Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman

Chapter 2 The Spirit Paper Doll, Spying at Midnight

As soon as the bolt was pulled off, a gust of cold wind carrying snowflakes burst through the door.

Three men wearing sheepskin coats and carrying short axes at their waists strode in, bringing with them not only a chill but also a nauseating stench of cheap liquor and blood.

The leader was a bald man with a face full of scars, and a centipede-like scar on his left cheek that extended all the way to the corner of his mouth. It twisted and turned with his chewing movements, making him look particularly ferocious.

This man was none other than Ma San, a minor leader of the Black Dragon Gang.

This man was notorious for his ruthlessness in the western part of Changning County. It was said that he had killed several people, and even the government officials had to give him a wide berth.

"Are you dawdling like this, trying to freeze me to death?"

Ma San kicked the half-open door, causing the snow on the roof to fall in a flurry.

His cloudy eyes swept around the dimly lit shop before finally settling on Gu Yan, as if he were looking at a chick waiting to be slaughtered.

Gu Yan hunched his shoulders, lowered his head, and trembled, looking timid and terrified.

But his right hand, hidden in his sleeve, was tightly gripping the thin paper figure.

If Ma San were to suddenly kill someone, he would certainly not sit idly by and wait to die.

"Third Master, Third Master, please calm down!"

The curtain in the backyard was lifted, and Old Xu, wearing an old cotton-padded coat, rushed out in a panic.

He clutched a dusty money bag in his hand, his face covered with fawning wrinkles.

"I'm getting old and my legs aren't as nimble as they used to be. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Third Master."

With a forced smile, Old Xu handed over the money bag with both hands. "This is my monthly allowance, a total of five hundred coins. Please count it."

Ma San snatched the money bag from his hand, weighed it in his hand, and a mocking smile appeared on his fleshy face.

"Five hundred coins? Old Xu, are you trying to fob me off like a beggar?"

Old Xu's face turned pale: "Third Master...wasn't it always five hundred coins?"

"That was last month!"

Ma San snorted coldly and spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the ground. "Recently, there have been rebellions outside the city. The gang leader said that in order to protect the safety of our street, the brothers need to expand their manpower. Buying knives and meat, everything costs money. Starting this month, the allowance will be doubled to one tael of silver!"

"One ounce?!"

Old Xu swayed and almost collapsed to the ground.

This paper shop barely makes ends meet. After deducting the cost of buying paper, bamboo strips, and paste, they can only save a few hundred coins a month by working themselves to the bone.

That tael of silver could cost him his life.

"Third Master, this is too much. This old man really can't afford it..." Old Xu pleaded with a bitter face.

"Can't produce it?"

Ma San stepped forward, grabbed Old Xu by the collar, and lifted his thin body up.

"If you can't come up with the money, use this shop as collateral. If that doesn't work either..."

Ma San's sinister gaze passed over Old Man Xu and landed on Gu Yan in the corner. He licked his lips.

"Although this kid looks a bit thin, his skin is still quite tender. If he's sold to the 'Red Sleeve Pavilion' in the south of the city to work as a pimp, he can still fetch a few taels of silver."

Gu Yan's heart sank suddenly, and he had already sentenced Ma San to death in his mind.

But he lowered his head even further, making it impossible to see his expression.

Old Xu trembled with fear and quickly pulled out a cloth bag he had hidden close to his body, handing it over with trembling hands:

"Yes! Yes! This is the money I saved for my own funeral, it's all here. Third Master, please have mercy, please have mercy!"

Ma San snatched the cloth bag, opened it, glanced at the loose silver inside, and then released his grip with satisfaction, throwing Old Man Xu to the ground.

"Why didn't you just take it out earlier? Why did you have to be so foolish?"

Ma San stuffed the silver into his pocket, and as he was leaving, seemingly feeling it was bad luck, he kicked over the red paper figure that Gu Yan had just finished making.

The fragile bamboo frame snapped instantly, and the lifelike paper face was trampled into the mud and water, becoming filthy.

"What a damn bad luck, the whole house smells like death."

Ma San cursed and swore as he turned and left with his two men, disappearing into the snowy night.

Silence returned to the room.

Old Xu sat on the ground, looking at the empty doorway, two lines of clear tears streaming down his cloudy old eyes.

He didn't say anything, but silently got up, picked up the trampled paper figure from the ground, sighed, and staggered back to the backyard.

Gu Yan stood there, staring at the mud stains on the ground, and remained silent for a long time.

The paper figure that was trampled to pieces was the result of two hours of his arduous work.

As a result, Ma San, disliking it, caused it all to vanish.

In this dog-eat-dog world, the weak are sinful even in breathing.

He turned around, closed the door, bolted it, and then moved a long bench to prop the door shut.

After doing all this, he blew out the light in the outer room and groped his way back to his cramped woodshed, which was less than five square meters in size.

In the darkness, Gu Yan sat cross-legged on a bed board covered with dry straw.

He took out the small, palm-sized paper figure of a black-armored warrior from his pocket and placed it in his palm.

"go."

With a thought, Gu Yan transmitted his will to the paper figure through his fingertips.

A strange feeling connected his nerves.

The paper figure, which was originally an inanimate object, became, in his eyes, an extension of his own body, like an extra finger.

"Shh shh shh".

The black-armored paper figure nimbly jumped off the bed and slipped out through the crack in the door.

Gu Yan closed his eyes.

The next moment, his vision changed.

The previously pitch-black view suddenly shifted, and the perspective became extremely low, almost touching the ground.

The surrounding scenery turned into black, white, and gray. Although there was no color, it was as if we were wearing night vision goggles, and we could see it exceptionally clearly in the night.

This is the ability gained after mastering the basics of paper-crafting: spiritual communication.

The paper figures are his eyes, his ears, and his second body.

Gu Yan manipulated the paper figure, which slid swiftly like a gecko, clinging to the shadows at the base of the wall.

It was incredibly fast, its body so light it seemed weightless, leaving no footprints on the snow.

He chased after the lingering smell of alcohol and blood in the wind.

Soon, at the entrance of an alley two streets away, they spotted Ma San and his gang.

Gu Yan had the paper figure climb up a dead tree at the alley entrance, hiding behind the branches and peering down from above.

The sound, transmitted intermittently through the paper figure, reached Gu Yan's mind.

"...Third Brother, this old Xu doesn't seem to have much left to offer. Will we be able to squeeze him out next time?" one of the subordinates asked.

Ma San's voice came through, tinged with drunkenness and ruthlessness: "Can't squeeze any out? Then use someone else! Did you guys see that kid just now? Tsk tsk tsk, so fair-skinned and tender."

"Third Brother, do you really want to sell him to a brothel?"

"Sell my ass!"

Ma San sneered, lowering his voice slightly.

"Two days ago, the Heavenly Lord gave instructions that the Yin Lord whom the gang worships has recently developed a bigger appetite and wants to eat live food, especially those who are virgins or have heavy Yin energy."

He took another swig of wine and continued:

"That kid hangs out in the paper-making shop every day, he's got a whole lot of yin energy about him, perfect for serving up to the Yin Master. As long as we keep the Yin Master happy, the boss will be pleased, and we brothers won't have to worry about not making a fortune!"

"Hiss... For Master Yin to eat?"

The subordinate's voice trembled slightly, "There wasn't even a bone fragment left."

"Enough nonsense! What does it matter if one person dies in this chaotic world? In a couple of days, we'll find an excuse to go back and kidnap him..."

On the withered tree, the black-armored paper figure remained motionless, its eyes, marked with ink dots, coldly gazing down.

Inside the woodshed, Gu Yan suddenly opened his eyes.

In the darkness, his eyes shone with an eerie light.

really.

These beasts have no intention of letting them go.

The so-called doubling of the allowance is nothing but a slow boil; their ultimate goal is to use living people to feed that damned "Master Yin."

If it weren't for this mastery of paper-making skills tonight, and if I hadn't gone to investigate, I probably wouldn't even know how I died a few days later.

Gu Yan took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in his heart.

Fear solves nothing.

To survive in this cannibalistic world, the only way to avoid being eaten is to be more ruthless and vicious than others.

Although Ma San and his gang were martial artists, they were just the lowest-level gang thugs. As long as they avoided direct confrontation, they could be dealt with.

Think about this.

Gu Yan glanced at the panel in front of him.

[Paper Making Skill (Minor Success): 1/500]

Although this black-armored paper figure can move and be seen, it is too fragile and has no combat power other than reconnaissance.

To survive and fight back, you must improve your skill level.

If one can master the art of killing, one might acquire the means to actually kill.

"There's still time."

Gu Yan muttered to himself.

Ma San said he would come back in two days, and this was his chance.

Two days, without sleep or rest.

As long as I have a breath left, I must grind my experience bar up!

Gu Yan did not retrieve the paper figure, but instead had it lie dormant on the roof of the gambling den where Ma San and his gang frequently appeared, serving as a 24/7 surveillance post.

Then, he got out of bed and dragged out a bundle of bamboo strips and a large stack of yellow paper that he had been hiding from under the bed.

There were no lights in the room, and he dared not turn them on so as not to attract attention.

But now that he had the experience of psychic abilities, his hands seemed to have their own consciousness, and he could accurately grope, bend, and bind even in the darkest of times.

Even with his view obstructed, he became more focused, and each finger strike was more deliberate and steady.

In the dark woodshed, only the soft crackling sound of bamboo strips bending could be heard.

[Paper-making experience +1]

[Paper-making experience +1]

[Paper-making experience +1]

……

Watching the numbers constantly changing on the screen, Gu Yan's cold and fearful heart gradually calmed down, turning into a hard, cold iron.

Since you don't want to die.

Then they should die.