Chapter 206: Indeed, Greed Gives Rise to All Calamities

Zhong Ting felt he ought to reconsider whether to let Chu Danqing help him find the corpse centipede.

Just now, he saw a demonic corpse stripped naked and thrown out of Chu Danqing's room.

This wasn't much of a concern, since a crowd of blind servants had already gathered around it.

The figurines or yong placed in tombs as grave goods are called blind servants; the character "blind" sounds like "dead," hence the name.

Normally, these things posed no threat—they were merely lifeless objects.

Yet many nobles and aristocrats believed clay-made blind servants lacked spiritual essence and would be unfit to serve them in the netherworld.

So they chopped up living boys and girls, mixed them into the clay, and fired them into blind servants for burial.

After lingering in tombs for long periods, soaked in yin energy and malevolent spirits, these blind servants became malevolent entities.

Why not simply bury them alive? Because they weren't worthy enough.

Not just anyone could use humans as grave goods—only the Emperor or imperial princes had the right.

By grinding living people into blind servants, nobles circumvented this violation.

But that wasn't the point—the point was that a group of even more malevolent entities had burst out of Chu Danqing's room.

They had forcibly dragged the blind servants back inside, and he wasn't clear on what was happening now.

Earlier, while chatting with Chu Danqing, he had sensed something immensely malevolent within Chu Danqing's shadow.

"Could it be corpse puppets?" Zhong Ting muttered, watching helplessly as all the blind servants were dragged into Chu Danqing's room.

"No wonder this is the outer edge of Cangmang Guling—everything bizarre turns up here."

Zhong Ting had seen enough to be astonished: the corpse centipede that had fled here, the demonic corpses that had reanimated by accident due to tomb robbers.

As for the blind servants, they were likely from the tomb of some noble or aristocrat nearby.

The culprit behind the nightly door-slapping and blood-stained handprints, as the village elder had said, was the blind servants.

Of all these, the blind servants were the least threatening—if you didn't open the door and your house was sturdy, nothing would happen.

Zhong Ting had never been to Cangmang Guling before, yet he knew it was a malevolent place—why come here unless forced?

Before so many tombs were buried here, Cangmang Guling was a fengshui paradise; later, emperors and generals settled here, and others followed.

Inspired by their examples, later generations competed to bury their own tombs here.

Some sought to ensure their dynasties enjoyed favorable weather and lasting rule; others dreamed of transcendence and immortality.

Either way, it was a blessed land—bury first, then adjust the fengshui later as needed.

Cangmang Guling was vast, but it couldn't withstand the relentless burial of emperors and generals across dynasties.

With fengshui altered and tombs clustered together, this was the final result.

If not for the centipede pearl saving his life, he would never have come here.

Though malevolent, corpse centipedes are exceedingly rare; losing this one meant finding another would be far harder.

He had no choice but to press on.

"Master Zhong, still awake?" Suddenly, Chu Danqing's voice reached his ears.

Zhong Ting was startled.

He had clearly used the secret technique "Kui Star Kicks the Dipper" to suppress his qi to the lowest possible level—how had the other sensed him?

But since he'd been discovered, he had no intention of hiding.

So he said directly: "Just got up to relieve myself—heading back to sleep now."

Zhong Ting offered a random excuse and quickly retreated, his mind brimming with caution.

He expected Chu Danqing to press further, but after his words, there was silence.

Even when dawn came and the village roosters crowed, no further action followed.

This puzzled him.

When he stepped outside again, Chu Danqing was already speaking with the village elder at the gate.

"So the tomb robbers might not all be dead yet?"

"Where exactly? I'll send them on their way," Chu Danqing said.

According to the village elder, the clay figurines had originally been grave goods for the Fox-Head Corpse.

The Fox-Head Corpse had been a princess or duchess in life—favored, yet hindered by her gender.

Thus, she could only claim the edge of this fengshui paradise.

So not only the tomb, but also the coffin, must have been filled with gold, silver, and jewelry.

Chu Danqing had only retrieved one embroidered shoe, meaning the tomb robbers had taken everything else.

This meant some of the tomb robbers were still alive.

"It's probably too late," Zhong Ting interjected after hearing the gist: "If they'd stayed outdoors last night, the corpse centipede wouldn't have spared them."

"If they had no means of defense, they're likely already part of the centipede now."

Hearing this, Chu Danqing asked: "Master Zhong, do you know the origins of these two things?"

His fengshui knowledge was limited—he didn't know.

Zhong Ting didn't hide anything; he explained the origins of the demonic corpse and the blind servants.

He was puzzled: if you can control such malevolent entities, how could you not know this?

In truth, Zhong Ting envied Chu Danqing.

His own Kui Star Kicks the Dipper, bound to flesh and blood, was nearly useless against firearms and cannons.

But Chu Danqing was different—if he could command such malevolent entities, he possessed sufficient power to stand above the world.

Yet the cost must be great, for malevolent entities are violent and tainted; one misstep could lead to being devoured and killed.

"Sinned greatly—she deserved to die neither human nor ghost," Chu Danqing replied.

Using humans as grave goods was, in Chu Danqing's view, a stain.

It might not have been the tomb owner's doing, but if you don't spare the family, you don't spare the children—so if encountered, kill without mercy.

What about himself killing?

Chu Danqing allowed others to kill him—if they could, he would die without resistance.

This was mutual—he had long prepared for his own death and dissolution.

"By the way, how's your corpse centipede doing?" Chu Danqing shifted the topic to Zhong Ting.

He still had a D-rank task pending.

The difficulty wasn't high, but failure meant losing Park Points—he couldn't accept that.

"If nothing went wrong, it should be inside the demonic corpse's tomb."

"Tomb robbers only want treasure—they took everything from the coffin, but they wouldn't drag the coffin out of the tomb."

"Too much effort for too little gain."

"So nine times out of ten, it's the corpse centipede."

"Corpse centipedes favor yin and cold; this tomb, its fengshui broken, is perfect," Zhong Ting explained to Chu Danqing.

After all, he was someone who practiced Kui Star Kicks the Dipper—specialized in dealing with malevolent entities.

Added to that, he was middle-aged, with ample experience and insight.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go—first I'll kill the corpse centipede for you, then you help me," Chu Danqing said, ready to move.

But Zhong Ting stood still, helplessly saying: "I don't know where that tomb is."

Both he and Chu Danqing were newcomers—how could they know the location?

So he turned his gaze to the village elder.

The village had suffered these calamities because the elder had told the tomb robbers the location.

Otherwise, no tomb would have been breached, the blind servants wouldn't have escaped, and the Red-Robed Corpse wouldn't have risen during the thunderstorm.

The corpse centipede wouldn't have been drawn here by the tomb either.

Moreover, this altered the surrounding fengshui—if unaddressed, it would gradually become a malevolent place.

More and more malevolent entities would be drawn here by the scent of living humans.

The end result? Death or ruin.

Hearing this, the village elder hurriedly said: "I'll send someone to guide you up the mountain."

Before, he'd never wanted to touch this cursed business again.

But Chu Danqing had come early, holding the Fox-Head Corpse and a large bundle of bloody flesh and mud, asking where the dead were usually buried.

The elder immediately saw Chu Danqing had resolved the threat—his goodwill surged.

Second, he'd heard Zhong Ting say a monster called the corpse centipede still lurked in the tomb.

If left unchecked, it would be deadly when they descended the mountain.

Now Chu Danqing volunteered to deal with it—he'd give his all.

After all, it was for his own survival.

"Good, thank you, old sir," Zhong Ting said, waiting precisely for this.

The village elder immediately arranged guides.

"Strange—why haven't these warlord soldiers woken up yet? Are they dead?" Chu Danqing knew they'd gone to bed early yesterday.

By now, they should be awake.

"Young Master Chu, I suggest we don't stir up trouble," Zhong Ting suddenly said: "They have guns; even tired and sleepy, they can hold back."

"But once they've eaten and drunk their fill, they won't listen to reason."

Zhong Ting had dealt with warlord soldiers before—not all were evil, but "bandits comb, soldiers sieve, officials shave" was no idle saying.

Even Chu Danqing carried blades and carried murderous intent—how much more so these soldiers in such chaotic times, devoid of thought?

"Go see what's happening," Chu Danqing said, and a ghostly vengeful infant crawled out of his shadow, heading straight for the warlord's soldiers' quarters.

Seeing this, Zhong Ting felt a suffocating dread.

No matter how fierce a malevolent entity is, most still fear the sun.

Yet Chu Danqing's malevolent entity had simply walked out into the open.

He swallowed hard, realizing Chu Danqing was growing ever more mysterious.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Chu Danqing noticed the shift in his demeanor and asked.

"Young Master Chu, raising malevolent entities is inauspicious—you'd do better to avoid them," Zhong Ting warned.

You're young now, your blood and qi are strong enough to suppress them.

But when you grow older, you won't be able to hold them back—they'll inevitably turn on you.

It won't just cost you your life; it could also taint your bloodline and drag your family and friends down with you.

"You misunderstand—I don't raise them," Chu Danqing explained. "They're actually my employees; I'm merely fulfilling my duty of care."

Zhong Ting didn't understand Chu Danqing's meaning; their worldviews were too different to be reconciled.

(End of Chapter)