Chapter 6

The soul-driving bell can drive Yin souls and ghosts, and the corpse-driving whip can drive fleshly ghost fetuses. These two can be said to complement each other, and both are magic tools that can grow.

Xu Qing thought, if he had a max-level soul-driving bell in one hand and a max-level corpse-driving whip in the other, wouldn't he be able to walk sideways in the underworld?

Suppressing those seemingly unrealistic thoughts, Xu Qing's attention shifted elsewhere.

The latter rewards were similar to the infatuated scholar's "Book of Scriptures," all of which were skill books.

The first book, "Thirty-Six Corpse-Driving Incantations," recorded all the incantations that a corpse-driver might need when walking, such as the "Corpse-Rising Incantation," which can make a dead corpse sit up in surprise or stand straight up.

The "Walking Corpse Incantation" can command a corpse to walk on its own. Others include the "Turning Incantation," "Downhill Incantation," "Bridge-Crossing Incantation," "Mute Dog Incantation," etc.

After digesting it, Xu Qing also had his own insights. These basic incantations for controlling walking corpses were just like the commands shouted by a rider when riding a donkey or horse; walking fast or slow, turning, or jumping—all had their own driving methods.

The only relatively rare one was the last of the thirty-six incantations—the "Soul-Returning Incantation."

It is called an incantation, but it is more like an independent cultivation method. Learning it can allow the dead corpse's soul to attach to the body. The more deeply a corpse-driver cultivates the Soul-Returning power, the more soul the dead corpse can return, and the easier it is to drive the corpse.

Looking at the second book, "Book of Funeral and White Affairs," this is a discipline that talks about moving spirits, starting funerals, and sacrificial etiquette. Corpse-drivers often deal with the dead when walking in the Jianghu, so they will more or less dabble in one or two.

As for the "Method of Yin Track Acupuncture Points," traditional corpse-drivers will not deliberately study it. After all, they are corpse-drivers, not people who go to find dragon acupuncture points to dig up people's ancestral graves.

Doing that is too wicked!

To put it plainly, this thing was actually an external trick that Liu Youdao learned privately in order to improve himself and expand his corpse-driving business, so that he could better steal people's graves and find more "good sources of goods."

These things were all icing on the cake for Xu Qing.

The ones that were truly "sending charcoal in the snow" were "Corpse Sayings" and the "Scripture of Corpse Raising."

"Corpse Sayings" contained methods for identifying and dealing with various types of zombies, as well as detailed divisions of zombie breeds and realms by practitioners, for example, Xu Qing belonged to the lowest-level "Wandering Corpse," but the only difference was that as a Wandering Corpse, he possessed a complete consciousness.

According to "Corpse Sayings," zombie cultivation and evolution have five stages: Wandering Corpse, Prostrate Corpse, Un-decaying Bone, Flying Zombie, and the legendary Corpse Immortal.

Among them, Wandering Corpse and Prostrate Corpse each have three types and three changes. The former's three types are Iron-Armored Wandering Corpse, Silver-Armored Wandering Corpse, and Gold-Armored Wandering Corpse.

The Prostrate Corpse's three changes are Furry Zombie, Fire Zombie, and Black Zombie.

Once a zombie reaches the third major realm, it is called "Un-decaying Bone," which is also the qualitative change stage for a zombie, where it will be born with wisdom like an ordinary person, just like a newborn.

So, his current state is possessing the wisdom of the Un-decaying Bone stage and the physical strength of the Wandering Corpse stage?

Isn't this Lu Bu riding a dog?

Xu Qing pondered for a moment and then focused his attention on the last two realms.

Flying Zombie, also known as Black Fierce or Flying Night Yaksha. A zombie in this realm can already fly to the heavens and enter the earth, possessing profound cultivation with unfathomable divine power; there are few things in the world that can threaten it.

As for the legendary Corpse Immortal, it has already reached the stage of immortality and ascension.

There is a record in "Corpse Sayings" that in the near-ancient times, there was a loyal and righteous person named Yan Qingping. This person was originally an official. During the suppression of rebels, he was unfortunately captured and died by strangulation. After Yan Qingping died, his corpse did not rot and looked lifelike. Fortunately, a high-level cultivator felt his loyalty and righteousness when he was alive, so he taught him the Corpse Dao.

Yan Qingping cultivated for nearly a hundred years after this and finally ascended to the Dao in Mount Luling.

Can one also become an immortal by entering the Dao through a corpse?

Xu Qing's heart was pounding. Living people are still moved by the word "immortal," so now that he, a Wandering Corpse, learned that he had hope of touching the immortal Dao, how could there be no waves in his heart?

As for the method of zombie cultivation...

Xu Qing's mind involuntarily focused on the last reward: a "Scripture of Corpse Raising."

Logically speaking, the Scripture of Corpse Raising is a farming manual used by Liu Youdao to cultivate zombies and improve their quality. But if viewed from the results, the Scripture of Corpse Raising can raise a common Wandering Corpse to the level of a Gold-Armored Wandering Corpse under conditions of sufficient environment and materials.

The only pity is that the Gold-Armored Wandering Corpse is the cultivation upper limit of the Scripture of Corpse Raising, but not the cultivation upper limit of a zombie.

"The acquisition of materials in the Scripture of Corpse Raising is mostly related to corpse-driving. If I just find a mass grave or cemetery and lie down, I'm afraid I'll have to wait until the Year of the Monkey to cultivate into a Gold Corpse."

"Moreover, even in a cemetery, it may not be safe."

Thinking of the strange and weird things he encountered one after another after leaving Linhe Ward, Xu Qing fell into deep thought.

Humans are still "the strong eat the weak"; who can guarantee that there is no hierarchy among ghosts, monsters, and zombies?

Looking at Liu Youdao's corpse, which hadn't cooled down yet, Xu Qing suddenly seemed to think of something.

The reason Liu Youdao died, besides bad luck, was that he didn't follow the rules passed down by the older generation of corpse-drivers, which led to offending too many people, forcing him to migrate here. Even if he hadn't met the Heavenly Heart Sect demon, he would have died at the hands of others sooner or later.

In other words, if Liu Youdao had followed the rules of corpse-drivers, relying on the "status" of corpse-drivers in the martial arts world, it would be very difficult to provoke powerful figures.

Moving spirits and burying, starting funerals and driving corpses—people who do this kind of business are looked down upon by practitioners, and ordinary people are afraid to avoid them. Whether in prosperous times or chaotic times, this profession can mostly stay out of trouble.

The more Xu Qing thought, the brighter his eyes became!

Corpse-driving, corpse-raising, liberation—when these things were connected, a bold idea appeared in Xu Qing's mind.

Liu Youdao had no relatives or friends and was all alone. He could perhaps replace him, inherit his mantle, and return to that funeral shop in Linhe Ward. This way, he could avoid the invasion of demons and monsters outside the ward, and at the same time, rely on the specialty of the profession to contact the dead, liberate them, and obtain resources.

After all, who would have thought that a corpse-driver would be a zombie?

Having an idea, Xu Qing began to push the feasibility of the details.

If he wanted to return to Linhe Ward and integrate into the world of the living, the biggest obstacle was his zombie identity.

However, there was a corresponding solution for this too.

In the "Thirty-Six Corpse-Driving Incantations," there was an incantation called the "Mute Dog Incantation." It only needed to be combined with some medicinal powder to confuse the hearing of others, and even dogs with sensitive noses wouldn't be able to smell the corpse qi.

Besides this, "Corpse Sayings" and "Corpse Raising Methods" also had many ways to hide corpse qi.

Furthermore, it's normal for a corpse-driver who is often in contact with corpses to have a little corpse qi on him, right?

Xu Qing took out a gray cloth bag from Liu Youdao's body. Inside, there was not only the medicinal powder for the Mute Dog Incantation, but also spiritual incense, talismans, ink-well and ink-line, as well as cinnabar brushes, compasses, incense burners, gold and silver incense candles, and other items.

Among them, what caught Xu Qing's attention most were a pair of corpse-tooth pliers and a pair of gold corpse-scissors.

As the name suggests, these two things were tools Liu Youdao used to trim the sharp fangs and claws of zombies.

Subconsciously touching his own two-finger-long fangs, Xu Qing hardened his heart, picked up the corpse-tooth pliers, which had a higher density, and snapped all four fangs.

Then came the sharp, narrow, alienated fingernails on his hands and feet.

After finishing these, Xu Qing changed into the spare clothes from Liu Youdao's luggage.

Grass-head shoes, blue cloth robe, black belt tied around his waist—a standard corpse-driver outfit.

It seemed like something was missing. Xu Qing touched his empty waist and set his sights on Liu Youdao's corpse again.

That's it, the three corpse-driving bells on the other party's body hadn't been taken.

After taking the bells and tying them to his waist, Xu Qing, who had been completely renewed from head to toe, finally showed a harvest-time smile.

These things seemed to take a lot of time, but in reality, he used less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

After looting the corpse, he looked at the zombies still standing still in the queue.

In a flash, Xu Qing gave up the idea of liberating these zombies.

The white-robed man of the Heavenly Heart Sect was moody, used schemes to deceive the imperial court's pursuing soldiers, and even returned to kill Liu Youdao.

But Xu Qing didn't think his scheme would always work.

Those two soldiers were definitely not simple-minded people, otherwise, they couldn't have chased from the capital to here.

It's not impossible that the Company Commander named Zuo Zixiong and his companion might discover the problem at any time and return.

"Less trouble is better than more. As for these corpses..."

Xu Qing had a flash of inspiration, took out the corpse-driving whip rewarded by the Scripture of Salvation, and whipped the zombies standing still a few times.

The next moment, those zombies lifting the stretchers were like horses that had been slapped on the butt, running toward the charity morgue ahead.

After doing all this, Xu Qing didn't linger and headed straight in the direction of Linhe Ward.

Twenty li north of Liu Village Charity Morgue, Zuo Zixiong, who was running at full speed, suddenly stopped his figure.

"Bad! We've fallen for a scheme!"

Cui Yuanlong, who was following on the side, didn't understand the meaning and asked: "Zixiong, why do you say that?"

Zuo Zixiong frowned, his voice deep: "The Heavenly Heart Sect demon is extremely vicious and murderous. Since he asked the corpse-driver for directions back to the capital, why didn't he kill him to silence him, but instead left a flaw for us to discover?"

"You mean that bastard tricked us, and he didn't return to the capital at all?" Cui Yuanlong's anger flared up after hearing this. This demon was truly cunning!

"No matter. As the saying goes, 'you can run away from the monk, but you can't run away from the temple.' He was hit by my saber; he won't run far. You and I turn back and continue to chase toward the Heavenly Heart Sect branch altar. This time, no matter what, we must arrest him and take him back to the capital!"

At the same time, the quiet Liu Village Charity Morgue in the middle of the night also became lively.

A dozen or twenty men, women, old, and young, holding torches, were all looking at the team of zombies that had run into the charity morgue with disbelief.

They were not surprised that corpse-drivers would drive zombies here to store or sell; they were accustomed to it.

But this was the first time they had seen a team of zombies running to the charity morgue on their own without a corpse-driver leading the way.

"Guests are guests, don't just stand there. Quickly invite the guests into the coffins and let them rest well. Whatever happens, wait until tomorrow."

Seeing that letting them be was not an option, the charity morgue manager ordered the masters and apprentices to properly arrange these zombies, including the corpses that had cooled down on the stretchers.

As for the source of these zombies, they wouldn't pursue it.

After all, they ran a charity morgue and were responsible for the miscellaneous tasks of stopping corpses, transporting corpses, and burying corpses.

Moreover, there were so many dead people these years. These corpses weren't wearing expensive cloth, so it could be seen that they were all insignificant people when they were alive, and there was no need to treat them specially.

After a few days, when the constables came to go through the motions, in the end, those who could move would be sent to mine, and those who couldn't would be thrown into the mass grave and buried—that would be the end of it!

To tell the truth, the charity morgue wished that zombies would be driven here for free every day. After all, those sent to the mine cave had money to collect, and who wouldn't want this money delivered to their door?

The Yin qi was rich in the middle of the night. Once it reached this time, those unclean things hidden in the mountains and forests all came out.

Xu Qing walked on the road he had come on, but he didn't feel the Yin cold; instead, he felt the comfort of a fish entering water or a tiger returning to the forest.

"I really have become an unclean thing."

Xu Qing felt melancholy in his heart, but it was only for a brief moment before he became spirited again.

"Didn't heroic figures like Yan Qingping also cultivate the Corpse Dao, and in the end, they ascended? Isn't this better than some people who live mediocre lives for decades and completely turn into smoke after death?"

"So what if I'm a zombie! I didn't eat your family's sticky rice!"

Xu Qing instantly became righteous. When he was alive, he worked like a horse and ox; now that he was dead, what was he still "internal-consuming" for!

Walking alone at night has this one disadvantage: it's easy to think about all sorts of things.

Arriving at the mass grave he had passed earlier, Xu Qing glanced to the side, only to see a yellow weasel biting a chicken and drilling into a grave hole.

He immediately thought of the "dirty thing" that had climbed onto his head to catch a free ride when he came.

So that thing was you!

Xu Qing smacked his lips. Seeing the yellow weasel drill into the grave and disappear, he withdrew his gaze and continued on his way.

This time he didn't walk far before he met a familiar "ghost."

I saw a red-clothed figure with a graceful figure carrying a sheep, drifting toward him happily.

Xu Qing cleared the way and let her pass first.

The female ghost looked at him, giggled, and then her figure disappeared on the spot. When she appeared again, she was already several zhang away from him.

No, sister, you really stole a sheep from that shepherd?

Xu Qing looked at the direction the red-clothed female ghost left, then looked at the wild mountain path leading to Linhe Ward.

Tsk, it's really lively tonight; I just don't know how many orioles and how many cicadas there are.

Walking to the end of the dirt road, Xu Qing didn't encounter the shepherd who lost his sheep again.

Passing through the forest, walking onto the official road, and following the direction in his memory, it didn't take long before he returned to Linhe Ward.

At the fourth watch, although there were no human shadows on the streets in the ward, Xu Qing could clearly perceive the "human qi" wrapped in those houses and courtyards.

This was the predatory instinct formed after he became a zombie.

Just like a cat can smell the mouse scent deep in a hole through the entrance.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Qing's stomach actually made a slight rumbling sound.

That's right, tonight is a moonless night, and he had walked for most of the night without any moonlight or lunar essence to replenish his energy; it would be strange if he weren't hungry.

However, if you really take it seriously, a zombie is the most hunger-resistant thing. Even if it were hungry for ten or eight years, it wouldn't necessarily have any problems. This is because their hunger is not the hunger of not being full, but the hunger of wanting to go further and become a stronger zombie!

In order not to attract disaster, Xu Qing took out the medicinal powder from the bag and sprinkled it on his body. At the same time, he pinched the "Mute Dog Incantation" from the "Thirty-Six Corpse-Driving Incantations."

I don't know if it was because he was a zombie himself, but after casting the Mute Dog Incantation, Xu Qing clearly felt that the power of this incantation was much greater. The qi exposed on his body was all gathered into his seven orifices in an instant!

Because he closed his nasal orifice too fiercely, he even sneezed several times in a row.

In this way, the external qi was gathered in his body, and the special medicinal powder covering the corpse qi on his body surface made him truly become a normal person!

Xu Qing followed his memory and searched according to the map, first passing the street where the Cui Family Mill was located, then turning around several times, and arriving at the entrance of Jingxia Street, where funeral shops were lined up.

(End of chapter)