[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-becoming-a-saint-by-touching-corpses":3,"chapter-becoming-a-saint-by-touching-corpses-becoming-a-saint-by-touching-corpses-chapter-4":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Becoming a Saint by Touching Corpses",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},315701,581,"Chapter 4: Experiment (Part 2)","becoming-a-saint-by-touching-corpses-chapter-4",4,"\u003Cp>Ziren Hall, as it is called, is a shop for washing and dressing the dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the entire Xinxiang area, there are only two or three such places.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Apart from graveyards, Ziren Hall is where the dead are most likely to appear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shop opens early in the morning, with a middle-aged woman in a gray hemp outfit sitting at the entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps due to her constant dealings with corpses, Lou Yi always felt her face was much stiffer than that of ordinary people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon seeing the ragged Lou Yi arrive, the woman asked expressionlessly, \"What do you want?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi squeezed out a smile, \"Sister, do you need any help here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hm? We’re not hiring now.\" Realizing he wasn’t there for business, the woman’s face turned cold, and she sneered, \"Besides, we only hire acquaintances. What if there’s a little thief...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi cursed his bad luck silently but, needing help, forced a smile and said, \"I can do anything, and I don’t need any pay...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unexpectedly, upon saying this, the woman’s expression changed, and she shouted, \"You little rascal, trying to steal our family craft?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as she finished speaking, two men, one big and one small, rushed out from inside the shop, each holding a thick wooden stick, glaring at Lou Yi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi fled in a panic, feeling extremely embarrassed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Damn, I messed up!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi ran a long distance, standing there and gasping for breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After thinking for a moment, he realized what the problem was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sometimes still viewed matters from a modern perspective, believing that for a dirty and tiring job like a funeral master, offering to help for free would not be refused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he didn’t consider that washing, dressing, and restoring the dead, in this era, was seen as a precious skill that could be passed down, something people depended on for a living, afraid that an outsider like him would steal the knowledge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at it this way, there’s no need to go to the other two places; he would have to take a risk. Lou Yi steeled his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Determined, Lou Yi prepared himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most important thing was to borrow a shovel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lou Family originally had one, but after lending it to a fellow villager, it was never returned. After his father Lou the Scholar passed away, it became a lost account.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this era, metal tools were exceedingly precious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A good shovel could sell for a hundred wen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning to Erhe Village, Lou Yi shamelessly visited his neighbors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Uncle Geng, could I borrow your shovel? I’ll return it in a couple of days.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our shovel was lost long ago; why don’t you ask someone else?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Auntie Gao, I wanted to borrow...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh dear, it’s really unlucky timing. We need it to loosen the soil for the corn these days, can’t do without it, sorry...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After asking five or six households, not one could lend him one, and he didn’t know if their reasons were true or not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’When you’re poor, everyone is against you, and nothing goes smoothly!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feeling somewhat dejected, Lou Yi went to the Gu Family, not really hoping, and asked, \"Auntie Gu, do you have a shovel?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After waiting for a moment and getting no response,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi was about to turn and leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man in his thirties came running out, thrusting a shovel into Lou Yi’s hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thanks, Brother Yong.\" Lou Yi said happily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No big deal.\" The taciturn man, Gu Yong, waved it off indifferently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll return it to you soon.\" Lou Yi said, walking away cheerfully with the shovel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And when Gu Yong returned home, he quietly asked his mother, \"By doing this, Butcher Qi might not be happy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What can he do, tear down our house?\" Auntie Gu asked disdainfully, \"Those fair-weather friends, were they ever shorted when Lou the Scholar was around? We in the Gu Family can’t be ungrateful!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mother is right.\" Gu Yong nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning home, Lou Yi rarely grabbed two handfuls of rice and cooked a thick porridge, filling his stomach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, night fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi took a deep breath and stepped outside his home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carrying an axe in his arms and a shovel in his hand, wearing a straw hat, his clothing layered twice over, almost no skin was exposed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doors of every household were closed, with occasional oil lamps casting light through paper windows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire Erhe Village was bathed in a silent moonlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the wind howled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’With an axe and a shovel, ordinary wild beasts are no match for me.’ Lou Yi silently encouraged himself as he headed east.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He proceeded cautiously, using the faint moonlight to navigate the village’s dirt roads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The road was difficult, and the coarse hemp pants were torn by grass blades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, after about an hour, he reached the largest graveyard in Xinxiang, a vast wasteland overgrown with wild grass and shrubs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking around, all he saw were hemispherical mounds and upright tombstones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Woo...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A weird sound came, unclear if it was the wind or something else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi almost lost his grip on the shovel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The great river flows east, the stars in the sky join the Big Dipper, ahem, join the Big Dipper...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, that’s not fitting, let’s change the song.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Compassionate and merciful Guanyin, saving those in suffering and distress, Guanyin...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi sang to bolster his courage as he walked inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He found a place with dense grass where it wouldn’t easily be spotted by others, ready to dig a grave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Huh, why is there burned paper and fresh melons and fruits?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi discovered a fresh grave nearby, with a roughly hewn black tombstone engraved in white:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Tomb of the Late Chen of the Wei Kingdom\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Named Fugui\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Born in the thirty-second year of Jingfu\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Died in the eleventh year of Emperor Yongxing\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aged fifty-four\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Erected solemnly by his filial sons, the Chen family]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The current emperor of the Wei Kingdom was called Emperor Yongxing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sorry, old Chen, I’ll apologize in person in the Underworld one day.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fresh grave was loose and easy to dig. Bowing in apology, Lou Yi chose it as his first target for experimentation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took up his shovel, bent over, and began to dig the grave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As time passed, the mound gradually lowered from convex to concave, accumulating soil on both sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi was all sweaty, with a dry throat, feeling more exhausted than chopping trees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He regretted not bringing a water pouch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After digging less than a meter deep, Lou Yi saw a hint of red.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Revitalized, he continued to dig.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A red coffin emerged from the pit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi knocked on it; the sound was solid and of good quality, suggesting old Chen’s family was quite wealthy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next task was even more troublesome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The coffin lid was nailed down, making it difficult to remove the nails, as they were firmly fixed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shovel alone wasn’t enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Yi even had to use his axe to chop off a corner of the coffin just to barely get the lid off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A foul stench assaulted his nose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the moonlight, what met his eyes was the corpse of a man in his fifties or sixties, dressed in red, with plenty of rouge on his face, seemingly smiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether it was an illusion or not, Lou Yi felt the corpse’s eyes seemed to open a sliver, sending a chill down his spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t being cowardly; he had lived two lives and never experienced such a scene.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Steeling himself against his inner turmoil, Lou Yi extended his right hand slowly toward the corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>",1277,"2026-05-30T02:45:59.610Z","2026-06-01T04:30:04.667Z",1,"novelbin.me","2a36739aee275143b8a664f27603ccdd0f5b03c8f5247471b675c292f15ae9b9","becoming-a-saint-by-touching-corpses-chapter-5","becoming-a-saint-by-touching-corpses-chapter-3",784,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbecoming-a-saint-by-touching-corpses-cover.jpg"]