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

Master Four Eyes looked smug upon hearing this.

"Feng Jiao, you just don't understand."

"My disciple is exceptionally gifted; this is a mutated divine summoning technique that he mastered on his own."

"Surpassing even the founding patriarch and communicating directly with the heavenly generals, isn't that amazing?"

In fact, Master Simu himself was also puzzled, as he had never seen such a method of summoning gods that could turn people into ancient ferocious beasts.

In front of Uncle Jiu, one cannot lose face, and one must boast.

Lin Chen was too tired to say anything more, too lazy to explain, and just went along with what Si Mu was saying.

"Uncle-Master, it's just good luck, the Ancestral Master's blessing."

Uncle Nine's face twitched twice.

May the ancestral master protect us?

If the patriarch could truly bless the emergence of such a humanoid beast that could shatter an armored corpse with a single punch, Maoshan would have already unified the world and exterminated all those evil cultivators.

It's true what they say: comparisons are odious.

Look at Si Mu's apprentice, so fierce it's unbelievable. Then think about his own two troublesome apprentices in the mortuary.

Uncle Jiu felt a pang of jealousy.

Without asking any more questions, he took out a small porcelain bottle from his cloth bag, uncorked it, poured out the black powder, and sprinkled it directly on the blackened wound on his left arm.

As soon as the powder came into contact with the cadaveric poison at the wound, it hissed and foamed.

Uncle Nine groaned in pain and tightly bandaged the wound with a strip of cloth.

"The corpse poison has been suppressed for now. We'll use glutinous rice to draw out the poison when we get back."

At that moment, a notification sounded in Lin Chen's mind.

[Ding! Host detected killing an armored zombie of a higher level, indicating extremely high participation.]

[Attribute point bonus: Constitution +2, Strength +2, Agility +2, Spirit +2.]

[Telekinesis advanced to: (Mastery)]

[Congratulations, host, your cultivation level has reached the required standard, and you have broken through to a higher realm!]

[Current Realm: Taoist (Mid-Stage)]

Lin Chen was overjoyed; the reward had eased his fatigue, and all his attributes had been greatly improved!

A warm current arose in his dantian, flowing through his body along the path of the *Shangqing Dadong Zhenjing*. The muscle soreness caused by the exhaustion from summoning the spirit disappeared, and his depleted magical power was replenished.

"This place is not safe to stay for long."

Uncle Nine finished bandaging his wound and looked around.

"The old cripple is dead, the Yin-gathering formation is broken, and the extreme Yin energy here will soon dissipate. Hurry back to the mortuary."

Master Simu nodded, picked up the chipped bronze sword, and slung it over his shoulder.

He reached out to pull Lin Chen.

"Come on, apprentice, let's go back and have Qiusheng kill a chicken and make you some chicken soup to nourish you."

Lin Chen propped himself up and stood up, patting off the tattered Taoist robe on his body.

"Master, no need to help me, I'm almost recovered."

The three of them left the abandoned mine along the same route, and the sun was already setting when they emerged.

The sunlight on his body dispelled much of the chill that lingered in the mine. Lin Chen took a breath of fresh air and felt that being alive was quite nice.

Uncle Jiu stopped and looked in the direction of Renjia Town.

"Old Master Ren's matter has been resolved."

"But the old cripple set this up twenty years ago, so there must be accomplices or backup plans in town. We need to get Awei to lead a team to investigate when we get back."

The three quickened their pace and walked along the mountain road towards Renjia Town.

Halfway there, she looked around and then moved closer to Lin Chen.

"Disciple, confess honestly."

"Was the deity we just invited to have a big appetite? What kind of offerings did he/she request?"

Lin Chen counted on his fingers and answered truthfully.

"Twenty beggar's chickens prepared with secret recipe, three jars of Daughter's Red wine, and a freshly roasted suckling pig."

Upon hearing the list, Master Simu stumbled and nearly fell into the ditch beside him.

"What a spendthrift!"

"All this stuff, how much money must it have cost!"

Master Simu felt the pinch of money, as if he could see his purse about to be drained again.

Lin Chen smiled and leaned closer to look at him.

"Don't worry, sir. We'll ask Miss Ren to reimburse us for this."

"After all, getting rid of her grandfather saved her life and incidentally saved the entire Renjia Town."

His eyes lit up, the pain on his face vanished, and he adopted a matter-of-fact expression.

"That makes sense!"

"We risked our lives to save you, so it's only right that we accept a small fee for our trouble. The Ren family is wealthy and powerful; they won't miss out on this!"

The three chatted and laughed as they walked back to Renjia Town.

We arrived at the gate of the mortuary before sunset.

As soon as I reached the door, I heard a commotion inside.

"Yes, yes, that's how you stick it! Seal the gaps in the door too!"

"Make sure the window over there doesn't leak; sprinkle more glutinous rice on it!"

The three of them pushed open the door and went inside.

Security captain Awei was standing in the middle of the courtyard, hands on his hips, directing several security guards who were messing around with glutinous rice and yellow paper in the yard.

Uncle Nine's face fell when he saw the chaotic scene.

"Awei, what are you doing?"

Uncle Nine said irritably.

Ah Wei turned around and saw that Uncle Nine and the other two had returned. He put on a fawning smile and ran over.

"Oh, Uncle Jiu, you're finally back!"

"I'm just worried that the zombie might come back in broad daylight. As the security captain, I have to protect my cousin's safety with my life!"

Awei patted his chest and bragged loudly.

Master Four Eyes rolled his eyes.

"Alright, stop making a fool of yourself here."

"That old zombie has been reduced to ashes by my apprentice, not even a speck of dust remains."

When Ah Wei heard that the zombies were gone, his eyes widened. He looked at Four Eyes and Uncle Nine, who were covered in dust, and then at Lin Chen, whose clothes were tattered.

"Is...it really gone?"

"Nonsense!" Master Four Eyes cursed.

The guest room door creaked open.

Ren Tingting came out after hearing the commotion in the yard.

She saw that Uncle Nine's arm was wrapped with a blood-soaked bandage.

"Uncle Jiu, Brother Lin, are you injured?"

Uncle Nine waved his hand.

"It's just a minor injury, nothing serious."

"Miss Tingting, your grandfather's matter has been resolved. Renjia Town will be peaceful from now on."

Ren Tingting covered her mouth, and tears fell down her cheeks.

Although it was her own grandfather who died, he was a monster who only knew how to suck blood. Now that the calamity has been eliminated, her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, has finally settled down.

"Thank you, Uncle Jiu. Thank you, Brother Lin."

"If it weren't for you, my Ren family would probably have died out."

Ren Tingting bent down and bowed deeply.

Lin Chen stood aside and waited for Ren Tingting to finish bowing before stepping forward.

"Miss Tingting, there's no need for formalities."

"Let's talk about the reimbursement for this religious ceremony."

After these words were spoken, the courtyard fell silent.

Uncle Nine turned his head away, pretending not to have heard.

Awei pointed at Lin Chen.

"Why are you so obsessed with money? My cousin just went through a terrible ordeal, and you're still talking about money?"

Lin Chen glanced at Awei.

Awei swallowed the rest of his words and shrank back.

Ren Tingting wiped away her tears.

"Brother Lin is right, even close brothers should keep clear accounts."

"You all risked your lives for the Ren family this time, and Tingting should repay you handsomely."

"Brother Lin, just name your price."

Lin Chen nodded and began reciting the names of the dishes.

"The ocean is easy to deal with, but the main problem is that I asked the gods above for help in order to get rid of the armored corpse."

"You can't invite a deity for nothing; you have to fulfill their vow."

"Write down the list."

Lin Chen started counting on his fingers.

"Freshly roasted suckling pig, the biggest and fattest one, give me the whole one."

"Secret recipe beggar's chicken, it must be wrapped in lotus leaves and yellow mud and roasted, twenty please."

"Daughter's Red wine, unopened, three large jars, please."

Ren Tingting thought Lin Chen would want valuable magical artifact materials or gold bars.

The result was all food and drinks.

"That's...that's all?" Ren Tingting asked.

"Yes, that's all."

Lin Chen added.

"These things can all be bought in town, but they must be the best."

"In addition, my master's bronze greatsword was ruined by killing zombies, and my senior uncle's peach wood sword was also broken."

"Miss Tingting, please decide on the amount to cover the wear and tear on these magical artifacts, plus the labor fee."

Ren Tingting turned to look at Awei.

"Cousin, go under the dressing table in my room and take out that mahogany box."

Awei ran into the guest room and brought out a mahogany box.

Ren Tingting opened the box, inside were silver dollars and several gold bars.

Ren Tingting grabbed a handful of silver dollars, took a gold bar, put it in a cloth bag, and handed it to Lin Chen.

"Brother Lin, here are three hundred silver dollars and a gold bar."

"The money for the offerings will be deducted from this amount, and the remainder can be considered as a token of respect for the hard work of the three Taoist priests."