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

Although it was already night, the Qinghe Mortuary was brightly lit.

Xie Bingxiang and Zhou Xuli led the remaining dozen or so men in the village, each carrying a lantern and a stick, searching for Master Wang's body along the marks left in the corners of the walls.

Nowadays, the people who still stay in the village to make a living are mostly refugees who can't survive, disabled veterans, or young boys whose families are really struggling to make ends meet, apart from Zhou Xuli and a few old masters.

Although Zhuangzi's compensation was meager, amounting to only one silver dollar and a few copper coins per month, he provided food and lodging, at least giving people a place to make a living.

But managing the household well is no easy task, especially in these chaotic times. Not only do they have to deal with the disease of corpses, but they also have to contend with bandits who might come in the middle of the night to rob them, and there are also those who frequent the underworld who come at night to drag corpses away to arrange ghost marriages. Not to mention all sorts of other miscellaneous situations…

Watching everyone rush off to their tasks, Xie An immediately took the skeleton from the purification room and secretly brought it to his own secluded west courtyard.

As Xie Bingxiang's only son, he turned fifteen this year and was allocated a separate courtyard.

The west courtyard was small, about ten meters square, with an old locust tree that had been struck by lightning standing in the center. On the door of the main hall was a copy of the Yongning Daily from a few months ago, the printed headline long since blurred and stained with muddy ink from the rain.

The skeleton followed closely behind Xie An with mechanical steps, its bones making a "crackling" sound.

As soon as they entered the living room, Xie An tossed a tattered rag to the skeleton, saying, "From now on, you're my... skeleton, after all. You should at least pay attention to your appearance. Go get some water and take a bath to get rid of all that filth and stench."

The skeleton took the rag, somewhat bewildered.

It had probably been wandering for over a hundred years and had never taken a bath.

Although Xie An was able to read the skeleton's memories from its previous life, the skeleton had long been corrupted by Yin energy and lost its original memories. It only retained the instinctive habits left over from its past life and seemed to have a low level of intelligence.

Xie An glanced at it sideways. "Haven't you taken a bath?"

The skull head shook like a rattle drum.

Helpless, Xie An picked up a rag and wiped the skull's arm. "Now you know?"

The skeleton nodded blankly, then took the rag and stiffly began wiping.

Xie An was too lazy to explain. He led it to the ancient well in the courtyard, drew a bucket of water with the well pulley, poured it directly onto the skeleton, and then handed it a bar of soap to rub itself.

These days, soap isn't cheap.

It was only a little over a decade ago that Western soaps were introduced to the previous dynasty as "foreign soaps." At that time, they were expensive imported luxury items, mainly used in trading ports and by the upper class.

In recent years, Daxin's national industry has just begun to emerge, and it has started producing its own soap. There are several well-known soap factories in Tianjin, and Yongning County is located near Tianjin, which is convenient. However, the price is still too high, and ordinary people cannot afford it. It was Xie An who transmigrated here and bought it because he really couldn't get used to it.

Although the skeleton wasn't very intelligent, it was very obedient to Xie An and had a good learning ability, quickly learning how to bathe. After a thorough washing, the originally grayish-black skeleton became snow-white, reflecting the moonlight, and its odor was also eliminated.

The skeleton returned the soap to Xie An.

Xie An paused halfway through extending his hand, a look of disgust on his face. "I don't want what you've used. You can keep it for your own use from now on."

The skeleton seemed a little confused, but it still agreed and handed the rag back to Xie An.

Xie An stopped, saying, "Never mind, you can keep it yourself."

Who would dare use soap that a skeleton has used?

The same principle applies to towels...

The skeleton, holding a rag in one hand and a bar of soap in the other, followed Xie An into the living room.

Xie An took his seat on the premier leather sofa, brewed himself a cup of black tea, and was about to pick it up when the skeleton, seemingly having learned to serve its master, hurriedly bent down to serve the tea.

Xie An immediately stopped him: "No, stand back, don't move."

Once the skeleton had retreated two meters away and stood respectfully, Xie An picked up his teacup, took a sip of hot tea, and muttered, "It's not that I judge people by their appearance, but your looks... are really creepy."

The skeleton couldn't understand and just scratched its head.

"To make communication easier, we need to give you a name first." Xie An looked at the skeleton in front of him, which had been washed until it was shiny and reflected a cold, white light under the oil lamp.

"Your bones are as white as a radish, as thin as potato shreds..." Xie An stroked his chin, and a wicked name popped out, "From now on, you'll be called... Radish Shreds."

The skeleton was clearly stunned, its empty eye sockets "looking" at Xie An as if asking: What is radish shreds?

Xie An was amused by its bewildered look: "Stop glaring, or your eyes won't grow out of their sockets. Radish shreds are fine, the name is down-to-earth, it's settled then."

The carrot seemed to accept the name. It lowered its head, gently touched its smooth arm bone with its finger bones, and then carefully touched its ribs, as if confirming its connection with this carrot.

"Alright, let's get back to business." Xie An's smile faded, his eyes sharpening. "Are you sure you can find Master Wang by his scent?"

Radish immediately straightened her frame, her jaw opened and closed rapidly with a "clucking" sound, and a clear thought came through: Yes!

Luo Bosi's tracking ability is quite good... Xie An breathed a sigh of relief, feeling reassured.

But Luo Bosi is currently too ashamed to be seen by others, and he couldn't very well let her go out to find Master Wang. If she were to be seen by someone... they would definitely treat Luo Bosi like a monster and beat her to death.

Let's first see if Father and Uncle Zhou can find Master Wang by following the trail left in the cave. If they can't, then find a quiet time when no one is around and have Radish go to look for him.

As for his father's safety, Xie An need not worry. Not only is his father an experienced manager who knows how to deal with zombies, but there are also martial arts practitioners in the manor.

That was a boxer named Zhou Fu, who lived in a house not far from the mortuary. He wore robes from the previous dynasty, drank heavily all day, and didn't care about his wife and children. He made a living by sitting in the mortuary at Qinghe Mortuary.

Over the years, Xie An had never seen Zhou Fu display any particular skill, but his father respected him greatly and would still send Zhou Fu five silver dollars every month, even when nothing unusual happened...

Xie An even suggested to his father that they give Zhou Fu, that slovenly man, sixty silver dollars every year; the savings could buy a homemade rifle. Isn't a rifle more useful than a person?

But his father didn't accept his advice, saying that Xie An didn't understand...

Xie An put aside his distracting thoughts and, while waiting, tested the radish shreds' abilities once more.

It is obedient, but its movements are stiff, although its bones are very hard.

You can hit it with wood and it won't break, you can't break it with bricks, but you can leave scratches with iron. And radish shreds don't feel pain, because there's something special connecting them at the joints, making them very strong.

It's a century-old ghost, practically a living fossil.

When Xie An placed his hand on Luo Bosi's forehead.

hum!

A mental connection entered my mind, and several lines of text appeared on the panel.

[Having ruled over abandoned corpses and remains for a century]

[Level: Level 1 Skeleton]

[Note: Slow-moving, mentally dull, grayish-white bones, stiff joints, prone to falling apart]

[Consuming 1 point of Ghoul Essence allows you to evolve into a level 2 Skeleton.]

[Current remaining Ghoul Essence: 1]

"Skeletons can evolve?"

"So this is how the essence of the ghoul is used... That's interesting."

"I'm looking forward to Roberta evolving into a level 2 skeleton."

Xie An no longer hesitated and immediately made up his mind.

"Evolve Rosie, thank you!"