Uncle Nine: You were supposed to drive corpses, so you summoned the Monkey King!

Wencai came over and, seeing Qiusheng's miserable state, burst out laughing.

"Senior brother, this doesn't just mean you have diarrhea."

"You've clearly been drained dry at a brothel."

"You borrowed two silver dollars from me yesterday, did you use them to go drinking and carousing?"

Qiu Sheng glared at Wen Cai.

"Shut up! Stop making baseless accusations!"

Master Si Mu walked over, circled around Qiu Sheng, and sniffed Qiu Sheng.

"Tsk tsk tsk."

"Diarrhea can give you a seductive smell? This yin energy is practically pickled."

"Feng Jiao, your disciple is quite the ladies' man, he's been entangled with a female ghost."

Uncle Nine snorted and pulled out the thickest rattan cane.

"Tell me! Where did you go last night?!"

"What kind of unclean thing have you gotten yourself into!"

Upon seeing the vines, Qiu Sheng was so frightened that he hid behind Lin Chen.

"Master, I really didn't lie!"

"I just got lost walking at night and fell asleep in the woods!"

Qiu Sheng would never dare to mention Xiao Yu's matter, even if he were beaten to death.

Xiaoyu is beautiful and kind, how could she be a ghost? Master must have misjudged her.

Lin Chen stood aside and watched the show.

Seeing that Qiu Sheng was hiding behind him, he took a step to the side, directly exposing Qiu Sheng to Uncle Jiu.

"Senior brother, your dark circles are even worse than a panda's."

"A female ghost sucking out yang energy is like boiling a frog in lukewarm water; the first day it causes back pain and soreness, and the second day it makes your limbs feel weak."

"By the third day, they probably won't even have the strength to get out of bed. At that point, their yang energy will be completely depleted, and even a god couldn't save them."

Lin Chen's words directly addressed the symptoms of Zhongqiu Sheng.

Qiu Sheng's heart skipped a beat.

He does indeed have back pain and weak limbs. Could Xiaoyu really be a ghost?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

Qiu Sheng vehemently denied it.

"I just have diarrhea and I'm exhausted! I'll go take a nap and I'll be fine!"

Qiu Sheng dashed back to his room and slammed the door shut.

Uncle Nine stood in the yard with a rattan cane, his beard bristling with anger.

"This piece of trash is utterly hopeless!"

Uncle Jiu threw the rattan cane on the ground.

Master Four Eyes patted Uncle Nine on the shoulder.

"Alright, senior brother, if he won't tell you, there's no use beating him to death."

"Let's just follow him when he goes out again tonight, and that'll settle things."

Uncle Nine sighed.

The matter concerning Old Master Ren has not yet been resolved.

My apprentice has run into this trouble again.

These are truly turbulent times.

"Let's eat first."

Uncle Nine calmed himself down.

"After dinner, we'll split up and get back to work."

In the main hall of the mortuary.

Several people sat around the octagonal table to eat breakfast.

Breakfast was simple: white porridge with pickled vegetables, plus a few multigrain steamed buns.

Ren Tingting didn't come out of the guest room, so Wen Cai specially brought her a portion of food.

Uncle Jiu took a sip of porridge and put down his chopsticks.

"That half-step armored corpse is seriously injured and definitely needs Yin energy to heal it."

"Simu, take Lin Chen to the Dragonfly Skimming Water Cave in the back mountain."

"Go check if there's anything unusual around the tomb."

Master Simu took a bite of the steamed bun and nodded repeatedly.

"Don't worry, senior brother, leave it to me."

"If that beast is hiding inside, I'll just roast him with some lightning-struck wood."

Uncle Nine turned to look at Wen Cai, who had just come out of Ren Tingting's room.

"Wencai, go and wake up your good-for-nothing senior brother."

"You two go to town today."

"Inquire whether any outside feng shui masters have settled in the town in the last twenty years."

"Or there's someone acting suspiciously."

Wencai nodded happily when he heard that he didn't have to go to the back mountain to look for the zombies.

"Okay, Master! I'll go get him right away!"

Wencai ran to Qiusheng's room and knocked on the door.

After assigning the tasks, Uncle Nine stood up.

"I need to stay at the mortuary to prepare ritual implements and talismans."

"Tonight might be a tough battle."

Master Simu finished the porridge in his bowl in a few bites and wiped his mouth.

"Apprentice, grab your weapons, let's go."

Lin Chen went back to his room, retrieved the lightning-struck wooden sword, and took several skilled-level corpse-suppressing talismans with him.

The two left the mortuary and headed straight for the back mountain.

The road to the back mountain is difficult to travel.

The paths were all overgrown with weeds, and in some places you had to climb up by clinging to vines.

Master Four Eyes walked ahead, wielding a bronze sword to slash at the thorns blocking his path.

Lin Chen followed behind, his steps light and easy.

As he walked, Master Simu turned back to chat with Lin Chen.

"Disciple, do you know the significance of the 'Dragonfly Skimming Water' technique?"

Si Mu was testing Lin Chen, and Lin Chen followed along with his words.

"Master, I've only read a little bit about it in books."

"This acupoint is shaped like a dragonfly, and it's important to gather and retain Qi (vital energy)."

"The coffin should not be laid flat. It must be buried vertically to absorb the earth's spiritual energy and bless future generations to achieve great success."

Master Simu nodded in satisfaction.

"You know quite a lot, kid."

"However, your senior uncle said that the tomb was covered with cement."

"This has created a dead end; the earth's energy can't escape, and the death energy can't dissipate."

"A geomantically auspicious site has been forcibly transformed into an extremely yin place for raising corpses."

"That feng shui master is ruthless; he's trying to make the Ren family line end."

The two walked and talked until they reached the halfway point of the mountain.

The trees in front have become sparse, and the surrounding vegetation is also wrong. The trees that should have been lush and green have all turned yellow and withered.

The tree trunk was covered with black poisonous mushrooms, and not even the chirping of birds could be heard; a chilling cold air swept over you.

Lin Chen sensed that the magnetic field here was disordered.

"Master, the yin energy ahead is very strong."

Lin Chen gripped the hilt of the lightning-struck wooden sword.

Si Mu sheathed his bronze sword, took out a brass compass, and as soon as he took it out, the needle on it spun wildly.

"The magnetic field is completely messed up."

Master Simu's expression turned serious.

"It's just ahead, be careful."

The two walked through a grove of dead trees and came to a flat area.

There was a large, deep pit in the center of the flat ground, with excavated soil and damaged cement blocks piled up around the pit.

This is the original tomb of Old Master Ren, and black smoke is rising from the deep pit.

Even during the day, this place receives very little sunlight, making it appear gloomy and eerie.

Master Simu walked to the edge of the pit and looked down. The bottom of the pit was full of black silt, emitting a foul stench.

"Not a trace of zombies."

Si Mu put away the compass.

"Looks like that old bastard isn't hiding here."

Lin Chen walked around the deep pit, scanning the bottom and surrounding area.

With his exceptional eyesight, he spotted several dark lumps in a corner at the bottom of the pit.

He jumped straight into the deep pit, his feet slapping against the mud with a squelching sound.

Lin Chen walked to the corner and used the tip of his sword to pick up the dark clumps of things; they were several dead rats and two dead snakes.

The animals' carcasses were shriveled and their blood had been drained.

Lin Chen looked at Daoist Simu.

"Master, it came back."

"There are animal carcasses at the bottom of the pit that have been drained of blood."

Master Simu frowned.

"It sucks animal blood? It looks like it's badly injured."

"The blood of an ordinary animal cannot replenish the corpse energy it lost yesterday."

Lin Chen took two more steps at the bottom of the pit.

My gaze lingered on a patch of wet mud at the edge of the pit.

There was half a clear footprint there.

Lin Chen squatted down to examine it closely.

The footprint was small, and the sole of the shoe had an old-fashioned multi-layered cloth sole pattern. The forefoot of the footprint was pressed very deeply.

This suggests that the person who left the footprint was carrying a heavy object or pulling something upwards.

Lin Chen quickly recalled the scene in his mind.

"Master, besides zombies, living people have also been here."

Lin Chen pointed to the half footprint.

"These footprints are very fresh; the soil hasn't dried completely yet. They must have been left last night."

"Moreover, these cloth shoes with multiple layers of soles are not the Qing Dynasty official boots worn by zombies."

Master Four Eyes jumped into the pit and looked in the direction Lin Chen pointed.

"Has someone taken away the seriously injured Old Master Ren?"

Lin Chen nodded.

"Not only did they take it away, but judging from the pressure points of these footprints, this person was likely helping the zombie escape from here."

"My senior uncle guessed correctly, it was that feng shui master, or his descendant."

"They've been secretly watching the Ren family from the vicinity of town."

"Old Master Ren was seriously injured, so he must have been taken back to be re-refined."

Master Simu's face was grim.

"This is troublesome."

"A half-step Ironclad Corpse is already difficult enough to deal with, but if it is further refined by evil cultivators using secret methods..."

"When we emerge from this ordeal, we might actually turn into armored zombies!"

"Master, go back and tell my senior brother about this."

"Since someone is secretly manipulating things, Senior Brother Qiusheng should go to town to inquire; perhaps he'll find some clues."

The two climbed out of the pit and returned to the mortuary by the same route.