Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A hand thrust out from a pit in the mass grave and clawed at the ground.

The fingers split open, but the blood that seeped out was a greenish blue.

Fu Qiu used every ounce of strength she had to drag her body upward. At last, she crawled out of the pit.

She lay on her back on the ground, gasping for breath.

Her body could no longer feel hunger, yet her five senses remained. Was it so she could better pass herself off as human?

She raised both hands and carefully examined the blue-gray jade bracelets on her wrists.

Even under the sunlight, they were dull and lusterless, the sort of jade that was worth next to nothing.

Yuan Sheng. Living corpses. Bone extraction…

Fu Qiu tried hard to make sense of what had just happened, but before she could think it through, the wounds on her fingers vanished silently.

If she could not understand it, she would set it aside for now.

A gust of wind blew past. She abruptly sat up, brought a lock of hair to her nose, and took a light sniff. The stench nearly made her vomit.

The smell of that corpse pit was stronger than a cesspit.

She got to her feet and, directing a body that still did not quite obey her, staggered toward the mountain.

There were plenty of water sources in the mountains. She needed to wash.

When she found a clear pool, she jumped straight in without a second thought.

A short while later, she floated up on her back.

Her ink-black hair spread through the water, and the foul odor clinging to her gradually faded as the pool soaked it away.

She raised her left hand and silently recited the incantation Yuan Sheng had taught her. Before long, a ghostly blue light gathered above the bracelet, forming a Compass. On its face was a red point of light, marking the place she needed to go.

Then she raised her right hand and recited another incantation. The bracelet spun off her wrist, flew into the air, and transformed into a precious blue-green blade before obediently falling back into her hand.

Fu Qiu tightened her grip on the blade and slashed viciously at the water. Cutting water with a blade should have been a futile act, yet for one brief moment, the deep pool split cleanly in two.

On the mud and sand at the bottom lay a fish severed into two pieces. Unaware that it was already dead, it was still twitching.

The walls of water closed. The fish’s corpse floated up beside Fu Qiu’s face.

Once again, Fu Qiu confirmed that this was not a dream.

Everything Yuan Sheng had said was true.

Once the corpse stench had mostly dispersed, Fu Qiu climbed back onto the bank.

She followed the direction indicated by the Compass for four hours. By the time her wet clothes had dried completely, she stopped before the gates of a large estate.

The plaque above the entrance bore the words “Jiang Manor.” It was the same surname as that merchant husband of hers.

The main gates of wealthy households were not often opened, so Fu Qiu headed toward the side entrance.

The gatekeeping matrons were cracking melon seeds and chatting. When they saw an unfamiliar woman approaching, they all looked her over.

Fu Qiu walked past the ones who envied her looks, the ones who despised her shabby poverty, and the ones who pitied her haggard state. She stopped before a woman whose eyes were full of calculation and asked softly, “Good day, sister. May I ask if the manor is still hiring?”

The woman hesitated without answering.

Fu Qiu continued, “I’m from a neighboring county. A few days ago, my husband broke his leg in a fall. Not only can he no longer go out to work, he also needs medicine to recover.

“Now our savings are gone. I truly had no other choice, so I came presumptuously to beg for your help, sister. Long-term work or short-term work is fine. I only ask for a mouthful of food to fill my belly. If I can even have a few copper coins left over to send home, I will never be able to repay such great kindness.”

The phrase “left over” was a signal.

It meant that as long as the other woman was willing to help her enter the manor, she would obediently hand over her wages.

Fu Qiu had seen such things often when she was in the brothel.

There was little work and too many people. Servants who had only just arrived always had to work for free for a while. Only after they gained a foothold could they put their wages into their own pockets.

The woman weighed it over for a moment, then smiled.

“You’re rather interesting.

“Wait here. I’ll go ask for you.”

No sooner had she left than the matron who had pitied Fu Qiu sighed and said, “You foolish girl. Why would you ask her for help? She’ll skin you alive!”

Fu Qiu only smiled and said nothing.

Her background was unknown. Introducing her into the manor carried great risk.

For a deal with such high risk, one naturally had to find someone skilled at calculation to handle it.

Kindhearted people were timid. They would rather take money from their own pockets to help her than dare cause trouble for their masters. Malicious people were used to tripping others up and enjoyed doing things that harmed others without benefiting themselves.

Only someone with money on the brain could get things done exactly as she wanted.

Seeing that she would not listen, the matrons watching the show spat out their melon seed shells, mocking Fu Qiu for not knowing what was good for her, and laughing at the kindhearted matron for making herself look petty for nothing.

Fu Qiu turned a deaf ear to them and waited patiently. About half an hour later, the calculating woman returned in high spirits.

“I pleaded for you up and down the household. Since everyone was willing to give me face, they actually managed to make a spot for you.”

Fu Qiu hurriedly thanked her.

The woman then instructed Fu Qiu that from now on, she must conduct herself honestly and work diligently.

After thinking for a moment, she added a warning.

“It’s all well and good to be honest on ordinary days, but when something happens, you still need to be quick-witted. Learn to read people’s expressions, and don’t offend anyone. But you also mustn’t get too clever and forget who got you this bowl of rice.”

Fu Qiu agreed again and again, acting extremely obedient.

In her heart, however, she was thinking that with more than a hundred people in Jiang Manor, finding the person whose bone weight was four taels and nine mace would likely be no easy task.