Whose heretical cultivator relies on a rich woman to attain enlightenment?

Jingnan, the alley where corpses are dragged.

Lu Cheng gritted his teeth and dragged the heavy corpse behind him with all his might, his mouth full of complaints.

"Dude, were you raised on pig feed?"

In order not to affect the city's appearance, anyone who dies inside or outside the city must pass through this almost deserted alleyway for dragging corpses. The reason, of course, is that it is too bloody, unsuitable for children, and affects the city's appearance.

According to local elders, it seems that once, noble lords were having a lavish party outside the pass when they were wiped out by demons. After pushing dozens of naked corpses back to the city, this strict rule was enacted.

That's how this so-called "corpse dragging alley" came about.

"Phew~ Let's take a break."

He simply plopped down on the corpse behind him.

Although this person was literally broad-minded and imaginative, his death was relatively dignified compared to the many corpses he had dragged. At least his limbs were intact, only his chest and lower body were missing some parts.

"I really envy you cultivators, you can still walk even though you weigh 300 pounds."

"It looks like you've been dead for quite a few days. The body isn't decomposing or smelling bad, but the wound on your chest looks like it was scratched by a cat."

"Sigh, I was so ignorant in my past life, sitting at my desk complaining every day that I was a beast of burden, and now look what happened..."

After a short rest, the man stood up, grabbed the iron chain on the deceased's ankle with all his might, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

"I'm so damn lucky I was born as an animal!"

Lu Cheng was in pretty good shape, but no matter what, it was really difficult for him, a person who had never cultivated, to drag several hundred pounds of flesh and blood back from beyond the Great Wall.

As for why they didn't just bring a cart...

You think he went to buy goods?

There wasn't even a proper road in the middle of nowhere, and you could run into demons at any moment. He was lucky to have a tattered mat to lie on. If it weren't for the fact that there was plenty of money to be made, he probably would have given up long ago... Hmm?

Oil and water.

Suddenly I perked up.

As early as when the body was being transported outside the city gate, he noticed that the body's clothing was different from that of ordinary people. Judging from the fabric and style of the clothes, the person must have come from a good family.

After finally managing to drag the person to the mortuary, Lu Cheng flashed eight pearly white teeth, rubbed his hands together like flies, and immediately issued a disclaimer.

"Sir, welcome to Lu's Funeral Home."

"We in the funeral industry are required to charge a service fee."

"Don't complain about the price. It wasn't easy to bring you back from the middle of nowhere. People with your build usually charge double."

"Recently, demons have been rampant, causing great suffering to the people of Da Yue. A few days ago, many demons crossed Zhennan Pass, and more than a hundred people were brutally murdered. Brother, you must have died tragically on the battlefield while fighting against these demons, right?"

"We are forced to do this for the sake of making a living. I really envy you cultivators with spiritual roots, who never have to worry about food or clothing no matter where you go."

"If I had to point out a drawback, it would be that you have to risk your life for the imperial court."

The little hands, not very clean, groped up and down.

There are many rules in their line of work. Every day, many people die at the hands of demons near the city gate. Usually, if someone claims the body or knows the person, they will be handed over to relatives and friends to handle the funeral arrangements.

This unfortunate fellow has been lying in front of Zhennan Pass for quite some time now, unclaimed and his origins unknown. Judging from his clothes, he seems to be from out of town, so he was handed over to Lu Cheng, a corpse-hauling man, to deal with.

The valuable items left on the corpse were naturally the reward. After all, dragging the person into the city and then stitching up the wounds, putting them in a coffin and burying them was a very troublesome task. No one would be willing to do this job without some benefits.

Of course, before disposing of the body, the people from the Demon Suppression Bureau would definitely conduct a thorough search. Any truly valuable items would have been completely looted long ago, and what would remain of the body was left to chance.

Abbreviation.

Open blind boxes.

"...Just a few taels of silver?"

Someone got anxious.

Fun fact: Blind boxes are actually stuffed in by people.

There are 360 ​​professions, and every profession can produce an expert. Making money off the dead is not a very honorable thing to talk about, but it can indeed bring Lu Cheng a stable income. These few taels of silver are not a small amount, and are definitely enough for an ordinary person to live on for several months.

But for a young master like Lu who usually enjoys listening to music in brothels, it was clearly not enough.

Lu Cheng was both angry and helpless as he searched everywhere but could not find any valuables. He couldn't help but curse the Demon Suppression Division under his breath. It was not hard to tell from the marks on the deceased's neck and fingers that the necklace and thumb ring had been stolen long ago.

Despite his anger, Lu Cheng maintained his professional ethics and picked up a needle and thread to sew up the wound, even adding wood shavings as stuffing. But just as he pried open the deceased's abdomen, he...

"What is that!?"

A sharp pain shot through my fingertip, as if something had burrowed into my index finger!

My mind went blank, and countless fragmented images flashed through my mind, like a piece of glass being smashed. Countless fragments of memory flashed before my eyes and disappeared in an instant.

He heard the baby cry as it was born.

I saw a rich young master paying respects to his ancestor who was over two cycles of sixty years old; I saw a life of debauchery involving eating, drinking, gambling, whoring, and harassing maids; I saw a man kneeling before a monster with a human head and a snake's body, begging for cultivation techniques... and so on.

Human head and snake body?

"It's a demon!"

Snapped--

He suddenly opened his eyes.

A burning pain shot through my cheek, masking the stinging sensation in my fingertips, as a middle-aged bald man grabbed my collar and whipped me wildly.

Snapped!

Another slap.

"Hurry, bite down, bite down!"

"These black donkey hooves can ward off evil spirits. Hang in there, don't give up!"

"Help! Help! Someone's possessed! Quickly, get some glutinous rice!"

"Little Lu, we've been brothers, and this is all I can do to help... How much wealth do you have left? I heard you have a wife at home; I'll take care of her from now on."

"It's a pity you're so young, and we haven't even seen you get married and have children yet..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Cheng kicked him away.

"screw you."

He spat out the thick, black hoof that was practically stuck in his throat.

A foul smell filled his mouth; the black donkey hoof was probably older than him, making him almost vomit. Although his mind was a little dazed, he was trying hard to recall what had just happened.

Could what I saw earlier have been a hallucination? I glanced at the corpse lying on the table again; it was exactly the same as what I had seen in my mind.

"Could it be that what I just saw was someone else's memory?"

He was startled, but before he could think any further, his thoughts were interrupted.

"So you're alright. This whole mess made me think you were possessed."

The middle-aged man looked embarrassed and put the black donkey hoof back into his waistband.

This man, named He Liu, is one of the most senior figures in Corpse Dragging Alley, having been in this line of work for over thirty years. When I first entered the business because I was short of money, it was He Liu who taught me how to do it.

Oh, it wasn't about teaching him how to sew up a corpse and handle the aftermath.

He taught him how to plunder the corpses, how to distinguish between the dead and the commoners, what valuables were on their bodies, and where the most dangerous places were outside the city. He was practically the know-it-all of Jingnan, and even this business deal was found out from He Liu.

"You're the one who's possessed! You just want me to die, don't you?"

He said it in a rather irritating tone.

Lu Cheng knew exactly what He Liu was thinking, so he took a small piece of silver from his pocket and threw it over as payment for the intermediary.

"What are you saying? I'm just worried about you, kid."

"Other men who are eighteen or nineteen years old are already married and have children, but you're not in a hurry at all."

"Although we can make a lot of money in our line of work, it's also extremely dangerous. We're always running outside the city gates, not much different from those people from the Demon Suppression Bureau. We're all risking our lives to do our jobs."

"I'm worried you'll lose your life before you even have a child."

Although he said he cared, he was actually smiling as he weighed the money in his hand.

According to He Liu, he himself never did such dangerous physical work, but he had a wide network of connections in the city, and he had dealings with people from all walks of life. After getting to know him, Lu Cheng found that although he was a bit greedy, he was not a bad person at heart.

Too lazy to pay attention to him, Lu Cheng continued to sew up the corpse with his needle and thread. His mind was full of the fragments of memory he had just seen. He Liu was not polite at all and sat in the mortuary, chattering incessantly.

"So, considering you're getting on in years, it's time to have an heir. I've specially found you a good marriage..."

"You son of a bitch!"

My hand trembled, and I almost pulled the needle and thread from my chest onto my head.

She glared at the middle-aged bald man through gritted teeth, wondering how much this bastard had taken. In her past life, she had almost been driven to her death by him during a blind date, and now he was doing it again in this life.

"Get out of here! Even if I, Lu Cheng, starve to death, die outside, or jump off Zhennan Pass, I will never..."

"The Fairy Miaozhu of the Misty Sect is looking for a Daoist partner."

"Explain in detail."

His expression changes as easily as turning the pages of a book.

Without saying a word, he went to get the teapot. Being chosen as a partner by a disciple of the immortal sect was definitely the fastest way to cross social classes.

He Liu sat there, took a sip of tea, and said calmly, "Little Lu, my parents both come from prestigious families, but by my generation, we really don't have any spiritual roots. We can only make a living here in Jingnan. But you know how it is with the older generation to maintain relationships."

"The Misty Sect is quite famous throughout the entire Great Yue, and Fairy Miaozhu is a sixth-realm expert who has already completed most of her cultivation journey. If we could catch her eye, tsk tsk tsk~"

Mr. Lu stood up straight.

"Since the Misty Sect found out about our area, I simply brought a stack of portraits with me, and guess what happened?"

"She took a liking to you at first sight."

"She also said she's willing to offer a hundred taels of gold, and if you're willing, she might even try to take you on a cultivation journey to become her ninth male concubine. Besides, Fairy Miaozhu is young and beautiful, and at only seventy years old, she's already famous far and wide..."

"Wait a minute." Lu Cheng's mouth dropped open. "Only seventy? And what does 'ninth wife' mean?"

The two looked at each other.

You can be seven hundred years old, seven thousand years old, or seventy thousand years old!

But you can't be seventy years old.

"These cultivators are rich and powerful, so what's wrong with keeping a few male concubines? Some cultivation techniques require nourishing yin and yang, which is perfectly normal. Don't worry, these wealthy families definitely take good care of their health and wellness..."

"roll!"

"Even if you don't consider yourself, you should at least consider the woman you're keeping at home. I heard that girl was bought from a slave trader. Apparently, she used to be a cultivator, but she was severely injured and lost all her cultivation. Maybe she can..."

"Get out of here!"

Seeing that Lu Cheng was about to bring the hundreds of pounds of corpse over, He Liu immediately turned and ran. Although this brat couldn't cultivate, his strength was quite frightening.

They had just left the mortuary.

"Wait a minute."

He called out to He Liu and put the corpse he was carrying on his shoulder back down.

"...Leave a contact address."