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

Lin Chen knew it was time for him to make a move.

He stood at the back of the group, secretly circulating the "Shangqing Dadong Zhenjing" and making a hand seal with his fingers.

The magic power was remotely injected into the proficient-level corpse-suppressing talisman on the zombie's forehead.

A golden light flashed across the corpse-suppressing talisman.

The pure yang energy circulated within the zombie corpse, quickly dispelling the bluish aura on its forehead, restoring its face to normal, and stabilizing its corpse energy.

Lin Chen stepped forward and smiled.

"Manager Chen, take another look. Master's corpse-driving technique is a unique skill of Maoshan. How could there be any mistakes?"

Manager Chen rubbed his eyes and brought the lantern closer.

The green aura disappeared, and the corpse aura also became stable.

"That's strange, it looked a bit bluish just now."

Manager Chen shook his head, thinking he was seeing things in the middle of the night.

He didn't pursue the matter further and continued examining the remaining zombies, finishing the examination of all ten.

"No problem, the goods match."

Manager Chen nodded.

He waved his hand, and two men stepped forward to lead the zombie into the morgue.

Manager Chen took a cloth bag out of his pocket and handed it to Simu.

"Master, this is the remaining balance, fifty silver dollars. Please count it."

Si Mu took the cloth bag, weighed it in his hands, and his face lit up with a smile.

"Manager Chen, you're too kind. Please contact Simu again if you need business in the future."

Si Mu tucked the cloth bag into his clothes, feeling at ease.

"It's almost dawn, so we won't disturb you any longer."

Si Mu led Lin Chen out of the Chen Family Moral Estate.

The two walked on the deserted streets of Pingyang Town, and Si Mu patted the cloth bag on his chest and exhaled.

"It's finally over, apprentice. Thanks to you this time, otherwise half of these fifty silver dollars would probably have been deducted."

Lin Chen smiled.

"Master, it's all I should do. Let's find an inn to rest. I haven't been to bed for days."

Si Mu nodded.

"Let's go find the best inn in town and book two superior rooms. The master is treating us to a good meal today."

The two found an inn in town.

We ordered two superior rooms and asked the waiter to bring us several plates of cooked meat and hot soup.

Si Mu ate the braised beef with gusto, his mouth full of oil.

"Apprentice, eat more. You've been eating dry rations all these past few days on the road."

Lin Chen tore off a chicken leg and ate it in big bites.

"Master, how much did you earn this trip?"

Si Mu took a sip of hot soup and held up two fingers.

"Including the deposit, it's a total of one hundred silver dollars. This is a big deal, enough for the temple to eat and drink for half a year."

Lin Chen nodded. One hundred silver dollars was indeed a lot of money in those days.

After eating and drinking his fill, Lin Chen returned to his room.

He took off his Taoist robe and lay down on the bed. He was quite tired from traveling these past few days, and now he could finally take a break.

At that moment, a system notification sounded in my mind.

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

[Successfully completed the corpse-transporting mission today. The journey was long, but I gained +1 to Constitution.]

[Today, I cleverly defeated the weasel's attempt to obtain a seal and its bewitching array, improving my mental state and gaining +1 Spirit.]

[Today, I used a proficient-level corpse-suppressing talisman to avert a crisis. My proficiency has increased, and I have gained +1 Agility.]

[Congratulations, host! Your current cultivation level is steadily improving.]

Lin Chen closed his eyes, feeling the growing magical power and strength within his body.

The Shangqing Great Cave True Scripture circulated in his dantian, repairing his body's fatigue. Lin Chen turned over and found a comfortable position.

The nights in Pingyang Town are quiet; there are no zombies or spirits.

Lin Chen fell asleep.

the next morning.

Sunlight streamed into the room through the paper windows, and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares drifted from the street outside.

Lin Chen opened his eyes and sat up, feeling an inexhaustible energy, all the fatigue from the journey gone.

He put on his Taoist robe, pushed open the door, and walked to the lobby on the first floor.

Si Mu sat at the table drinking tea, looking quite well.

"Good morning, Master." Lin Chen greeted him and sat down.

"Disciple, how did you sleep?" Si Mu put down his teacup.

"That's good. Master, where to next?" Lin Chen asked.

Si Mu touched his chin.

"The goods have been delivered and the money has been received, so it's time to head home. But since we've come all the way to Pingyang Town, we'll stay here for a couple of days before we leave."

Lin Chen nodded.

"Perfect timing, I'd like to go to the town market to buy some materials for drawing talismans."

Si Mu took out five silver dollars from his pocket and pushed them to Lin Chen.

"Here, take it. Pick whatever you want to buy. Don't try to save the master money."

Lin Chen didn't stand on ceremony, put away the silver dollars, and left the inn.

The market in Pingyang Town is quite lively, with all sorts of things for sale.

Lin Chen wandered around and bought several stacks of yellow paper and some cinnabar.

Lin Chen stopped as he passed an antique stall.

The stall displayed some broken copper and iron and a few tattered ancient books. Lin Chen took a fancy to a bronze mirror.

The back of the bronze mirror is engraved with Bagua patterns and is covered in rust, but it exudes magical energy.

"Boss, how much is this bronze mirror?" Lin Chen picked up the bronze mirror and looked at it.

The stall owner was a lean man, and his eyes darted around.

"This Taoist priest has a good eye. This is a Bagua mirror passed down from the previous dynasty, capable of warding off evil spirits. Since you are a monk, I'll give you an honest price: two silver dollars."

Lin Chen sneered.

"This piece of junk, two silver dollars? The magic power on it has almost dissipated; it's worth at most half a silver dollar."

Seeing that Lin Chen knew what he was doing, the stall owner quickly changed his tune.

"Half a piece is fine, consider it making friends."

Lin Chen tossed down half a silver dollar, picked up the bronze mirror, and left the market.

Although the bronze mirror was broken, the material was of good quality. He could take it back and refine it again to use it as a spare magic weapon. After buying the things, Lin Chen returned to the inn.

Si Mu was sitting in the lobby chatting with the shopkeeper when he saw Lin Chen return and waved.

"Disciple, pack your things. We'll set off back to the temple first thing tomorrow morning."

Lin Chen nodded and went upstairs to his room.

He put away the materials he had bought and took out the bronze mirror.

He used his magic to remove the rust little by little, revealing the original brass color of the bronze mirror.

Lin Chen bit his middle finger and dripped a drop of his blood essence onto the Bagua pattern on the bronze mirror. With a surge of his magic power, the blood essence seeped into the bronze mirror.

A golden light flashed across the surface of the bronze mirror, and the fluctuations of magical power became clear.

"It's passable." Lin Chen put away the bronze mirror.

the next morning.

Lin Chen and Simu settled their bill and left Pingyang Town.

Without the zombies to hinder them, the two walked quickly, knew the way back well, and encountered no trouble.

A few days later, the two returned to the dojo.

From afar, I could see Jiale chopping firewood in the yard, Master Yixiu sitting at the door next door striking a wooden fish, and Jingjing picking vegetables on the side.

"Master, junior brother, you're back!" Jiale threw down his axe and rushed over.

Si Mu patted Jia Le on the shoulder.

"Has anything happened at the dojo these past few days?"

Jiale shook his head.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just that the old monk next door keeps banging his wooden fish every day, it's so noisy."

Four Eyes glared at Master Ikkyu and snorted.

"Old bald monk, always putting on airs."

Master Ikkyu stopped striking the wooden fish and looked at Simu with a smile.

"Brother Four Eyes, did this trip go smoothly?"

Si Mu ignored him and went straight into the house.

Lin Chenchong nodded to Master Yixiu and followed him inside.

Back in his room, Lin Chen took a breather.

This journey of transporting corpses was disrupted by weasels, but it turned out alright without serious harm, and my strength increased as a result. Next, I need to continue my training at the dojo.

Lin Chen returned to his guest room.

He placed the lightning-struck wooden sword on the table, took off his Taoist robe, and fell asleep immediately, sleeping soundly.

Early the next morning.

A burst of noise woke Lin Chen up.

"Sizzle..."

Lin Chen opened his eyes, sat up, got dressed, and walked out into the yard.

Master Simu squatted by the well in the corner, with a long, blue stone whetstone in front of him.

Si Mu gripped the bronze greatsword with both hands, gritting his teeth as he rubbed it against the whetstone.

"Oh, my old friend."

"They've been with me for over a decade, how did they end up like this?"

Si Mu grinned and clicked his tongue, his heart aching.

When the bronze greatsword was used to fight the armored corpse in Renjia Town, it chipped off several large nicks.

The blade was so sharpened it looked like a saw.

Lin Chen walked over and took a look.

The four of them were sweating profusely from grinding, but the gap was too big to be smoothed out.

"Master, don't bother."

"This sword is fundamentally damaged; it can't be salvaged by terrazzo alone."

Lin Chen spoke the truth.

Si Mu stopped what he was doing, looked up and glared at Lin Chen.

"It's easy for you to say that when you're not the one suffering the consequences."

"This is a fine sword, infused with refined copper; it cost me thirty silver dollars!"

"Now that it's turned into this mess, what am I supposed to use to kill zombies?"

Si Mu raised the sword, looking at the dented and uneven blade.

Jiale came out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of white porridge.

"Master, dinner is ready."

Jiale placed the porridge on the stone table in the courtyard and came over to watch the excitement.

"Wow, Master, how did your sword turn into a saw blade?"

"It would be difficult to even saw wood with this."

Jiale has never been one to hold back his words.

Si Mu was already seething with anger, and upon hearing this, he threw the bronze greatsword to the ground.

He took off his cloth shoes and slapped them across the back of Jiale's head.

"I told you to saw wood!"

"I told you not to talk back!"