Chapter 2: 2. Remaining Life Dao Fruit On the solitary cliff, the thick fog seemed never to disperse. The stone house was single-storied, unlike the pavilion from the previous recruitment. Perhaps to guard against the mountain wind, or perhaps... Song Yan, newly arrived, asked the large-eyed woman beside him, "Sister Wang, is there anything particular about this stone house?" Wang Susu leaned close to his ear intimately. Song Yan was momentarily stunned, then felt a warm breath at his ear. Her delicate voice whispered softly in a coaxing manner, "I’ll tell you tonight." She then swayed her hips and walked forward. Song Yan had the feeling she was deliberately showing off her figure. "Come on~~" Wang Susu turned around and beckoned when she saw the young man hadn’t followed. Song Yan’s expression tightened slightly, then he quickly followed. He cherished life. Since he transcended here, though he ended up in the Demon Sect, he naturally wanted to live longer if he could. He carefully observed everything he saw. After entering, the inside was unexpectedly spacious. The stone house appeared as a row from the outside, but inside, it turned out to be a long narrow building. It might have been three or four zhang wide, yet its length was over ten times that, making it perfectly suitable for a hundred-meter dash if you wished. As for people, there were many, at a glance, seven or eight hundred in total. Many were in pairs, busy with leather crafting. Most pairs consisted of a man and a woman; pairs of men or women were fewer, and those working alone were even rarer. Then, sounds came from outside, and the crowd inside burst into jeers, seemingly shouting, "Quite a few newcomers today." Song Yan turned to look as well, this time spotting a somewhat attractive woman, nervously glancing around. Immediately, two men from the tannery stepped out, offering for the woman to choose one. From a distance, faint arguing voices could be heard. "Stop looking, I’ll teach you." Wang Susu’s voice came from beside him. Song Yan nodded. Wang Susu pointed to a piece of leather and said, "The selection of leather at this stage isn’t our responsibility; it’s brought by the Official Disciples. These leathers are mostly donkey, pig, or cowhide, but sometimes there is demon beast skin. That kind is as tough as rock and hard to work with. It takes half a day just to scrape off the stray hair and leftover grease. We don’t have the skill to carve demon beast skins; that’s for specialists." As she spoke, she took out a semi-finished piece of leather, which had obviously been processed and was now somewhat translucent. "Watch me do it once, then try to follow along." Song Yan listened attentively. To survive, he had to deal with what was in front of him first. Very soon, it was his turn. Song Yan picked a piece of irregularly shaped skin from the pile and laid it flat, meticulously scraping it with a scraper. The thinner the skin became, the slower he worked, fearing it might tear. Once it turned smooth and translucent, he blew the remaining debris off it with a heavy breath. Afterward, he hurriedly sketched a draft of an artwork called "Double-headed Wolf" according to the sample. When he finished, he showed it to Wang Susu. She shook her head, so he tried again, and it wasn’t until the seventh time that she finally nodded. Thus, Song Yan placed his finished draft under the transparent skin and carefully traced the pattern with a fine needle. Then, he removed the draft and began carving on the traced pattern with a scalpel. After that, he applied colors, dried it, and finally stitched it together with a needle and thread. Having completed the task, Song Yan felt quite exhausted. Raising his head, he noticed dusk had fallen outside the stone door, the twilight sun stretching crookedly between the fog-draped peaks, casting an eerie red glow. Those mysterious lights twisted and writhed... Suddenly, Song Yan rubbed his eyes and saw lines of text appear before him. [Name: Song Yan] [Life Span: 16/56] [Talent: Remaining Life Dao Fruit] [Realm: Non-Flow] [Profound Root: None (calculated by life span)] [Cultivation Technique: None (calculated by life span)] [Magic: None (calculated by life span)] Note: Remaining Life Dao Fruit: All things in heaven and earth have their life span, and if they suffer a violent death, the remaining life persists in their body. Cause and effect repay each other: by assisting it in reshaping with a knife, it returns its remaining life to you, clearing the slate. ... Another piece of information popped up immediately afterward. [You absorbed the remaining life span of a stubborn donkey: 10 years] Song Yan felt a sudden lightness, as if a lively vitality had surged within him. The [Life Span] field’s value had changed to [16/66]. Song Yan was momentarily stunned. A donkey skin increased his life span by 10 years? If it were ten pieces, wouldn’t that be 100 years? What about demon beasts, would it be more? Song Yan looked up at the piles of skins within the tannery and suddenly felt a small surge of excitement. Just then, Wang Susu’s voice reached him again. "Pack up and hurry into the house." "But, I haven’t eaten yet." "Eat? Did you take a black pill when you came over?" "Yes." Song Yan vaguely remembered being forced to swallow one after being taken to the recruitment hall. "That’s a Fasting Pill; one can stave off hunger for three days. With no grains entering the body, there’s no need to eat, drink, or use the bathroom. You only need to bathe. But today, there’s no time." Seeing Song Yan’s hesitation, Wang Susu urged, "Hurry, it’s fall now, and it gets dark quickly. If you’re not inside by nightfall, anything terrible could happen, especially on misty days deep in the mountains!" While they spoke, many in the tannery had already begun moving. They quickly headed to the cliff’s edge, then into the transparent coffin-like Suspended House above, opening the door and squeezing inside. And Song Yan noticed what seemed to be an argument happening on the other side. Although many servant newcomers had arrived earlier, Song Yan had been too focused on leather crafting to notice. But he recognized the arguing parties, especially the woman who had come after him. The man paired with her was trying to drag her into his house, but she refused no matter what. The man cursed furiously, quickly finding another single man, and they entered the Suspended House together. The woman, meanwhile, was cluelessly looking around, then chose an unlocked house and slipped inside. On the table inside, there were two keys, indicating that once inside, one could become the owner of the house. "Are you going to look for a house yourself?" Wang Susu’s voice was somewhat cold. Song Yan shook his head. Compared to gender-related avoidance, survival was more important. He then closely followed Wang Susu into the house. Once inside, Song Yan’s legs couldn’t stop shaking as he looked down, feeling as if he were suspended thousands of feet in the air. Any minor mishap would mean a shattered body, never to recover. As soon as Wang Susu entered, she quickly pulled brown blankets over various spots, shielding the house’s transparency, then swayed over to Song Yan’s side, softly saying, "Living here is precarious; no one knows when they’ll die. Even if you can’t forget worldly matters, you must move forward. Enjoy yourself when you can and don’t waste the time you’re alive." Song Yan asked, "So?" "So..." Wang Susu flaunted an enchanting expression and coquettishly said, "What’s the young man waiting for?" ... ... Note: Updates with 2 Chapters every day at 5 PM.