Chapter 17: 16. Awakening the Corpse

16. Raise a zombie

"With this ticket of mine, there’s no problem!" Yang Rui waved his hand and said, "This ticket I gave you from Yongsheng Distillery bears the Wen family’s official seal—ordinary distillery worker tickets don’t have this."

Just show up at the distillery with the ticket!"

Zhou Sanji tucked the "worker ticket" into his pocket and beamed at Zhou Chang: "That’s right—when your big uncle steps in, there’s never any issue; I’m not the least bit worried."

"I’ll go buy some Ergou Village liquor later, and tonight we’ll have a good drink together, Senior Brother!"

"Huh?"

"Didn’t you say you’d buy me Yongsheng liquor? Why did the ticket suddenly turn into Ergou Village liquor?" Yang Rui raised an eyebrow and teased Zhou Sanji a bit more.

But he knew Yongsheng liquor was expensive, so he wasn’t truly demanding his junior brother buy it as thanks.

Thus, after teasing Zhou Sanji, he let the matter drop.

He turned back to Zhou Chang, who looked like he wanted to speak but held back, and smiled: "Now your big uncle has taken care of your problem—what else do you want to ask? Say it all at once."

"How long do I need to work at Yongsheng Distillery to fully reverse the 'Zhen Corpse Destiny'?" Zhou Chang asked, locking eyes with Yang Rui.

Yang Rui froze for a moment.

Behind him, Zhou Sanji hurriedly told Zhou Chang: "What’s the rush?

Once you get to the distillery, you’ll need to stay there quietly for two or three years first, until your condition stabilizes before thinking about anything else..."

Zhou Chang said nothing, only stared intently into Yang Rui’s eyes.

"Ah... don’t bother trying to soothe him—he won’t be fooled..." Yang Rui sighed helplessly, then spoke to Zhou Chang: "You’ve probably guessed already, haven’t you? The 'Zhen Corpse Destiny' is truly irreversible.

Once you’ve entered the 'Ghost-Dead Eight Characters' destiny, you either ignore it entirely until you become a 'Lao Zhen,' or—as I said—you must use various methods to suppress the lingering feast-qi and delusions, slowing the zhen corpse’s gestation.

If you lose control, the zhen corpse will gestate rapidly.

At first, it only consumes feast-qi and delusions; later, it devours spirits that might become Xiang Mo. The more 'nourishment' it gains, the sooner the gestation accelerates!"

Yang Rui paused, raising his eyes to look at Zhou Chang.

From Zhou Chang’s face, he detected no clear emotion, making it impossible to gauge his inner state.

He tried to comfort him: "But don’t be overly worried—there are many ways to delay the zhen corpse’s gestation. Right now, your home is right next to Yongsheng Distillery, so working there solves your immediate crisis.

Further out—Qingyi Town borders the Secret Treasury Region and has always been the mandatory route for caravan teams transporting tea and silk into the Secret Treasury. When wealthy individuals who once worked there die, their bodies must be returned home, requiring corpse-driving teams to carry them back. These caravan folk and corpse drivers always rest at the 'Mengshan Iron Threshold Charity Hall' outside Qingyi Town on the first and thirtieth days of each month.

Never mind that the caravan folk are all extraordinary individuals; just consider the corpse drivers—they possess a technique called 'Raising a Zombie,' which allows them to expel their own delusions and purge corpse poison. This method could help you too.

If you can learn 'Raising a Zombie' from them, you won’t even need to work at the distillery."

No sooner had Yang Rui finished than Zhou Sanji shook his head, lips curled: "Those Xiangxi people’s techniques aren’t easy to learn..."

Zhou Chang absorbed Yang Rui’s words, then turned to Zhou Sanji: "Can’t I learn your methods as a Daoist priest? Aren’t your techniques useful for my current condition?"

As soon as he spoke, both Zhou Sanji and Yang Rui burst into laughter.

The smiles on both old men’s faces were cold.

Yang Rui said nothing, his gaze fixed on his newly taken disciple.

Zhou Sanji sneered at Zhou Chang: "I’d rather find a way to get you learning 'Raising a Zombie' from those Xiangxi folk!

Daoist priests are mere servants to the gods—every farmer knows: better to till the soil than serve others. Serving people is already miserable—what about serving gods?

Remember four words: Proximity to the Divine is Dangerous!

Don’t even think of approaching the gods; those deities who raise banners are no less terrifying than Xiang Mo!"

In this world, gods are even more dangerous than Xiang Mo!

From the expressions of the two elders, Zhou Chang sensed crucial information.

His pupils contracted slightly, and seizing the moment, he asked: "What do you mean by 'gods who raise banners'?"

"Those who hold banners may be called gods—only entities that wield the Divine Banner can truly be called gods.

Your grandfather’s phrase, 'gods who raise banners,' is simply a colloquial term for 'Divine Banner.' Yang Rui explained to Zhou Chang: "There are many Divine Banners in the mortal world; each is like a flag. These banners can attach to any living or dead thing—once they choose a vessel, a common god is born.

That means, if an Xiang Mo controls a Divine Banner, it can become a god; if a mortal controls one, they instantly become a god—even a roadside stone, if chosen by a Divine Banner, becomes a common god.

Thus, only those who raise banners can be called gods.

Those who don’t raise banners are not gods."

"Can common gods kill Xiang Mo?" Zhou Chang asked again.

Yang Rui’s expression grew unusually grave as he heard the question. He shook his head: "I’ve heard rumors, but as mere mortals, how could we possibly know the details?

Xiang Mo and common gods... none of them are easily dealt with.

I once heard of a method: Xiang Mo form from the aggregation of delusions and feast-qi from all things, and every thing has its own fears. Xiang Mo, too, have their own specific fears.

If you become the natural enemy of a particular Xiang Mo, you can suppress many of them.

For example, rats fear cats—so an Xiang Mo formed primarily from rat delusions would likely fear cats too; even an ordinary house cat could drive such an Xiang Mo away.

When encountering such an Xiang Mo, holding a cat is far more effective and faster than any other method."

At that moment, Yang Rui suddenly reached out and pinched the shoulder of the boy beside him, "Stone Egg." He continued: "My newly taken disciple might also be possessed by a spirit—I’m searching for ways to suppress Xiang Mo and thought-ghosts. That’s why I came to Qingyi Town: first, to help your grandfather resolve your issue; second, to bring him to Yongsheng Distillery to see if we can expel the spirit clinging to him."

"He’s also possessed? How?" Zhou Sanji stared at Stone Egg on the stool, astonished and terrified—he couldn’t see any sign the boy was possessed by a thought-ghost.

Zhou Chang’s gaze also turned to Stone Egg.

Stone Egg, having been pinched by Yang Rui, showed a fleeting flash of panic on his otherwise calm face.

"It’s only a possibility—his behavior sometimes deviates from normal," Yang Rui said, frowning as he looked at Stone Egg. "And he’s an orphan; his hometown is extremely far from Sichuan—Sichuan is in the southwest, but his home is in the northeast.

Yet this child, under twelve years old, suddenly appeared in Sichuan. When asked how he got here, he has no memory at all.

So I suspect a spirit possessed him and brought him here.

Sometimes he acts like a different person, calling himself 'Yellow Immortal'—this Yellow Immortal is likely the Yellow Weasel Ghost from the northeast.

Right now, I’m only speculating; whether this is true, I need to observe more. But sending him to work at the distillery won’t hurt him."

"The northeast is truly tens of thousands of miles from here...

How did you even get here? Do you really not remember?" Zhou Sanji exclaimed, turning to Stone Egg.

Stone Egg kept a stoic expression and shook his head silently.

Zhou Chang watched Stone Egg’s strained composure for a moment, then glanced at Yang Rui—and suddenly felt something strange about this master and apprentice pair.

Zhou Chang looked at Shi Danshi, who was trying hard to maintain a calm demeanor, then glanced at Yang Rui, and suddenly felt that this master and apprentice pair were somewhat strange.