Chapter 125 - 118: The Method of Becoming a Stiff Corpse

Chapter 125: Chapter 118: The Method of Becoming a Stiff CorpseA pale, withered human hand dangled down from the hole. Zhou Xuan put down the pipe wrench and extended both hands towards the opening in a "please check" gesture. Lao Yang: "..." Lv Mingkun said sarcastically, "This house is just too clean!" "Don’t make noise, I’m thinking." To Lao Yang, the sounds around him felt ear-piercing, even though Lv Kunming had only spoken one sentence, and Zhou Xuan hadn’t said a word. However, he found it exceedingly noisy and grating. Zhou Xuan picked up the pipe wrench again and continued to jab at the ceiling, poking left and then right, until he had created so many cracks that the wall could no longer hold up. The corpse pressed against the wall and fell straight down. This corpse, had all its limbs intact, the head was intact too, but a wisp of black hair had grown in the middle of the forehead, and its abdominal cavity was opened up, with all internal organs meticulously removed, the death pose could only be described as "ghastly"... Zhou Xuan tossed the pipe wrench, jumped down from the cabinet, and closely inspected the body. Taking the opportunity, Lv Mingkun began to haggle, "Boss Yang, you just agreed that if this house isn’t clean, it’s three hundred a month." "I can’t afford the rent!" Lao Yang was truly reluctant to have six hundred turn into three hundred, so he started to act dishonestly. But he wasn’t used to being dishonest—his face turned red with shame, and even the roots of his ears were faintly flushed. Lv Mingkun quickly realized that Lao Yang wasn’t someone who enjoyed being unscrupulous. He was poised to reason with him—if not getting it down to three hundred, at least aiming for four hundred and fifty. Before he could say anything, a sharp woman’s voice came from the doorway. "Oh my, isn’t that Zhao Mazi, Boss Zhao?" The four people inside glanced out; it was Sister Cui. Sister Cui, who was wrapping wontons across the street, heard the clanging noises from the house and came over to check out the commotion. What she saw was a corpse on the ground with its internal organs hollowed out. She recognized this corpse; it was Zhao Mazi, the previous owner of the shop. "Lao Yang, didn’t you say that Boss Zhao felt doing Jingyi was too tiring and not profitable, so he closed up shop?" Sister Cui asked, having somewhat calmed down from her fright. "You run a snack stall; what do you know!" Lao Yang was so angry, he extended his hand and shut the door. Zhou Xuan figured it out, he stood up and said to Lao Yang, "We’re not the type to take advantage of others, so let’s do it like you said earlier, three hundred a month." "..." Lao Yang. *Isn’t this taking advantage?* "Can it be rented?" "No!" "If it can’t be rented, then forget it; we can part ways amicably," Zhou Xuan said, "But, I’m the kind of person who can’t keep secrets—I might, on my way down the street, tell every household that Zhao Mazi died in your house, and died a terrible, terrible death..." "How much did you say per month?" "Three hundred." "Two hundred eighty!" Lao Yang offered a lower price, saying, "But about Zhao Mazi, you have to keep it to yourself and not spread it around." "Let’s put it in writing." Zhou Xuan struck while the iron was hot. Unlike others who feared haunted houses, he didn’t mind. Even if there were supernatural occurrences tonight, he would only ask one question—do the ghosts here have four incense sticks? If so, he could pay off the Blood Well’s "debts" tonight. "I’ll go inside to get a pen." "I’ve got one!" Zhou Xuan grabbed paper and pen, not giving Lao Yang a chance to back out, and wrote up the contract, signing his name. "Your name is Zhou Jun? This handwriting is beautiful." Lao Yang genuinely praised Zhou Xuan’s handwriting. In a time when handwritten words were needed everywhere, good handwriting was not only for cultivation of character. "Boss, two copies, sign and seal." Zhou Xuan blackened the pad of his thumb with the pen and pressed it onto the contract. Lao Yang also placed his thumbprint, and Zhou Xuan paid the money. Paying six months’ rent and two months’ deposit, Zhou Xuan counted out two thousand four and handed it to Lao Yang. Just as Lao Yang was about to take it, Zhou Xuan pulled his hand back, pointed at the ceiling, then at Zhao Mazi’s corpse, and asked, "The ceiling walls need a plasterer, and Boss Zhao’s body needs someone to take care of it. Will you do it, or should I? Regarding the costs?" "You handle it, I don’t want the hassle. At worst, I’ll take less money from you." Lao Yang calculated and said, "Fifteen bucks for fixing the wall, a bit more for the corpse, let’s say fifty, just give me sixty-five less." "That won’t do. I find the people myself, it’s time-consuming and laborious; it also needs to be discounted." Zhou Xuan took back a hundred-yuan green note. The banknotes issued by Jing Country were green-based, with a maximum denomination of a hundred yuan, issued by the "Jing Country Reserve Bank." Seeing his two thousand eight become two thousand seven, Lao Yang tearfully accepted the money, angrily remarking before leaving, "Zhou Jun, right? Writes beautifully, haggles without a hitch." "Junior Brother, I heard from Fourth Brother earlier; he said you’re really assertive in business. I didn’t expect you’d be so meticulous in renting a place too." Lv Mingkun whispered a compliment. "Life has taught me a lot." In a previous life, young people dared not say other things, but in terms of renting, each one was experienced, each pit was stepped on one by one. Zhou Xuan thought of something and went outside again, calling out to Lao Yang, "Lao Yang, I’ve rented the shop, but not the house yet?" "Oh, right." Lao Yang returned and said, "This shop has two floors; the first floor is the shop, and the second floor is a long-term rental house. The stairs are at the back door, and renting is cheap, just a hundred a month, and I won’t haggle this time." Zhou Xuan counted out six hundred and handed it to Lao Yang, saying, "No bargaining on your price, but since the shop and the house are one unit, I won’t pay extra for the deposit." "..." Lao Yang. Lao Yang accepted the six hundred yuan, fished the house key out of the key bag, handed it to Zhou Xuan, and said with a sigh, "Forget the house deposit; let’s be friends." This wasn’t just talk. Lao Yang handled so many rental deals every year that he had lost count. Most tenants he’d met were picky, unwilling to haggle openly, opting instead to hide what they wanted, forcing him to guess. "I play mahjong, earning hundreds in minutes, who has time to waste trying to guess your antics?" Lao Yang liked Zhou Xuan’s straightforwardness—when it came to bargaining, he did it frankly and logically. He thought that someone like Zhou Xuan was definitely a good businessman and would definitely expand the shop in the future, making long-term cooperation possible. "Alright, you guys take your time settling in. Just find me at Da Sixi Mahjong Hall if anything comes up... although preferably nothing should come up." Lao Yang pocketed the money and took small steps towards Sister Cui’s snack stand, intending to help out her business and give some small change to keep Sister Cui’s mouth shut, preventing her from spreading word about Zhao Mazi. Being a major landlord, reputation was crucial. ... Back in the house, Zhou Xuan needed to do some mental preparation for Lv Mingkun and Little Fuzi. After all, this was a "haunted" house. Although not afraid of the haunting, living here was slightly unsettling. He had organized his words, ready with the usual rationale like "You’re out, didn’t bring much money, save where you can; if business somehow becomes big, move somewhere nice later," and so on. Before he could speak, he saw Lv Mingkun, usually so composed, spreading his arms and breathing deeply, enjoying the air in the room. "Fifth Brother, what are you doing?" "We got a great bargain, a fantastic bargain. This place was absolutely the right choice. It’s worth fifteen hundred a month!" "..." Zhou Xuan. *Could Lv Mingkun have been speaking sarcastically? Why did it sound so irritating?* "Fifth Brother, this is a haunted house." "Great, the more haunted, the better." Lv Mingkun turned to Zhou Xuan and said, "Junior Brother, don’t forget, I’m a Ghost, and you’re... at least the Tangkou you’re cultivating now is a Ghost one." "Is there an advantage to this?" Zhou Xuan asked. "There’s a huge advantage." Lv Mingkun said, "Ghost people collect incense—not only collecting, but living in a place full of Yin energy also helps with incense collection. It’s not instant but a slow and steady increase. Don’t underestimate small daily gains; the incense accumulated this way is the purest. The Yin Sha Qi in this house is so heavy, it could even raise a Black Zombie." Right then, Lv Mingkun truly seemed at home, tenderly stroking Boss Zhao’s body, casually chatting this and that, "Before you dug up the body, this shop did feel devoid of Yin energy. But once unearthed, the Yin energy overflowed, making me feel completely comfortable, Do you know what it’s like? It’s like soaking in a hot spring, every pore relaxed." Zhou Xuan furrowed his brows together, as if witnessing another side of Lv Mingkun! *So, this is what kind of a Fifth Brother you are.* "This Yin energy seems to be seeping out from the ceiling; this place is poorly built, no good Feng Shui. Combined with this being a funeral street already heavy with Yin energy, it resulted in the ceiling having a Yin Eye." Zhou Xuan looked up at the ceiling, but saw no eye. "Yin Eye is just a name; actually, it’s like the Big Dragon in Feng Shui speak, it has its essence but no form. Living here brings great benefit." Lv Kunming got more excited as he talked. "Senior Brother Lv, excitement aside, I have just one question: What did you say about this corpse?" "A Black Zombie, it’s a type of zombie, rather fierce." "There are zombies?" Zhou Xuan had been in Jing Country for a long time, yet never paid attention to this ’zombie’ topic. "Yes! When a person dies, the body can transform into a zombie due to two main reasons: the first being Yin Qi and Yang Blood, and the second being Yin Sha Ground." Another knowledge gap that Zhou Xuan hadn’t encountered before. He pulled a small stool from the room and sat to listen attentively. Little Fuzi, knowing nothing about Ghosts or Divine People, took the keys and went upstairs to clean. Lv Kunming went on, "What is Yin Qi Yang Blood? After a person’s death, the soul becomes unstable, on the verge of leaving the body but has yet to do so, At this juncture, if nine drops of a living person’s blood between their brows are dripped on the deceased’s lips, the deceased’s Yin Qi and the living person’s blood merge, forming a barrier that locks the soul within, thus forming a zombie! However, the living person’s blood can’t just be found from anyone—it must be from someone with deep ties to the deceased, or they’re a spouse, family member, or even an enemy, the emotional bond must be intensely strong, Nine drops of blood from between the brows, sealing a lifetime’s love and hatred entanglement!" "The second method is raising zombies on Yin Sha ground—these are areas with heavy Yin Qi. Once the Yin Qi envelops a corpse, three stages ensue, The first stage is Infusion, where Yin Qi penetrates the corpse’s blood, bone, skin, and flesh, resulting in hair growth, fangs, and skin, flesh, and bones becoming as hard as iron—these changes typify this stage. The second stage is Awakening, where the density of Yin Qi grows, allowing it to develop sentience and begin actively harming people. The third stage is the Old Zombie stage, where they begin to actively absorb Yin Qi and start cultivating from it, gaining many skills and Dao level....." Zhou Xuan understood, "So basically, mainstream zombies are of two types. Which is more fearsome, the Yin Qi and Yang Blood version, or the Yin Sha ground version?" "Each has its strengths." Lv Mingkun explained, "The zombies born from Yin Qi Yang Blood also have three stages, but the time between each stage can be artificially shortened. Once nurtured properly, they can soon start cultivating due to their high initial intelligence. But the zombies raised in Yin Sha ground, once they reach a certain state, can comprehend the Dao of heaven and earth!" In the short run, one is formidable, while in the long run, the other becomes powerful. Zhou Xuan pointed to Zhao Mazi’s body, saying, "Then he’s likely still in the Infusion stage of Yin Sha ground-grown zombies, right?" "Yes, he’s a minor Black Zombie without much Dao level; we need to take care of him!" Lv Mingkun responded. "And how do we do that?" Zhou Xuan questioned Lv Mingkun...