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

As soon as Xie An stepped out of the back gate of the manor, he felt a chilly wind and instinctively wrapped his coat tighter around himself. Looking up into the distance, he saw the distant mountains winding like a sleeping beast crouching under the full moon, which made him uneasy.

Qinghe Charity Home is located in the northeast of Yongning County, next to the only large mountain around Jinmenwei: Laojun Mountain.

As Xie An traveled, he recalled the story his father had told him years ago about the origins of the Qinghe Charitable Estate:

When Xie An's great-grandfather, Xie Zhengtang, was traveling around in his early years, he learned the art of geomancy and tomb construction from a master of Yin Ouxing. After returning to Yongning County, he took a liking to the feng shui of Qinghe Yizhuang.

It is said that the earth's veins here secretly conform to the "Old Yin Embracing Child" formation.

The main ridge of Laojun Mountain meanders down from the northeast (Qian position), where it pauses and opens up, a feature known as "the ancestral mountain giving rise to the ridge, the old dragon resting on its shoulders." The Qinghe River in front of it embraces the mountain like a bow, with natural islets locking the waterway, creating a "jade belt around the waist, golden city water" pattern.

At that time, Xie Zhengtang stroked his goatee and tapped the green soil beneath his feet with his peach wood cane: "The dragon and tiger sand mountains here are round and protective, the bright hall is like the palm of a hand gathering energy, and the facing mountain is low like a tortoise offering longevity. The most wonderful thing is that three feet underground there is 'green clay,' the color of which is like the yolk of a boiled egg. It can be formed into a ball when grasped, but crumbles when touched. In the 'Supplement to the Book of Burial,' this is called 'sleeping soil,' which is best at collecting yin and turbidity and calming wandering souls. Coffins buried here will not decay for a hundred years; the souls of the deceased buried here will not be scattered."

Moreover, this manor is situated on the "Ghost Constellation," receiving the blessings of celestial stars. If, at midnight, a soul-guiding lamp is lit at this location, and its flame remains unwavering and undying, it indicates that the earth's energy is connected to the spirit world, and both yin and yang are at peace—this is truly the rarest "corpse-nurturing ground" and "soul-soothing place" for us who eat the spirit food.

From then on, Xie Zhengtang established the Qinghe Charity Estate here, which has been passed down for three generations.

Previously, Xie An always felt that what his father said was too mysterious, but today, for some reason, when he looked at Laojun Mountain in the distance behind the mountain, he actually felt that his grandfather's words... seemed to make some sense.

Before long, Xie An crossed most of the mass grave and saw radish shreds next to an abandoned, withered grave.

I don’t know, I’m scared.

All I could see was radish lying in the dilapidated coffin of that withered grave, throwing out the bones of the deceased... she had practically taken over someone else's cemetery.

Upon seeing Xie An approach, Luo Bosi excitedly climbed out of the coffin and ran to Xie An. She even scratched her head shyly, her upper and lower teeth chattering excitedly.

Xie An was speechless for a while. He wanted to criticize Luo Bosi for taking over someone else's pipes, saying it was immoral. But then he thought about it and realized that Luo Bosi's move was quite clever.

It's better than wandering around in the mountains and being seen by someone who will think you're a monster and beat you to death.

Although he tacitly agreed in his heart, Xie An still pretended to be serious, "From now on, you can sleep in other people's coffins, but you must not throw out their bones. That would be a disgrace to your karma."

As someone who had been dead for over a hundred years, Radish no longer cared about any kind of good karma. But seeing that her master was angry, Radish nodded nervously in agreement.

Xie An was satisfied with this and asked about the bodies of Wang Qinian and the other three.

Luo Bosi gestured wildly, while simultaneously sending a mental link to Xie An's mind: After crossing the mass grave and the Qinghe River, when they reached the foot of Laojun Mountain, they encountered a giant snake that swallowed all four of them whole.

A giant snake?

Swallowed four people alive in succession?

That would probably require a python that is sixteen or seventeen meters long to do.

Such a long snake... I've never seen anything like it in my past life.

This world...

It seems that Laojun Mountain is no ordinary place.

Xie An praised Radish a couple of times, then asked if it had found the pork ribs. Radish replied with shame that it had tried its best, but...

Xie An didn't say much, then called Luo Bu Si over, placed his hand on Luo Bu Si's forehead, and opened the panel at the same time.

[Level: 2 Skeleton]

[Abilities Summary: Skeletal Remodeling, Basic Intelligence, Stealth Instinct, Wild Perception]

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

[Current remaining Ghoul Essence: 3]

Has it evolved?

Xie An didn't think much and immediately made up his mind:

evolution.

As soon as the thought was uttered, the Corpse Essence on the panel rapidly decreased to zero. Then, a wisp of dark red light appeared in Xie An's palm and flowed into Luo Bosi's forehead.

hum!

The dark red light spread down Radish Silk's spine, causing the bones to creak and crackle as they reformed. Its once robust skeleton contracted and solidified again, its surface gleaming with a warm, ivory-like sheen, and dark red veins subtly flowing at the joints. Within its empty eye sockets, the pale soul fire suddenly surged, transforming into two steadily burning, pale, cold flames.

Once the evolution was complete, the radish's bone structure became more refined and dense, exhibiting a metallic texture that had been forged through countless trials.

Although it didn't get stronger, it was definitely harder.

Xie An reached out and flicked Luo Bosi's arm twice, producing a near-metallic "humming" sound.

He pointed to a large camphor tree nearby and ordered Roberta, "Try punching it."

Bang.

When Luo Bosi threw a punch, it was as if a hammer had hit a tree trunk, causing the tree to shake and leaving a half-inch-deep fist mark.

That's pretty perverted.

Xie An and Luo Bu Si had a simple arm wrestling match and found that Luo Bu Si was more than five times stronger than him.

Luckily, I'm its owner, otherwise...

Xie An then tested the speed and mobility of the radish shreds, finding them to be much more effective than a living person.

The only downside was that... Xie An clearly felt that since Luo Bosi evolved into a level three skeleton, his mental burden had increased significantly, he constantly felt strained, and it brought on waves of slight dizziness.

Managing the radish shreds was quite easy before.

While commanding ghouls might seem appealing, it's directly related to one's mental strength. Commanding overly powerful ghouls can place a tremendous strain on one's mind, potentially even causing side effects.

As the radish continues to evolve, its mental stress will also increase.

Thinking about it this way, improving my mental strength seems quite necessary. What if my mental strength falters one day? Who knows, maybe Luo Bosi will lose control and turn around and kill me?

hiss……

Xie An dared not even think about it.

I wonder if practicing martial arts can strengthen one's spirit...

Xie An suppressed his distracting thoughts and opened the control panel.

[Evolution Complete]

[Level: Level 3 Skeleton]

New Capabilities -

Shadow Bone Concealment: Allows temporary concealment of form in shadows or areas with abundant yin energy, leaving only a fleeting afterimage when moving. The effect is weakened in sunlight.

Yin-corrosion bone spurs: Bone spurs at the fingertips carry yin toxins that can erode the blood and qi of living organisms.

Extended Control: Allows issuing simple commands to unclaimed skeletons (requires residual Yin energy), effective for 15 minutes, maximum control limit: 1 skeleton.

[Eating 15 points of Ghoul Essence will evolve you into Ironbone.]

"These three abilities... are quite remarkable. I didn't even notice them just now."

Xie An suddenly looked up and let Luo Bosi test it out.

Radish nodded in agreement, then suddenly raised her right arm. The bone spur lightly sliced ​​through a nearby bluestone as easily as tofu, revealing a grayish, eroded surface. She then took a step to the left, her figure momentarily blurring in the moonlight, as if merging into the shadow cast by a withered grave.

Then, Roberts actually manipulated the remains of the tomb's occupant, which she had thrown out of the coffin, to... dance a mechanical dance.

Xie An: "..."

Are you plotting revenge against me...?

Xie An was speechless for a moment, but his heart was deeply shaken.

This radish shred is no longer an "obedient skeletal tool," but is becoming a... treacherous and deadly weapon capable of walking in the shadows of a chaotic world.

Xie An gave Luo Bosi three instructions: continue searching for pork ribs, and when you have free time, wander around the woods surrounding the manor to see if any ill-intentioned people are approaching. Finally... go to the mass grave area and see if there are any valuable funerary objects or gold and silver.

There was no way around it; Zhuangzi's situation was deteriorating... Simply cutting costs wasn't enough; he also needed to increase revenue.

After receiving an affirmative answer from Luo Bosi, Xie An turned and left. Looking back after walking a short distance, he saw Luo Bosi standing beside the rotten coffin, pulling the remains of the deceased into a mechanical dance…

His mouth would occasionally open and close, making "giggle giggle" sounds, looking very happy.

Xie An was speechless; he felt his life was worse than that of a skeleton...

When Xie An returned to the west courtyard of the mortuary, it was nearly midnight. Perhaps it was because he had drunk too much, or perhaps it was because of his anxiety about the future... Xie An was wide awake, so he simply went to the courtyard to practice his stances.

With the foundation laid during the day, Xie An quickly found his footing and got into the zone.

During this period, he read through all the illustrations of Hunyuan Zhuang and learned that the core postures of Hunyuan Zhuang are divided into six types: standing upright, bending knees, raising hands, adjusting form, and breathing.

These six postures are called "One Form in One".

As for the realms, they are divided into three levels:

The first layer is adjusting the form and seeking relaxation: correcting the skeletal structure, eliminating awkward force, and achieving "correct form and relaxed body".

The second level is to concentrate the mind and nourish the Qi: focus the mind, and coordinate breathing with the internal flow of Qi and blood to cultivate the "Qi sensation" in the Dantian.

The third level, Hunyuan Yiyi, enters a state of unity of "form, qi, and spirit," feeling as if the whole body is a sphere, suitable for both movement and stillness, laying the foundation for unleashing power.

By comparison, Xie An knew he had barely entered the first level of adjusting his posture to achieve relaxation. However, he was still far from achieving a proper balance of relaxation and still needed to work harder.

As time passed, Xie An toiled tirelessly, sweating profusely, but he never stopped.

He could clearly feel that his body was becoming more coordinated and his exertion of force was becoming more proficient. He had gained a preliminary understanding of martial arts.

There's a reason why it's said that practicing martial arts starts with stance training.

If your body isn't coordinated, you can't possibly move smoothly or exert force accurately. When you're wielding a knife, forget about cutting someone; you might just cut yourself first.

Practicing martial arts is a matter of life and death; it is a deadly art, and therefore cannot be taken lightly.

Before we knew it, it was midnight, and the full moon hung high in the sky.

Xie An suddenly felt something was different about his body...

The moonlight overhead shone down on me, penetrating through my skin pores and into my body... bringing a cool sensation that greatly relieved my fatigue.

"I... am I absorbing lunar essence? How am I doing this...?"

Xie An was astonished by this sudden change.

Then I remembered the description of the mandrill on the panel:

[Mountain Demon: It can devour mountain spirits and moonlight, consume the aura of corpses and ghosts, is adept at discerning the earth's veins and yin orifices, and can command corpses, ghosts, and evil spirits. It is a malevolent spirit of the dark and turbid mountains and forests.]

"Could it be because I absorbed the corpse energy and malevolent aura from the pork ribs that the mandrill's progress increased by one point... and then it awakened the mandrill's abilities? Absorbing the moonlight of the mountain spirits..."

"If that's the case, then what I've been practicing... is probably not an ordinary martial art."