The Goldclad Corpse King

The news arrived last night, and the man was dead today.

Even Xu Qing hadn't expected Fifth Master Chang to be so efficient!

Looking at the fresh corpse that had been packed and delivered, Xu Qing, as usual, first used the Five Grains Reincarnation Rope, soaked in Holy Spirit Water, to bind it tightly. Then, he chanted the incantation to revive the corpse and flipped through the Duren Sutra.

There wasn't much to praise about the life of a double-crosser, nor were there any so-called highlight moments.

From a young age, this man had enjoyed hanging out with a bunch of ruffians and scoundrels in Linhe Fang. In his early life, he engaged in petty theft and often peeked at widows bathing.

Later, his courage grew, his conscience shriveled, and he committed several acts of bullying the weak and exploiting the vulnerable, even going so far as to ruin families.

Every time Xu Qing saw such a scene, he couldn't help but whip the person with the Corpse Driving Whip.

It was too easy for this scumbag to die so quickly!

Just as Xu Qing was getting disgusted and preparing to fast-forward to the part where evil deeds are repaid, he saw a familiar person in the scene depicting Liao An's secret collusion with the Jinmen Gang.

Wasn't this the Demonic Cultivator from the Tianxin Cult who had borrowed directions outside Linhe Fang, only to double back later and decapitate Liu Youdao?

Why was he mixed up with the Jinmen Gang, and judging by his demeanor, he held a not-insignificant position within the gang.

Xu Qing felt a jolt of alarm. If the Tianxin Cult had infiltrated the Jinmen Gang, what were they planning with this grand mobilization to seize the Linhe Wharf?

In the past, the Jinmen Gang had the backing of the prefectural city's connections, while Fifth Master Chang relied on his years of established relationships in Linhe to counter them.

Now, with the Tianxin Cult as an unpredictable variable, Fifth Master Chang would likely struggle to maintain his position at the wharf!

Recalling the sudden construction of defenses in Linhe Fang, which blocked a large number of fleeing disaster victims, Xu Qing vaguely felt that something unknown to him might be hidden within all this.

The sky over Linhe Fang might be about to change.

Xu Qing shook his head. These matters had little to do with him. He was just an ordinary citizen running a funeral shop and couldn't control the thunder and lightning of heaven.

Continuing to watch, Liao An took the silver ingots rewarded by the Jinmen Gang and returned home, burying them beneath the rice jar.

Next came the scene of him following Fifth Master Chang in a night raid on the Jinmen stronghold, backstabbing Li Fan.

Xu Qing had already seen these events; this was merely a change of perspective.

Quickly skipping these scenes, Xu Qing finally saw the moment he had been eagerly anticipating in Liao An's final moments.

It was in the main hall of a courtyard. Fifth Master Chang sat in a Grand Tutor's chair, idly playing with iron walnuts. Below him, Liao An, whose crimes had been exposed, was being beaten by a group of his former brothers.

As Liao An died, he gurgled with bloody foam, asking, "I hid it so well, how did you find out? Can you at least let me die with understanding?"

Someone beside him spat a mouthful of phlegm and said hatefully, "Brother Li Fan died without knowing why, and you still want to die with understanding? I'll be damned if I let you!"

With that, the man stomped on Liao An's neck, avenging Li Fan on the spot.

The life of the double-crosser ended here.

Afterward, the Duren Sutra gave his life a "Low-grade Human" evaluation, and the reward was the Two-Faced, Three-Blade Art from the martial world.

This art focused on having two faces, hiding a knife within a smile, and killing without a trace.

Xu Qing carefully contemplated its essence. After fully understanding it, the flesh on the back of his head began to twist and change. In about a breath's time, beneath his disheveled black hair, another face had vividly appeared!

A face that was smiling sinisterly, yet its eyes, brows, nose, and lips were identical to his usual appearance!

Xu Qing's perspective suddenly shifted; he could see things behind him through this second face.

What kind of dark art was this? Eyes on the back of the head?

He looked down and saw his own back, his buttocks, and his heels.

He walked to the bronze mirror and saw that the reflection showed him with two faces. The front-facing face had its eyes closed, as if asleep.

The face on the back of his head maintained a constant, amiable smile.

Xu Qing couldn't help but rest his hand on the back of his head, gently stroking the face.

Why did he feel like he was becoming less and less like a normal person?

Xu Qing tried to close the eyes of the face on the back of his head, and in the next moment, his perspective returned to the front.

He turned sideways to look in the mirror. The face on the back of his head now had its eyes closed, and then, as if by magic, it disappeared into his thick hair.

This wasn't the end. Following the bizarre and sinister Two-Faced Art was a complementary technique called the Three-Blade Art.

This Three-Blade Art ostensibly had three trials: the Soft Blade, the Hard Blade, and the Dangerous Blade.

The Soft Blade killed without drawing blood, the Hard Blade killed without mercy, and the Dangerous Blade killed without defense!

Combining the soft and hard made it even more perilous, perfectly suited for ambushing enemies.

Though called Three Blades, after Xu Qing repeatedly practiced and mastered it, he discovered it was merely one strike.

However, this single strike encompassed momentum, technique, and method, making it impossible to guard against.

Imagine someone with their back to you, holding no weapon, suddenly pulling out a sharp knife and stabbing you in the heart. After you're thoroughly impaled, the person's head lifts, their waterfall-like hair parts to the sides, revealing a smiling face. Wouldn't that leave you with psychological trauma?

Never mind whether being stabbed in the heart would kill you; just that grinning face alone could scare someone half to death!

Xu Qing pondered for a moment, thinking that the Two-Faced, Three-Blade Art was better than nothing and might be useful for surprise attacks.

After all, who would normally bother to turn their face to the back of their head to look at people?

That would be outright crazy!

The hidden blade technique from the Three-Blade Art was actually useful. Normally, he could conceal a blade at his lower back, and it might come in handy at crucial moments.

At the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about someone picking up soap if he went to the bathhouse, right?

If anyone dared to approach, one swing of the blade and they'd be finished!

After dealing with the bodies, Xu Qing glanced at the sky. The moon was already rising above the willows, and the streets were emptying. He closed his shop and, with a hidden blade on his person, made his way in the dark towards Liao An's residence.

Upon reaching the courtyard, he sniffed the air. Seeing no scent of strangers, he then climbed over the wall.

He found the rice bin and removed the blue brick that was pressing it down, revealing a medium-sized pottery urn.

He didn't examine it directly. After wrapping it in cloth, he returned the way he came.

Back at his shop, he lifted the lid of the pottery urn, and Xu Qing's eyes widened!

He hadn't expected Liao An to be so wealthy!

Inside the urn, there wasn't just stacks of cash. Between each layer of coins, gold and silver trinkets were placed as dividers.

Xu Qing roughly estimated that this urn, converted to silver, was worth at least over three hundred taels!

He currently charged three taels of silver for a government office corpse, and this three hundred taels was enough for him to collect over a hundred corpses!

However, after Xu Qing settled down from his joy, he had new plans.

Collecting corpses required some silver, but he couldn't use all of it for that. With these three hundred taels, plus his existing savings from the Silver Clapper and other sources, it was time for him to visit the miscellaneous goods street and see if he could buy the materials needed for a zombie's advancement.

Among the three types of wandering corpses, the Ironclad Wandering Corpse was the easiest to advance. As for the Silverclad and Goldclad Wandering Corpses, they required more time and materials.

But time was something he had in abundance.

The "Corpse Sayings" stated that in ancient times, there was an immortal tree called the Great Chun, which lived for eight thousand years in spring and eight thousand years in autumn – a truly long life.

Among the miraculous spiritual beings and treasures that could be compared to the Great Chun's longevity was the zombie.

Xu Qing possessed a body that could achieve longevity. If a hundred years wasn't enough, he could cultivate for a millennium. By then, even if he couldn't achieve the status of a Corpse Immortal, he could at least forge the foundation of a Goldclad Corpse King!