Republic of China: From Street Performer to War God in a Chaotic Era

A brand-new vermilion gate and a three-zhang-tall old elm flagpole.

The three large, gilded characters "Fuju Class" fluttered in the north wind.

In just three days, the ruins in the four alleys of Nanshi were transformed into a high-walled compound, as if springing up from dry land.

The three-foot-thick blue brick wall was topped with barbed caltrops to deter thieves, and the courtyard was paved with polished bluestone slabs that fit together perfectly. There was no trace of the stale and shabby smell of the past.

"Okay...okay."

The old blind man stood shakily in the center of the courtyard, his fingers tracing the sturdy red pine beam inch by inch.

"Old Master, are you watching from heaven?"

"Our Fuju Ban brand has not only survived, but has also firmly established itself in this Tianjin area!"

Lu Guan, dressed in a brand-new black cotton-padded jacket, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, quietly watched the old blind man who was both crying and laughing.

In 1925, when human life was cheaper than grass, thirty silver dollars could buy a life.

The huge sum of money he spent not only bought him a house, but also provided a stabilizing force for the old blind man and himself in this chaotic world.

"Old man, it's windy outside, come inside and rest. From now on, no one will dare to kick the door in this yard again."

Lu Guan helped the old blind man back to the heated floor-draped pavilion, while he himself turned and went into the specially reinforced quiet room in the backyard.

The doors and windows were tightly closed, isolating the outside world from the hustle and bustle.

Lu Guan sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed) and placed the lacquered wooden box he had brought back from the military equipment department of the governor's mansion on the small kang table.

"Clatter".

As the lacquered wooden box was opened, a strong smell of preservative fragrance mixed with the stench of old corpses wafted out.

Inside the box lay a scroll of ancient sheepskin soaked in black dog blood... "The Fragment of the Zhuyou Resurrection Scroll".

Lu Guan narrowed his eyes slightly, his Da Cheng Ming Jin Qi and blood slowly circulated within his body, resisting the cold aura emanating from the ancient scroll, and reached out to unfold it.

What comes into view are rows of talismans and tiny characters written in a mixture of cinnabar and human blood.

"The incantation rituals of western Hunan involve borrowing corpses to revive the soul. They raise evil spirits as soldiers, thus avoiding reincarnation."

Lu Guan read on, word by word.

The more he looked, the brighter the light in his eyes became.

This is not some kind of magic trick performed under a bridge, but an extremely domineering "corpse-controlling murder technique"!

The book records that if a corpse in this world is nourished by the yin energy of the earth's veins, it will undergo a transformation, collectively known as "corpse evil".

Corpse Demons are divided into five levels according to their ferocity.

White Hair Sha, Black Hair Sha, Iron Armor Sha, Copper Armor Sha.

And that golden-armored yaksha that exists only in legends, capable of flying and escaping into the earth!

The core of this incomplete scroll is how to use the secret methods of the Zhuyou school to refine these corpse demons into "puppet soldiers" that one can control.

"The method of refining evil spirits prioritizes the 'corpse-nurturing ground'."

Lu Guan frowned slightly.

The book clearly states that different types of corpse spirits require extremely yin places to nurture them.

For example, if you want to create an invulnerable "Ironclad Demon", you must find a "Five Yin Gathering Demon Cave", bury the corpse in yin soil rich in iron ore, and irrigate it day and night with mercury and human blood.

It takes anywhere from six months to three years for a corpse to have skin as hard as iron and bones as strong as steel.

For the more advanced "Copper Armor Evil," the conditions are extremely demanding, requiring a living person's birth date and time to be used to force it to endure for decades.

"Six months, three years?"

Lu Guan shook his head and slammed the parchment scroll shut.

"The 'Spring Hunt' at the Western Hills Imperial Mausoleum will be held in half a month. It's a meat grinder that eats people."

"Where would I find the time to go to some remote mountain forest to find a 'corpse-raising site' and wait another year or two?"

The corpse control techniques in this "Fragment of Zhu You Qi Shi" are indeed exquisite. The "Spirit-Dividing Corpse Control Technique" recorded in it allows the caster to manipulate the corpse spirits as if they were their own limbs, and can even make the corpse spirits form a battle formation.

But what he lacks now is not technology, but a "finished product"!

"If raising them yourself is too slow, then just buy them."

In Lu Guan's mind, the image of the three large iron cages that were pushed out during the annual examination at Changqing Temple flashed through his mind.

Those three hundred-year-old living corpses, dressed in Qing Dynasty armor and with copper skin and iron bones, are exactly the perfect weapons.

The military equipment department of the governor's mansion has unfathomable resources. Since they were able to capture those corpse demons alive to use as questions for the annual examinations, there must be many more such evil creatures imprisoned in the inner treasury or water dungeon of the Bureau of Examining the Strange!

There's nothing in this world that the government won't sell if the price is right.

Thinking of this, Lu Guan could no longer sit still.

He carefully put the tattered scroll away, pushed open the door, and headed straight for the red brick building of the Armed Forces Department at the border of the French Concession.

……

Military Governor's Office, Military Equipment Department, Investigation Section.

In Feng Changshan's spacious office, this master of internal strength was holding an enamel teacup. After hearing Lu Guan's purpose, he almost spat out a mouthful of hot tea.

"What did you say? You want to buy that century-old corpse spirit that was used in the annual examination a few days ago?!"

Feng Changshan slammed down his teacup, his tiger-like eyes widening as he stared at Lu Guan as if he were a madman.

"Lu Guan, do you think that just because you've mastered Ming Jin, no one in the world can defeat you?"

"What is that thing? It's a monster born from the yin energy of heaven and earth and the resentment of the dead!"

"Although our Jiyi Sect has used secret methods to suppress their minds, they will instinctively absorb the yang energy of living people."

"Keeping it by your side is like having a leaky gas canister by your bedside. Over time, it will drain all your energy and vitality."

"Moreover, even if you know some unorthodox spells for controlling corpses, once you suffer a backlash, the first thing it will do is tear you apart."

Despite Feng Changshan's stern tone, Lu Guan remained calm.

"Director Feng, you don't need to trouble yourself with that."

Lu Guan slightly raised his eyes, and the qi and blood within his body, which were like a raging furnace, were released.

"My vital energy and blood are extremely strong and yang."

"If it wants to suck, let it suck."

"I'm afraid its bones, frozen and cold from being dead for a hundred years, won't withstand the temperature of my furnace!"

Feeling the oppressive aura emanating from Lu Guan, a pressure that even made Feng Changshan, a master of internal energy, feel a burning sensation, he gasped.

Why does it feel like... this kid has already entered the stage of mutual attraction?

Impossible, absolutely impossible! No one could be that fast!

Damn it, but how exactly did this kid build his foundation?

The purity of this blood and qi is even more terrifying than that of warlords and young marshals who have been eating century-old ginseng since childhood!

"OK."

Feng Changshan gritted his teeth, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.

In chaotic times, it's not that you're afraid of your subordinates being unscrupulous, it's that you're afraid of your subordinates not being ruthless enough.

"Since you're not afraid of death, I'll go ask Director Shen for instructions right now."

"However, let me make this clear from the start: such dangerous and bizarre items are strategically controlled materials under the Governor's Office. If you want to take them, silver dollars won't work now; you'll have to exchange them for 'merit points' from the Bureau of Mysteries!"

Half an hour later.

Feng Changshan returned with a note in his hand and a strange expression on his face.

"Director Shen approved it."

"There are still two of these century-old demons that have reached the peak of the 'Black-haired Demon' and even have one foot in the threshold of the 'Ironclad Demon' in the inner water dungeon."

"But the section chief said that such a powerful weapon cannot be given away for free."

Feng Changshan held up one finger.

"One thousand merit points!"

"One thousand points?" Lu Guan raised an eyebrow.

Last night, he single-handedly challenged the Fox Clan branch, only to earn a total of 800 merit points, all of which he used to exchange for the Yin Mo Ling chapter of "Huang Xian's Quest for a Title".

His current merit points on his badge are zero.

"What, you think it's too expensive?"

Feng Changshan sneered, "This is a monster that can tear apart a Ming Jin Da Cheng martial artist. Taking it to the Western Hills Imperial Mausoleum is like having an extra life."

"Not expensive."

Lu Guan stood up and gripped the black iron waist tag with the inscription "津字九捌零" in his palm.

"I'll earn whatever the difference is."

"I would like to trouble Inspector Feng to bring me two of the most rewarding cases from the backlog of third-rank mystery cases in Nanshi recently."