Dao Cheng Gui Xian

Chapter 1 The Pawnshop of No Life
"There is no life borrowed from the time of birth."

"Whether one is born at a certain time or not, longevity will come naturally."

Li Wushou stood in the main street of Wufang City.

Gazing at the bustling Wusheng Pawnshop, I softly read the couplet at the entrance.

Prolonged hunger often left him in a daze. He patted his gaunt cheeks and forced himself to stay awake.

Today he came to this newly opened Wusheng Pawnshop to pawn his lifespan and exchange it for some rice.

The old beggar said he was about to die, and Chen Gou'er, whose eyes had also been infected by the monks of the Blood Buddha Temple yesterday, also said he was about to die.

They shouted, "If we had more food, we could live longer!"

But in this world, being born is easy, but living is hard.

Li Wushou was young and strong, but he could only barely find a job moving corpses in the southern city. Even though he had given all his food to the old beggar and Chen Gou'er, it was still not enough.

Moreover, their eyes have been implanted, causing them to lose a lot of flesh and blood, making their need for food even greater.

Li Wushou wanted to save the old beggar and Chen Gou'er because the old beggar had saved his life, and Chen Gou'er was the old beggar's adopted grandson.

Although the old beggar was vague about how he had been saved and unwilling to say more, Li Wushou remembered this kindness!
Because the first thing he saw when he woke up in this world was the old beggar, and he watched as the other man went from a middle-aged beggar to an old beggar.

Finally, after much difficulty, he entered Wufang City and settled down in the South City, only to find that the South City had been sold to the Blood Buddha Temple by a powerful figure in the city.

Blood Buddha Temple then turned the southern part of the city into a breeding ground for "five senses"!

Overnight, the poor people all had to offer their own flesh and blood to nourish the flesh and blood of the Blood Buddha Temple.

In the morning, through the connections of the corpse-moving team leader, Li Wushou found the monks of the Blood Buddha Temple.

They wanted to spare the old beggar and Chen Gou'er the pain of eye transplantation by giving them more eyes.

The monks of Blood Buddha Temple were taken aback. Such fools were rare in this world, and they couldn't help but glance at Li Wushou a few more times.

Seeing that Li Wushou was so young, he couldn't help but nod in approval to himself.

But after some touching and pinching, the monks of Blood Buddha Temple refused with strange expressions.

Li Wushou still remembers what the other person said.

"You little rascal, your flesh and blood have been eaten away to the point of being an empty shell. You look normal, but your flesh and blood are withered and you could die at any time. You can't be used to plant eyes anymore."

Li Wushou felt somewhat helpless about this.

Because when Blood Buddha Temple first took over the South City, another monk said the same thing, but several years have passed since then.

"Hey, are you going to wait in line or not?"

A voice urging him from behind interrupted Li Wushou's thoughts, and he hurriedly followed the group ahead.

There were too many people coming to pawn their longevity money. Some, like Li Wushou, came to exchange it for rice and grain, while others were afraid of poverty and were greedy for temporary wealth.

As for dying young? For ordinary people, death is death, and it's not necessarily worse than living, is it?
"What a mad and bizarre world!"

Li Wushou felt this sentiment again.

After a full hour of waiting, Li Wushou's time was finally approaching.

Entering the pawnshop, unlike the traditional pawnshops one might imagine, one finds a hidden world inside.

The hall was exceptionally spacious, with two windows inside. One read, "May you live a long life!", and the other, "May you be born!"

There were long queues in front of each window, about twenty or thirty people in total.

Before the window where the birthday celebration was held, everyone, regardless of their clothing or appearance, had gray hair and a pale, ashen face.

At the window of life, everyone looked pale, thin, and listless.

Before coming, Li Wushou did some research and he came here specifically to "become a birthday man"!

According to the monks of Blood Buddha Temple, there's nothing worthwhile about his physical life force.

After receiving the token from the pawnshop clerk, Li Wushou followed the line and stood in front of the "Pawnbroking" window.

After registering, the group was divided into three teams of five people each.

The line was unusually quiet; no one spoke.

Upon entering the inner hall, there were two separate courtyards on the left and right. Li Wushou and his group of five were led to the left side.

In the courtyard, nine large vats were arranged in a triangular pattern!

Behind the large vat was a white paper altar, in which sat a person wearing a lotus hat and a white divine robe.

Behind her, incense smoke curled upwards, and a shrine stood with the inscription: "Eternal Mother!"
A white-haired man in a hemp shirt walked blankly into the courtyard and stood in front of a white-robed man at the foot of the altar.

He handed over the contract. The man in white took it and quickly read it.

"Wang Sanyou, a commoner, has requested three months of lifespan in exchange for half a dan of rice and ten copper coins!"

Just as he finished reading, another man in white, who had been waiting nearby, walked up to Wang Sanyou with a knife in his hand.

With a slash across the other's wrist, another new wound appeared on the withered arm.

Wang Sanyou was very familiar with the process. He walked to the large vat, dripped blood into each vat one by one, then turned it over into the central one and squatted down.

The figure in the divine robe on the white paper altar chanted incantations.

A golden light flashed across the altar, and Wang Sanyou let out a muffled groan of pain.

A crack appeared between his eyebrows!
A piece of white paper, about two fingers wide, grew out from between his eyebrows. With each wisp of growth, a wrinkle appeared. The whole process was extremely painful, but Wang Sanyou dared not roar.

Because he knew that the divine messengers on the altar disliked noise!

If you anger the divine messenger, you may have more of your lifespan cut off, or you may die an unexplained death.

The ceremony only slowly came to a halt when a piece of white paper, about the length of a finger, had grown out.

The man in white stepped forward and tore off the white paper.

Wang Sanyou snapped out of his daze in pain and shakily climbed out of the large vat.

The servant waiting nearby handed Wang Sanyou the rice and copper coins that had been prepared beforehand, which Wang Sanyou took and carried on his back.

The half-load of rice was very heavy, making it hard for Wang Sanyou to breathe, but he didn't put it down.

This will be his family's food supply for the next few months.

Soon it was Li Wushou's turn, following the example of the previous people.

With a slash across his wrist, Li Wushou walked to the large vat and dripped his blood onto each one. His blood was thick, dark in color, and even somewhat black!
After dripping the liquid, Li Wushou flipped himself into the large vat in the center.

The divine messenger on the altar began chanting incantations.

A buzzing sound rang in my ears, and my scalp tingled, as if the surrounding void was filled with static electricity.

Although the ends of my hair didn't move, I inexplicably felt as if a gentle breeze was brushing against the top of my head.

"Huh?"

The divine messenger on the altar suddenly let out a surprised cry, startling the white-robed man waiting below, who quickly looked towards the divine messenger.

But then the divine messenger on the altar closed his eyes and chanted a spell again.

After a long while, he opened his eyes and said impatiently, "This person's lifespan is about to end, and we can't cut off any more of his lifespan!"

Li Wushou, who was squatting in the large vat, was still waiting to see white paper grow from between his eyebrows. Upon hearing what the divine messenger said, he fell silent!
They wanted to let the divine messenger try again, but then they saw two men in white walk up to the large vat with annoyance.

Li Wushou hurriedly rummaged through the large vat, and without mentioning the pawnbroking again, walked out without looking back.

Seeing Li Wushou's clean and efficient manner, the white-clad man who originally wanted to beat him up was stunned for a moment. When he tried to chase after him again, the man had already disappeared.

Having followed the old beggar for so many years, Li Wushou's ability to read people and expressions was naturally outstanding.

Stepping out of the left-hand courtyard, one hears painful groans echoing from the corridor; that is the courtyard of "Dang Sheng".

The pain of flesh being torn away is the most unbearable, and the old beggar and Chen Gou'er couldn't sleep all night because of it.

If I try to plant an eye today, it will all fail when I die. I have no choice but to think of other ways.

Li Wushou was worrying when suddenly there was some commotion in the Dangsheng Villa.

"Sigh... two more have died!"

Despite being quite far away, Li Wushou could still hear a few voices discussing things coming from the Dangsheng Villa.

In a pawnshop where no one is alive, it's common for pawns to be destroyed.

A profound look flashed in Li Wushou's eyes, and he murmured, "Should we eat these two souls or not?"

After glancing warily at the two side courtyards, Li Wushou, who was starving after a long time, finally made up his mind to eat!
The shadow behind him merged into the darkness, following the silhouette of the sunlight, and entered the Dangsheng Courtyard. A moment later, the shadow fell back behind him.

"Click~!"

A muffled thunderclap boomed in the sky above the courtyard!

The divine messenger was greatly alarmed and hurriedly knelt down, pleading, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger!" The entire pawnshop instantly descended into chaos.

Li Wushou tightened his clothes and followed the chaotic crowd out.

Although it wasn't the first time they had tried to steal food from these strange gods, this was the first time they had done so right under their noses.

How exciting!
(End of this chapter)