Chapter 91: Wedding Banquet

The sixth month was sweltering, truly the height of summer.

Xu Qing had been busy lately; besides needing to spare time to tend to the corpses planted in his courtyard at Shuimen Bridge, which were nearly bearing fruit to produce Chang soldiers, the great talent Wu Zhiyuan from the neighboring paper effigy shop had also sent him a wedding invitation.

Ever since Wu Zhiyuan topped the list as a Shengyuan candidate, the threshold of the paper effigy shop had nearly been trampled rotten by passing matchmakers.

Wu Zhiyuan was already born with delicate features, and coupled with the fame of ranking first in the prefectural examination, even though his family dealt in funeral business, it could not stop matchmakers from building bridges.

As the saying goes, when one's gate is cold, carriages and horses are sparse; but once one becomes famous, the whole world knows.

Zhang Yong, the chief official of Baisha County, heard of the Wu brothers' names and privately visited in plain clothes to investigate.

The result was exactly as rumored in the markets: Wu Zhiyuan truly possessed the fine qualities of a youth, and his speech was extremely proper; given time, he would surely be like a dragon in a pond, leaping up to soar.

Zhang Yong had two daughters; the eldest had already recruited a matrilocal husband, leaving only the youngest daughter waiting in her boudoir, yet unmarried.

He took a fancy to Wu Zhiyuan's talent, so he specifically begged a go-between to mediate, wishing to take Wu Zhiyuan as a son-in-law and forge a bond between the two families.

To sway Wu Zhiyuan, Zhang Yong claimed his household possessed many books and connections to famous teachers, promising to pave the way for him in the future and fully support his pursuit of official rank.

Although the Wu family originated from muddy-legged commoners and had operated a paper effigy shop for generations, they were not snobbish people.

During this period, Wu Zhiyuan visited the county magistrate's residence as a guest; ostensibly it was a social call, but in reality, it was an investigation.

Midway through, he successfully managed to catch a glimpse of Miss Zhang; her temperament was quite gentle and refined, and her appearance was above average.

The two exchanged glances, a case of mutual affection where the young man's love met the young lady's devotion.

Consequently, at the end of the fifth month, both families selected an auspicious day, and thus Xu Qing received the wedding banquet invitation.

"The County Magistrate Zhang's daughter?"

Xu Qing immediately thought of that young lady of the county magistrate who possessed the innate Saint Body of Grinding Tofu.

However, after he asked Wu Zhiyuan for her name, he learned that the young lady who loved dressing as a man to visit brothels and listen to songs was actually the county magistrate's eldest daughter, who had long since recruited a matrilocal husband.

"Zhiyuan, are you truly going to become that matrilocal husband?"

Wu Zhiyuan shook his head and said, "If I marry, I cannot possibly have Miss Zhang live with me in the paper effigy shop; the County Lord cherishes his reputation and is unwilling to let his beloved daughter marry in humiliation, so he has asked me to temporarily reside in the Zhang residence; this is not becoming a matrilocal husband."

"The County Lord has also made it clear that once I establish myself and achieve success in the future, I may move out of the residence to set up an independent household."

Xu Qing nodded and said, "Put that way, it does seem reasonable. However, County Lord Zhang ultimately has no son to continue the family lineage and offer sacrifices."

"Just don't let this acting become real in the end, truly turning you into a matrilocal husband, or else your father will probably come to me every day to complain."

"Brother Xu, rest assured; although my name, Wu Zhiyuan, is not particularly brilliant, I do possess this much backbone."

Wu Zhiyuan laughed heartily, radiating the joy of someone experiencing a happy event.

Watching Wu Zhiyuan depart, Xu Qing unfolded the invitation and glanced at the date.

It turned out to be only one day apart from the funeral date previously arranged with Hu Baosong.

Well, his schedule was truly busy enough!

At dusk, a woman wearing a fragrant-ash-colored embroidered jacket arrived at the coroner's shop.

Xu Qing took one look and saw she wore a circle of flower-embroidered green silk on her head; her appearance was quite familiar.

"Yo, isn't this Matchmaker Wang? Have you come to introduce some business to me?"

"Pah, pah, pah! Pure nonsense!"

"I am a matchmaker who ties red threads and builds bridges; why would I run here to introduce business to you?"

"Then what brings you here?"

"Licentiate Xu, Auntie asks you: do you want a delicate, charming young lady?"

"."

Xu Qing straightened his body and answered obliquely, "Sister Wang suddenly coming to find me, could it be that someone behind the scenes has requested this?"

"No wonder you are a Licentiate; your brain turns so fast!" Matchmaker Wang pinched her small handkerchief, leaned closer, and said with a beaming smile, "Auntie heard from Wu Yaoxing that you ranked fourth among the Shengyuan candidates in the prefectural examination yet still have no wife. Thus, Master Wan, who runs a big business at Caishi Kou, heard of this and wishes to pair his daughter with Young Master Xu."

"Young Master Xu is of Licentiate status; this funeral shop is ultimately not a long-term solution. If you pass the provincial examination in the future, you might even earn an official post."

"Master Wan, hearing that Young Master Xu has no family or relatives, specifically instructed that he is willing to vacate a residence for Young Master Xu's daily living and is willing to fund your studies to pursue official rank."

Xu Qing glanced at Xuan Yu, who was sitting behind the counter watching the fun without caring about the trouble, thinking that Wu Yaoxing really knew how to find trouble for himself.

His funeral shop was running perfectly well; he had assumed no one would visit such an unlucky place, yet he never expected that one day a matchmaker would actually come to tie a red thread for him.

Xu Qing felt a spark of joy in his heart, finding it quite amusing.

Since he had nothing else to do at the moment, he simply started chatting with Matchmaker Wang.

He began by asking what kind of business Master Wan of Caishi Kou conducted and how large the betrothal gifts were.

One must know that in any matrilocal marriage, the woman's side provides the betrothal gifts, while the man provides the dowry.

Xu Qing thought that if there weren't a thousand or eight hundred corpses, it would hardly be enough to betroth him into the family.

"Master Wan runs a big business; there is profit to be made every day. Even with just two meals a day, every meal includes big fish and large chunks of meat; he will absolutely not treat Licentiate Xu poorly."

"Could you possibly be talking about Butcher Wan, the pig slaughterer at Caishi Kou?"

"How can you say that? Although Master Wan is a butcher, he is the number one figure in the Slaughter Pavilion; no matter how you look at it, his business is more thriving than what Licentiate Xu is doing now..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing's expression immediately became spectacular; he had thought it was some wealthy household, only to find it was that butcher who often sold him pig blood.

He had also heard a little about the man's daughter; she could indeed be called a young lady of a thousand gold, but not in the metaphorical sense of preciousness, but literally weighing a thousand jin.

Xu Qing compared himself to his neighbor Wu Zhiyuan.

Well, after eating melon seeds watching the drama, he had ended up becoming the joke himself.

"Sister Wang, do not come to me for matchmaking matters in the future; I have no interest in these things. However, if you have funeral business, you are welcome to come anytime; the reward money will certainly not be lacking."

After seeing Matchmaker Wang off, Xu Qing asked Xuan Yu to guard the shop while he returned alone to Shuimen Bridge.

In this feng shui treasure residence, a hundred corpses, nurtured by the burial earth, had already accumulated enough dense yin evil qi to refine a Chang General.

Xu Qing set up an incense altar, with a Chang banner laid horizontally on the offering table.

Earlier, when he had performed superstitution rites for a colleague, he had obtained a method for raising Chang ghost soldiers, as well as a Chang banner to command Chang Generals.

Now that the ritual was complete and the yin evil qi had gathered into clouds, it was precisely the right time for him to cultivate and refine Chang General ghost soldiers!

Holding three sticks of incense, Xu Qing lit them and performed the ritual; once the spiritual incense in the censer stirred the yin sha within the courtyard, he began chanting the 'Chang Soldier Conscription Curse'.

"Zhengyi's single wound, the leader turns to virtue.

The Celestial Master has issued a decree: swiftly capture the source of calamity.

Penetrate the nine earths, kill ghosts and seize the wounded."

While chanting the Chang Soldier Conscription Curse, Xu Qing waved the chang flag; instantly, a fierce yin wind surged through the courtyard, and the corpses buried underground, like bamboo shoots after spring rain, burst forth one after another, revealing skull after skull.

Driven by the curse words, the skeletons each rotated their cervical bones, looking toward the location of the ritual altar as if paying homage.

Xu Qing seemed oblivious, allowing ring after ring of surrounding skulls to gape and hiss at him.

Dark red qi of death and evil gushed from the skeletons' mouths; like snakes flicking their tongues, they spat out wisps of blood-colored smoke that merged into the array diagram carved before Xu Qing.

"Blessings descend upon the good, calamities upon the evil.

The wicked hate me; let them all die in retribution for their injuries.

I now command you to run wildly and without restraint."

Once the Chang Soldier Conscription Curse was finished chanting, the sound of firecrackers bursting suddenly rang out in the courtyard, and all one hundred skulls turned entirely into white powder.

"Withdraw!"

Xu Qing formed the Chang Seal with his fingers, and immediately, streaks of blood-colored runes ignited upon the chang flag in his hand.

Those runes gathered in the center of the flag's surface; as the light faded, an ancient pictographic character for 'chang' appeared upon the flag.

Feeling the mysterious resonance emanating from within the chang flag, Xu Qing could barely contain his excitement.

This would be his first chang general and yin soldier, but absolutely not his last.

As a Zombie King, wouldn't it be quite reasonable to go out leading an army formation of a thousand chang soldiers, or perhaps a formation of ten thousand?

Xu Qing scanned the courtyard; apart from the area of the array diagram carved on the ground before him, there was not a trace of yin qi anywhere else.

The qi of death and evil in this courtyard had already been completely devoured by the nurtured chang general.

Show yourself, little darling!

Gazing at the small patch of ground before him where the yin sha qi had condensed to an extreme density, Xu Qing's anticipation was overflowing.

With a slight movement of his thought, a sinister red glow surged from the chang flag in his hand.

The ground where the yin sha had condensed suddenly began to tremble, and black qi of death radiated outward through the soil.

Xu Qing's eyebrows lifted slightly; this disturbance seemed somewhat greater than he had imagined.

In the courtyard, the chang general, condensed from the sha qi of a hundred corpses, slowly crawled out of the ground; the first part to emerge was a bare bone hand shrouded in black mist, over two chi long and about one chi two cun wide, stretching out larger than a palm-leaf fan by a full circle, and when curled into a fist, it was the size of a jar for sauce or wine, truly terrifying!

Could it be that this little darling of mine is a bit too large?

As the chang general broke through the earth, the ground before the incense table and ritual altar, where the array patterns were carved, seemed as if an earth dragon had turned over, cracking inch by inch.

Xu Qing watched with his own eyes as a demon with deep crimson skin and a body as large as a pavilion canopy appeared before him.

The 'Records of Minzhong' once recorded: "In the mountains of Gailing there exists a creature shaped like a large jar, with a head like a pig, ox hooves, a rabbit's tail, and a size exceeding that of a dog; it is skilled at devouring humans, greedy and fierce by nature, and its cry resembles the wailing of an infant. Once it has eaten someone, it kills them; when people see it, it vanishes into the earth and is never seen again."

Legend has it that the chang was born from the union of a dragon and a pig; although the form of a chang general is human-like, it similarly possesses the alien characteristics of ox hooves and a demonic head.

At this moment, the chang general before his eyes stood silently in attendance before Xu Qing, emitting no sound whatsoever.

Xu Qing was also unclear whether the chang general's cry would be as loud and clear as the wailing of an infant.

"This thing is too large in size, but fortunately, it can be stored within the chang flag."

Although the chang general before his eyes appeared to possess a physical form, Xu Qing knew clearly in his heart that if one were to examine its true essence, these chang generals and yin soldiers were still aggregates of yin sha qi; while they could obey orders and act, they possessed no self-aware spiritual consciousness.

Xu Qing intended to test the chang general's strength, yet he feared damaging his own residence.

After pondering the matter, he raised his hand and threw an abandoned stone roller from the courtyard into the air.

The chang general's left hand gathered sha qi; with merely a raised hand and a virtual grip, the stone roller weighing several hundred jin was enveloped by the sha qi and halted mid-air.

The bone claw, the size of a jar, closed virtually, and the stone roller instantly became like a snowball slapped apart, turning into a handful of greenish-white stone dust.

The chang general silently withdrew its hand.

Seeing this, Xu Qing felt delighted in his heart; this chang general's abilities far exceeded his expectations. Judging by the force he had used to throw the stone roller, merely suspending it would require at least a century of cultivation.

Even for a martial practitioner, only an experienced Condensed Gang Martial Master could withstand such a feat.

After storing the chang general into the chang flag, Xu Qing turned to look at his courtyard.

He saw over a hundred earthen pits on the ground, looking as if radishes had just been pulled up.

Taking an iron shovel and digging down, he found that the corpses originally buried at the bottom of the pits had already turned into grayish-white bone powder; not a single intact corpse remained.

Feeling the yin sha qi in the courtyard had nearly dissipated completely, Xu Qing felt uncomfortable all over.

Zombies are by nature fond of great misfortune; if this feng shui treasure land ceased to be ominous, how could he continue to live here?

For the first time, Xu Qing felt worry.

"What can resolve worry? Only collecting corpses."

On this night, a zombie gazed at the moon and sighed.

The fourth day of the sixth lunar month: suitable for weddings and moving house; avoid opening businesses and breaking ground.

Invited by Wu Zhiyuan, Xu Qing went to Baisha County to attend a wedding banquet.

Before leaving Jingxia Street, he specifically detoured into Hu Baosong's coffin shop.

Hu Baosong, already emaciated, appeared even more withered now, as if a single gust of wind would scatter him into a pile of dead branches.

"We haven't seen each other for a few days; how did you end up looking like this?"

Xu Qing frowned slightly, catching sight of the neatly stacked burial clothes resting on the other's knees.

Hu Baosong had no children of his own; when others asked, he often responded with various explanations.

Sometimes he claimed that his brothers and nephews were insatiably greedy, seizing his family property, so he had severed ties with them and come here to seek a livelihood.

Other times he said he had fled disaster and hardship, becoming separated from his relatives along the way, forcing him to make a living alone.

However, the version Old Hu told most often was that in his youth he had dallied with too many beautiful women, and to avoid their entanglements, he had come here to open a coffin shop, seeking a quiet life.

But regardless of the reason, there was only one result: the old man was a lonely widower with no family or friends to care for him.

"Old Hu, I have some pills here, spiritual elixirs I once obtained from the Chuma Immortals; though they cannot extend your life, I imagine they can restore some of your spirit."

Hearing this, Hu Baosong smiled, then shook his head and said:

"This old one has already lived for over two hundred years; now my final limit has arrived, and this body has long been drained into an empty shell. Even if I consume more miraculous medicine, it will be of no avail."

After a pause, Hu Baosong suddenly looked at Xu Qing, smiled, and said:

"Young Xu, I actually misjudged you; among all the people I have met, you are the one with the most humanity."

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow.

He thought to himself that you must be truly unlucky; the only person you've met with any humanity isn't even a living being.

"Old Hu, that boy from the Wu family is getting married today right here in Baisha County; it's only a few dozen li round trip. How about I take you to attend the banquet? Let's soak up some joy before the end."

A hint of brightness suddenly appeared in Hu Baosong's cloudy eyes.

"Then let's go soak up some joy?"

"Right now!"

Xu Qing chuckled, closed the shop door, and took Hu Baosong along to board a carriage heading to Baisha County.

【133】 "Old Hu, let me put some makeup on you; if we dress you up looking spirited, I guarantee the little old ladies at the wedding banquet won't be able to walk away when they see you!"

"Old Hu, let me put some makeup on you; if we dress you up looking spirited, I guarantee those little old ladies at the wedding banquet won't be able to tear their eyes off you!"

Xu Qing often practiced his skills using corpse embalming, so his makeup artistry was already incomparably skilled; at this moment, he took out a makeup box and, in no time at all, applied living-person makeup to Hu Baosong.

Passing by a secondhand clothing shop, Xu Qing asked the Shopkeeper to pick out a brand-new set of robes, hat, and headgear for the old man, and the Shopkeeper kept praising him for being filial.

Hu Baosong looked radiant; although he had not consumed any spiritual elixirs, he seemed to have become ten-plus years younger, walking with such vigor that wind whistled around him.

"Young Xu, for cultivators, time holds no meaning; yet no matter how long one lives, even if one reaches five hundred or a thousand years, in the end it all amounts to nothing."

"It is better to meet good people while young and bear children." Speaking thus, Hu Baosong suddenly smiled and said, "If you ask me, what is immortality? If one's bloodline continues and the ancestral incense never ceases, that is immortality."

"Young Xu, this old one is a warning from the past; you must weigh things clearly in the future, so you don't end up suffering my same fate."

Xu Qing smiled slightly but did not respond.

Zombies reproducing offspring? He had never heard of such a thing.

Furthermore, living only five hundred or a thousand years was far underestimating him.

"Let's set a small goal: first, just 'live' for ten thousand years!"

(End of Chapter)