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Chapter 98 Head Transplant
"The Complete Rhyme of the Food God"

Contamination level: None

"Effect 1: Your toxin resistance is permanently increased. You can enhance your physique and abilities by consuming certain yin substances, ghosts, monsters, poisonous insects, etc."

"Effect 2: You can convert all the evil spirits and ghosts you consume into your own mana and energy. When consuming beings far exceeding your own power, you may also receive some additional rewards."

"Effect 3 (Special reward given by taking the complete White Dew Sprout): Your life regeneration speed is accelerated in dense vegetation areas, and you can consume mana to communicate with certain spiritual plants."

[The human internal organs can communicate with the divine; above are the spirits, below are the ghosts. This verse allows you to feed the spirits with all sorts of strange and wondrous things; the more you consume, the greater the reward you will receive.]

Overall, it's pretty good. Compared to the previous Yin Ghost Bait Song, this purified spell abandons all the abilities of being a half-zombie and having Yin energy to protect you, in exchange for a significant increase in all attributes.

Well, it's not that they're weak, it's just that they have different focuses; one is effective immediately, while the other has high growth potential.

But overall, it was beyond expectations—after all, even if Zhou You really did go all the way, he would have to accept it—after all, he is still a normal man, and there is no way he would choose to accept the curse of impotence.

At this point, the purpose of going to Youtai Mountain had been basically achieved, but Zhou You was not in a hurry to say goodbye. Instead, he stared at the headless mutilated body and asked.

"Uncle-Master, now that this matter is resolved, please forgive my boldness in asking, what about you?"

"When do you plan to kill that Tai Sui?"

The Taoist Xuan Yuan paused abruptly, and after a long while, he laughed.

"Why so suddenly? And nephew, how did you figure out I was planning to kill that Tai Sui? Now I'm just a broken shell, without even a head. Although you awakened me for a while, I might die at any time. How can I possibly fight against that great demon that entrenched in Cangzhou?"

Zhou You's answer was very calm.

"Because you are the Taoist Xuanyuan, a name that is widely known among the people of Cangzhou, and most importantly, my master is certain that you will definitely go and cause trouble for Tai Sui."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

“Alright.” The headless shell swayed. “This is certainly enough.”

But before Zhou You could speak, the Taoist Xuan Yuan continued.

"But before I deal with Tai Sui, there's one more question I need to ask you—kid, how much do you know about this thing?"

Why ask this?

Zhou You thought about it carefully for a while before answering.

"I don't know much about it. I only heard from Lady Bone that it looks extremely terrifying, but there's a certain cognitive barrier; even if you've seen it, you can't remember what it looks like. Also, it's its birthday recently, and all the monsters in the area have gone to celebrate with it."

“That’s enough,” Master Xuanyuan suddenly interrupted. “Then how do you know what his purpose is?”

"To unite the scoundrels in that county government and create a demon kingdom on earth?"

Master Xuanyuan seemed to have heard something very interesting and burst into laughter.

"It might be possible for ordinary little demons and ghosts to do that. These unambitious guys' biggest wish all day long is to overthrow the Heavenly Gang. But Tai Sui is different. It colluded with that county magistrate to set up a trap to kill me, and then it induced so many ripe fruits and united with so many demons. In fact, it only has one purpose."

"That's ascension to immortality."

Upon hearing those words that seemed to leave him wanting more, Zhou You immediately recalled the words that Lady Bone had once said to him.

"—The Grand Duke Jupiter loves opera and is currently planning to perform a new play for his birthday, which will be called Ascension to Immortality."

Upon seeing Zhou You's expression, Master Xuan Yuan immediately spoke.

"That's right, just as you imagined, all his preparations were for this grand show."

"Using the lives of half the people of Cangzhou as a starting point, and the yin energy of numerous demons and ghosts as a foundation, they will put on a grand show that will allow them to ascend to immortality."

Xuan Yuan Daoist paused for a moment, then continued.

"—So what Du Xin said is indeed true. Even if there are a thousand reasons, for the sake of the people of Cangzhou, I must go there no matter what."

The next moment, a system notification appeared.

"Dear player, you have deciphered the basic world-building of this scenario and have received a Soul Stone reward."

Zhou You ignored the system's voice and simply asked a question.

"Then, Uncle-Master, what do you plan to do? Sew up the head correctly and then go find that Tai Sui to settle accounts?"

Who would have expected.

Upon hearing this, Taoist Xuan Yuan suddenly burst into laughter again.

"—I say, kid, have you ever seen someone come back to life after death? Your uncle died long ago, cleanly and neatly. Now I'm just hanging on by a thread of obsession. Once that obsession dissipates, my soul will return to the underworld—of course, that is, if the underworld still exists in this world."

"That correct head"

The other person swayed, as if shaking their head.

"—There's no such thing as a correct head; it's just that people are deeply poisoned by evil and have been misled like this."

“Normally speaking, including Taotie, if I sew on any of the heads, I will inevitably become possessed by demons within two days. I spent half my life purifying the corruption of my sect. Now, in order to prolong my own life, do I have to repeat the same mistakes? What a joke! I would rather die than do it.”

Zhou You lowered his head.

"Then what should we do, Martial Uncle?"

The other person's laughter suddenly stopped.

half an hour.

His voice no longer carried that heroic spirit and self-deprecation; instead, it suddenly became serious.

“Normally, this would be a dead end. My headless corpse would die as soon as it leaves the temple, and once the head is sewn on, it would immediately become possessed by a demon. We could only watch helplessly as the Tai Sui completes its ascension to immortality. But now, an unexpected event has occurred.”

Zhou You looked at himself; even if the other party didn't elaborate, he knew who this unexpected person was.

So he just stood there, listening quietly.

The Taoist Xuan Yuan spoke with increasing calmness.

"You are a Taotie, yet you are not a Taotie. You are merely an external soul that has accidentally possessed this body. Furthermore, you have never eaten human flesh or the flesh of the Tai Sui, and there is not a trace of filth on your body. If I were to borrow your head, I could sustain myself for a few more days."

"But I must also remind you that head transplants carry enormous risks. After all, a human head isn't like a wooden wedge that you can just press in or remove at will. If something goes wrong, you could really be done for. So..."

Xuan Yuan didn't finish his sentence.

But a system notification followed.

"Dear player, you have met the conditions for triggering the hidden ending (you have not consumed any Tai Sui meat or human flesh, and you have not died once). Now you can use 5 resurrection attempts to perform the hair-stitching technique with Master Xuan Yuan. Do you agree?"

—Just as I thought, these are the conditions for triggering the hidden ending.

Zhou You lowered his gaze and looked at the headless body.

After being reminded, the other person sat there quietly and waited, neither urging nor saying anything more.

The side hall immediately fell silent.

This was enough for Zhou You to carefully consider the pros and cons. Putting everything else aside, the five resurrections alone were hard to accept—the script only gave six resurrection coins in total, and accepting them would only leave one resurrection—the entire script suddenly went from being exceptionally generous to being as dangerous as walking a tightrope.

And all I can get is the unknown reward from the hidden storyline—which can only be obtained after defeating Tai Sui—and in terms of risk and reward, it's not proportional at all.

If it were an ordinary person, they would probably choose not to accept it. After all, the two curses on their body have been lifted, and they have gained a year of lifespan for free. At this point, stopping is the best choice.

But
Zhou You suddenly remembered the old Taoist priest named 'Poison Heart'.

Regardless of his intentions or whether he was a ghost, the fact remains that he saved my life. In fact, if it weren't for his reminder, I probably would have died in the pig demon's lair.

Not to mention that along the way, he taught me meticulously, treating me as his own disciple.

As mentioned before, Zhou You is very petty, and if you offend him, he will find a way to get revenge. However, he is also grateful and will always try to repay kindness if someone helps him.

The old Taoist priest had only one last wish.

That would be to help Taoist Xuan Yuan.

Not to mention all the people encountered in the script: the village chief of Xuejia Village who spent his entire fortune to host a banquet, the frail woman holding a child in front of the city gate, and Wu Wenqing who refused to yield to power even in the face of tyranny.
Could it be that I can just stand by and watch these people become sacrifices for the ascension of the Grand Duke Jupiter?

What do people want most in life? Peace of mind.
—Not to mention, as mentioned before, what's the point of having so much lifespan if you're not happy?

Zhou You looked up and a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

Then, he clasped his hands together and bowed.

"It's just a head, what's wrong with borrowing it from my martial uncle?"

Xuan Yuan Daoist was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"What a wonderful offer! Why not lend it to me for a bit! Poison Heart has truly taken on a fine disciple. Nephew, your words make me seem so hesitant!"

After saying this, Xuan Yuan Daoist said no more, but picked up a long sword from beside the futon and then smiled at Zhou You.

"Next, I will use our sect's secret technique to transfer your head onto my body—don't worry, your original body will be preserved. We can switch it back afterward—so, are you ready, nephew?"

Zhou You didn't say anything, only smiled and nodded.

Xuan Yuan then drew his longsword, and a blood-red sword light flashed like a bolt of lightning. Before Zhou You could feel any pain, his vision was suddenly reversed.

The last thing he saw was Xuan Yuan's kneeling and bowing body.

"This humble Taoist, Xuan Yuan, on behalf of the countless lives of Cangzhou, expresses my deepest gratitude to my nephew for his righteous act—"
-
I do not know how long it has been.

Consciousness awakened once more in the darkness.

A series of knife-like pains surged through his mind, as if a dense swarm of ants were gradually gnawing at his brain. In this chilling sensation, Zhou You slowly opened his eyes.

What comes into view is still a side hall of the Taoist temple.

But for some reason, Zhou You always felt a strange sense of unease.

After a while, he finally realized what was happening.

—It's a matter of perspective.

At this moment, my field of vision has obviously increased a lot. If my original field of vision was only a little over 1.8 meters, now my field of vision is directly more than 2 meters away.

He even saw a headless corpse with an unusually fresh cut on its neck, as if it had just been chopped off not long ago.

Wait a minute, why does this corpse look so familiar?

His muddled mind finally cleared completely. The headless corpse in front of him was wearing a blue robe and was no more than 1.78 meters tall—it was quite obvious.
This is your own body.

Then, a calm voice rang in my ears.

"Don't look anymore, don't worry, nothing will happen. Your body has been sealed away. You will look exactly the same as you do now when you are taken back."

Hearing the rough words, Zhou You frowned, then said softly.

"Master Xuanyuan?"

"Yes, it's me. So what?"

This time, the voice didn't come from his abdomen, but directly from his mind.

No, how should I put it?

Zhou You took a long time to organize his thoughts before he finally spoke.

"Master, why is my consciousness still in control? Shouldn't you be controlling the body and going down the mountain to slay demons and monsters?"

To everyone's surprise, the other party only responded with a light, casual laugh.

“Nephew, you’re joking. In this world, we’ve always seen the head control the body. When have you ever seen the body control the head? I’m just lending you my head, but you still have the main control. I’m just assisting you from the side.”

Zhou You initially thought it made sense, but he quickly realized something was wrong.

"Wait a minute, I know my own abilities very well. I can handle pig demons and wolf demons, but I'm no match for someone like Lady Bone. So how am I supposed to deal with that Tai Sui?"

However, Xuan Yuan Daoist's laughter became increasingly mysterious.

"Don't worry, we've gone to so much trouble, how could we let you go to your death for nothing? Most of your martial uncle's skills are in this body, so you can use them as you see fit."

As Master Xuanyuan's voice faded, a system notification followed.

"The player has left their original body and entered the avatar of 'Xuanyuan Daoist'."

"The player's attributes will be based on Xuan Yuan Dao Ren."

"The player has obtained the Jing Shen Bait Song (Mastery)".

"The player has acquired the Sumeru Sword Technique."

"The player has obtained the Reverse Heavenly Death Formation (Mastery)."

"The player has obtained the Detailed Explanation of Alchemy (Mastery)."

"The player has obtained..."

His vision was then filled with a series of texts—only then did Zhou You realize why this Xuan Yuan Daoist was able to suppress half of Cangzhou by himself.

That's an incredible amount of ability!

However, Daoist Xuanyuan still spoke up.

“Nephew, I also have to tell you something. Even when I was alive, my strength was on par with that Tai Sui Star Lord. Now that I'm completely dead, I'd be lucky to be able to use half of my abilities. So even if you get my Dharma body, this trip will still be a nine-out-of-ten chance of death. Nephew, are you mentally prepared?”

Zhou You remained silent, but simply removed the handbell from the headless corpse, smiled, picked up the sword beside him, and walked out of the hall into the bright sunlight.

　感谢书友20230121110959794的1500点打赏，感谢山有虎y的100点打赏，感谢2019526213706174的100点打赏。

　　P.S.: Recently, some readers have mentioned the issue of missing chapters, so I'm trying to write a 4000-word chapter, which should alleviate the problem a lot.

　　PS2: Recently, some readers have mentioned that this story is a bit long, so I'm speeding up the ending. It will be finished in about 6 chapters, allowing the protagonist to return to reality.

　　PS3: Recently, some readers have mentioned the issue of no one reading. Well, the author is at a loss about that. However, the author will still try their best to write, after all, everyone has always supported them—of course, if you find the writing acceptable, it would be even more appreciated if you could help promote it.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)