Two-Faced, Three-Blade Art

In any dynasty, buying and selling property is a major undertaking. It's not as simple as paying money and having the deal instantly settled.

That's child's play.

In Great Yong, if you want to buy property, the buyer and seller must first draft a contract, then pay the deed tax, and only after official approval is the transaction considered complete.

Xu Qing drafted a contract with the brokerage manager, which is essentially a house sale agreement. Then, they went together to the government office, where clerks responsible for household registration would record the details.

After all that, he still had to pay out of his own pocket for several "official deeds."

There were four copies of the official deed in total, and each one had to be paid for with real silver.

The clerk handling the property deeds was clearly old acquaintances with the brokerage manager. After exchanging greetings, the clerk inquired about the house's information and inwardly rejoiced.

He almost blurted out a playful remark like, "Welcome back, Shopkeeper Xu, when you're ready to sell!"

"This house is exceptionally good. You truly are blessed!" The clerk said this without an ounce of shame, because he had already been thoroughly shamed when he handled this property before!

The clerk only cared about doing his job. Whether the buyer of this haunted house was alive or dead was of no concern to him.

Even after the contract was finalized, the matter wasn't over. Xu Qing still had to go to the Tax Department to pay the "deed tax."

Going through the entire process, he didn't feel tired. After all, if he found these things troublesome, how could he ever acquire a large mansion in the future to hide more corpses?

The Great Yong Dynasty's efficiency in handling matters was unparalleled, especially when money was involved. Xu Qing went to the Tax Department in the afternoon, and the officially issued deed book was delivered to the brokerage by evening.

Seeing Xu Qing happily accepting the house deed, Fourth Master Li, who still had a shred of conscience left, finally couldn't hold back.

Others might not know, but he was perfectly clear about it!

Was Old Man Huang's house meant for people to live in? That was clearly a haunted house where his subordinates could 'breed' to support him in his old age!

"Brother Xu, you don't seem like a fool. Please don't be misguided. We know ourselves best; that house truly cannot be lived in by the living!"

Xu Qing thought to himself, I never said I was living!

Besides, no matter how haunted a haunted house was, could it be more terrifying than him, a genuine zombie?

"I appreciate Fourth Master's kindness, but I must live in this house!"

Xu Qing ignored Fourth Master Li's dissuasion, merely stating that he had a slight understanding of Feng Shui and it wouldn't be a problem.

The brokerage manager beside them chimed in, "Fourth Master, Shopkeeper Xu is a capable person. Perhaps he can truly revitalize that house."

Fourth Master Li shook his head. Whether it could be revitalized or not, as long as no more dead bodies appeared inside, that would be enough!

As the sun set and twilight deepened, lights began to flicker on.

Outside the Corpse Driver's Shop, Xu Qing borrowed a cart from Hu Baosong. He then placed the corpses, whose value had been thoroughly extracted from within the coffin, onto the cart and covered them with coarse cloth.

As he was tucking in the corners of the coarse cloth for the corpses on the cart, Wu Yaoxing from the Paper Craft Shop suddenly opened a door panel and greeted him.

"Yo, Brother Xu, you're finally back!"

"I haven't seen you all day. When I heard the commotion, I figured I'd come out to see. Why do you look like you're heading out again?"

Xu Qing finished tucking in the coarse cloth and replied with a smile, "I just leased a courtyard. I'm planning to move some things that don't fit in the shop over there."

Wu Yaoxing came closer and looked at the bulging cart, which seemed filled with goods, without thinking much of it.

"While you were gone today, two people came looking for you, one after the other. One was the holding cell coroner from last time, and the other was a stranger. Judging by his somber demeanor, it looked like someone in his family had died, and he came to see you for business."

Xu Qing said nonchalantly, "If fate brings us together from a thousand miles away, and if not, we won't meet even if we're face to face. It just means fate didn't allow it this time."

Wu Yaoxing smacked his lips and said jokingly, "Brother Xu sounds like he's well-read, always speaking so eloquently. Why don't you join my son for the Spring Examination someday and become a Xiucai scholar."

Xiucai? Xu Qing chuckled. He had previously opened the "Book Scripture" from scholars. This book was a compilation of the Great Yong's most profound essays. Forget Xiucai, he could even aim for a Juren degree.

However, it was useless for him to take the exam. He had no intention of becoming an official. If it meant qualifying as a Xiucai, which would exempt him from miscellaneous taxes and corvée labor, then it would have some practical value.

After the minor interlude at the shop entrance, Xu Qing pushed the small cart, its wheels creaking, and disappeared into the alleyways.

At this moment, clouds drifted by, and the moonlight flickered, casting intermittent shadows. The streets were becoming increasingly deserted.

The new residence was about five to six li away from the shop.

As Xu Qing navigated through the streets and alleys, about halfway there, he suddenly heard the clinking and rattling sound of debris.

He turned his head at the sound and saw cats walking and leaping along the eaves of the connected houses by the roadside.

Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and continued to push the cart at an unhurried pace.

Before long, a faint sound of bells could be heard from the surroundings, sometimes near, sometimes far.

"This bell sound is somewhat familiar."

The wheels of the cart stopped turning. Xu Qing held his breath and concentrated. As his wide sleeves fluttered, a pair of knuckle dusters were fitted onto his hands.

The wind was silent, and the night road was deserted.

Suddenly, the sound of shattering debris erupted abruptly. Without hesitation, Xu Qing moved like a fired projectile, his legs instantly exerting force. In an explosive manner, he retreated more than ten feet away!

On the spot, an unidentified creature that had attacked from above crashed heavily onto the ground, emitting a non-human roar.

Xu Qing was fully alert and focused his gaze.

Having frequently dealt with corpses, he immediately recognized the abnormality of the opponent. His nostrils twitched, and the Qi Gazing Technique was deployed.

Xu Qing smelled the familiar scent of corpse qi in the air and saw the grayish-white miasma emanating from the opponent's body.

Combining this with the earlier bell sounds, he had a general idea of what was happening.

Someone else in the business wanted him dead!

Just as he stepped back to dodge, another zombie blocked his path not far behind him.

The bell sound rang out again. It wasn't any of the melodies from the corpse-driving incantations, but an unfamiliar, murderous chant.

Facing the two ferocious zombies attacking him from both sides, Xu Qing calmly considered his options and abandoned the idea of using his knuckle dusters to fight them head-on.

He had initially thought his attacker was a powerful figure from the jianghu, or perhaps some bandit from the night.

Now, looking closely, he realized they were two tough, thick-skinned zombies controlled by a peer. They weren't even advanced enough to be iron-armored zombies.

As the two 'lively' corpses lunged at him, Xu Qing silently took out his corpse-driving whip from his outer pocket.

So, you like to scare people by making corpses rise in the middle of the night, huh?

Xu Qing swung his top-grade human-shaped corpse-driving whip. A loud crack echoed through the silent night as the dark red whip lashed out like a spinning top, striking the charging zombies.

He was filled with annoyance, putting all his strength into each swing!

Do you really think I'm just some random corpse driver for nothing? You dare to swagger in front of me, whatever kind of corpse you are!

The two zombies had never encountered such a ferocious opponent. After a thorough beating, the bell sounds controlling them from a distance were even snapped.

While punishing the two zombies trying to escape, Xu Qing activated his Qi Gazing Technique to locate the controller.

Finally, the whipping stopped, leaving only two twitching corpses on the ground.

Xu Qing put away his corpse-driving whip and walked straight towards the alley on the other side of the street.

About twenty feet from the alley entrance, a hoarse, low voice suddenly emerged from the dark, deep alley:

"Young man, don't come any further. What happened today ends here."

Xu Qing paused, his hand wearing knuckle dusters clenching into a fist.

Then, he continued to walk forward.

Don't come forward? You lurked in an alley at night, sending corpses to scare people, and now that the situation isn't in your favor, you want to run? How thick is your face?

"Enough!"

Seeing him still advancing, the person hiding in the narrow alley seemed genuinely anxious.

"Kid, you're new to Linhe, so I won't hold this against you. But as a senior, I have to warn you. The corpses in Linhe aren't yours alone; others need to make a living too. You charge four taels per corpse, which cuts off everyone else's livelihood. I'm kindly reminding you now to consider tonight's incident settled. Neither of us owes the other anything, and I won't bother you again."

Xu Qing stared at the dead-end alley before him and asked the crucial question: "Do you really think it could ambush me?"

Before his words even fell, Xu Qing's face contorted, and another face appeared on the back of his head.

At the same time, he bared his teeth and smiled at the cat-faced zombie that had snuck up behind him.

Two-Faced, Three-Blade Art!