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

The sun was high in the sky.

Lin Chen and Master Simu returned via the same route from the Dragonfly Skimming Water Cave.

The two walked very quickly.

Master Simu walked ahead, glancing at his compass every now and then.

"The feng shui of this place is completely rotten."

Master Simu cursed and swore.

"A perfectly good treasure basin has been turned into a place of gathering yin by that evil cultivator."

Lin Chen followed behind, pondering the footprint at the bottom of the pit. It was a cloth shoe with a thousand-layer sole, and the forefoot had stepped deep. A normal person wouldn't leave such a mark when walking.

Half an hour later.

The two returned to the mortuary.

The gates of the mortuary were open.

The hall was filled with the smell of cinnabar. Uncle Nine, dressed in a coarse cloth long gown, stood in front of the bill and drew talismans.

With his wrist suspended in the air, the vermilion lines on the yellow paper were drawn in one smooth motion.

With a flick of the pen, a talisman for suppressing a corpse was drawn. A golden light flashed across the talisman paper before disappearing.

Uncle Jiu placed the brush on the inkstone and looked at the two people who entered.

"How is it?"

Uncle Jiu asked.

Master Simu walked to the Eight Immortals table, picked up the teapot, and took a big gulp of cold tea.

"Don't even mention it, there wasn't a single zombie hair in the pit."

Uncle Nine frowned.

"Did they really run away?"

Lin Chen walked up to the bill.

"Uncle-Master, there are dead rats and snakes at the bottom of the pit. Their blood has been drained, and we also found half a footprint."

Lin Chen described the situation at the bottom of the pit in detail, especially mentioning the half-foot print of a multi-layered cloth shoe with deep pressure.

After listening, Uncle Nine paced back and forth in the lobby with his hands behind his back.

"Someone took the zombie away."

Uncle Nine stopped in his tracks.

"This old beast is seriously injured and needs an extremely yin place and a large amount of fresh blood to recover."

"The person who left the footprints must have been the feng shui master from back then, or his successor."

Master Simu pulled up a long bench and sat down.

"Senior brother, this evil cultivator took away the half-step Ironclad Corpse, he must want to use a secret method to refine it again."

"If he succeeds in mastering it, I'm afraid no one within a hundred miles will be able to stop him."

Uncle Nine glanced at Lin Chen.

"Lin Chen, you are very observant."

"That half footprint is very important. The forefoot bears a lot of weight, which means that this person's walking posture is different from that of ordinary people."

Lin Chen nodded.

"He's very likely a cripple."

At the market in Renjia Town.

It was noon, and the streets were bustling with people, with vendors calling out their wares.

Qiu Sheng pushed his old-fashioned bicycle along the bluestone path.

His steps were unsteady, his legs were weak, and he had to catch his breath after walking a few steps, with cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

Wencai followed beside him, holding a large, freshly steamed meat bun in his hand.

He took a bite, and his mouth was full of oil.

"Senior brother, your body is too weak."

Wen Cai chuckled as he chewed on his steamed bun.

"You're out of breath after just a few steps, what were you doing last night?"

Qiu Sheng rolled his eyes at him, too exhausted to even curse.

"You don't know anything."

Qiu Sheng retorted weakly.

"I twisted my breath while practicing my martial arts."

Wen Cai curled his lip, not believing it at all.

"Give me a break. You think you can even master those basic boxing techniques your master taught you? You think you can get a stitch in your side?"

The two dawdled until they arrived at an old teahouse at the east end of town.

The teahouse was filled with idle men drinking tea and chatting.

A thin old man was sitting by the window, wearing round-framed sunglasses.

This is Uncle Fu, the town's famous gossip, who is also blind.

Qiu Sheng parked his bicycle at the door and pulled Wen Cai over.

"Uncle Fu, are you having tea?"

Qiu Sheng forced a smile and sat down opposite Uncle Fu.

Uncle Fu's ears twitched; he recognized Qiu Sheng's voice.

"Oh, so you're Uncle Nine's top student."

"What do you need the old blind man for?"

Wencai reluctantly took out two copper coins from his pocket and placed them on the table.

"Uncle Fu, I'd like to ask you about someone."

Uncle Fu touched the copper coin and quickly stuffed it into his pocket.

"Go ahead and tell me, there's nothing in town that the old blind man doesn't know."

Qiu Sheng moved a little closer.

"Twenty years ago, did a feng shui master from out of town come to our town?"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Fu picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.

"That happened twenty years ago, that's a long time ago."

Qiu Sheng knew the old man was playing hard to get, so he took out another half-dollar and slammed it on the table.

Uncle Fu, recognizing the sound, grabbed the silver dollar and bit it.

Only after confirming that it was genuine did he lower his voice.

"You've come to the right person."

"A feng shui master did come to town twenty years ago."

"The man was thin and was wearing a black mandarin jacket."

Uncle Fu recalled the scene from back then.

"He applied a 'dragonfly skimming water' acupoint to Old Master Ren, and later the Ren family gave him a sum of money, and then he left."

Qiu Sheng got anxious.

"That's all? No other distinguishing features?"

Uncle Fu chuckled twice.

"Of course."

"Although my eyesight is failing, my hearing is still excellent."

"The way that feng shui master walks sounds strange."

"One light, one heavy."

Uncle Fu tapped his fingers on the table.

"Thump...thump."

"Thump...thump."

Uncle Fu finished knocking and looked up.

"He was lame; his right leg was shorter than his left."

Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai exchanged a glance, their hearts pounding with surprise.

A cripple! That's an obvious trait.

"And then? Where did he go?"

Qiu Sheng pressed for an answer.

Uncle Fu shook his head.

"He took the Ren family's money and left the town; no one has seen him since."

"but……"

Uncle Fu changed the subject.

"A few days ago, someone heard a light and heavy footstep sound late at night near the mass grave in the north of the town."

"At the time, I thought it was haunted."

Having obtained the crucial clue, Qiu Sheng stood up.

I just want to get back to the mortuary as soon as possible to report back and then I can rest.

I still need to go to the abandoned house to find Xiaoyu when it gets dark.

Thinking of Xiaoyu's soft, sweet voice and graceful figure, Qiusheng felt a surge of heat in his lower abdomen.

Although my body is extremely weak, I am also extremely anxious and restless.

"Let's go back to the mortuary."

Qiu Sheng gave Wen Cai a push.

Wencai quickly stuffed the last bite of the bun into his mouth.

"Senior brother, why are you in such a hurry? I'm not full yet."

The two left the teahouse and headed towards the mortuary.

Qiu Sheng pushed the cart, taking much faster steps than before.

The power of love made him squeeze out his last bit of strength.

Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai pushed their bicycles into the gate of the mortuary.

Uncle Nine was sitting in the courtyard polishing a peach wood sword.

Master Simu sat to the side, cracking melon seeds and watching the spectacle.

Lin Chen stood under the eaves, wiping the lightning-struck wooden sword with a rag.

Hearing the noise, Uncle Nine stopped what he was doing.

"You found out?"

Qiu Sheng leaned his bicycle against the wall and went forward to report.

"Master, I've found out!"

Qiu Sheng spoke up as if to take credit.

"Twenty years ago, that feng shui master was lame; his right leg was shorter than his left."

"Uncle Fu said that a while ago someone heard the sound of a lame man walking in the mass grave north of the town."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen stopped wiping his sword, exchanged a glance with Uncle Jiu, and the clues matched perfectly.

The half-footprint at the bottom of the pit, deeply imprinted with the ball of the foot, perfectly matched the characteristics of a lame person's gait.

Uncle Nine stood up and placed the peach wood sword on the table.

"Crippled man, mass grave."

"It seems that this evil cultivator hasn't gone far and is hiding near the town."

Master Simu tossed the sunflower seed shells in his hand and clapped his hands.

"Senior brother, this is obvious."

"That old cripple took the severely wounded zombie to the mass grave, where the yin energy is heavy, making it the perfect place for the zombie to recover."

Uncle Nine nodded.

"The mass grave area is too big; it's really not easy to find."

"Strengthen the defenses of the mortuary tonight, and then go to the mass grave to investigate the situation tomorrow during the day."

Qiu Sheng felt as if he had been granted a pardon after hearing the arrangements.

"Master, if there's nothing else, I'm going to sleep now."

"I'm exhausted after running around all day."

Qiu Sheng yawned, his eyelids almost closing.

Uncle Nine glanced at him, looking at Qiu Sheng's sunken eye sockets and bluish forehead.