Re-clearing the Mill Instance

During Xu Qing's seclusion, there were no shortage of customers visiting the Corpse Driver's Shop to inquire about geomancy, Feng Shui, and funeral services. To him, these were all minor matters. If the clients couldn't find him, the shopkeeper, they would naturally seek out someone else.

The only thing that truly caught his attention was the sudden visit from a corpsecatcher from the holding cells.

"I thought Liu Youdao, having left his homeland for Linhe, wouldn't have any old acquaintances looking for him. I didn't expect someone would still find their way here."

"I just don't know what kind of background this so-called old friend has."

After seeing Wu Yaoxing off, Xu Qing returned to his shop and began to ponder and analyze the events of the past few days.

That fellow disciple and old friend who worked as a corpsecatcher at the patrol government office had no prior connection with him, but Xu Qing wasn't worried.

As soon as he inherited the Corpse Driver's Shop, he had prepared his story. It's difficult to tell a complete lie, but if a story is seven parts true and three parts false, even ghosts and spirits would find it hard to discern.

His claim of being a disciple was false, but his learning of the craft was true. As long as he possessed the Corpse Driving techniques passed down from his "sect," who would doubt him if he said he was a disciple taken in by Liu Youdao halfway through his training?

Furthermore, Liu Youdao's death at the hands of the demonic cultivators of the Tianxin Cult was also a fact. He would publicly declare his enmity with the Tianxin Cult!

This was the appropriate reaction and mindset for a disciple whose master had been killed.

Only with wisdom and proper action can one avoid mistakes. After reviewing and analyzing all potential problems and devising corresponding solutions, Xu Qing put the matter aside.

The eighth day of the second lunar month, today was the first day the Corpse Driver's Shop would reopen for business.

Xu Qing ate two candles and about ten pounds of raw eggs. After filling his stomach, he sat on the reclining chair in front of the counter and comfortably lit a stick of Spirit Incense.

"The Corpse Nurturing Scripture states that once an Iron Armored Corpse is refined, its entire body becomes as tough as bronze and iron, impervious to blades and arrows, and difficult to damage with ordinary weapons. I wonder if it's true?"

Having eaten his fill and with his energy brimming with nowhere to go, Xu Qing's eyes suddenly lit up. He then got up, went to the kitchen, took out a cleaver forged from fine iron, and lightly scraped the sharp edge across his palm. It left only a faint white mark.

He gently rubbed his palm, and after a moment, even the white mark disappeared.

Seeing this, Xu Qing grew bolder. He placed his hand flat on the cutting board and gradually tested his strength. The kitchen was filled with the sounds of metal clashing against metal.

After a series of chops and cuts, the sharp cleaver Xu Qing had bought for three hundred wen was completely blunted and ruined. Looking at his hand, apart from several white marks, his skin and flesh were completely unharmed.

He estimated that with his current physical condition, he was no worse than those who practiced Outer Refinement martial arts, and perhaps even comparable to those who practiced Inner Refinement.

After testing his physical strength, Xu Qing felt the latent power within his body and couldn't help but go to the backyard to practice a set of Tiger Seal Dragon Elephant Fist.

After breaking through to the Iron Armored Corpse stage, the Tiger Seal Dragon Elephant Fist he unleashed was exceptionally fierce. Every time his fist broke through the air, the sound of a tiger's roar and a dragon's cry would erupt, as if real dragons and tigers were coiled around his fists, feet, and sleeves.

The pomegranate sapling in the courtyard, which had just begun to sprout, was affected by the fist wind. The branches on the entire crown trembled incessantly until he finished practicing the entire set of forms.

Feeling the tangible improvement in his strength, Xu Qing decided it was time to settle some old scores that had been accumulating for a long time.

Back when he was working at the Corpse Laborer Mill, they hadn't settled a single coin of wages with him!

Xu Qing wasn't overly petty or magnanimous. He wouldn't curse the heavens for thunder and rain, nor would he praise the sun for shining brightly, because these were the cycles of nature, beyond human influence.

However, when it came to matters of the human world, aside from the natural order, things were not so easily let go.

That night, when the world was deep in slumber, Xu Qing put on his knuckle dusters and tucked a knife into his waist. He was in a completely different state than when he had fled the Cui Family Mill.

Back then, he was a novice with nothing, and in his haste, he only focused on escaping. Now, he was armed with weapons and his formidable external martial arts skills were comparable to those of an Inner Refinement martial artist.

It was time to return to the dark workshop and guide those souls who could not rest in peace even after death.

The Cui Family Mill was quite large. Besides the residential compound for the managers and servants at the front, there were workshops and courtyards in the back, divided according to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

Xu Qing followed the route from his memory and skillfully arrived at the Line C workshop where he had worked.

Since the Corpse Laborers refined by Liu Youdao had been returned, the vacant positions in Line C had been filled by Corpse Laborers refined by other Corpse Drivers.

Xu Qing climbed over the high wall. It was late at night, and the courtyards where these Corpse Laborers were housed had no servants or guards watching over them.

It seemed the mill itself wasn't afraid of thieves. After all, anyone who climbed over the wall and saw a group of walking corpses grinding away in the middle of the night would be scared half to death, let alone thinking about stealing anything.

If they didn't wet themselves on the spot and run home to hide under their blankets, they would be considered brave!

There were ten Corpse Laborers in Line C's courtyard. The adjacent Lines A and B were no different, totaling at least around thirty.

Xu Qing could see as clearly in the night as in the day. Under the moonlight, his eyes practically glowed green. He looked at the walking corpses with the same intensity as a devout monk who had been fasting for decades, visiting Cuiyun Tower for the first time.

It was truly difficult to control himself!

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

Silently reciting the sutras for salvation, the Duren Sutra turned its pages slowly. Before long, the good and evil, the grudges and resentments of this courtyard of souls and ghosts all surfaced.

After evaluation, all ten corpses in Line C's courtyard were rated as "Human" grade. The rewards from the Duren Sutra were varied:

A volume of court secret techniques, a dried, shriveled black Wine Bug, some ordinary gold and silver, a bottle of Cooling Powder, and a Truth-Speaking Pill.

The court secret technique was fully titled "Thirteen Methods for Discerning Virginity." It detailed thirteen methods for identifying virginity, learned by a eunuch when he was responsible for recruiting and examining palace maids for their chastity in his youth.

Later, when the eunuch grew old and was sent out of the palace, after many hardships, he eventually ended up in Jinmen Prefecture City. Unfortunately, his luck was poor. One day, his friend fell in love and was about to get married, so he asked the eunuch to help him verify if the bride was still a virgin. The day after the verification results came out, the eunuch was beaten to death by the bride's family on the street.

Xu Qing, with a mindset of learning, discovered that these court secret techniques were very similar to the "wang, wen, wen, qie" diagnostic methods in medicine. However, "wang" observed posture and appearance, "wen" smelled for the scent of a maiden, "wen" asked about the boundaries between men and women, and "qie" did not check the pulse, but rather a practical method within the virginity techniques. It was similar to how young ladies from wealthy families would have their dowry maids test the groom's abilities when they got married.

However, the maids here were replaced by other methods or objects. The techniques were exclusively court secrets and were not to be revealed to outsiders.

In addition to "wang, wen, wen, qie," the court secret techniques also included a hidden ultimate skill: the method for preparing and applying Vigorous Dragon Sand.

As long as one was a virgin, Vigorous Dragon Sand could be applied to continuously monitor chastity.

After learning the miscellaneous techniques of discerning virginity, Xu Qing's expression became strange. What kind of bizarre things had he been learning all day?

While this secret technique might be useful for young people of marriageable age, for him, who was solely focused on cultivating immortality, it was far too obscure.

Shaking his head, Xu Qing took out another reward: a wine bug, completely jet-black and shriveled like a dried plum.

It was called a wine bug, but it wasn't any kind of insect with scales or a naked body. It was a wine bug from a drunkard.

Its purpose was to be placed in water, which would then take on the aroma of fine wine.

Xu Qing pondered that he didn't drink himself. Besides, what kind of proper zombie would hug a wine jar and stumble around drunk all day?

Besides the wine bug, he also had a bottle of Cooling Powder from the night watchman, which was used to dispel fatigue and refresh the mind.

"Well, it even comes with after-sales service," he thought. "It's perfect for sobering up!"

Xu Qing almost laughed in exasperation. These two unrelated but closely matched items couldn't be said to be very helpful to him; they were, at best, completely useless.