Zombie Life Begins in Hongxi Village

Wencai quickly went into the kitchen and started cooking.

The mortuary's kitchen was a small, separate building located in the backyard. The stove was made of yellow mud and burned firewood.

Wencai killed the rooster and bled it, collecting the blood in a small gourd. Rooster blood is a pure yang substance that has a strong restraining effect on yin and evil substances, so it cannot be wasted.

I sliced ​​the pork belly into thin slices, soaked the pig's blood in water, and picked a few bok choy hearts from the vegetable garden. I was busy for more than half an hour.

It was already noon when the food was served.

Three dishes and a soup were laid out on the table.

The poached chicken was neatly sliced ​​and arranged on a plate, with golden and translucent skin and tender white meat, topped with a layer of sand ginger sauce.

The stir-fried pork slices were made with pork belly and green peppers, glistening with oil, and the aroma of the sauce filled the whole house.

The stir-fried bok choy is so bright green, it looks very appetizing.

The soup was minced meat and pig's blood soup. The pig's blood was cut into small cubes and floated on the clear soup. It was sprinkled with chopped green onions and pepper, and it was very delicious.

The staple food is pig's blood porridge.

Wencai's cooking skills are quite good; the pork blood and minced meat soup was very fresh. Although Linyi didn't taste the other dishes, she could imagine from their appearance and aroma that they must taste good.

Cooking might be his only redeeming quality.

"Wencai's poached chicken is pretty good, Ayi, you should try it."

Seeing that Lin Yi was drinking pig's blood soup, Uncle Jiu picked up a piece of poached chicken for him.

Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat. He knew that zombies could only suck blood or eat blood products like pig's blood soup or pig's blood porridge, otherwise they would get diarrhea.

Since being bitten by Jiang Chen, he hasn't eaten anything other than blood.

But now that Uncle Nine has already put it in his bowl, wouldn't it be disrespectful to Uncle Nine if he didn't eat it?

"Fine! At worst, we'll just drag him out later."

Lin Yi gritted her teeth and picked up a piece of chicken, putting it in her mouth.

It tastes good!

The meat is firm and tender, and paired perfectly with the ginger sauce, making it even better than some restaurants.

Although he had become a zombie, he still retained his human sense of taste.

Strangely, after he swallowed the chicken, his stomach felt perfectly fine, just like before he became a zombie.

"Wencai's poached chicken is very good." Lin Yi gave Wencai a thumbs up.

Wencai's mouth stretched from ear to ear, his face crinkled with laughter.

Cooking is the only skill he can be proud of, and it's also the only area where he won't get scolded by Uncle Nine.

He felt his vanity was greatly satisfied by the praise he received from a wealthy man from the provincial capital.

Uncle Jiu picked up a piece of green vegetable with his chopsticks, glanced at Wencai, and surprisingly refrained from criticizing him.

Wen Cai is indeed quite skilled at cooking. Although he is incredibly slow at learning Taoist arts, he transforms completely when he enters the kitchen. His knife skills, cooking techniques, and seasoning are all top-notch.

Uncle Nine once wondered if he had picked up a cook instead of a Taoist priest.

Qiu Sheng ate quietly, glancing at Lin Yi every now and then.

He noticed that Lin Yi was only drinking pig's blood soup and pig's blood porridge, and was eating very little of the other dishes.

He only ate one piece of the poached chicken that Uncle Jiu put on his plate and didn't touch it again.

Qiu Sheng thought that people from the provincial capital probably weren't used to the rural food, so he didn't take it to heart.

Wencai, on the other hand, ate voraciously, his chopsticks flying back and forth between the plate and his mouth, his cheeks bulging out like a hamster storing food.

Uncle Nine watched from the side, his face growing increasingly dark, the veins on his temples bulging. If Lin Yi hadn't been there, he would have slammed his fist on the table and started cursing.

But Wencai didn't care at all.

He knew his master too well—when outsiders were present, Uncle Nine would at most glare at him a few times, but would never actually make a move.

Once the guests leave, at worst I'll get a scolding; it's not like I'll lose a piece of meat.

So he continued to eat heartily, his mouth greasy with oil.

Lin Yi couldn't help but laugh as she watched this scene.

Although Uncle Jiu's family lived a simple life, their homely atmosphere was full of warmth and comfort.

Although Lin Yi didn't feel uncomfortable after eating the chicken, he didn't dare to eat too much, fearing he would become a jetpack warrior. He hastily drank half a bowl of pig's blood porridge and said he was full.

After finishing her meal, Lin Yi went to the courtyard, stood against the large black coffin, and waited quietly while basking in the sun.

He was waiting to get diarrhea.

In the original series, Kuang Tianyou and Kuang Fusheng were both unable to eat human food, as it would cause them stomach aches and diarrhea. They could only survive by drinking human blood or pig blood.

He waited for almost half an hour.

There was no movement in her belly.

Lin Yi frowned, closed her eyes, and looked inward at her stomach—

The chicken and pig's blood had been completely digested; my stomach was empty, not even a crumb remained.

His digestion was faster than when he was a human, and he experienced no discomfort whatsoever.

This is not right.

Lin Yi leaned against the coffin, his mind racing. He had seen clips of the narration for "A Date with a Vampire," which clearly showed the scene where Kuang Tianyou and Kuang Fusheng got diarrhea after eating human food.

Eating human food is a privilege reserved for red-eyed zombies; green-eyed second-generation zombies should not have this privilege.

Although he also thought the premise was ridiculous—how could a demigod be defeated by ordinary food?

But that's how it's portrayed in TV dramas, and there's nothing he can do about it.

But the facts are right in front of him. He ate a piece of chicken, and not only did he not get diarrhea, he digested it even better than when he was a human.

In addition, there were those memories and skills I inexplicably gained after drinking blood last night...

Does Kuang Guohua have this ability?

No.

Does Kuang Fusheng have this ability?

nor.

Whether Jiang Chen himself was involved or not is unknown, but Jiang Chen was a member of the Pangu clan, and they were not on the same level.

"The problem lies with me," Lin Yi concluded in her heart.

Bloodsucking to read memories and gain skills may not be standard features of the Pangu zombie, but rather his own unique abilities.

The ability to eat ordinary food is also a unique characteristic of his.

The more Lin Yi thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Perhaps he had some kind of cheat code he didn't know about, maybe it was that blue glass bead, or something else entirely...

This is good news for Lin Yi. Although he doesn't know the reason now, he will solve the mystery one day.

……

The afternoon passed very leisurely.

Lin Yi wandered around the mortuary, looking at the magical artifacts that Uncle Nine had collected—

A wall was covered with a variety of items, including a peach wood sword, a copper coin sword, a Sanqing bell, a Bagua mirror, and a compass.

Seeing his interest, Uncle Nine explained the uses and manufacturing methods of various magical artifacts, and the two got along very well.

As evening approached, the clouds on the horizon were burned orange-red by the setting sun, and the bluestone ground in the courtyard of the mortuary shimmered with a warm light.

Wencai went back into the kitchen to start preparing dinner. He fried two fish, steamed a plate of cured meat, stir-fried some greens, and made pig's blood soup again, but the main dish was now white rice.

Lin Yi was no longer so cautious during this meal.

He picked up a piece of fish and a few slices of cured meat, and ate it with relish along with white rice.

The fish was pan-fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, while the cured pork was smoked with pine branches, and the fatty parts were translucent. One bite filled my mouth with the aroma of oil.

The feeling of being able to eat human food normally was so good that he temporarily forgot he was a zombie.

But the feeling of power that could crush bowls and chopsticks at any moment made him realize that he was indeed a zombie.

After dinner, it was completely dark.

Several lanterns were lit in the courtyard of the mortuary, their dim light swaying gently in the night breeze.

Uncle Nine changed into his robes and led Wencai and Qiusheng to the large black coffin in the courtyard.

The coffin of Old Master Ren.

During the daytime relocation of graves, Uncle Jiu discovered a problem with Old Master Ren's tomb—

The Dragonfly Skimming Water Cave was sealed with lime for twenty years. The body did not decompose, and the resentment did not dissipate. It has become a zombie.

Although the coffin has been brought back, the contents are still inside, and the evil energy is still very strong.

He had to perform a ritual twice a day, morning and evening, to reduce the evil spirit of Old Master Ren and prevent it from breaking out of the coffin.

"Wencai, Qiusheng, prepare to perform the ritual." Uncle Jiu stood in front of the coffin, his face solemn.

Wencai and Qiusheng immediately dropped their usual playful attitudes; one went to move the incense burner, and the other went to get the talisman paper and cinnabar.

Uncle Nine set up an offering table in front of the coffin, lit three incense sticks, chanted incantations, and began his ritual by performing the Yu Step.

Lin Yi stood at the entrance of the main hall, arms crossed, looking around.

In his view, with each incantation recited by Uncle Nine and each step taken in the Yu Step, the malevolent aura swirling around the coffin would thin out a little.

The malevolent aura was invisible to the naked eye of ordinary people, but in Lin Yi's perception, it was like a layer of gray-black mist, swirling around the coffin and radiating a cold resentment.

As the ritual progressed, the mist grew thinner and thinner.

Grandpa Ren lay quietly in the coffin, completely still.

As Wencai helped hand over the ritual implements, he muttered to himself, "Strange, why is Old Master Ren so quiet?"

Uncle Nine ignored him and focused on completing the last few steps of the ritual.

After completing the incantation, burning the talisman, and sprinkling water, the evil energy on the coffin had dissipated by about 70-80%.

He certainly didn't know the reason, but Lin Yi had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on.

A newly transformed black zombie, sensing a second-generation Pangu zombie standing beside it, would hardly dare to move.

Although Lin Yi is now in human form and her aura is completely concealed, making her no different from an ordinary person, the suppression from her bloodline level is undeniable.

Just like a rabbit smelling a tiger, even if the tiger lies still, the rabbit dares not come out of its burrow.

After the ritual was successfully completed, Uncle Nine had Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai mix rooster blood with cinnabar, pour it into the inkwell, and then use it to draw lines on the coffin to bind the body.

This is a formation specifically used in Maoshan magic to seal away zombies. The ink lines that shoot out form an airtight net, sealing the coffin completely.

Because Lin Yi was there, Uncle Jiu didn't go to sleep early, but stood aside and watched his two apprentices work.

In the past, whenever Wencai and Qiusheng were asked to do such delicate work, they would always come up with something new and interesting—either they would flick the ink off-center, or they would flick it through the ink, or they would splatter ink on their own faces.

With Lin Yi present today, Uncle Jiu couldn't scold anyone on the spot, so he simply stood by and supervised the whole process.

Wencai and Qiusheng felt uncomfortable under Uncle Jiu's gaze, but their hands remained exceptionally steady, each flick and pull performed with perfect precision.

The two of them spent half an incense stick's time flipping the coffin from end to end, making sure every ink line was straight, evenly spaced, and perfectly horizontal and vertical.

Not a single place was missed.

Uncle Nine carefully inspected the items and nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, that's fine for tonight."

Wencai wiped his sweat and asked in a low voice, "Master, do you think Old Master Ren might come back to life?"

Uncle Nine glared at him: "The corpse-trapping line is sealed off; even if you turn into a zombie, you won't be able to get out."

Wen Cai shrank back, not daring to ask any more questions.

Lin Yi glanced at the coffin again. Although the malevolent energy was still there, it had been firmly locked inside the coffin by the corpse-trapping threads.

According to the original plot, Old Master Ren should break out of the coffin tonight, because in the original plot, Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng missed the bottom of the coffin when they were flicking the ink line.

But now Uncle Nine is watching the whole thing and hasn't missed a single detail.

Lin Yi thought to herself, "It's possible that this old man really won't be able to get out."

As night deepened, the lights in the mortuary went out one by one.

Lin Yi returned to her room, lay on the bed, listened to the crickets chirping outside the window, and slowly closed her eyes.