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

The backyard of the mortuary.

Uncle Jiu draped a brand-new apricot-yellow Taoist robe over his body, and set up a square table in the middle of the courtyard.

A yellow cloth was spread on the table, and in the center was a three-legged bronze incense burner with two red candles lit on either side of it, the flames flickering in the wind.

Uncle Nine took out the magical artifacts from his bag and placed them on the table one by one.

A peach wood sword, a brass Bagua mirror, a Sanqing bell, a bowl of rootless water, and a stack of high-level talismans that have been drawn.

Uncle Nine looked solemn, and he would make a hand gesture for each item he placed.

in the lobby.

Master Four Eyes placed the bronze sword on the table, holding a whetstone in his hand, and vigorously sharpened the blade, the grinding sound echoing in the quiet mortuary.

Wencai was carrying a wooden basin filled with white glutinous rice.

He walked to the courtyard wall, grabbed a handful of glutinous rice and tossed it around. The rice fell to the ground with a clatter and piled up in a hole.

Master Simu stopped what he was doing and started cursing.

"You good-for-nothing!"

"Is that how you sprinkle glutinous rice? Do you think you're feeding chickens?!"

"Spread it evenly, make a continuous line, and don't leave any gaps!"

Wen Cai shrank his neck and muttered aggrievedly.

"It's so dark, I can't see anything."

Wencai had no choice but to squat down and use his hands to separate the glutinous rice.

Lin Chen walked into the kitchen, lifted the pot lid, and found a few leftover cold steamed buns from lunch. He took two buns and walked to the door of the woodshed in the backyard.

The woodshed was pitch black.

Qiu Sheng was huddled in a corner, his stomach rumbling. Hearing footsteps outside, he quickly crawled to the door.

"Who's outside?"

"Is it Wencai? Hurry up and get me something to eat, I'm starving."

Lin Chen stood outside the door.

"it's me."

Upon hearing that it was Lin Chen, Qiu Sheng immediately tried to get closer to him.

"Junior Brother Lin, my good brother."

"Has Master calmed down? Can you let me out now?"

Lin Chen stuffed the steamed bun under the door crack.

"Your senior brother is in a bad mood right now. You'll have to stay here tonight and have something to eat."

Qiu Sheng grabbed a steamed bun from the ground, not caring whether it was covered in dust or not, and began to wolf it down. The dry bun made him choke and his eyes rolled back.

"Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you."

Lin Chen leaned against the door of the woodshed.

"Senior brother, you'd better give up on the idea of ​​that female ghost Dong Xiaoyu as soon as possible."

"The saying 'humans and ghosts are destined to be apart' is not just an empty phrase."

Qiu Sheng paused for a moment while eating the steamed bun.

"Junior Brother Lin, Xiaoyu really never harmed me."

Lin Chen spoke up.

"Didn't I harm you? Look in the mirror and see how you look now. Most of your yang energy has been drained away. In two more days, you won't even be able to stand up."

"That old cripple will most likely come looking for trouble tonight. You're actually safest staying in the woodshed."

When Qiu Sheng heard that the old cripple had stopped talking, he obediently hid back in the corner and ate his steamed bun.

Lin Chen turned around and went back to the main hall in the front yard.

Time passed slowly, and the distant sound of the night watchman's drum echoed through the town.

"The weather is dry, so be careful with fire!"

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

It's past midnight; the hour of Zi has arrived.

Lin Chen stood under the eaves, a system notification sounding in his mind.

[Ding! It's midnight. Begin today's cultivation settlement.]

[Today, I explored the extremely yin and chaotic burial ground, became tainted by corpse energy, and successfully dispelled it, gaining +1 to Constitution.]

[Today, I directly slayed four black-haired zombies, increasing my combat experience and gaining +1 Strength and +1 Agility.]

[Today I assisted in setting up the mortuary's defenses, increasing my proficiency and gaining +1 Spirit.]

[Congratulations, host, your current cultivation level is stable.]

As the system's voice faded, a warm current spread through the dantian, and the Shangqing Great Cave True Scripture automatically circulated, carrying this warm current to all the meridians of the body.

The physical strength depleted during the day's travel and battles was replenished, and the senses were also sharpened.

Just then.

A cold wind swept up outside the gate of the mortuary, causing the two white paper lanterns hanging on the eaves to sway.

The dim candlelight turned a ghastly green. It was quiet outside; even the stray cats and dogs that usually barked were silent.

Master Simu stood up and grabbed the bronze sword from the table.

"They're here!"

Lin Chen drew his lightning-struck wooden sword with a backhand motion, while Wen Cai dropped the wooden basin in his hand and ran into the main hall.

"Master! Uncle-Master! There's a commotion outside!"

In front of the altar in the backyard.

Uncle Nine opened his eyes. He grabbed the peach wood sword on the table and used the tip to pick up a yellow talisman.

"Set up the altar!"

A scraping sound came from outside the gate; something was scratching the wooden door with fingernails. Lin Chen walked to the center of the courtyard and stared at the gate.

"Bang!"

The door made a muffled thud, something outside bumped into it, the bolt was deformed, and white smoke rose from the gap at the bottom of the door.

White smoke spread along the ground into the yard.

Master Simu raised his greatsword and stood protectively in front of Wencai.

"Nephew, be careful, there's poison in this smoke!"

Lin Chen circulated the Shangqing Great Cave True Scripture to dispel the white smoke that was approaching his ankles.

"Bang!"

Another loud bang.

The gates of the mortuary finally gave way, the bolts broke, and the two doors were blown open by the cold wind, crashing into the walls on both sides.

It was pitch black outside; you couldn't see anything.

Lin Chen gripped the lightning-struck wooden sword, ready to meet the attack.

Instead of seeing Old Master Ren outside the door, a strange laugh could be heard.

Five figures floated in lightly from outside the door.

Lin Chen looked closely.

What floated in wasn't a living person at all, but five life-sized paper effigies.

The paper figures were made to look very lifelike, dressed in bright red and green paper clothes.

His face was covered in pale powder, his cheeks were painted red, and his mouth was stretched upwards, revealing a strange smile.

Holding paper swords in his hand, he floated into the courtyard on the eerie wind, his feet barely touching the ground.

"Paper dolls scout the way, five ghosts carry the loads!"

Four-Eyes Taoist priest let out a long curse.

"That old cripple is too scared to come himself, so he resorts to these low-class tricks to disgust people!"

The paper figures entered the courtyard and immediately locked onto Lin Chen, who was standing at the front. One of the paper figures raised a paper knife and slashed at Lin Chen's neck.

"Playing tricks!"

Lin Chen stepped forward using the Seven Star Steps, and with a slash of his lightning-struck wooden sword, the sword struck the paper figure's shoulder.

"Sizzle!"

The paper figure was split in two. The paper figure, cut in half, did not fall down. The two halves twisted twice in mid-air and turned into two smaller paper figures.

It continued to pounce on Lin Chen.

"Physical attacks are ineffective?"

Lin Chen immediately realized what was happening.

This thing has no physical form and no corpse aura; it is sustained solely by the caster's evil magic.

Master Simu encountered the same situation.

With a single strike, the bronze sword shattered a paper figure into pieces. Upon landing, the pieces transformed into a dozen palm-sized paper mice, which burrowed into the legs of the Four-Eyed Taoist priest.

"Holy crap!"

Master Simu jumped up and down, using the back of his sword to swat at the paper rats.

"Disciple, use fire or thunder magic! This thing is afraid of yang energy!"

Lin Chen understood immediately and channeled his magical power into the lightning-struck wooden sword.

With a surge of magic, blue lightning crackled from the sword, and with a single thrust, it pierced the chest of a paper figure.

"Sizzle!"

The righteous energy of heavenly thunder surged out along the sword, and the paper figure burst into flames in mid-air, turning into a cloud of black ash that fell to the ground.

The lightning magic worked as expected.

Lin Chen ran back and forth in the courtyard, swinging his wooden sword repeatedly. Any paper figures or paper mice that were touched by the sword were burned to ashes.

A dozen or so paper effigies floated in from the shadows outside the door.

In front of the altar in the backyard.

Uncle Nine heard the noise.

He took the steps of Yu Bu and walked in front of the altar.

"Trying to drain my magic with paper dolls? Dream on!"

Uncle Nine picked up the peach wood sword on the table, used the tip of the sword to pick up a tracking talisman, and flicked his wrist, causing the talisman to burn in mid-air.

Uncle Nine threw the burning talisman into the bowl of rootless water.

"Searching for Maoshan, so be it!"

Ripples appeared on the surface of the water in the bowl, the clear water turned murky, and a picture appeared on the surface.

The scene shows a dimly lit cave, with a gaunt old man sitting cross-legged on the ground, his right leg noticeably shorter than his left.

It was that crippled heretical cultivator!

An incense burner sat before the old cripple, and in his hand he held a small figure made of yellow grass.

A birth date and time were pasted on the straw figure's back.

The old cripple seemed to sense Uncle Nine's spying. He raised his head, a cold smile spreading across his wrinkled face.

Across the water, Uncle Nine sensed a surge of resentment.

The old cripple bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of black blood onto the straw figure in his hand.

"Lin Jiu, here you go!"