In the myriad arts of the people, and the countless professions, he has his unique skills, and I have my means to earn a living.
If not for their own sons and daughters, these skills are seldom imparted to outsiders easily.
The art itself is easy to learn, but the knack is hard to grasp.
No matter the times, those with skills, barring their close kin, always keep a thin layer of mystery even between master and apprentice.
For an apprentice to take a master means climbing endless mountains and learning endless arts; for a master to take an apprentice, it's equally mentally taxing, teaching while also considering one's own future.
Some clever apprentices understand the principle of "spending three years to learn the craft, then using the craft to make money for three years." The spending here doesn't just mean money but also includes daily service like greeting in mornings and evenings, offering tea and water.
Enduring countless hardships is necessary to earn half a genuine lesson from the master.
But this is just the beginning. A master, except for his own children, tends to hold back when teaching others, including their apprentices.
For instance, in stone carving of Buddha statues, the master taught the apprentice the craft, yet the apprentice couldn't get the expression on the Buddha's face right when working.
Was it because he didn't learn well? Not really; it was the master holding back his best skills, not teaching the apprentice what he excelled at.
Another example is from ancient stories of the cat being the tiger's master, where the cat taught the tiger everything except climbing trees.
Later, the tiger turned against his master, plotting to harm it in thoughts.
The tiger thought that once it ate its feline master, it would be the best hunter in the world, being unrivaled.
However, it didn't expect the cat to swiftly climb up a tree, leaving the tiger dumbfounded, wondering how the cat had this hidden trick up its sleeve!
Still, it was how the cat survived.
As the saying goes, a true transmission is worth one sentence, while a false one fills ten thousand books. These things are hard to judge, whether it's teaching an apprentice to starve a master or the trade secrets not passing to outsiders. To truly learn an art from a master is exceedingly difficult.
Presently, Xu Qing has also apprenticed himself to corpses, and not just one or two, but over a hundred.
These corpses, both old and young, male and female, all had exceptional skills, else they wouldn't have ended up in prison as condemned criminals.
They harbored no reservations towards Xu Qing, serving as his excellent mentors and friends.
In merely one night, Xu Qing extracted all the skills from the hundred corpses thoroughly.
By daybreak, Xu Qing hadn't learned much else, but he had learned plenty of wealth-earning tricks documented in Dayong's laws.
As he opened his shop, there were already customers waiting outside.
Xu Qing took out the purchase and sales ledger, with a scratch here and a stroke there, completing a transaction.
"Seventy-five wen, thank you."
The autumn executions earned twenty-five wen for corpse collection, and the balance was seventy-five wen, totaling a hundred wen. Xu Qing kept his word; the makeup and stitching services were complimentary, included as part of the autumn execution promotion.
The customers, who came to retrieve the corpses, were forthright and did not haggle with him. As it got busy till noon, more customers still trickled in to claim the corpses.
Seeing the time, Xu Qing knew it was almost time for the autumn executions to start, so how could he idle away in this place?
He asked those claiming corpses to wait at the shop entrance, then opened the inner room door, calling out, "Second Madam, I need to step out for a while. Could you help manage the shop?"
Just as Xu Qing spoke, the black cat observing the Gu jar at the counter suddenly leapt to the ground, then turned into the side room.
Shortly, a woman of cold temperament and a seldom smiling disposition followed Xu Qing out of the side room.
Having handed the accounts to 'Second Madam Sun,' Xu Qing hastily set off to the execution ground with his cart.
In the following days, hundreds more heads rolled at the Vegetable Market.
At the autumn execution grounds, there were often unclaimed corpses; Xu Qing would shamelessly step up to claim that this was his great-uncle, that his cousin-in-law, and even a scarred monk was claimed as his cousin.
Oh, my, it seemed that all the death row inmates became his family members.
Those unaware might have thought there was a family rebellion, leading to clan annihilation!
Constable Zhao Zhonghe asked with suspicion, "These headless corpses are hardly worth anything. Why claim them? Surely not to use them as dumpling filling?"
The headless corpses from the autumn executions, unlike normal intact corpses, wouldn't fetch money even if sent to the public mortuary. Mostly, these corpses were sent by the Government Office to the Chaotic Burial Mound for a simple burial. Seeing someone like Xu Qing rushing to claim them was a first for Zhao Zhonghe.
"Confiding in you, Chief Zhao, I entered this trade with my master's guidance. He often said, in the funeral business, one must respect the dead. Even when encountering exposed bones in the wild, they should be buried to rest in peace."
"This is a virtuous deed, accumulating unseen merits, not to be measured by silver coins."
Watching the young man with a carefree smile, moving the corpses again, Zhao Zhonghe thought to himself, there are indeed more good people in this world!
"Look at the awareness of this individual; it's no surprise he became a Scholar."
Beside him, Zhao Yuan kept silent.
He, unable to even pass the child student exam, had no standing to chip in.
These days, Xu Qing's life was quite fulfilling. The Funeral Shop business was flourishing, and the feng shui at Shuimen Bridge grew more prosperous. He estimated that by the end of the autumn executions, he could nurture at least five or six new Fierce Generals.
With the five Fierce Generals he already had, his foundation already far exceeded those of first-rate sects in the martial world.
If centuries or millennia were to pass, the number of Fierce Generals under his command might compare with the soldiers under some regional military governors.
Before being able to surpass the calamities of lightning, these strengths, independent from his personal cultivation, were also essentials for his survival.