Corpse Labor Mill

Linhe Fang had a fairly large mill. Every day, the rice, flour, grain, and oil ground there were more than enough to supply every household in Linhe Fang, with plenty left over for outsiders to purchase or barter for.

Strangely enough, though the mill's business was so prosperous, no craftsmen or laborers ever went out to buy feed for donkeys or mules, nor did anyone ever see donkey or mule manure being hauled away.

Some nosy Jianghu wanderers whispered behind the scenes that if one followed the waterways south from Linhe Fang, one would reach the Xiang River basin—and that the things pushing the millstones inside the mill were not donkeys or mules at all, but dead wandering corpses driven over from Xiangyin!

Wandering corpses were also called zombies. At first, people were half doubtful when they heard such rumors. Later, officials stepped forward to clarify matters, arresting a few loose-lipped Jianghu wanderers and announcing that these people had simply become jealous, unable to stand seeing someone else's business prosper, and had deliberately slandered and smeared the mill.

As for what became of those Jianghu wanderers, the matter, much like this incident itself, quietly vanished without another word.

Within Great Yong, Linhe Fang was a place where freight and trade flourished.

The sounds of laborers carrying loads on their shoulders and backs were no louder than the laughter, cursing, and shouting of the prostitutes and gamblers inside the ward. Even the waves of the hundred-li-wide Baisha River at the wharf beside the ward could not drown out the lively human bustle of Linhe Fang.

In a fairly large mill southwest of the ward, Xu Qing, who had been muddleheaded all day long, seemed to have regained a little awareness after being roused by the bustle outside.

So much work, so much work!

So tired, so tired!

When Xu Qing opened his eyes, he discovered that his joints were abnormally stiff and that his body was constantly repeating the same movements, like a tireless machine.

A huge millstone stood before him. A ring-shaped stone trough lay on the ground, filled with grain waiting to be ground.

At that moment, he was mechanically pushing the mill handle, walking endlessly around the circular stone trough.

I didn't die?

Xu Qing subconsciously tried to leave his station, but his body seemed not to obey him. Only his sealed memories melted like winter snow, and countless scenes resurfaced in his mind.

Boss, security guard, motorcycle thief, high beams—

When the pieces of his memory fell back into place, Xu Qing's sole hope was utterly extinguished.

In his memories, he had worked during the day and delivered takeout part-time at night. But when payday came, his boss, having lost badly in the stock market, had fled ahead of time.

Though he had ended up with a boss who did not do a scrap of decent work, life still had to go on.

That very night, unemployed Xu Qing continued delivering takeout part-time. The residential compound's security guard wantonly wielded the only authority he possessed, refusing to let delivery riders park their motorcycles at the compound entrance.

Xu Qing did not want to get tangled up with him, so he had no choice but to leave his motorcycle farther away. But when he returned, he saw a motorcycle thief who also worked the night shift riding off on his secondhand motorcycle, while the security guard looked on as if he had seen nothing.

Xu Qing was already seething with anger. Without a second thought, he took off running after them.

As the saying went, misfortune always picked on the wretched, and a hemp rope always snapped at its thinnest point.

Xu Qing chased them all the way to the main road. Panting heavily, he bent over and braced both hands on his knees. Before he could catch more than two breaths, a dazzling beam suddenly shone from the side of the road—a private car with its high beams on.

The private-car driver worked during the day to pay off his car and home loans, then drove for a ride-hailing service at night to supplement his household income. After pulling passengers through countless sleepless nights, his body was exhausted, and he had no time to react in advance.

The shrill screech of brakes and blaring horn split the long night.

At that moment, the colorful space-time turned gray and white, as though someone had pressed the pause button. Everything froze completely.

Then new memories rose like ink splashed into water, sending ripples outward. The frozen neon nightscape transformed into an ink-wash scroll. One by one, old dirt roads took shape, and ancient-style buildings rose from the earth. These were the memories he had unconsciously retained after becoming a walking corpse.

When Xu Qing finally came to his senses, another world already lay before him.

Fortunately, this body was still his own. Unfortunately, it was already dead beyond dead.

He was now a zombie—a zombie picked up by the roadside, refined by a Corpse Driver, and sold to a mill as a laborer.

As the old saying went, life had three bitter trades: forging iron, sailing boats, and grinding tofu.

Xu Qing had never imagined that one day he would taste the bitterness of one of them.

He wanted to break free of the control, but no matter what he did, he could not regain command of his body.

It was a method the Corpse Driver had left behind in him.

"..."

The moon over Linhe Fang was perfectly round that night, but Xu Qing could not make a sound, even though his heart had long since been roaring like thunder.

What kind of world is this?

Even the dead are dragged out to work?

He had thought that working like an ox and a horse in his previous life had already pushed a living person to the limit. Who could have imagined that even after death, such "blessings" would be waiting for him?

What sins had I committed while alive? As if it weren't enough that I died without even getting a bowl of steaming Meng Po's Soup, I was actually refined into a zombie and forced to keep working—and on the night shift I hated most of all!

Xu Qing had never been so furious.

People said that dripping water could pierce stone, but not in a single day.

Now, the emotions Xu Qing had suppressed for so long had gathered like ten thousand drops of water into a raging flood, ready to burst through the dam.

Just as his Corpse Qi shot into the heavens and he was about to lose his sanity completely, a resplendent aura suddenly welled up deep within his mind. Accompanying it came waves of sacred verses, which in the space of an instant soothed the resentment growing inside him.

"What just happened to me? These scriptures..."

Before Xu Qing could think it through, another scroll of scripture appeared before his eyes. Countless ancient characters transformed into immortal voices and sacred verses that rang through his mind.

The scroll seemed to contain a Living Buddha or immortal expounding the scriptures, speaking of how the immortal way was vast and remote, while the Human Way was boundless and obscure.

It also spoke of how the immortal way prized salvation, while the ghost way was intertwined—

Xu Qing listened in a fog, his head heavy and his feet light. He felt as though he were about to ascend to the Upper Realm, yet he drifted aimlessly, unable to find the way.

At last, when the obscure scripture had been recited, the scroll opened another page. This time, what appeared were no longer bizarre characters from a heavenly book, but scene after scene from his life.

Within them was not only the bitterness of his laboring day and night, but also many tender moments he had usually overlooked without noticing.

Just as Xu Qing was about to lose himself in them, immortal voices and sacred verses rang out again. It was like a blow straight to the head, jolting him awake.

"The myriad transformations in the void, foulness blooming in profusion.

"Few preserve their true nature; many fall into delusion.

"Thus, the immortal way is difficult to establish, while the ghost way easily turns wicked."

The scripture, radiating boundless profundity, slowly closed. Only then did Xu Qing see the inscription on its front.

It read—Duren Sutra!

To save others, one must first save oneself. After being transformed by the immortal book, Xu Qing had already seen through the haze of his former life. After its assessment, the immortal book had given him a Human Grade evaluation.

From the information in his mind, Xu Qing learned that the Duren Sutra's evaluation standards were divided into Heaven, Earth, and Human grades, with each grade further divided into high, middle, and low.

He belonged to Human Grade Low.

Xu Qing felt somewhat offended, but after carefully looking back over his life, he found the evaluation exceptionally fair.

In his previous life, he truly had been an ordinary, mediocre man.

Yet the earth did not grow nameless grass, and Heaven did not create useless people.

Even Human Grade Low had its merits.

When Xu Qing came back to himself, the Duren Sutra had already given him an appropriate reward.

It was a blessing aura that could be used directly. Whoever received its illumination could purge the evil and filth in their heart and revive their thoughts as a living person.

Xu Qing had been frustrated in life, then ambushed by a wicked practitioner after death and turned into a zombie. It was only natural that resentment had accumulated in his heart. This was a common affliction among demons, monsters, and strange beings, and not something he could control by his own intent.

This aura happened to be exactly the right medicine, arriving at precisely the right time.

After receiving the reward, Xu Qing could not conceal his delight, and even the resentment filling his body dispersed considerably.

Although his luck had been poor and he could not rest in peace even after death, at least he had "lived" on in another form. Now that the immortal book had Chosen Master and he had a cheat at his side, there was finally something to look forward to in the days ahead.

Xu Qing did not hesitate. He decisively chose to accept the aura's baptism.

The next moment, the Duren Sutra slowly unfolded. A Purification Talisman leaped out from within it, transforming into strands of spiritual light that seeped into his body.

The warm, gentle light was like a spring breeze brushing the willow trees. In an instant, it dispelled the spell the Corpse Driver had placed on him and returned control of his body to him.

"Hss—haa—"

A hoarse, low groan came from Xu Qing's throat, like parched land that had been dry for years finally receiving sweet rain. He had never felt so comfortable.

The bright moon hung over the mill, with stars scattered across the sky. Bathed in the spiritual light and moonlight, Xu Qing rekindled his thoughts as a living person and began considering how he would make a living from then on.

First of all, working for someone else was out of the question. When he had been alive, he had worked from before dawn until after dark, rain or shine. Now that he had become a zombie, there was no way he would continue working here—especially not as an unpaid corpse laborer.

But when Xu Qing considered escaping this place, he fell into hesitation again.

This world was absolutely no peaceful age. Whether it was the Corpse Driver black-market broker who had refined him in his memories or the unscrupulous zombie mill before his eyes, he could glimpse the truth from both.

Perhaps the outside world was even more dangerous than this place. Perhaps zombies stood at the very bottom of the food chain here. If so, escaping would mean jumping from the tiger's jaws straight into the wolves' den.

Fortunately, Xu Qing was not someone who feared trouble.

Since he had encountered a problem, he would seek a way to deal with it. His present worries amounted to nothing more than the unfamiliar outside environment and his own special zombie identity.

Was there perhaps a way to help him understand this world—or, better yet, improve his own abilities?

Xu Qing was suddenly struck by inspiration. He turned his gaze toward his fellow being not far away, who was grinding beans. It was a zombie bent over its work.