Zombie Life Begins in Hongxi Village

Lin Yi looked closely and discovered that a female ghost was indeed living inside the golden pagoda that contained Nie Xiaoqian.

However, this female ghost was quite ordinary-looking; her face was merely average, and there was nothing particularly remarkable about her features.

She is far inferior to the cold and beautiful fairy-like Yu Canhua; she can only be described as being about the same as Chu Renmei.

Looking at the other golden pagodas, the souls inhabiting them were mostly elderly women, the youngest being around thirty years old.

Moreover, they were all ordinary female ghosts with plain appearances, none of them deserving the title of "beautiful ghost".

"This isn't right." Lin Yi frowned slightly.

He blended into the crowd without making a sound and walked with the flow of people towards Jinhua Temple. At the same time, he sent a message to Qiusheng through the statue, telling him to stay in the locust tree and not come out.

……

With a group of fake monks and the local gentry's servants, Shi Buxin trudged through the overgrown weeds and finally arrived at the gate of the ancient temple.

But when he looked up at the plaque in front of the temple, the compassionate monk's expression on his face suddenly froze.

The plaque that originally read "Jinhua Temple" has now been replaced with three bold characters: Lanruo Temple.

The townspeople who had come to join the fun were instantly in an uproar, with discussions rising and falling.

"What happened? Why did the sign change? Isn't it supposed to be Jinhua Temple?"

"I didn't go the wrong way; I was here last month!"

"Could it be that mountain ghosts are causing trouble and have changed the temple's name?"

Amidst the noise and commotion, Shi Buxin quickly suppressed his inner panic.

Having spent many years in the martial arts world, he was extremely shrewd and calculating. In an instant, he put on a solemn smile again, clasped his hands together, and spoke in a loud voice.

His voice wasn't loud, but he took a deep breath, making sure everyone present could hear him clearly:

"Amitabha. This humble monk originally came for Jinhua Temple, but when I arrived at the mountain gate, I found that it had become Lanruo Temple."

This is not because I have gone astray, but because fate has brought me here.

My connection with Jinhua Mountain only extends to the outside of its gates; but my connection with Lanruo Temple extends into its interior.

Since I've come here, it must be fate. I came to this temple because of its name, and I'll stay here as fate dictates.

Today it is called Lanruo Temple, and I, a humble monk, will become a monk at Lanruo Temple.

The temple is dilapidated and unfit to receive guests. Please return home, and come again after Lanruo Temple has been repaired.

His words were so eloquent and logical that everyone was stunned.

Although they couldn't understand it, they were deeply shocked and immediately put their hands together, saying, "Master, your insights are profound."

Shi Buxin smiled, but in his heart he was calculating: Once these people leave, they will take the ten thousand silver dollars and fly away. With this money, they can live a carefree life for a long time. Let whoever wants to live in this dilapidated temple.

They planned this scam for a full three months.

First, Shi Buxin traveled around the towns and villages surrounding Jinhua City, pretending to be a highly virtuous monk, and held water and land rituals to build his reputation by performing rituals to deliver souls and appease spirits.

He was truly capable of performing rituals to help souls find peace and salvation, so he quickly gained the upper hand.

He then tried every means to curry favor with Mayor Nie, who held power, and used the mayor's name to gain the trust of local gentry and wealthy families. Under the pretext of reopening Jinhua Temple and setting up a golden pagoda to bring wealth and good fortune, he raised money for incense and oil.

One step leads to another, every step is meticulously planned, and now it's finally time to reap the rewards.

Once they reached the mountain gate and there were no outsiders left, the group of fake monks instantly dropped their pretense. Their compassion and solemnity vanished, and their faces were filled with greed.

A tall, thin monk rubbed his hands together excitedly, saying, "Brother, we've struck it rich this time! A full ten thousand silver dollars, more than we earned in the last two years!"

Another round-faced monk chuckled lewdly, "Yeah, brother, we can wrap up work early this year. I haven't been back in so long, I wonder if that woman Xiao Hong has cheated on me."

The monks nearby burst into laughter, one of them jokingly saying, "Ergou, isn't Xiaohong Zhang Ermazi's wife? What kind of cuckolding is she doing you a disservice?"

"Get lost! Don't call me Er Gou! My Buddhist name is Yuantong!" The round-faced monk was furious and embarrassed, but then he became smug and proud, not ashamed but proud, and grinned as he boasted.

"I'm not bragging, but with my size and good looks, what woman wouldn't be obsessed with me?"

The group joked and laughed with each other, their minds filled with thoughts of the pleasures of city life.

Shi Buxin laughed for a while, then stepped over the threshold and into the main hall. But the moment he saw the scene inside, his smile froze.

The floor of the main hall was littered with broken pieces of Buddha statue stone. The Buddha statue that was originally enshrined in the center had been shattered. In its place in the center of the altar was a wooden statue of a god that was pitch black and had a ferocious appearance.

The statue had a fierce face and was covered in black armor, giving off a cold, eerie light in the dimly lit hall.

"Something's wrong! Let's go! We can't stay here any longer!" Shi Buxin urged urgently in a low voice.

"Quickly, bury the golden pagoda and leave immediately! Go now!"

The group of fake monks also realized something was wrong. Their faces turned pale, and they stopped joking and hurriedly took the golden pagoda they were carrying to the backyard, dug a hole haphazardly, and buried it.

The burial location happened to be right under the roots of Qiu Sheng's locust tree.

Having done all this, the group, carrying a heavy sum of money, hurriedly fled Lanruo Temple, not daring to linger for even a moment longer.

"Turns out they were a bunch of scammers."

Lin Yi stood in the shadows, watching their hurried departure, and shook her head speechlessly.

He then looked at the shattered Buddha statue in the main hall, a rare look of embarrassment appearing on his face: "I'm sorry, Old Ru."

With a thought, countless supple vines burst forth from the ground, coiling and binding together the shattered Buddha head and body pieces.

The vines intertwined densely, covering the entire Buddha statue, making it look as if it were wrapped in a thick fishing net, giving it an indescribably eerie appearance.

But at least it's a token of my apology.

After all, he and Buddha were old friends who had exchanged a few words.

Lin Yi planned to stay there for a while and observe how things would develop.

He wanted to figure out why Nie Xiaoqian looked so ordinary, and he also wanted to understand the mysterious trajectory of fate.

So, he took on the appearance of Yan Chixia and settled in the relatively well-preserved West Meditation Room in the temple.

On the other side, after the golden pagodas were buried under the Qiu Sheng tree, Qiu Sheng seemed to be awakened by something, and a memory of a martial arts manual called "Sunflower Manual" suddenly flashed through his mind.

An uncontrollable desire surged into his heart, and his roots instinctively pierced into a golden pagoda.

Before a female ghost in her forties could react, the roots pierced her body.

The silent wails of the spirits dissipated beneath the soil, while the pure power of the vengeful spirits flowed continuously into the locust tree itself.

The internal energy cultivation technique within Qiu Sheng's body began to operate automatically, and at the same time, a surge of yang fire emerged, merging with the power of the yin spirit and circulating repeatedly within his body in a cyclical manner.

Qiu Sheng felt completely relaxed and couldn't help but shiver.

The entire canopy of the locust tree shimmered with a lush green light, and the aura gradually intensified.

This pleasure is simply unstoppable.

After devouring one female ghost, Qiusheng inserted his roots into another golden pagoda.

He ate nine in a row before finally stopping, still wanting more.

The golden pagoda buried in the ground now only contains Nie Xiaoqian and another young female ghost named Dong Xiaoqing.

The two female ghosts huddled inside the earthenware jar, their spirits trembling with fear, not daring to utter a sound.

It wasn't that Qiu Sheng suddenly had a change of heart; rather, He had already planned out what to do with the two female ghosts.

He needs them to seduce men and then absorb their passion to practice his skills.

These two female ghosts were bait he had carefully selected and left behind; he couldn't kill them yet.

Qiu Sheng's strength has now recovered to 50%, and he is fully capable of transforming into human form again.

But remembering Lord Heishan's instructions, he could only obediently maintain the tree's shape and dare not make any rash moves.

Night falls.

Since the Buddha's light in the Buddha statue has disappeared, some demons and monsters in the vicinity have begun to stir.

During the war years, the Beishan area was filled with desolate graves, and countless lonely ghosts of those who died of starvation, battle, or wrongful death were found.

These undead spirits, without sacrifices or graves, are naturally drawn to places with heavy yin energy to dwell in.

One after another, gray and white ghostly figures rose from the surrounding desolate graves and drifted leisurely toward the gate of Lanruo Temple.

But just as they were about to step into the mountain gate, all the wandering ghosts froze, their souls trembling, and dared not move forward even half a step.

From the shadows of the mountain path, an old woman leaning on a white bone cane slowly emerged.