Zombie Life Begins in Hongxi Village

After killing Butler Li, Lin Yi still thoughtfully arranged a standard aftercare package for him—

They dumped his body in an abandoned house and burned him to ashes with gasoline.

Lin Yi went to a teahouse across the street from the Xu residence.

The storefront wasn't large, and the lettering on the signboard had faded from the rain, but from the row of windows on the right side of the door, one could clearly see everything happening at the Xu family's main gate.

Lin Yi went straight to the booth with the best view and sat down. She raised her hand and tapped the table lightly, calling out to the innkeeper: "A pot of pre-rain Longjing tea and a plate of peanuts."

The shopkeeper, hunched over, responded.

Soon, tea and peanuts were served.

Just then, the wooden door of the teahouse creaked open, and a middle-aged man with a Buddhist monk's robe, wearing a plain-colored long robe and sporting a mustache strode into the shop.

The person who came was none other than Old Huang, no, it was the Qinghai monk!

Lin Yi raised an eyebrow, a playful expression on her face. It was truly a case of "searching high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly."

At this moment, he had no trace of the peaceful demeanor of a hermit cultivator; his brows were tightly furrowed, and his body was shrouded in an inescapable gloom and malevolence.

He walked straight to an empty table on the inside and sat down, ordering from the shopkeeper in a muffled voice: "A basket of char siu buns and a pot of hot tea."

He stopped talking after that, lowered his head, grabbed a snack with one hand, and swallowed it in big gulps. His chewing motions revealed an undisguised anxiety, and his gaze would occasionally drift toward the high walls of the Xu family mansion across the street.

Lin Yi leaned against the windowsill, seemingly casually picking up her teacup and taking a sip, but in reality, her gaze remained firmly fixed on Master Qinghai the entire time.

However, Master Qinghai was completely unaware of this, because Lin Yi used a little trick he had recently developed.

The principle behind this technique is simple: spatial ability is teleportation, but before he teleports, a very thin spatial fold forms around his body.

He took advantage of this, slightly closing the folds in the space around him without teleporting, and instead locking his life magnetic field firmly inside the folds, completely erasing his outward life magnetic field and sense of existence.

The reason why a person's existence can be perceived by others is through sight, hearing, smell, and intuition. Some highly cultivated people can also sense the magnetic field emitted by a living being.

However, once Lin Yi locks his own magnetic field, his presence will be extremely low unless he sees him face to face.

It's not about becoming invisible, but rather about "not attracting attention."

Just like Shino Aburame in Naruto, whose presence was greatly diminished due to being surrounded by insects, Lin Yi's situation is an active skill with a more thorough effect.

So even though Lin Yi stared intently at Master Qinghai for a long time, Master Qinghai was completely unaware that someone was observing him.

Lin Yi sipped his tea casually. The tea was good, but he found it tasteless.

Because a piece of top-quality ingredient was placed in front of him, his sense of smell detected the scent emanating from the blood beneath the Qinghai monk's skin.

Unlike the pure, fragrant Taoist blood of Uncle Nine, the blood of the Qinghai Master is thicker and more mellow, with a hint of sandalwood fragrance.

This person's cultivation level is definitely above that of Uncle Nine.

Judging from the original series, it took Uncle Nine a tremendous amount of effort to defeat an unborn evil spirit, and he almost suffered a setback in the end.

Although there were concerns about Michelin, Master Qinghai was a formidable figure who had slain four evil spirits.

Moreover, the evil spirits that Uncle Nine dealt with were only formed from the resentment accumulated because they could not be reincarnated, while the evil spirits that devoured human fetuses were powerful weapons crafted by the White Lotus Sect.

In terms of strength, the evil spirit of the Ghost Eater is stronger than Mr. Zombie.

This also shows that the Qinghai monk's strength is indeed a notch above that of Uncle Nine.

But that's normal.

Although the Qinghai monk looked like a middle-aged man, he actually practiced esoteric Buddhist methods and was definitely over sixty years old.

After all, according to the background introduction, his master, Master Longci, died sealing evil spirits during the White Lotus Sect and Taiping Heavenly Kingdom activities. Even if Master Qinghai was only one year old at that time, he would be over sixty years old now.

Uncle Jiu is only thirty-two years old now. Considering that era, Master Qinghai has cultivated for at least several decades longer than Uncle Jiu.

The difference in cultivation level over several decades is not so easy to bridge.

However, if Uncle Nine and Master Qinghai were to actually fight one-on-one, it would be hard to say who would win or lose.

After all, Uncle Nine is known for his protagonist physique of winning against the odds.

Even the Thunder and Lightning King Shi Jian fell into his hands; his life was as tough as a stone on Maoshan Mountain.

Lin Yi pondered as she drank her tea.

It's unlikely that the Qinghai monk was loitering in a teahouse near the Xu residence at this time.

He definitely knew about the Five Ghosts, and it's even very likely that it was his scheme from the very beginning.

After finishing his char siu buns, the Qinghai monk gulped down the last cup of tea, stood up, threw a few coins on the table, and left the teahouse.

Lin Yi put down her teacup, got up and followed.

He didn't follow too closely, but rather followed at a leisurely pace, passing through an alley and arriving at the west wall of the Xu residence.

The Xu family's residence was much more shabby than Lin Yi's Yun County Marshal's Mansion.

The rammed earth courtyard wall was only a little over two meters high, with broken tiles stuck on top to keep out thieves.

The monk from Qinghai glanced around to make sure no one was in the alley, then braced himself against the wall with one hand and lightly flipped over the courtyard wall, landing without making a sound.

After Lin Yi waited for him to climb over, she waited a few more moments before walking to the same section of the wall. She listened to the sounds inside the wall and, confirming that Master Qinghai had gone far away, she also climbed over with one hand.

The Xu residence is a typical two-courtyard house, with two sections, front and back, separated by a hanging flower gate.

The front yard was where Marshal Xu worked and received guests, while the back yard was where his wives and concubines lived.

The overall area is not large, estimated to be around 800 square meters. It cannot compare to the grandeur of the Yunxian Grand Marshal's Mansion, but it can be considered a mansion in a poor place like Huaixian.

From the front yard, one could faintly hear Marshal Xu's gruff voice and the clattering of bowls and chopsticks—the marshal had just returned and was having lunch.

The Qinghai monk bypassed the servants, pushed open a door, and went inside.

Lin Yi silently followed to the door, leaned against the window frame, and peeked inside through a hole in the window paper.

It's a study.

Marshal Xu's study was as extravagant as he was—several crudely made landscape paintings hung on the walls.

The bookshelves were crammed with obscene books and magazines with brightly colored covers; there wasn't a single decent book in sight.

Next to the bookshelf was a rosewood table, on which a row of porcelain pieces were displayed.

The blue and white porcelain vases, famille rose bowls, and underglaze red stem cups are all imitations from the Republic of China era; the real ones were all sold off by Marshal Xu long ago.

Five porcelain jars that looked like antiques stood out among the pile of worthless new porcelain.

The five jars on the table were trembling slightly, clattering against each other with a soft, clattering sound, like people shivering on ice.

Master Qinghai walked to the table and looked down at the five shaking jars, his expression complex.

The five jars vibrated even more violently from the impact of the living person's presence.

"Now is not the time for you to be born," Master Qinghai said in a low voice.

He bit his right index finger and drew a blood talisman on each of the five jars, his fingers moving like dragons and snakes in one smooth motion.

The moment each blood talisman is drawn, a brief flash of golden light appears on the surface of the jar, and then the jar falls silent.

After all five jars were painted, the table fell completely silent, and even the slight trembling that had been there earlier disappeared.

But Lin Yi could see very clearly through the hole in the window paper—

Not long after the last blood talisman was drawn, fine cracks began to appear on its surface, like a dried-up riverbed.

The seal drawn by the Qinghai monk with his own blood is collapsing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"We can only hold them for one day." Master Qinghai's voice was very low, but the suppressed ferocity in his tone was clearly heard by Lin Yi, who was hiding outside the window.

"One day is enough. The most urgent thing is to get the golden Buddha back—that damned Xu Jingjiang actually sold the golden Buddha, forcing this old monk to make a trip to Yun County."

You are destined to suffer the calamity of being devoured by demons!

As the monk from Qinghai finished speaking, a chilling smile curved his lips.

He did indeed have a conspiracy.

He was already seventy-nine years old at this time, but he looked only in his early thirties because he had practiced a secret esoteric Buddhist method.

As long as he doesn't die of old age, he can maintain his peak condition.

But its success also stemmed from its secret methods!

It was this secret technique that greatly shortened his lifespan; now he has less than a year left to live.

He wants to possess a young body before he dies and live a second life!

And the sixth day of the lunar month was the object of his possession!

Chu Liu was actually the reincarnation of his master, Master Longci, and was born with the potential to cultivate the esoteric Buddhist teachings.

Possessing the body of the sixth person allows his cultivation to seamlessly connect, and even reach a higher level.

However, he cannot directly possess another body—the rules and karmic repercussions of possession in Tantric Buddhism are more stringent than those of Taoist arts in the Central Plains.

He originally planned to save Chu Liu three times.

Having been saved by karma three times, he could rightfully possess Chu Liu's body without suffering any karmic repercussions.

In his plan, on the sixth day of the lunar new year, he would personally kill his lover, Xiaoyu, and their child (the demon fetus), severing all worldly ties and allowing him to be possessed without any worries.

As for the lingering trace of his master's wisdom, Master Qinghai never took it to heart.

His cultivation level had long surpassed that of Master Longci at his peak, and his innate wisdom and spiritual light were simply unable to stop him from possessing the body.

His calculations were indeed shrewd, and his heart was indeed ruthless.

However, Lin Yi had already ruined his plan to save his life for the first time, so now he could only play it by ear.