Chapter 3

"Very well."

Shen Lang recorded the appraisal results, while Xu Hongtao took out a wooden box, sealed the green jade inside, labeled it, and handed a bamboo slip to Chen Shaojun.

"Thank you, Uncle Xu!"

Chen Shaojun expressed his gratitude.

This bamboo slip was essentially a tally used by dock workers. At the end of each month, they could use this tally to collect their monthly wages.

Although Chen Shaojun had signed a contract of indenture and was only an apprentice, he could still receive a monthly wage, which he earned through the appraisals he conducted.

However, the amount was not much, with each tally worth only thirty coins.

Over a month, even if he appraised one item every day, he would earn only nine hundred coins, less than one tael of silver.

Afterward, he turned and headed toward the back courtyard.

As he turned, his gaze involuntarily shifted to an arched gateway beside the side hall.

This gateway connected to the main hall, which was also the location of the Lin family pawnshop. There was a high counter that obstructed his view and, to some extent, confined him within the pawnshop.

Although the pawnshop did not restrict their movements, the front of the Lin family pawnshop was connected to the back courtyard, which was sealed off by high walls. To leave, one had to go through the front door.

As someone who might come into contact with the items in the pawnshop, one had to report to the manager and undergo a body search, item inspection, and questioning before leaving. The questioner was stern, and the body search was rough. Unless absolutely necessary, no one wanted to leave easily.

In Chen Shaojun's memory, his predecessor had not gone out for three months.

...

The back courtyard of the pawnshop was quite spacious, resembling a quadrangle. There was a large open area, surrounded by various rooms, some large and some small.

Chen Shaojun entered one of the rooms. Inside, there was a large communal bed that stretched from one wall to the other, with several cabinets tightly placed along the bed, making it difficult to move around.

This was his living quarters.

There were twelve beds, one after another. Currently, including him, seven people were living there, all apprentices of the pawnshop.

At that moment, a few apprentices had already returned and were gathered together.

"Brother Chen, you're back. Nothing happened, right?"

Seeing Chen Shaojun return, a small-statured apprentice quickly approached, showing concern.

"Nothing happened."

Chen Shaojun shook his head, recognizing this person as Zhao Hu. They had only barely known each other before, both serving in the Lin family's old residence. Six months ago, they were both assigned to the Lin family pawnshop and became more familiar with each other.

The others had also worked for the Lin family, either as laborers or servants' children, but they were not familiar with each other before.

At that moment, they all looked extremely exhausted, as if they had not slept for three days and three nights. Some had red, excited eyes, while others had gray, exhausted faces with dark circles under their eyes, showing signs of fatigue.

This indicated the significant toll of the "Shen Wang" technique.

If Chen Shaojun had not taken the Nourishing Essence Pill, which refined his essence and replenished his energy, he would not have been much better than them.

"Brother Chen, have you heard? Zhang Wang had an accident today."

Zhao Hu leaned in, looking both mysterious and nervous.

"An accident?"

Chen Shaojun was taken aback, with some suspicions in his mind.

"During the appraisal today, Zhang Wang was infected by evil qi. When he was carried out, he was almost dead."

Zhao Hu did not keep it a secret and said directly.

"This Zhang Wang, although he usually acts proud, is indeed the strongest among us in appraising items and the most proficient in the 'Shen Wang' technique. If even he had an accident, what about us..."

One of the apprentices, looking exhausted, showed signs of worry and fear.

Pawnshop apprentices are most afraid of accidents during appraisals, as any unexpected event could endanger their lives.

Moreover, they had all witnessed the previous five apprentices who had fallen ill.

No one wanted to be one of them.

"This batch of raw materials is indeed different. Most of them are old materials.

The older the material, the more likely it is to be tainted with evil qi. No one knows what these old materials have experienced before they were delivered to us.

During the appraisal, I also vaguely felt a surge of evil qi, but fortunately, it was not strong. I just felt a bit dizzy and then recovered..."

A tall apprentice spoke, still feeling a bit uneasy.

Chen Shaojun couldn't help but look at him, his mind filled with doubts.

He was always suspicious about the death of his predecessor.

Thinking about the images revealed by the Spirit Appraisal Mirror during his appraisal, he couldn't help but speculate.

"Do you remember when Zhang Wang contradicted Mr. Shen?"

Suddenly, someone spoke up.

The others' faces immediately changed.

"You mean..."

"Be careful what you say!"

"Without evidence, don't make baseless claims."

A quick-witted person quickly warned them.

But everyone's hearts were clouded with suspicion.

Many things don't need evidence.

Even though this batch of raw materials had been selected by official appraisers, removing most of the dangerous items, the final arrangement was still made by Shen Lang, the ticket desk manager.

If he really wanted to, he didn't even need to be deliberate. Just by assigning more 'dangerous' materials to a specific apprentice, he could make them suffer greatly.

However, now that the incident had happened, even if they knew, what could they do? They were powerless to change anything.

Some even thought about finding a time to curry favor with the ticket desk manager to make their lives easier in the future.

...

The life of a pawnshop apprentice was quite monotonous. Apart from appraising items in the warehouse, the only place they could go was the back courtyard.

After forcing themselves to eat dinner, the apprentices quickly lay down on their beds, and snoring sounds began almost immediately.

Chen Shaojun, having taken the Nourishing Essence Pill, felt no fatigue and was full of energy, with no drowsiness.

Although he was lying on the bed, he was thinking more about his future.

Without a doubt, with the Spirit Appraisal Mirror in his possession, the pawnshop was the most suitable place for him to stay in the short term.

But this did not mean he would be content with the status quo.

Since he had come to this world and knew that it was filled with demons and ghosts, and that there were powerful Dao and martial practitioners, he naturally did not want to live an ordinary life.

"Get stronger.

Only by getting stronger.

Can I freely survive in this perilous world."

Chen Shaojun knew that this was not easy.

Freedom has never been easy.

According to his understanding, the only way to achieve this was to master Dao and martial techniques.

What are Dao and martial techniques?

They are cultivation and martial arts.

These are the two paths of cultivation in this world to combat various strange and demonic entities.

Regardless of which path one chooses, one can become a powerful figure with the ability to slay demons and eliminate evil.