Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 374 Using Corpses to Control Corpses
Within the thin mist, the hideous ghostly figure flashed and disappeared, hiding deep within the fog.

Upon witnessing this scene, Ran Qing and the other two exchanged bewildered glances, their hearts filled with shock.

—The flying zombies were actually following them!
Moreover, they followed each other all the way without even noticing Ran Qing, a person who travels through the underworld.

Ran Qing was extremely stunned.

Long Zongshu was even more shocked: "That's Uncle Ran's corpse? That's impossible!"

Long Zongshu said incredulously, "He only became a flying zombie yesterday afternoon. Even at his fastest, it will take him two or three days to find his family."

"Why were they able to stay with us all the way, and why didn't the flame on my shoulder react at all?"

As a person who walks the path of the dead, it's understandable that Ran Qing, who isn't a professional at dealing with zombies, wouldn't notice them.

But the flame on Long Zongshu's shoulder is for dealing with mountain monsters and zombies.

A zombie was following them, and so closely at that, yet he didn't notice at all... This completely defied common sense.

Seeing the three young people's surprise, Old Master Long snorted coldly.

He slapped his grandson on the head and said, "Young man, don't be so naive."

“Evil spirits and monsters cannot be understood in the way of common sense.”

"The experience and skills that the elders talk about are a summary of the commonalities of most evil spirits and have been passed down. They make a lot of sense, but you can't believe them all."

"Conventional rules are meant to be broken!"

"You brat, you're still a high school student, and you don't even understand the principle that it's better to have no books than to believe everything you read."

The old man glared at his grandson and scolded, "Your grades aren't very good either, so why are you acting like a bookworm, unable to adapt?"

"It's just a flying zombie that's been following you, what's the big deal?"

The old man scolded his grandson without any politeness, leaving the already introverted and timid Long Zongshu completely stunned. He didn't dare to say a word, standing stiffly with his head down, like a quail.

Ran Qing and Mo Li stood to the side, feeling somewhat awkward.

Ran Qing, in particular, could vaguely guess that the reason why Old Master Long was angry was because there were two outsiders present.

If it weren't for those two outsiders, Grandpa Long would most likely not have lost his temper, but would have explained things to his grandson properly.

However, because there were outsiders present, Zong Shu's startled reaction made the old man feel somewhat embarrassed, which is why he reprimanded him.

Thinking of this, Ran Qing quickly changed the subject to help Zong Shu out of the predicament.

"...Grandpa, since that flying zombie is already tracking us, why don't we just attack it on the way?"

Ran Qing asked with some confusion and curiosity, "Since it has already come here, it means that its humanity has disappeared from its body and it is completely controlled by the bloodthirsty instinct of a zombie."

"But it only tracks without taking action... What's the reason for that?"

The body of Ran Jianfei after his death was extremely strange.

First of all, the fact that it turned into a flying zombie is very strange and absurd.

Now that it has become a flying zombie, its behavior is also strange, sneaky, and illogical.

When Ran Qing asked him a question, Grandpa Long's expression softened considerably.

He tilted his head to look at the thick fog below the road and said, "...I'm not too sure about that, but your father's body is not an ordinary case of a reanimated corpse."

"He's using corpses to control corpses. I've only ever heard people talk about this weird thing."

"What I can say for sure is that the source of its transformation was the zombie he created in his previous life."

"But why that zombie could control other zombies is something that can only be found by studying the secret techniques passed down in your Ran family."

As the old man spoke, seeing Ran Qing's bewildered expression, he shook his head and added, "There's another possibility, which is simply divine retribution..."

The old man spoke of divine retribution in a very tactful way: "The profession of corpse refining is inherently evil and domineering, and it is against the harmony of heaven and earth, so it is easy to invite disaster." "Throughout history, there have been quite a few corpse refining masters who turned into corpses after death."

"Some even die suddenly and inexplicably while still alive, turn into zombies, or grow strange green or red hair, their later years are uncertain..."

The old man put it very tactfully.

But the subtext is obvious.

—Your Ran family's grave robbing and corpse refining is the most immoral thing you can do, so it's normal that you're being punished by heaven.

Ran Jianfei's corpse may simply have been a victim of divine retribution.

It is not uncommon for unorthodox practitioners to commit evil deeds and incur divine retribution.

However, these omens usually manifest before death, such as contracting inexplicable illnesses or suffering from inexplicable boils.

Perhaps the reanimation of the dead is a divine punishment that only those with a lineage of corpse-refining like the Ran family are prone to encounter...

But if it really is divine retribution, then what's the story behind that strange female corpse coming to our door?
Ran Qing was about to ask more questions when Old Master Long continued, "Anyway, there are only two possibilities. Go back and look through the family's secret techniques to see if you can find anything related to controlling corpses with corpses."

"Otherwise, we should try to capture that female corpse; it might be the source."

"However, that female corpse might be very strange, because it didn't appear around here. I only saw your father's body."

As he spoke, Grandpa Long looked around at the thick fog with a solemn expression and listened intently.

I don't know what they're listening to.

But after a few minutes, the old man shook his head and said, "...The female corpse did not come; only your father came."

"This is very strange. A person controls a corpse. Logically speaking, the corpse should not be separated from its master."

"Could it be that this method of controlling corpses with corpses allows them to act separately?"

As he spoke, Old Master Long fell into deep thought, his lips moving as he murmured something unintelligible.

Clearly, this unexpected incident also surprised this seasoned veteran.

Finally, Grandpa Long handed a bamboo basket to Ran Qing.

Inside the bamboo basket were many small balls woven from bamboo strips.

Each of these bamboo balls is about the size of a fist and has many holes of varying sizes. Upon closer inspection, one can see many strange small red characters written on the rough, flat side of the bamboo strips.

These small characters were not any kind of square characters that Ran Qing and the others recognized; they were more like strange scribbles.

It looks... very much like the ancient script used by the spirit mediums to cast spells.

However, Ran Qing tried hard to recall, but the words written on the bamboo strip did not appear in "Witchcraft and Spiritual Arts".

However, there aren't many ancient texts in "Witchcraft and Spiritual Arts" when you count them all.

The Long clan's heritage was indeed derived from the skills of the local people of Zangke.

At least this writing style is almost identical to that of the spirit mediums...

"Take these back and smash them whenever you see a flying zombie. They'll stick to the flying zombie after you hit it."

"Each one stuck to the body will slow down the flying zombie's movements by one point."

"If you smash five or six of them on your body, even if it's a drought demon appearing in the world, you'll be lying on the ground unable to move."

The old man explained how to use this bamboo ball with a cheerful smile.

What he was weaving while kneeling before the ancestral tablets of Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher was clearly these bamboo balls.

(End of this chapter)