Twin female zombies come to the door: My lord, please have mercy!

After the Song family's convoy left, Taiping Old Street returned to its tranquility.

The first floor of the funeral parlor.

The brand-new double-door refrigerator was plugged in and emitted a soft humming sound as it cooled down.

Froststar couldn't contain herself any longer and yanked open the freezer door.

A thick white mist billowed out, and the little girl excitedly poked her head inside, took a deep breath of the artificially created cold air, and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Brother-in-law, this big box is so cool! This will be Froststar's new bedroom from now on, and nobody's allowed to take it!"

She waved her little fist, asserting her dominance.

Lin Ye, both amused and exasperated, pulled her out of the refrigerator.

"This is for storing meat and drinks. You sleep in it every day, how am I supposed to put food in there?"

the other side.

Leng Yue stood quietly beside the glass counter.

Lin Ye pushed the sandalwood box in front of her and gently unlocked the copper lock with his slender fingers.

The box lid was opened, and a piece of dark wood, its surface covered with natural lightning strike patterns, lay quietly on the yellow silk.

A visible chill instantly spread out, and the surrounding air temperature plummeted.

"This piece of wood is of extremely high quality and survived a lightning strike without being destroyed. It contains a trace of pure vitality within it."

Lin Ye examined the pith and gave a professional evaluation.

He looked up at Leng Yue.

"I noticed you usually only use a simple wooden hairpin to hold your hair up, which is a bit too shabby. I'll find a skilled carpenter to polish this piece of wood into a hairpin and give it to you as a gift."

Leng Yue's red eyes widened slightly, and a captivating soft light swept across her cold, stunningly beautiful face.

"My lord, you've gone to such trouble. Such a wondrous object is rarely seen. This humble servant..."

She lowered her eyes slightly, her voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of coquettishness.

"I am very happy."

"I'm glad you like it." Lin Ye casually ruffled her long, silvery-white hair.

……

As darkness fell, the streetlights came on one by one.

Fatty Wang bought a large bunch of grilled meat skewers and two dozen ice-cold beers from somewhere and scribbled them on the counter.

"Ye Zi, you absolutely have to have a drink tonight! You're the hottest star in Jiangzhou's metaphysics circle right now!"

The fat man used his teeth to open two bottles of beer and handed one to Lin Ye.

"Let me tell you, I was lurking in the group this afternoon, and guess what? The Ninth Bureau spread the word that the Ghost Realm at the Fourth Mental Hospital was wiped out by a single person! Now all those rogue cultivators are asking around to find out which reclusive old monster made the move."

Lin Ye took the beer and gulped it down; the icy liquid slid down his throat.

He took a bite of a sizzling, oily piece of mutton, speaking casually:

"Let them ask. As long as the Ninth Bureau keeps quiet, no one will be able to trace it back to this run-down shop."

The fat man lowered his voice and leaned closer mysteriously:

"That's not necessarily true. I heard that the prestigious sects of Longhu Mountain and Maoshan were originally determined to win the five million bounty offered by the Ninth Bureau, and even sent their most outstanding young talents down the mountain..."

"But someone beat them to it, and now those geniuses are looking everywhere for someone to spar with and get revenge."

Lin Ye chuckled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

In the current metaphysical circles, these so-called prestigious schools are usually high and mighty, but when their interests are threatened, they are more calculating than vendors in the market.

A friendly sparring match?

As long as they dare to come to Taiping Old Street, Lin Ye guarantees they'll come in upright and leave horizontally.

Just as the two brothers were toasting each other...

"jingle--"

The brass bell hanging on the glass door of the funeral parlor suddenly rang out with a clear, crisp sound.

A cold wind suddenly rose outside the door.

A tall, slender figure pushed open the door of the funeral parlor.

The person who came was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing a well-tailored light gray modern trench coat.

He had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a handsome face, but there was an unyielding arrogance and sharpness between his brows.

He carried a conspicuous sword case on his back.

The sword case is made entirely of lightning-struck peach wood, and its surface is engraved with intricate golden Taoist runes, faintly radiating a sharp aura.

The moment the young man stepped into the shop, his brows furrowed deeply.

His eyes flashed like lightning, sharply scanning the new refrigerator in the center of the hall, then glancing at Leng Yue and Shuang Xing sitting behind the counter.

Then, his gaze fell on Lin Ye, who was drinking beer.

"This extremely dense Yin energy has almost condensed into a malevolent force."

The young man slowly gripped the mechanism of the sword case on his back, his voice icy and chilling.

"How dare you harbor such vile and filthy things in a place where humans live in peace? Are you perhaps a heretical Taoist priest practicing evil magic, the owner of this funeral parlor?"

This sudden question caused Fatty Wang to drop the meat skewer he had just put in his mouth onto the table.

Lin Ye put down the beer bottle, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes.

He recognized the sword box emblem on the back of the newcomer.

That was the renowned Lu family, a prominent family in the metaphysical circles of Jiangnan Province.

The Lu family has practiced sword cultivation and talisman techniques for generations, emphasizing the use of thunder to shatter darkness.

The young man in front of me is most likely the so-called "young prodigy" that the fat man mentioned who came down the mountain to seek revenge.

"I wondered who was barking in the middle of the night, but it turns out to be the young master of the Lu family."

Lin Ye remained seated in his chair without shifting his position, his tone conveying a mix of languor and sarcasm.

"My shop is open for business, selling paper effigies of the dead. It's reasonable that the shop has a somewhat eerie atmosphere."

"If you're here to buy funeral clothes, I'll give you a 20% discount. If you're here to cause trouble, you'd better turn left and leave before you get my new carpet dirty."

"Arrogant!"

The young man gave a cold shout.

His name is Lu Changfeng, and he is the most talented sword cultivator of this generation in the Lu family.

I came down the mountain to investigate the Fourth Mental Hospital, but when I passed by Taiping Old Street, I was attracted by the pure yin energy emanating from the backyard of the funeral parlor.

In his eyes, any place with extremely heavy yin energy must be haunted by evil spirits.

The young boss in front of him, with his mixed aura, even dared to provoke him!

"Clang!"

A clear, sharp sword cry echoed throughout the funeral parlor.

Lu Changfeng ignored all explanations. The mechanism of the sword case on his back popped open, and a century-old peach wood sword radiating crimson energy fell into his hand.

He suddenly took a step forward, his figure transforming into a gray afterimage, the tip of his sword pointing directly at Lin Ye's throat.

"To slay demons and eliminate evil, the Lu family will not shirk its duty! Today, we will destroy this demon's lair!"

Faced with this extremely sharp sword strike, Fatty Wang was so frightened that he covered his head and crouched under the counter.

Leng Yue sat upright on the high stool, her deep red eyes showing not a ripple of emotion.

She didn't even lift her eyelids, her slender, jade-like fingers listlessly playing with the dark, dull wood.

Frostnova, sitting on the refrigerator, yawned exaggeratedly.

Lin Ye sighed.

The only way to deal with this arrogant swordsman who's suffering from severe chuunibyou is to crush his pride with brutal methods.

With the peach wood sword less than half a foot from his throat, Lin Ye finally made his move.

He didn't get up; his left hand remained casually resting on the beer bottle.

He brought his right index and middle fingers together and casually pinched them forward to meet the sharp blade.

"Snapped!"

A dull thud.

Lu Changfeng's sword strike, which was full of determination and contained fierce true energy, was actually held in mid-air by Lin Ye with just two fingers!

Not an inch more!

"What?!"

Lu Changfeng's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.

He tried to pull back his longsword, but found that Lin Ye's two fingers were like iron clamps, completely immobile.

Even more terrifying was that a terrifyingly powerful and yang energy emanating from Lin Ye's fingertips flowed upstream along the sword, causing his tiger's mouth to go numb.

"Young Master Lu, your sword is too slow, and it feels weak and powerless. Didn't you eat last night?"

Lin Ye's lips curled into a wicked sneer.

He exerted force with his fingertips, and pure yang fire exploded between his fingers.

"Bang!"

Lu Changfeng felt an overwhelming force coming from the sword, and he could no longer maintain his posture. As if he had been hit by a truck, he and his sword flew backward.

He tumbled twice in mid-air in a disheveled manner, finally kneeling on one knee and sliding back to the glass door of the funeral parlor before managing to steady himself.

Lu Changfeng raised his head, his once arrogant face now filled with horror.

His prized Lu family swordsmanship couldn't even withstand a single move from this seemingly ordinary funeral shop owner!

"Who...who exactly are you?!"

Lu Changfeng clutched his chest, which was still numb from the shock, and asked through gritted teeth.

Lin Ye stood up, picked up a meat skewer, and took a bite.

"Lin Ye, owner of the Lin Family Funeral Shop on Taiping Street."

Lin Ye looked down at him, his eyes revealing an arrogant disdain for the world of metaphysics.

"Remember this! From now on, when you come to my shop, put away that arrogant air of yours."

"Otherwise... next time it won't be your sword energy that breaks, but your bones."