Gou Zai, a corpse sewn into a spirit in a mortuary during the Republic of China era, became a spirit

The dirt road in the mountains was so quiet that only the sound of the wind could be heard.

The roof of the mortuary in the distance was no longer visible; nearby, there were only trampled weeds and three bloody corpses.

Xie An sat on a blue stone by the roadside, his eyes lowered, looking at his blood-stained hands.

Although it was his first time killing someone, he did not feel as panicked or uncomfortable as Xie An had expected.

On the contrary... his fingers were very steady and did not shake.

But something inside me seemed to have shattered, and something even harder had grown out.

It's as if someone took a chisel and pried away all the "hesitation" and "softness" in his heart, leaving behind a cold, hard heart.

He raised his head and looked up at the gray sky. Crows were cawing in the direction of the mass grave, one caw after another, their hoarse cries sounding like mockery.

In my past life, when I encountered trouble, I thought of calling the police and exposing it... But here, when I encounter trouble, I can't rely on anything except my fists!

call.

Xie An let out a long sigh, suppressed his distracting thoughts, walked to Wang Qinian's body, squatted down, and began to search it.

Once a person is dead, their inheritance can naturally be wasted.

Although Xie An was not so poor that he couldn't afford to eat, his family was no longer as wealthy as it once was due to repeated extortion and blackmail by warlords and villains.

He first took out the silver-plated cigarette case, which still contained a few "Hademen" cigarettes. He weighed them in his hand and tossed them aside. Then he took out a leather wallet from the inner pocket, opened it, and inside were neatly stacked about ten silver dollars, gleaming coldly in the pale sunlight. There were also a few copper coins and a few crumpled banknotes, from Tianjin banks.

Xie An first stuffed the silver dollars and copper coins into his pocket, and only then did he accept the paper money.

In this era of warlordism and constant warfare, each warlord issued his own paper currency, and provincial banks also issued their own "provincial notes," which became worthless once they left the province. There were also private banks issuing "silver dollar notes," which became worthless immediately upon the bank's collapse.

Coupled with poor anti-counterfeiting technology in banknotes, the proliferation of counterfeit money is simply a disaster.

The saying "a warlord's money is a bridge to cross the river" refers to paper money, which becomes unusable when the warlord moves to another territory.

Silver dollars were different. Whether they were silver dollars issued by local warlords or silver dollars issued by foreign firms, there were established standards for their silver content, which was about 90%.

For this reason, silver dollars circulated throughout the country and were readily exchangeable. No matter how severe the warlord separatism was, silver dollars were accepted throughout the country and even in overseas Chinese communities. It was a form of "physical credit" that transcended the credit of political power.

The saying "With a large sum of money at home, one has no worries" perfectly illustrates this point.

Copper coins, being a type of metal currency, are made with high-quality materials and craftsmanship, making them less prone to devaluation. They are far better than flimsy paper money.

After looting the money, Xie An also found a flat, heavy velvet pouch on Wang Qinian's body.

Opening the clasp reveals a complete set of exquisitely crafted tobacco accessories: a bamboo pipe with an ivory mouthpiece, its body polished to a glossy, reddish sheen; a small cloisonné cigarette case containing several dark brown tobacco pastes, emitting a strange aroma that is both sweet and slightly bitter; a silver stick; and a small glass-shaded lamp.

This is the complete set of tools for smoking opium.

They're all top-quality goods. The ivory mouthpiece of that pipe alone is worth several silver dollars.

Xie An picked up a piece of tobacco paste and rubbed it between his fingers; it felt sticky. He thought of the "quit smoking rooms" in the city with their curtains drawn, signs that read "Qingshui Gonggao" hanging at the door, and the people lying inside all with sunken eyes, as if their souls had been drained.

"Oh……"

Xie An chuckled softly. This Wang Qinian, who was always spouting "new society" and "new fashion," was still enjoying this old-fashioned "longevity drug" when he lay down at night.

After putting down the velvet pouch, Xie An went to search the other two patrolmen.

In total, they found four silver dollars, three Hanyang rifles, seven bullets, and two other sets of tools used by opium smokers.

Xie An tucked the spoils under his arm and looked around.

The surrounding area was a dense forest, with a railway track passing by outside the forest. There was no one there at the moment. The wind, however, had picked up a bit more, whipping up the withered leaves and dust on the ground, and sweeping across the dark, stiff profile of Master Wang, who was hiding in the straw mat.

Although there were three peach wood nails driven into Master Wang's body, he was not completely dead. His body was still twisting and struggling, and he was making hoarse, inhuman noises.

"I almost forgot..."

Xie An put down his rifle and strode over to Master Wang.

He raised his hand and placed it on Master Wang's forehead.

The panel immediately responded.

[1 points of Corpse Essence detected]

[Absorbable]

absorb!

As the thought was uttered, a chilling, bone-deep coldness flowed from Master Wang's body, entering Xie An's palm. Then it flowed into every part of his body.

hiss.

Xie An couldn't help but shudder, a chill running down his spine.

As the yin energy continued to flow in, Master Wang's last bit of insistence on burial and his dissatisfaction with his son... pierced Xie An's mind like an ice pick, giving him a clearer understanding of the cause of the "corpse transformation".

After a while, the chill in his body slowly dissipated, and Master Wang was completely dead.

Ok?

The process of absorbing the essence of the corpse demon this time was similar to the first time. However, it did not have the same effect of rebuilding and strengthening the body's foundation as the second time when consuming pork ribs.

They're both ghoul essence, but their effects are different?

Could there be some detail that I haven't figured out?

He shook his head and then opened the control panel.

[Ghoul Essence: 3]

[Evolves into a Level 3 Skeleton by consuming 3 points of Ghoul Essence]

Xie An looked around. It was almost noon, and although the mortuary was in a remote location, people might still come. So he suppressed the urge to immediately evolve the radish.

The most urgent thing right now is how to destroy the evidence.

Fortunately, the place Xie An chose was about two or three miles away from the mortuary, and along the way, they passed several houses and intersections.

Moreover, since Wang Qinian and his two companions were all wiped out, there was no possibility that they could send a message.

After some deliberation, Xie An made a decision: "Radish, roll up these four corpses with a straw mat and carry them to a deserted mountain nearby. Find a place with many wild animals and let them devour the corpses. Remember, you must watch as all four corpses are eaten."

Luo Bosi nodded in agreement, immediately placed the four corpses on a straw mat, rolled them up, then carried them on her shoulder and ran into the jungle, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Xie An cleaned up the bloodstains on the road, then took off his coat, wrapped three Hanyang rifles in it, and headed towards the mortuary. The silver coins clinked softly in his pocket with each step, making a muffled sound that brought him a sense of reassurance.

The mountain wind blew on his face, cold, but it also made him unusually clear-headed.

The Xie An who lived in the peaceful world of his previous life is long gone.

The man walking on the road now is Xie An from the chaotic era of the Republic of China.

He was a man who had just killed three policemen, seized three guns, carried bloodstained silver dollars, and was determined to continue his journey through this chaotic world.

……

Xie An slipped through the back door of the mortuary into his private west courtyard, locked the gate, dug a hole under the bed with a shovel, buried three Hanyang rifles and bullets in the ground, filled the hole with soil, and covered it with a wooden box.

Having done all this, Xie An sat down at the octagonal table in the hall and gulped down two mouthfuls of hot tea.

The Hanyang rifle is a great weapon; it can be used for self-defense in critical moments. I've never used it... I wonder how accurate it is.

Now we'll see how the police station reacts.

Although somewhat apprehensive, Xie An felt alright.

Because Wang Qinian and the other two patrol officers all had a habit of smoking opium. These kinds of people are just like drug addicts; if something happens to them... it's not really an accident.

But it was inevitable that the police would send people to the village to investigate.

Thinking of this, Xie An felt a sense of oppression.

In this world, those without power and influence are worse off than dogs.

"Martial arts training can't be delayed!"

After calming himself down, Xie An opened the book on Hunyuan Zhuang.

"Logically speaking, at my age, my bones should be mostly developed, and I'm past the age for martial arts. But when I absorbed those pork ribs, it seemed to reshape my skeleton. I wonder how effective this Hunyuan stance will be..."

Having said that, Xie An stood up and assumed the stance according to the illustrations in the manual. Even as he began, he felt as if his reconstructed bones possessed a memory. Within a few breaths, a faint, unprecedented feeling of heaviness quietly rose from the soles of his feet…