Zombie World: Starting as an apprentice of the Thunder King

Shi Shaojian walked towards the front yard, with Lin Bei following behind him, holding an exorcism talisman in his hand.

As the two walked to the middle of the courtyard, a gust of cold wind blew over.

Shi Shaojian shuddered, and the golden light flickered.

A white figure emerged from the shadows in the corner of the wall. It was blurry and its features were indistinct; it was just a cloud of human-shaped mist. The wandering spirit drifted toward Shi Shaojian.

Shi Shaojian took a step back, pointed his sword forward, and shot out a faint white light.

"You wretched creature, take this beating!"

However... it was all for naught. The sword light grazed the edge of the wandering soul, which drifted to the left, made a turn, and pounced towards Lin Bei.

Lin Bei held the exorcism talisman and chanted a purification incantation.

"Heaven and earth, in their natural order, disperse all impurities!"

The white light on his fingers was much brighter than usual, but he forgot to apply the talisman.

The wandering spirit had already floated in front of him, and a chilling aura wafted over him.

Shi Shaojian shouted, "Paste it!"

Lin Bei realized what was happening and reached out to stick the exorcism talisman on, but unexpectedly stuck it on the wandering spirit's shoulder.

The wandering spirit let out a sharp cry, and white smoke rose from half of its body. It drifted backward a distance, and the white smoke on its body slowly dissipated.

Master Zhang hid behind a pillar in the corridor, his legs trembling.

Shi Jian stood at the door, watching the whole thing with a blank expression.

"Don't call me! Where's your talisman?"

Lin Bei was so anxious that sweat beaded on his forehead, and he pulled out another talisman from his bundle.

He had drawn four exorcism talismans beforehand, and he carried them with him.

The wandering spirit drifted over again, this time even faster.

Lin Bei gritted his teeth and advanced instead of retreating, stepping on the Yu Step. Although his steps were a little unsteady, he managed to turn to the side of the wandering soul.

Seeing this, Shi Shaojian quickly formed a sword incantation, chanting, "Supreme Lord Laozi, may your command be fulfilled!"

A beam of white light shot out from the fingertip, this time striking the wandering soul in the chest.

The wandering spirit let out a mournful scream, its form appearing and disappearing in and out of sight!

"A great opportunity!" Lin Bei's eyes lit up!

Taking advantage of the opportunity, he rushed forward and slapped the exorcism talisman in his hand onto the back of the wandering spirit.

The runes on the talisman suddenly lit up with a dazzling light.

The wandering spirit struggled violently, its shrieks were ear-piercing, and its entire body began to emit white smoke. A few seconds later, the wandering spirit dissipated into the world, leaving not even a trace.

Lin Bei was panting heavily, his palms were sweaty, and Shi Shaojian wasn't much better off, he plopped down on the ground.

The two exchanged a glance and laughed. This was their first time killing a wandering spirit; it hadn't been easy.

Shi Jian walked over, looked down at the remaining traces on the ground, and then looked at Lin Bei and Shi Shaojian.

"You two have to put up a talisman twice, and your footwork is all crooked and awkward. Are you trying to be funny?"

Lin Bei chuckled: "Master, it's just the first time. You'll be better next time."

Shi Jian snorted coldly: "Next time? Go back and practice more."

The two let out a wail!

Master Zhang peeked out from behind a pillar: "Taoist priest, is that thing gone?"

"That's all." Shi Jian glanced at him. "The payment."

Master Zhang quickly pulled out ten silver dollars from his sleeve and handed them over with both hands.

Shi Jian accepted the silver dollars, turned around and walked out, with Lin Bei and Shi Shaojian following behind.

After leaving the Zhang residence, Shi Jian handed five silver dollars to Lin Bei.

"Take it."

Lin Bei took the five silver dollars, which were quite heavy. Shi Jian then gave three silver dollars to Shi Shaojian and kept two for himself.

"Master, you take two pieces, why are we taking so many?" Lin Bei asked somewhat embarrassedly.

Shi Jian didn't even turn his head: "You did the work, so you deserve it. The two yuan I received is for running errands, that's the rule."

Lin Bei accepted the silver dollar and put it in his pocket.

Shi Jian, walking ahead, suddenly spoke up: "You handled that wandering spirit terribly. Do you even know what the problem is?"

Lin Bei thought for a moment: "I stuck the talisman on crookedly, and my movements weren't nimble enough!"

"Not only that." Shi Jian frowned. "Shao Jian chanted the Golden Light Incantation too early, which depleted most of his magic power, so the sword techniques he used later lacked power."

"Your Yu Steps are unsteady. If you encounter a fast-reacting ghost, you'll be knocked down on your second step."

"And another thing," Shi Jian glanced at him, "when you were reciting the purification incantation, you were still holding the talisman in your hand. The purification incantation is for removing one's own impurities; it has no effect on ghosts."

"You're chanting purification incantations to a ghost? Where's your brain?"

Lin Bei scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and said, "Ahem, well... I was nervous!"

"If you're nervous, practice more," Shi Jian said in a deep voice. "Practice until you're no longer nervous."

"Good and evil are locked in a lifelong struggle, with all sorts of demons and monsters constantly emerging. You still have a long way to go!"

When the three of them walked back to Qingzhu Mountain, it was already dark. Shi Jian told them to rest for the night and start extra training the next day.

Lin Bei lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, his mind filled with the battle with the wandering spirit!

For the next two weeks, the town remained peaceful.

Lin Bei gets up before dawn every day to run in the mountains, and only begins practicing boxing after completing four runs.

The more I practice Tai Chi, the smoother the movements become, and the more powerful and graceful they become!

After finishing his boxing practice, Lin Bei took out a large pile of yellow paper and drew exorcism talismans on each of them.

Now, six out of ten exorcism talismans are successful, a significant increase compared to before!

Shi Jian passed by the courtyard and saw a thick stack of talisman papers spread out on the ground. He didn't say anything and walked away with his hands behind his back.

That evening, a hunter came running in a panic: "Master, Master, save me!"

Shi Jian hurriedly came out. "What happened?"

"Master, I don't know what's been going on these past few days, but every night I hear a woman crying, but when I go out to check, there's nothing there!"

"My dogs bark incessantly every night, Master, could it be a ghost?"

The hunter was trembling with fear, his eyes still gleaming with dread!

Shi Jian said in a deep voice, "Whether it's ghostly or not, we'll only know after we go and see!"

"Lin Bei, Shao Jian, go get the weapons!"

Lin Bei quickly returned to his room, grabbed a handful of talismans and stuffed them into his bag. Shi Shaojian did the same, his bag was bulging.

Shi Jian glanced at it, his eyebrows twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything. Then, led by the hunter, he went down the mountain!

The hunter lived at the foot of the mountain west of the town in three mud houses, with several animal skins hanging at the door.

Shi Jian walked around the house and found a faint ghostly aura surrounding it. He finally stopped under the old locust tree at the back of the house.

"There's something buried here, dig!"

The hunter took a hoe and dug half a foot deep where Shi Jian pointed. He unearthed a piece of bone, a human hand bone.

The hunter was so frightened that he threw down his hoe, his face turning deathly pale!

Shi Jian looked at the severed hand bone: "The resentment isn't strong; it's a newly formed wandering spirit. You two will handle this one."

Lin Bei patted the talisman paper in his bag but didn't take it. Instead, he chose to draw a talisman on the spot to hone his improvisation skills. Shi Shaojian stood guard to the side.

This time, Lin Bei drew talismans much more smoothly, and the first one was successful.

He stood up, clutching the talisman, and looked at the woods behind the house.

It wasn't completely dark yet; the woods were shrouded in a gray haze.

Shi Shaojian recited the Golden Light Mantra, and his body was enveloped in a layer of golden light. He walked ahead to clear the way.