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Chapter 55 Song of Duel
"The Song of the Yin Ghost's Bait (Level 1)".

“Contamination level: High”

"Effect 1: Part of your body begins to necrify, and you can gain some half-zombie abilities (extended breath-holding time, slight resistance to normal attacks)."

"Effect 2: Once a day, you can temporarily obscure the senses of certain monsters by covering your body with yin energy."

"The side effect of this verse: ignorance and numbness."

"Impact Effect: Whenever you use this spell's active effect, or increase the spell's level, you will gradually lose your sense of bodily sensation. First, it will be pain, then pleasure, then taste, then touch. In the end, you will only become a monster that can see, speak, and hear, but can feel nothing."

"The human body's internal organs can communicate with the divine; above are the spirits, below are the ghosts. This verse allows one to nourish one's own ghost with the flesh and blood of oneself or others, thereby gaining all sorts of incredible powers. But in any case, all cultivators will eventually become a hopeless walking corpse."

System notification: Since this incantation is incomplete, you can spend 2500 Soul Stones to directly remove its effect.

Zhou You directly selected "No".

First, he didn't have enough money. Second, according to the instructions, the negative effects of this item increased based on the number of times it was used and the user's cultivation level. As for his current situation...
Zhou You pinched his cheek.

I can still feel the pain, but from the perspective of sensation, it seems to be slightly dulled.

It wasn't a big deal for the time being, but it suddenly reminded him of a problem.

"By the way, I previously obtained a Death Curse Sanskrit chant. If that thing is in a corrupted state, how much would it cost to remove it?"

Zhou You was just asking the system out of habit, not expecting an answer, but to his surprise, the system gave a clean and efficient response.

"The Death Curse is of a high grade. If the effect is to be removed directly through a Soul Stone, the cost will be..."

"300000 point."

Zhou You went over the number in his mind again to make sure he hadn't added two extra zeros.

Okay, sorry to bother you.

The old Taoist priest just watched Zhou You stand there dumbfounded without asking any questions, but suddenly spoke.

"Disciple, the teachings have been passed on, and you now have some ability to protect yourself in this place teeming with demons and ghosts. Shouldn't we... set off on our journey?"

Zhou You glanced at the head sideways, then nodded.

"Yes, Master, it's time for us to get going."

He emphasized the word 'master'.
-
According to the old Taoist priest, his Taoist temple was located on the outskirts of Changhua County.

Zhou You didn't know where this place was either. He only knew that according to the old Taoist priest, it would take at least a month to walk there on foot.

In terms of distance, it's not exactly close. If possible, Zhou You would like to find something to get around with—he had scavenged some silver from the pig demon's lair. It might not be enough to buy a horse, but it would definitely be more than enough to get a mule.

—But the problem is, this only applies if there are people willing to sell.

After leaving the lair, Zhou You did not see a single living person.

The scorching sun hung in the sky, not a single cloud in sight. The ground was covered with cracks from the dryness, and the trees, vegetation, and even the most tenacious weeds had all withered. As far as the eye could see, there was only a scene of near-death desolation.

Zhou You even passed by an enormous pit – at first he thought it was formed by a geological collapse, but after finding some dried fish bones inside, he was shocked to discover that it was a pit.

This isn't a pit at all; it's a lake.

A lake that had been dried up completely! In such a drought, there was naturally no sign of human habitation. Zhou You had passed through several villages, but everyone who could move had fled to escape the famine, and those who could not move had long since turned into skeletons. It was impossible for him to do any business with them.

However, it was because of this that Zhou You discovered another abnormality in himself.

He doesn't seem to need to drink water.

If a normal human being does not drink water, they will experience confusion and loss of consciousness within two days at most, will likely fall into a coma within three days, and will die within about five days.

However, Zhou You did not drink a drop of water for several days, yet he showed no symptoms whatsoever.

He even said he could hardly feel thirst.

Correspondingly, as time went by, the hunger grew stronger and stronger. Originally, the remaining pig's head was enough to fill the whole pocket, but now there was hardly anything left.

Now that things have come to this, he can only try to eat sparingly.

The sun was setting in the west, and darkness was approaching.

After finding a relatively sheltered spot, Zhouyou gathered a pile of weeds and dead wood, then lit them with flint to make a simple campfire.

Then, he took out a few pieces of salted pork from his pocket, thought for a moment, then put a few pieces back in, leaving only one larger piece, which he skewered with a twig and roasted over the fire.

Just then, the Taoist head that had been tossed aside spoke.

“My disciple, are you regretting it now? Before you left, I told you that the journey was long and that you couldn’t possibly make it to the Taoist temple with just your head. I suggested that you cut some fat meat off those corpses, just in case. But you wouldn’t listen. Now look what’s happened. How long can you last with what’s left?”

Zhou You didn't reply. Instead, he carefully turned the piece of meat over, watching the tempting oil dripping down, his face flickering in the firelight.

The old Taoist priest continued his rambling.

"I'm not trying to be mean, but why are you so insistent? It's just eating human flesh. Go ask around, who in Cangzhou hasn't eaten human flesh? Even after the Tai Sui came, they still did. After all, you can't eat too much Tai Sui meat; you need something else as a supplement, and human flesh is the easiest thing to get."

"master."

Zhou You gave a light, casual greeting.

"What's wrong?"

“I really don’t have much left to eat, but there’s not a single living thing for miles around. Once I’ve finished this little bit of meat, Master, guess what I’ll eat next?”

The old Taoist priest immediately shut his mouth.

So Zhou You continued grilling the meat.

However, unlike what the old Taoist priest said, he wasn't too worried. After all, he hadn't saved his progress yet, so even if he starved to death, he'd have a chance to start over. He could see if he could find a way to preserve the pig demon's whole corpse. With so much fat and meat, it would be enough to feed him for a while.

Time passed slowly in silence, and the meat gradually cooked through. Zhou You took a bite, and then his eyebrows furrowed involuntarily.

The meat had a strong, fishy smell, and it had been sitting for a while in this weather, so even though it had been salted, it still had a slightly rotten smell.

But he calmly ate it bit by bit, not wasting even a single scrap of meat.

But just as the dinner was about to end, a surprised voice suddenly rang out from not far away.

"Hey, I didn't expect there to be a living person in this godforsaken place?"

(End of this chapter)