Chapter 44: Keep Digging

Facing Zhou Shuo's smile, Liu YanYan instinctively shifted her body back again, while using her arms to shield herself and casually checking if her clothes had been disturbed; seeing this, Zhou Shuo's smile froze for a moment. "Damn," he thought, "I may not be a gentleman, but I'm not some beast either!"

"Get up." Zhou Shuo snapped, his face dark, and threw out a command.

"What did you just do to me?" Liu YanYan suppressed her slightly dizzy mind, struggled to her feet, then glanced at Zhou Shuo; she felt she was basically okay, this guy may have ruined her plans, but he probably isn't a bad person, right?

"I'm just checking whether you're telling the truth." Zhou Shuo glanced at the slightly frightened girl, twitching the corner of his mouth.

"This graveyard isn't yours, is it?" Liu YanYan looked at the guy in the night, carefully considering this sudden appearance, and suddenly a thought flashed through her mind.

"What, you still want to go against me? If it's not your family's graveyard, you can just dig?" Zhou Shuo watched the girl, whose eyes lit up as if she'd found a reason to lash out, and couldn't help but snort coldly.

"No, no, it's just that you appeared too suddenly; we're both outsiders, why are you giving me a hard time and even smashing my zombies?" Liu YanYan heard the cold laugh, instinctively shrank her neck, and weakly argued, "We're both outsiders—why should outsiders give each other a hard time!"

"Yeah! We're both outsiders, so why would I bother you? Right?" Zhou Shuo looked at the girl, now weakened, and felt a bit amused inside.

"Yeah, yeah! Your Fire Virtue Sect and us, we of the Complete Reality have always kept to our own waters, right?" Liu YanYan nodded repeatedly, at the same time pulling out the organization she hadn't yet joined to bolster her courage—she didn't dare mention her own Liu family lineage.

"Oh, is that so!" Zhou Shuo watched the girl nodding like she was pounding garlic, and under her slightly wary gaze, pointed to the distant graveyard half-dug and said:

"Then just keep digging."

"Really, really?" Liu YanYan almost thought her ears were mistaken; she had expected to meet tonight a legendary 'Heaven's Will Enforcer' fellow outsider, but she hadn't anticipated such a sudden turn.

"If I don't let you dig, the Complete Reality will send someone else to dig; those people want you to dig up this corpse—could it be they intend to refine it into a corpse?" Zhou Shuo looked at the girl whose eyes suddenly lit up, unconsciously guessing and also feeling a bit expectant; coming specially to dig up a corpse, this corpse should have some special quality that draws attention, right?

"I don't know what they want to do, but they said if I dig up Zhang Xilin's corpse, they'll let me join the organization." Liu YanYan shook her head directly.

"Then you dig, I'll come take a look—what's special about Zhang Xilin's corpse bones? Oh, right, I forgot, you'd better not dig for now." Zhou Shuo instinctively nodded, but then suddenly remembered something and stopped Liu YanYan from continuing her work.

"What now?" Liu YanYan hadn't been happy for even a few seconds; hearing this, she felt a bit annoyed—first letting her, then not—what kind of person did she run into tonight?

"Before you dig, promise me one thing: hand over your Liu family's corpse‑driving technique. I'm a bit interested in corpse driving. If you agree, keep digging; if not, just leave!" Zhou Shuo halted Liu YanYan's preparations to continue working, laid out the condition—this corpse‑driving ability is quite interesting; as for Zhang Xilin's corpse bones, I could manage to dig them up myself if I had to.

"You want to learn corpse driving?" Liu YanYan's eyes widened suddenly as she carefully examined the silhouette under the moonlight.

"What else does your Liu family have?" Zhou Shuo looked at the girl with widened eyes, his gaze slightly lifting; the Liu family probably has more than just corpse driving, right?

"Gu cultivation." Liu YanYan answered instinctively—using talismans to command corpses, using gu to control people; this is the Hunan Liu family's supreme skill.

"Hmm, good. Corpse driving and gu cultivation—tell me about both, no problem?" Zhou Shuo gave a slight nod and asked, adding, "Anyway, if you don't comply, I can extract the answer with my fire charm technique!"

"No problem, as long as you're willing to learn; once I dig up Zhang Xilin's corpse bones." Liu YanYan's expression turned strange.

"Hmm, you work while you talk to me, and give a demonstration along the way." Zhou Shuo looked at the girl with a strange expression, glanced into the distance at the struggling zombies, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows—this family's technique doesn't seem very popular; the girl shows no cherishing feeling at all, but that's understandable, since most people don't like techniques that involve corpses and insects.

"No problem." Liu YanYan readily agreed—anything that doesn't hinder her completing the task is fine.

With everything said to this extent, what else could Zhou Shuo say? He simply stood there, watching Liu YanYan return to the graveyard; this girl really has a big heart—seeing her examine those zombies, then each take out a yellow talisman, stick it on the zombies' foreheads, and begin forming hand signs and chanting.

"How interesting!" Zhou Shuo watched the girl's actions, involuntarily narrowing his eyes, then realizing, he instinctively closed his eyes, opened them again, and used the Daoist qi‑observation method to view the past directly with his spirit—sure enough, he saw a gray‑yellow qi shimmering on Liu YanYan's hands, and the same qi flowing across the surfaces of the corpses on the ground.

The cinnabar markings on the talisman paper flashed bright, like fresh blood; the few zombies that had been beaten down and could only lie on the ground trembled violently, the broken bones inside their bodies seeming to be reconnected by an invisible qi, and then, at Liu YanYan's soft shout, several zombies involuntarily straightened up and stood.

"It's all your doing—you smashed their bones, so they have no combat ability left." Liu YanYan looked at the standing corpses, reached out to pull the yellow talismans from their foreheads, and complained at the same time.

"Is this your Liu family's corpse‑driving technique?" Zhou Shuo found it particularly intriguing and also gained a slight insight: these corpses are moved entirely by the qi within them; although they regain mobility, once their bones have been broken, if they fight again and you kick the same injured spot, they're useless.

"Impressive, huh?" Liu YanYan looked at Zhou Shuo, couldn't help but show a slightly proud expression, and without waiting for his reply she continued.

"Our Liu family's corpse‑driving method can't match your Fire Virtue Sect's technique, but it also has its own unique path—hey, are you from the Fire Virtue Sect?" Liu YanYan said, saying, then suddenly remembered something, her tone shifting: she recalled that this guy had just knocked down her zombies with pure martial arts.

"No!" Zhou Shuo directly shook his head.

"Then which school are you from?" Liu YanYan was a bit curious; this guy's lineage is really hard to discern—could he be an unknown minor character? No way, after training for over ten years, I shouldn't be unable to handle even a small fry.

"What, you want to get your revenge later?" Zhou Shuo looked at the girl, whose heart was huge—just moments ago she was scared, begging and questioning, now she's acting like a curious treasure—and he couldn't help but break into an exceedingly warm smile.

"No, no, I'm just a bit curious." Liu YanYan quickly waved her hands, withdrew her gaze, and commanded the four zombies to keep digging the grave; these zombies' legs aren't straight, their hands aren't stiff, they remain agile, but when they swing the iron shovel to shovel dirt, they're not as strong as before.

"Did you forget something?" Zhou Shuo looked at the working corpses, glanced sideways at the silent girl.

"Ah? Oh oh, I remember now." Liu YanYan heard Zhou Shuo's words, had no immediate reaction, then barely realized she had promised to explain the corpse‑driving method and gu technique; seeing no need to hide anything, she began to explain herself.

"Our Liu family's corpse‑driving method originates from ancient sorcery, blended with some Daoist secret arts—borrowing corpses to refine qi, then using qi to draw talismans, using qi to command talismans, using talismans to control corpses; if we're talking about power, the strength lies in the method's ability to draw corpse qi for one's own use, via the substitute‑body refinement technique, allowing a wave of the hand to command a horde of corpses to devour people—how's that, interesting?"

"Details!" Zhou Shuo glanced askance at the girl with the weird expression; he somewhat understood why she acted rebellious and didn't cherish her own technique's secret manual—practicing this method inevitably involves contact with corpses, and in this era who would want to hug corpses while cultivating? Truly mastering it, this girl has no psychological distortion, just a slight rebellious streak, which already makes her a good girl.

"You……, hum." Liu YanYan looked at Zhou Shuo's calm demeanor, lacking the fear and disgust she had imagined, and moreover he kept pressing for specifics of the technique, which made her inexplicably irritable; but considering his strength, she swallowed her anger and began to recite the incantations and the key points of cultivation.

As Liu YanYan was explaining the technique, the graveyard had already been completely dug open, the coffin dragged out, and Liu YanYan having roughly finished explaining the corpse‑driving method, she hurried forward, wanting a few zombies to use iron shovels to pry open the coffin.

"No need for all that trouble." Zhou Shuo looked at the dragged‑out coffin, silently apologized, then pushed the girl aside and struck the lid with a palm—*crack*—a dull thud, the solid wood lid split instantly, revealing the corpse inside.

"Hmm!" Zhou Shuo, even though he'd braced himself, still couldn't help but shrink his pupils when, in the night's unclear environment, he saw the corpse inside—'Zhang Xilin' was an old man, not particularly tall, severely dehydrated like other corpses, yet his body lacked any trace of corpse stench; using qi‑observation, his interior still retained the breath of a living person, and this posthumous condition suggests only someone who has shattered the void could achieve it.

"The qi left in this corpse—after being dead so long, it's still……" Liu YanYan stared at the corpse in the coffin, her eyes widening; she lacked Zhou Shuo's qi‑observation skill, but being born into a corpse‑driving family, she naturally had a set of methods to judge corpses and could better sense the qi field.

"Someone's coming—pick it up, let's go." Zhou Shuo's ears twitched; looking toward the Old Forest in the distance, a dark silhouette staggered through the black forest, muttering curses, the air reeking not only of stench but also of alcohol—a passing drunkard.