Baleful Corpse

Bai Yu felt a warning stir in his heart. Could something have happened in the inner courtyard?

Lantern in hand, he sprinted toward the inner courtyard.

From one of the morgue rooms came a series of thudding bangs.

Many people wished to return to their roots after death, but if they could not yet be sent back to their hometowns, their bodies would be temporarily stored at the funeral home.

Bang—

The morgue door was smashed open, and a monster hopped out.

It was a shriveled corpse, its skin like rusted iron plating.

A Baleful Corpse!

When a corpse was struck by Killing Intent, it underwent a mutation and became a Baleful Corpse that wounded people everywhere.

The Baleful Corpse let out a hoarse roar and lunged at Bai Yu.

Its two withered claws, like chicken feet, went straight for Bai Yu's throat.

Bai Yu shifted his feet, unleashing the Flying Swallow Lingxu Step.

He swept aside like a swallow, evading the Baleful Corpse's claws.

In a blur, he appeared at the Baleful Corpse's rear flank.

"White Tiger Pounces!"

He struck out with his palm, the wind howling.

With a bang, the Baleful Corpse was sent flying and crashed to the ground.

But with one leap, it rose straight back up, not a single mark on its body.

At that moment, Zhu Tong rushed over with a robe thrown around himself, his face draining of color.

"A Baleful Corpse! The corpse has transformed!"

"Little Bai, run! It's been filled with a mouthful of Killing Intent—it's impervious to blades and spears."

Just then, the Baleful Corpse lunged at Bai Yu again. The nails on its ten fingers stretched over a foot long, about to pierce him through.

Bai Yu employed the Flying Swallow Lingxu Step and battled the Baleful Corpse in a tangled melee.

After several exchanges, he had gauged it.

This Baleful Corpse's strength and speed were roughly on par with a First Rank martial artist.

But its body was impervious to blades and spears, comparable to a Third Rank Skin Tempering Realm martial artist.

Bai Yu used the Lingxu Step, and the Baleful Corpse could not touch him at all.

Watching from the side as Bai Yu not only refused to flee but fought the Baleful Corpse head-on, Zhu Tong was frantic.

"Little Bai, don't be so stubborn! This thing has Killing Intent coursing through its body. It's immensely strong and never tires."

"Unless Uncle Jiu uses his demon-subduing methods, there's no way to deal with it."

"How long have you been learning Zhu You arts? You don't have that ability yet, understand?"

Bai Yu smiled faintly at this.

"Don't worry. If Zhu You arts can't subdue demons, then I'll subdue demons physically!"

He let out a roar. Veins bulged on his arms, his muscles coiling like dragons.

"Ha!"

Bai Yu threw a punch, slamming it into the Baleful Corpse's chest.

A crisp crack rang out. Its chest caved in deeply, and who knew how many ribs had broken.

The Baleful Corpse tried to counterattack, but Bai Yu used Azure Dragon Grasps and tore off one of its arms.

Then he struck again and again, breaking all four of the Baleful Corpse's limbs before finally pulling out a Corpse Control Talisman and sticking it to its forehead.

The fierce and vicious Baleful Corpse immediately calmed down.

Bai Yu's entire sequence flowed like drifting clouds and running water, leaving Zhu Tong staring agape.

"Little Bai, you... you... took down a Baleful Corpse all by yourself? You even broke its bones with your bare hands."

Bai Yu gave an honest, guileless smile.

"Yeah, I broke through to Second Rank before this. And since I was born strong, I just beat the Baleful Corpse down."

Now that he had become a Fourth Rank martial artist, it was time to let a little news leak out.

And Zhu Tong was the best person to spread that news.

He had always been loose-lipped and could never keep anything to himself.

If Zhu Tong knew a piece of news, it was the same as the entire funeral home knowing it.

As he spoke, Bai Yu deliberately added,

"Brother Tong, keep this a secret for me. Don't let anyone else find out."

Zhu Tong thumped his chest until it boomed.

"Don't worry. My lips are the tightest. I definitely won't tell anyone."

Neither of them dared sleep after that.

Bai Yu took out a stack of Transformation Talismans and Evil-Suppressing Talismans. Together with Zhu Tong, he plastered them all over the funeral home, inside and out.

Half an hour later, Zhu Tong wiped away his sweat, dropped into a chair, and began to ramble.

"I'm dead tired!"

"Little Bai, isn't this strange? How could a perfectly fine corpse suddenly transform?"

"My grandfather's generation started making a living at this funeral home. It's been decades, at least, and cases of corpses transforming here have been few enough to count on one hand."

Bai Yu had a premonition that something must have gone wrong somewhere in Jiang City.

Earlier, he had noticed many people shrouded in Killing Intent. Then Uncle Jiu had discovered that Baleful Corpses were increasing in number. Now even corpses in the funeral home were transforming.

Bai Yu could not make sense of it either, so he said,

"Brother Tong, get some sleep first. I'll keep watch here."

Zhu Tong did not dare return to his room, so he slept in the front hall.

Bai Yu, meanwhile, lit a candle at the table and read.

First he read the Spring and Autumn Annals, then Meng's Herbal Compendium. Finally, he reached his sinful hands toward White Fox Erotic Tales.

A book so corrupting to public morals had to be thoroughly criticized.

Bai Yu criticized it all night, until dawn broke.

At that moment, Uncle Jiu returned from outside. Seeing Bai Yu bent over the table reading, he nodded approvingly.

"Little Yu, what are you reading?"

Bai Yu had stayed up all night and was somewhat muddle-headed. He answered without thinking.

"I'm reading the Spring and Autumn Annals."

Uncle Jiu smiled faintly, about to offer some encouragement. But when he walked over and looked, his expression immediately changed.

"Children mustn't read these things."

He snatched away White Fox Erotic Tales and forcibly confiscated it.

At that moment, Zhu Tong woke up and hurried forward.

"Uncle Jiu, you're finally back! You have no idea—in Room C-16 of the funeral home last night, a patron transformed."

"Good thing Little Bai was so valiant and subdued that Baleful Corpse. Otherwise, we would've been in deep trouble."

Uncle Jiu's expression abruptly changed, and he strode quickly into the inner hall.

He muttered to himself,

"That shouldn't be possible. I put yellow talismans all around the funeral home. By all rights, it shouldn't have transformed."

When he saw the Baleful Corpse restrained by the Corpse Control Talisman, he nodded in satisfaction again.

It seemed Little Yu had been born to eat from this bowl. He could even quickly master blood talismans.

Uncle Jiu pasted nine yellow talismans onto the Baleful Corpse in succession.

Then he took out a jar, formed hand seals, and chanted an incantation.

Before long, the Baleful Corpse spat out a mass of Killing Intent, which fell into the jar.

"Alright. The Killing Intent in this patron's body has been drawn out. There won't be any trouble for now."

Next, Uncle Jiu took Bai Yu and inspected the funeral home inside and out.

Sure enough, they found several more corpses on the verge of transforming.

"Troubled times, troubled times indeed."

Uncle Jiu's face was so dark it seemed water could drip from it.

Over the following days, he accelerated the lessons, wishing he could pour every Zhu You art into Bai Yu's head in one go.

Fortunately, Bai Yu had endured the brutal beating of nine years of compulsory education. His ability to learn was extraordinarily strong, and coupled with his own high talent, he learned at lightning speed.

His Zhu You Yin Fu Jing had now reached the point of complete mastery, and it was still steadily improving.

Uncle Jiu was immensely satisfied with this, repeatedly praising Bai Yu for having the bearing of an emperor-slayer.

At the same time, news of Bai Yu subduing a Baleful Corpse spread like the wind.

Zhu Tong said to Little Wang,

"Let me tell you, Little Bai became a Second Rank martial artist and subdued a Baleful Corpse!"

Little Wang said to Old Zhang,

"Brother Bai is a Second Rank martial artist. He caught a Baleful Corpse."

Before long, the entire Willow Street was spreading the rumor wildly.

Little Bai from the funeral home was a ruthless man—he had slept with a Baleful Corpse that was a Second Rank martial artist.