Zombie Life Begins in Hongxi Village

At 2 p.m., a group of Umbrella's core personnel took their seats on both sides of the long table in the conference room of Villa No. 2.

Umbrella Hospital Director Anderson and Vice Director Liu Cheng.

Richard, General Manager of Umbrella Shipping Company.

Victor, General Manager of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals, and Liu Guodong, Deputy Manager.

In addition, Yang Guo, the second-in-command of the Axe Business Association, and Ah Xing, the third-in-command, were also present.

They were there for a routine report.

As for why a foreigner was put in charge, it was obviously for convenience.

Hong Kong Island at that time was a British colony, and foreign faces had a natural advantage in the government and business world.

As for loyalty, Lin Yi had already trained them thoroughly through his dream-entering ability, as if they were stamped with the ideological imprint of loyalty. They would never betray Lin Yi, even if they betrayed God.

Each person in charge took turns standing up and reporting on the recent income and expenditure and plans for hospital operations, maritime shipping, drug production, port trade, and so on.

Only Yang Guo and Ah Xing, having just joined the Axe Gang, did not report their arrival; they simply introduced themselves briefly.

After everyone finished reporting, the other senior executives left first, while Lin Yi kept Yang Guo and Ah Xing behind for a private chat.

This was the first time Lin Yi met Yang Guo and Ah Xing in her true form, rather than as Chen Chen, the leader of the Axe Gang.

Yang Guo was experienced and calm. When facing the mysterious and unpredictable boss, he behaved properly and appropriately, showing respect without being obsequious.

Ah Xing's reaction was different.

From the moment he saw Lin Yi, he had been secretly observing her.

Although it was the first time he had met Lin Yi, he felt like he had seen her somewhere before, or rather, he felt a sense of familiarity and closeness with her.

So he decided to follow his heart, relaxed his demeanor, and treated Lin Yi with exceptional kindness. This was not a hypocritical gesture of a subordinate trying to please his boss, but rather more like a junior facing a trustworthy elder.

Lin Yi thought to herself, "Ah Xing truly deserves to be called the protagonist of destiny, possessing both talent and great fortune."

He may not have recognized me, but this keen intuition is something that ordinary people don't possess.

Intuition is also part of talent. Some people are born knowing who to trust, who to stay away from, and when to do what.

His fondness for Ah Xing increased unexpectedly; after all, no one can resist a younger brother who is genuinely close to them.

After the conversation ended, the two got up to leave.

"Ah Xing, do a good job. In the future, the foundation of the Umbrella Corporation and the Axe Gang will ultimately depend on young people like you to hold things together."

Lin Yi raised her hand and gently patted A Xing's shoulder, her tone encouraging.

Ah Xing felt a thud on his shoulder when he was patted, but his heart was warmed.

He nodded vigorously: "Mr. Lin, please rest assured, I will certainly live up to your expectations!"

Yang Guo, who was watching this scene from the side, had a look of understanding on his usually calm face.

Ah Xing has already caught the eye of the big boss; we should be more polite to him in the future.

Although he was nominally the second-in-command of the Axe Gang and Ah Xing was the third-in-command, since the boss valued Ah Xing more, the power in the gang would naturally gradually shift towards Ah Xing in the future.

Yang Guo didn't mind at all. He had been forcibly dragged into the Axe Gang by Lin Yi and didn't have much ambition for power. It was better if someone was willing to take on the responsibility.

……

As evening approached, the sky gradually darkened.

Lin Yi was sitting in the study reading a novel.

Suddenly, his senses detected an extremely faint fluctuation of yin and yang—someone was performing a ritual, attempting to open the gates of hell.

Of course, the person summoned not the gate to hell leading to his own underworld dimension, but the gate to hell leading to another underworld realm.

The Gates of Hell can only be opened by orthodox underworld spirits and deities using their divine authority, and some highly skilled cultivators can also open them through specific methods.

However, generally speaking, very few practitioners would voluntarily open the gates of hell.

The reason is simple: you never know who will be standing on the other side after you open the gates of hell.

It's possible that a judge happened to be passing by and thought you were opening the gates of hell without permission and didn't know the rules, so he casually made a note of it against you.

It could also be a vicious and vengeful ghost that rushes out the moment the gates of hell open, and the first to suffer would be the caster himself.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, practitioners will never easily touch this thing.

Of course, direct disciples of prestigious sects like Maoshan and Longhushan are not included in this category.

They have a traditional ritual procedure, and while opening the gates of hell, they will contact their ancestral master.

Lin Yi thought of the several gaps in his understanding of the supernatural, and suddenly an idea struck him. He called over Uncle Shou and gave him instructions:

"Uncle Shou, go and see what happened."

Shoubo accepted the order and left, his hunched figure turning into a wisp of smoke and dissipating into the air.

In a short while, Uncle Shou returned, his figure reappearing in the study, bowing and reporting:

"Sir, it was a Taoist priest named Chung Kau from Sha Tin who set up an altar at home to perform a ritual, sending a man and a woman down to the underworld to find someone."

The Taoist priest used a Fengdu talisman, which should have opened the gates of hell in the Fengdu underworld.

"Fengdu Talisman? Is it a successor of the Fengdu lineage?" Lin Yi wondered to himself.

Those who use Fengdu talismans are mostly practitioners of the Fengdu lineage.

In addition to renowned sects like Longhu Mountain and Maoshan, there are many relatively low-profile but equally long-standing smaller lineages within the cultivation system.

For example, the Fengdu School, the Lushan School, the Liuren School, the Meishan School, and so on.

Although these lineages are not as famous as Maoshan and Longhushan, they have been passed down for hundreds or even thousands of years, so they must have their own unique characteristics.

The Fengdu Method is said to be a legacy of the Fengdu Emperor of the Underworld.

This lineage does not worship any particular patriarch, but rather the actual, officially recognized deities and spirits of the underworld—such as the Emperor of Fengdu, Judge Lu, and Zhong Kui, among other mid- to high-ranking gods.

Taoist priests who practice the Fengdu method can be considered disciples of the Fengdu Emperor in a sense. They may not be much in front of other ghosts and gods, but they have some influence in front of the ghosts and gods of the Fengdu underworld.

Lin Yi's eyebrows twitched slightly when she heard the name Zhong Jiu.

The name sounded familiar, and after a moment's thought, a scene from a movie came to mind.

Since his soul transformed into a divine being, his memory has reached the level of photographic and auditory recall—

He can recall anything he has seen or heard before, whenever he wants.

It's so clear, as if it happened just yesterday. It can even replay the details of things I saw when I was too young to remember them, frame by frame.

"Could it be him?" Lin Yi muttered to herself.

If it really is the plot of that movie, then he'll definitely have to watch it.

"Uncle Shou, please tell the ladies that I'm going out for a bit and they don't need to wait for me for dinner."

After Lin Yi finished speaking, his figure vanished from the study in an instant, leaving not even a trace of spatial fluctuation.

The next second, Lin Yi appeared in a dojo in Sha Tin.

He did not reveal himself, but stood hidden in a corner of the dojo, like a silent bystander.

This is a temple converted from an ordinary residential house.

The walls were covered with Fengdu talisman cloths, on which were drawn complex vermilion runes that shimmered faintly in the candlelight.

On the altar directly in front is a statue of Zhong Kui – with a leopard's head and round eyes, a beard like a halberd, holding a seven-star sword, and stepping on a little devil, looking majestic.

In the center of the dojo was a circle made of soybeans, which were densely packed and formed a closed circle with a diameter of about two meters.

A white candle was lit in each of the four cardinal directions outside the circle.

A man and a woman kneel inside a circle of soybeans, with their backs to the gate and their faces toward the statue of Zhong Kui.

The man was wearing a white shirt and black trousers, and the woman was wearing a pink dress.

At this moment, a middle-aged Taoist priest who looked very much like Uncle Nine was holding a stack of drawn Fengdu talismans and chanting incantations as he prepared to perform a ritual.

He is Chung Gau.

"Walk, walk, if there's a bridge, walk on the bridge; there's no gate to heaven, but there's a road to earth; east is yang, west is yin, north and south are the extremes—"

Zhong Jiu chanted his incantation quickly and urgently, his feet moving in a strange Yu step.

Lin Yi stood in the corner, glanced at Zhong Jiu, and then her gaze fell on the man kneeling in the soybean circle who looked like the "Add Money Brother," instantly confirming her guess.

It really is "Zhong Kui Marries His Sister"!