The Zombie King Cannot Lose Face

The Duren Sutra's reward of raising corpses was far superior to the method Shi Jiulu practiced; in fact, it was the true method for raising Dao Soldiers used by the Sect Martial Prefecture in the Shu region.

"Close the doors and windows, guard against fire and thieves—"

At the second watch of the Hai hour, Xu Qing, who had been sitting in meditation for an hour, suddenly opened his eyes. Countless runes and incantations formed before him.

He had already grasped the true essence of raising corpses.

Xu Qing took out the white seal token that controlled the Dao Soldier, squeezed out a wisp of pure Yin energy, and infused it into the token. Then, he took out a cinnabar brush from his satchel and began to freely draw on Shi Jiulu's body.

Soon, various strange runes began to crawl from Shi Jiulu's chest, growing wildly and spreading across his entire body.

At a glance, it looked like the forbidden curse tattoos found on shamans and sorceresses.

The moment Xu Qing stopped moving his hands, the corpse before him moved!

Shi Jiulu opened his cloudy, gray-white eyes, looked around, and finally fixed his gaze on the one who had carved the runes.

Xu Qing stood up and took two steps back. The Shi Jiulu, who had been refined into a corpse soldier, also stood up stiffly and followed closely behind.

Front foot, back foot, left and right, right and left.

Well, it seemed he hadn't refined a corpse soldier, but a dance partner for the tango.

However, Xu Qing understood that the reason for this phenomenon was not a problem with the raising method, but because he had used the Duren Sutra to help the other party pass on.

Like the cat-faced corpse soldiers refined by Shi Jiulu, they still had residual souls in their bodies, which made them appear more agile.

But the Shi Jiulu before him had been completely transcended. He was now a walking corpse without any thoughts, only controllable by corpse-driving techniques, and therefore of little use.

Xu Qing pondered for a moment and then went to the place where tools were kept, taking out a hoe and shovel needed for burying and digging graves.

Behind him, Shi Jiulu, with dead fish eyes, still followed step by step.

Xu Qing came to the middle of the courtyard, chose a spot to dig, and then began to demonstrate to Shi Jiulu, making him imitate his actions of hoeing and digging.

After the pits were dug, he went to the first pit and grinned at the not-so-bright Shi Jiulu.

The latter also tried to grin back, but his facial skin only twitched slightly, and he failed.

Xu Qing scratched his head, wondering how to deal with this silly thing.

Unexpectedly, the other party tilted his head and also reached out to scratch his head.

"."

Could this simpleton really become a corpse soldier to fight on the battlefield?

Xu Qing silently jumped into the dirt pit. Seeing Shi Jiulu jump in after him, he casually raised his hoe and brought it down on the other's forehead with a clang, directly burying him in the earth.

The first subordinate of the Zombie King couldn't be an idiot, otherwise, it would be too embarrassing if word got out in the future!

Under the moonlight, a diligent gardener was covering fresh soil.

Xu Qing patted the last bit of loose soil firmly with the shovel, then thought about it and dug two more pits nearby.

It was now midnight, and the clouds in the sky were thickening, gradually filling the entire courtyard with mist.

Xu Qing opened the courtyard gate, pushed the empty cart, and along the street, disappeared into the night.

He hadn't forgotten that two clients in Linhe Fang were waiting for their funeral procession tonight; he couldn't keep them waiting.

Following Shi Jiulu's memory, Xu Qing crossed Shuimen Bridge, passed by the execution ground, and after a few turns, arrived outside the gate of a household.

The gate of this house was not high; it was two waist-high doors joined together, with a gap of about a foot wide at the top, a typical design that wouldn't stop a gentleman but would deter a scoundrel.

Was Xu Qing a scoundrel?

Not entirely.

Was he a gentleman?

Not entirely either.

He was just a living dead person, someone not recognized by conventional societal norms.

Therefore, Xu Qing put on his knuckle dusters and politely knocked on the courtyard gate.

Inside the courtyard, through the thin mist, he could vaguely see the lamplight from the windows of the house.

"Shuangxi, go and see. Maybe Old Jiu Shi is back from work."

"You're closer to the door, why don't you go?"

"Let's play rock-paper-scissors, whoever loses goes to open the door."

"What rock-paper-scissors? It's just opening a damn door, are we going to meet ghosts or something?"

"."

Listening to the commotion inside, Xu Qing's heart suddenly stirred, and he had a sudden realization.

They were humans, and he was a zombie. Since he was a malevolent spirit, shouldn't he follow local customs and learn the ways of ghosts and monsters?

The more Xu Qing thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.

With that thought, he turned his back, exposing only the back of his head to the courtyard gate.

In the courtyard, Li Shuangxi, having had a bit too much to drink, stumbled towards the courtyard gate on his heels.

"Hey, Old Jiu, what took you so long?"

As Li Shuangxi pulled open the door, he saw a person standing with their back to him.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

As soon as he finished speaking, just as he was waiting for the other person to turn around, he saw the back of the person's head twist and contort, as if several loaches were wriggling under their scalp. In the blink of an eye, a face full of sinister laughter emerged.

"Do I look like a human or a ghost to you?"

In the dead of night, a person with a face on the back of their head suddenly asks you if you look like a human or a ghost. Doesn't that send a shiver down your spine?

If Li Shuangxi hadn't been a Corpse Driver before and heard and seen some strange things, he probably would have wet himself on the spot from fright.

Even so, most of his drunkenness was dispelled by the shock.

Without even thinking, he turned to run back into the courtyard, but how could Xu Qing give him the chance? With his Hidden Blade technique from the Two-Faced approach, Li Shuangxi's head thudded to the ground!

Xu Qing tilted the back of his head. Corpse Drivers these days aren't very good; their skin is too thin. They might be fine controlling corpses remotely, but once someone gets close, they're like a son being beaten on a fishing boat – they can't even run away!

After dealing with Li Shuangxi, Xu Qing turned his body, his expression returning to normal, and looked towards the main house in the courtyard.

He saw another son, reeking of alcohol, who had already come out with a knife after hearing the commotion.

Upon seeing his brother's dismembered corpse in the courtyard, and the cold-faced young man standing there, Qiu Ping trembled all over, feeling a chill shoot straight from the base of his spine to the crown of his head.

Who was this person? Their group of brothers had only arrived in Linhe not long ago. They hadn't caused much trouble during that time and hadn't made any enemies yet.

Could it be that the people from the Martial Arts Prefecture were chasing deserters and had tracked them down here?

"Who exactly are you, and why did you kill my brother?!"

Xu Qing smiled, "Me? I'm just like you guys, a Corpse Driver in the Yinmen trade."

"If we're in the same line of work, why attack in the middle of the night? We haven't offended you."

As Qiu Ping spoke, holding his knife, he reached to his waist with his other hand to retrieve his Dao Soldier Yin Talisman.

Xu Qing couldn't let the opponent have the chance to summon their Dao Soldier. He pushed off the ground with his front foot, his iron-like physique moving like a human cannonball. He appeared in front of Qiu Ping almost instantly, followed by the Tiger Seal Dragon Elephant Fist, which he unleashed with full force!

The next moment, Qiu Ping was sent flying like a rag doll, crashing heavily against the house wall.

This blow not only prevented him from grabbing his Dao Soldier Yin Talisman but likely shattered every bone in his body, leaving him with no strength to do anything else.

Xu Qing walked up and delivered two more punches. Seeing that the opponent had completely stopped breathing, he finally spoke:

"It's no coincidence we met. Who told us to be in the same line of work?"