“Swish, swish, swish!”
A ghostly shadow, flitting through the courtyard, fast as lightning.
“Tap, tap, tap!”
A rain of flowers, each trajectory unique, every shot finding its mark.
After stopping, he felt refreshed and invigorated.
He had the feeling that all the heroes under heaven were nothing more than defeated foes.
Ah, so satisfying.
However.
After calming down, Zhang Chen knew deep down that even so, this world of grave robbers was fraught with danger.
Not to mention.
Just those foreign guns and cannons, he couldn’t withstand them directly right now.
Not to mention the countless strange beasts and corpse spirits within the grand tomb.
And various kinds of hidden weapons, impossible to guard against.
Even with his skills, he could only be cautious.
He knew that the worst thing in this world was the human heart.
“Good!”
Suddenly, a cheer arose.
It was Old Li, strolling back, who saw Zhang Chen practicing his skills in the courtyard.
He couldn’t help but clap his hands in approval.
Looking at his rosy complexion, clearly he was in high spirits and had good news.
“Uncle Li!”
Zhang Chen smiled.
Old Li entered the courtyard, exclaiming, “Boy, I don’t know what kind of skill you’re practicing, but you’re getting more and more powerful. Just that light footwork, even the best of the Xie Ling school couldn’t match you. Now I’m more at ease about your trip to the Bottle Mountain!”
Zhang Chen nodded, saying, “I’ll be extra careful. My life is my own, I can’t just have money and no life to spend it!”
“Good to hear that you have that mindset!”
Old Li nodded approvingly.
He glanced at the night, saying, “It’s getting late, you have to get up early tomorrow to go to Old Ma’s place. Go to sleep early!”
“Okay!”
Zhang Chen nodded.
…
Early the next morning.
The sky was just turning light.
Zhang Chen got up and set off.
He went to the market, bought some spring rolls and chopped cakes, and had breakfast with some noodle soup.
Then he went to Old Ma’s paper shop.
Old Ma’s paper shop was located in a secluded farmhouse.
It wasn’t far from the market.
But because it was secluded, the courtyard was quite large.
As soon as he entered, he saw that the courtyard was filled with paper people and paper houses.
There were also large quantities of white paper, paint, bamboo strips, and other materials piled up at one end of the courtyard.
An apprentice was busy boiling paste.
Old Ma and his wife were working, one weaving bamboo strips and the other pasting paper.
In no time, a white paper figure was complete.
“Little Zhang is here!”
Old Ma heard the sound of footsteps.
He looked up and saw Zhang Chen.
His face immediately lit up with a smile, and he stood up to greet him.
“Old woman, pour him some water!”
Old Ma said.
Zhang Chen hurriedly said, “No need, Master Ma, I had breakfast before I came, I’m not thirsty!”
“Alright then, it’s the same old routine!”
Old Ma nodded, not being pretentious.
After all, he’d paid for his labor.
“Alright!”
Zhang Chen nodded, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work.
He was there mainly for miscellaneous tasks.
Like splitting bamboo strips, for example.
Cutting white paper.
Because business had been brisk recently.
The workload for the couple had increased dramatically.
While making paper figures might seem like a dirty job.
It actually required some skill.
Old Ma’s paper-making skills were top-notch, he was famous throughout the surrounding villages.
Paper figures, paper figures.
The important thing is the paper.
Old Ma could make paper figures that looked like real people from a distance.
But recently, for some reason.
Demand was too high.
Making the paper figures, drawing the facial features, they were barely keeping up.
And this preliminary preparation work couldn’t be skipped.
So they had asked Zhang Chen to lend a hand.
Old Ma had hired him before.
He was quick and nimble.
He worked fast.
Most importantly, he was quick-witted.
He had only observed a few times, but he could already make paper figures.
He even looked quite good at it.
Though not as good as himself, he was much better than his other apprentice.
Old Ma had wanted to take him on as an apprentice.
But unfortunately, his line of work wasn’t the best.
The young man’s ambitions didn’t lie here.
So he didn’t pursue the idea.
They hadn’t worked for long.
When a customer arrived at the courtyard.
Old Ma immediately went out to greet him.
After some discussion, the customer bought four paper figures of young women, carrying them away with a cheerful face.
“Brother Zhang, this family is really strange. They bought all these young women, four at once, aren’t they afraid they’ll exhaust the ones in the ground?”
The speaker was Liu Ermao.
He was Old Ma’s apprentice.
He couldn’t talk properly, but he just loved to talk too much.
Old Ma didn’t even let him receive customers anymore.
If not for the fact that he had been with him for years.
He’d really like to fire him.
“You should talk less. If the customers hear you, they’ll be mad!”
Zhang Chen said helplessly.
Liu Ermao scratched his head, smiling foolishly, “My mouth’s just too easy to offend people, Brother Zhang. I really envy you, you can talk!”
“Learn your craft first before you talk about anything else!”
Zhang Chen didn’t know what to say.
The two chatted idly, their hands never stopping their work.
But it was strange.
Yesterday there were many customers.
But today, apart from the first batch.
It was already noon, and not a single order.
Old Ma was speechless.
He had just hired Zhang to help, and they were being so inconsiderate.
Old Ma’s wife was even a bit angry.
They started off busy.
They were busy, busy, busy.
Dozens of paper people, paper horses, and paper houses were piled up in the yard, and still no customers.
Old Ma’s wife had to call them for dinner.
It was even more bizarre in the afternoon.
There wasn’t a single person in sight.
Zhang Chen was still working at first.
Now he had absolutely nothing to do.
Although paper figures could be stored.
But if they weren’t sold quickly, they would be damaged by rain or eaten by rats, and that would be a significant loss.
As the sun began to set.
Old Ma sighed.
He was about to tell Zhang Chen to leave.
When a man suddenly walked up to them.
“Anyone here? I want a paper figure!”
The man’s voice was weak.
It sounded a bit strange.
And his appearance …
Whoa!
He was thin and bony.
He didn’t look that old, but he walked with a sway.
It was obvious he was a smoker.
Old Ma quickly greeted him warmly, saying, “What kind of paper figure do you want, sir?”
Of course, he could see that he was a smoker.
His body was almost hollowed out by smoking opium.
But business was business, so he couldn’t be rude.
Besides, they hadn’t gotten a single customer all day.
The thin man looked around the courtyard, shaking his head, “These won’t do, I want a paper figure that looks like a real person!”
Old Ma heard this, it had to be made on the spot.
He also worried that he might not have the money.
After all, smokers were all broke, he wouldn’t want to work for nothing.
“Don’t worry, as long as you pay, the paper figures I make, Old Ma, no one has ever said they don’t look real!”
Old Ma boasted.
The thin man immediately knew what he meant.
He snorted, resentfully saying, “Just make it, you won’t be lacking for money!”
He pulled out a silver dollar.
Old Ma’s eyes lit up with joy, shouting, “Old woman, let’s get to work!”