[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-nothing-is-taboo":3,"chapter-nothing-is-taboo-nothing-is-taboo-chapter-39":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Nothing Is Taboo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2310424,4514,"Chapter 39: The Patchwork Person","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-39",39,"\u003Cp>When Xu Yuan finished hanging up the clothes, Lin Wan was walking up to Wang Shen’s door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen’s basket shop was at the western mouth of the alley—how long could an alley be?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, Xu Yuan washed clothes with astonishing speed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shop doesn’t open at night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The canal curves around Wushan and flows past the southern edge of the county.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seven or eight li from the county town lies a dock, where boats shuttle like shuttles; hundreds of laborers in the town depend on the dock for their livelihood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cart-pullers and cargo-carriers with empty stomachs come to Wang Shen’s shop for a meal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen’s shop has operated for over a hundred years, passed down through generations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen’s parents belonged to Xu Yuan’s grandfather’s generation and were among the earliest residents of He Gong Alley.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The front shop serves as the business space; the back room is Wang Shen’s living quarters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stepmother entered through the back door—the rear room was narrow, dim, and filled with a strange greasy scent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room was empty; a rhythmic chopping sound came from upstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duang, Duang, Duang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wang Shen?” Lin Wan called toward the staircase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chopping stopped. After a moment of silence, a head floated up from the staircase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her hair was white and disheveled, her expression blank and cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Lin Wan, the head smiled warmly: “Little Mo, you’ve come.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then footsteps sounded upstairs, and a body descended the stairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The head and body moved in sync, separated by three feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Halfway down the stairs, the body slipped and tumbled down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the head remained floating safely above, worriedly crying out: “Oh no, oh no… be careful!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The body rolled down with a thud, landing on the floor like broken blocks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet, and organs like heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys tumbled out from the torso…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scattered across the floor—yet not a single drop of blood!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan sighed, skillfully turned and closed the door to prevent passersby from seeing and being startled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she helped Wang Shen reassemble her hands and arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There, there, I’ll do it myself,” Wang Shen chuckled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>True to her word, she fumbled clumsily, piecing together her entire body and stuffing her organs back into her abdomen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, she caught the floating head with both hands, pressed it onto her neck. The spine didn’t quite align—she twisted it left and right a few times, then a click sounded, and she moved freely again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There…,” Wang Shen began, then winced, reached into her abdomen, adjusted the position of some internal organ, and sighed in relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now it’s really fixed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan felt a pang of sorrow: “Wang Shen, you’ve suffered so much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen chuckled, utterly unconcerned for herself: “I’m not the one suffering—it’s you, girl, who’s truly burdened.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen took her hand and patted it gently, scolding: “That heartless Xu Huanyang has dragged our little Mo through hell.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A stubborn look crossed Lin Wan’s face: “It’s my fate. I don’t blame him—he saved my family. Without him, I’d be dead long ago.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forget it, forget it,” Wang Shen waved her hand. “Let’s not speak of him. Don’t worry—I’ll hold on at least until next July 15th, for your sake.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Wang Shen. If not for you and the other elders holding things together, I wouldn’t know if I could fulfill Xu Yuan’s father’s last request.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen asked: “Why did you come today?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Xu Yuan’s back.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen was startled: “Back so soon? You sent him away to keep him out of this mess… wait!” Her voice trembled with disbelief: “He…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He succeeded!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen leapt to her feet, pacing excitedly around the small room, her head involuntarily detaching and floating above her body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh! Look at this old woman—so excited, I’ve lost my composure.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen reattached her head: “This boy’s got guts! I’d say he’s more promising than that old Xu Huanyang!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan looked uneasy: “But he has hidden dangers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She explained the gunpowder inner elixir.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the Pingtian Society, compared to the crisis facing the Xu family, it was nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen was astonished: “This boy… truly has nerve.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re a Dan cultivator too. I was too anxious to tell Xu Yuan—I came straight to you to find a solution.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gunpowder condensed into an inner elixir! I’ve never seen this, never even heard of it! This boy’s bold—so bold—and somehow he actually pulled it off!” Wang Shen paced, muttering to herself: “Don’t panic. Let me think…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan didn’t blame Xu Yuan for this. From his account, survival was his only priority at the time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan knew that condensing an inner elixir from gunpowder would bring dire consequences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen walked as she muttered: “Before the Sixth Flow, it’s manageable—the fire in the belly is weak.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But after the Sixth Flow, that fire surges. The Dan cultivator becomes a furnace. With gunpowder inside, it could explode at any moment—leaving him shattered to pieces…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan stamped her foot: “Auntie, I came to you for help, not to make me more terrified!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen realized her mistake and apologized: “Old people talk too much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She fell silent, paced two more circles, then clapped her hands: “I’ve got an idea!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan’s eyes lit up: “What idea?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shen looked at her, hesitated, then fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Auntie, just say it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have him also train as a Jiang Xiu—build a cage for his own inner elixir.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan’s brow furrowed deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dark, cramped room sank into silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long pause, Lin Wan spoke: “You know—once a Xu becomes a Jiang Xiu, they cannot escape their fate. That’s the consequence of their ancestors losing that fateful gamble!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lose, and accept your doom. For every Xu descendant, this is “destiny.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan’s grandfather and father both died terrible deaths!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s why Xu Yuan’s father never taught him Jiang Xiu techniques—even though the Xu family possessed the greatest Jiang Xiu talent in the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s why Lin Wan fought with all her strength to secure Xu Yuan a chance to become a Ming Xiu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The value of “Old Year’s Grain” far exceeds Xu Yuan’s imagination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only as a Ming Xiu does he have a sliver of hope to “change his fate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he fails to become a Ming Xiu, no other path matters—better to live as an ordinary man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, I can see my name on the new book chart—haha.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thank you all, still asking for monthly votes—hold steady, hold steady.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three updates a day, six thousand characters—this isn’t much for a new book, but I’m doing my best to write more!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1115,"2026-06-20T12:07:23.516Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","14c757dfa8e0ff9c41d63cadfef7ae8f9dd635afb21228c4030a84d6475499a9","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-40","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-38",413,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnothing-is-taboo-cover.jpg"]