Those with the seven emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire—must have someone who feels these emotions for them or because of them. Only then do they have hope of recondensing their seven souls.

No wonder Emily Thompson said this path is extremely difficult. A person can make many people dislike or fear them, but to gain the love, or even desire, of many people—how could that be easy?

Unless he relied on his somewhat handsome face... No, selling his body was something he would absolutely never do.

Suppressing the heavy worries in his heart, James Thompson sat cross-legged, adjusted his breathing, and began to practice the guiding technique that Emily Thompson had taught him.

The guiding technique is the method of cultivating and regulating breath, the most basic cultivation method. It can draw all kinds of energies from the world, such as spiritual energy, yin energy, resentment, and so on, into the body. To refine the seven emotions, this technique is also indispensable.

He had just guided the power that Emily Thompson had left in his body to circulate once through his meridians when he heard a knock at the door from outside.

James Thompson got off the bed, walked to the courtyard gate, and opened the door.

Michael Bolton stood outside and said, “The boss said you were sick, so I came to check on you. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” James Thompson waved his hand, then added, “You came at just the right time. I found some silver at home, so I can pay back the money I borrowed from you this morning.”

Michael Bolton was stunned for a moment. He had just lent out the silver this morning and thought it would take James Thompson several months to pay it back. Who would have thought the surprise would come so suddenly...

James Thompson was also stunned.

Just now, as he said he would repay Michael Bolton the silver, Michael Bolton, in James Thompson’s eyes, suddenly emitted a faint red glow.

The seven emotions each have a color; “joy” is red.

That was the emotion of joy!

Michael Bolton’s joy originated from James Thompson, and only James Thompson could see it.

This was precisely one of the seven emotions he needed!

Snapping back to his senses, James Thompson immediately began the guiding technique. Soon after, he felt something being drawn in, entering his body.

But this thing was too faint. After it entered James Thompson’s body, he didn’t feel any particularly obvious change.

This also showed just how immense the amount of joy he needed to refine to condense the first soul was...

Michael Bolton looked at James Thompson expectantly. As James Thompson was about to take out the silver, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and he said, “There was a full five taels of silver, but I accidentally lost it when I went out just now...”

“Ah!” Upon hearing this, Michael Bolton was greatly disappointed.

James Thompson looked at him again and changed his tone, “Fortunately, a child found the silver...”

Michael Bolton patted his chest, let out a long sigh of relief, and a smile reappeared on his face.

James Thompson once again felt that joy and drew it into his body. He glanced at Michael Bolton and continued, “But the silver he found wasn’t mine...”

“……”

“Later, I realized I had forgotten to take it with me when I went out...”

“Thank goodness, thank goodness. And then?”

“Then I woke up and realized it was all just a dream.”

“A dream!”

“Then I went to the place in my dream to look, and sure enough, I found five taels of silver...”

……

The corpse dog, as the first soul, governs alertness and is born from the emotion of joy. After absorbing a large amount of joy, James Thompson could already feel subtle changes in his body. Just as he was about to speak again, Michael Bolton hurriedly waved his hand. His face was pale, and he leaned against the wall, speaking weakly.

“Let’s talk about the silver later. Let me go in and rest for a bit first. I feel a little dizzy, like my body’s been completely drained...”

Chapter 007: Seeing Ghosts in Broad Daylight

James Thompson ultimately gave up on continuing to harvest Michael Bolton’s joy. Even if you’re shearing sheep, you can’t always cling to the same one, let alone a person.

To make up for his mental loss, James Thompson deliberately paid him a few extra coins. Michael Bolton left in high spirits, and so James Thompson took the opportunity to harvest another wave.

What James Thompson gained from Michael Bolton gave him a deeper understanding of how to collect the seven emotions.

It didn’t seem to be anything particularly mysterious. Michael Bolton loved money, James Thompson repaid him, Michael Bolton felt joy, and since this joy was caused by James Thompson, he could absorb it...

If he could make more people feel joy, wouldn’t he be able to condense the first soul very quickly?

The joy of being repaid, the joy of receiving help, the joy of gratitude—perhaps all of these could be absorbed...

Once he figured this out, James Thompson couldn’t sit still any longer.

Although the yamen had given him a month’s leave and he could have spent the whole month recuperating at home, to him, time was more precious than anything. With less than half a year of life left, how could he afford to waste even a little?

The simplest way to make others feel joy is to help them.

Having lived two lifetimes, James Thompson had never been so positive before. Now, all he wanted was to help others. Although his motives weren’t entirely pure, the process was full of truth, goodness, and beauty.

At the moment, the easiest way for him to continue obtaining joy was to repay debts.

He had already paid off Michael Bolton, but still owed David Thompson a little over a tael of silver.

Without any delay, James Thompson changed into his constable’s uniform and headed out onto the street.

The street in front of James Thompson’s house was called “Weiyang Street.” Weiyang Street ran through the entire county seat of Yangqiu and was the area under James Thompson’s jurisdiction. Everything that happened on this street was managed by James Thompson.