheerfully, showing no worry for herself: "I haven't suffered; the one who has truly suffered is you, my girl."

Wang Shen took her hand, gently patted it, and chided: "Xu Huanyang, that ungrateful wretch, has truly made our Little Mo suffer by tricking her."

A hint of stubbornness appeared on Lin Wanmo's face: "This is my fate; I do not blame him. He has shown our family boundless gratitude; without him, I would have died long ago."

"Enough, enough," Wang Shen waved her hand: "Let's not talk about him. Rest assured, even if only for your sake, I will at least hold on until the middle of July next year."

"Thank you, Wang Shen. Without the help of you elders holding things up, I don't know if I could have fulfilled Xu Yuan's father's last request."

Wang Shen asked: "Did you come here today for something?"

"Xu Yuan has returned."

Wang Shen was surprised: "He's back already? You originally arranged for him to go out just to remove him from this matter... Wait!" Wang Shen found it hard to believe: "He..."

"He succeeded!"

Wang Shen suddenly stood up, pacing excitedly around the small room, her head involuntarily separating from her body and floating up.

"Oh! Look at me, an old woman, getting carried away with excitement."

Wang Shen reattached her head: "This young man is impressive! I think he has more promise than that old thing Xu Huanyang!"

Lin Wanmo was somewhat worried: "But he does have some hidden dangers."

She then explained the matter of the gunpowder forming the inner core.

As for the affairs of the Pingtian Society, compared to the problems the Xu family would face, those were nothing.

Wang Shen was surprised: "This young man... is truly bold."

"You are also a Rank Dan Xiu; I felt uneasy and didn't dare tell Xu Yuan, so I came to find you first to think of a solution."

"Gunpowder condensing an inner core! I haven't just never encountered this situation; I've never even heard of it! This young man is truly bold, truly bold, and the key is that he actually managed to pull it off!" Wang Shen paced back and forth, looking down: "Don't worry, let me think..."

Lin Wanmo did not blame Xu Yuan for this; from Xu Yuan's account, it was clear that at that time, the priority was simply to survive!

Xu Yuan also knew that condensing an inner core with gunpowder would inevitably bring future troubles.

As she walked, Wang Shen muttered to herself: "Before the Sixth Flow, it's not too bad; the power of the Fu Zhong Huo is limited."

"But after the Sixth Flow, the power of the Fu Zhong Huo increases greatly; the Rank Dan Xiu themselves become like a huge furnace, with a lump of gunpowder inside, which could explode at any moment; at that time, it would be a shattered body and broken bones..."

Lin Wanmo couldn't help but stomp her foot: "Auntie, I came to you to help find a solution, not for you to make me even more anxious!"

Wang Shen realized her mistake and apologized: "I'm old and talk a bit too much."

She closed her mouth, walked around two more times, then suddenly clapped her hands: "I actually thought of a solution."

Lin Wanmo's face was full of expectation: "What solution?"

Wang Shen looked at her, hesitating as if about to speak but stopping.

"You old one, just say it."

"Let him also study Artisan Cultivation and build a cage for his own Golden Core."

Lin Wanmo's brows furrowed deeply.

In the dark, narrow room, a deathly silence fell.

After a long while, Lin Wanmo said: "You should know that once a Xu family member becomes an Artisan Cultivator, they cannot escape that fate—it is the consequence of the Xu family's loss in that ancient gamble!"

To lose means to accept one's destiny; for all Xu descendants, this is 'fated'!"

Xu Yuan's grandfather and father both met terrible ends!"

That is why Xu Yuan's father never passed on the Artisan Cultivation methods to him, even though the Xu family's talent for Artisan Cultivation was unmatched under heaven.

That is why Lin Wanmo spared no effort to secure for Xu Yuan even a sliver of chance to become a Fate Cultivator.

The rarity of 'Old Year Grain' far exceeded Xu Yuan's imagination.

Only by becoming a Fate Cultivator is there a sliver of hope to 'change one's fate.'

If he fails to become a Fate Cultivator, other cultivation paths are of little use—better to live as an ordinary person.

Finally, I can see my name on the New Book Ranking—haha.

Thank you all, still begging for monthly votes, hold steady, hold steady.

Three updates a day, six thousand characters—that's not few during a new book's launch period; I'll try to write even more!

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(End of Chapter)