The wooden hut.
As usual, Wen Jiu lifted the lotus leaf off the large bowl, picked it up, and began eating.
But as he ate, he kept feeling that his sister Wen Ya was distracted today.
"Sis, how are things at the Xu Family?"
There was no reply.
Only after Wen Jiu called out again did Wen Ya seem to wake from a dream. "Huh... what did you say?"
Seeing her reaction, Wen Jiu set down his bowl and chopsticks and pressed her. "Sis, are you being bullied at the Xu Family?"
"No, no." Wen Ya hurriedly shook her head and forced a smile. Thinking back to what had just happened, she only felt that the more she thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. Those three were probably not only not her younger brother's friends, but also had a grudge against him.
"Sis, if you won't tell me... I won't eat." Wen Jiu spoke firmly.
Just as Wen Ya was hesitating over whether to tell him, Wen Jiu asked warily, watching her eyes. "Sis, if it wasn't the Xu Family, was it someone else? People from the Night Patrol Division? Or the corpse buriers?"
After asking slowly,
Wen Jiu got the answer he wanted.
Because when he slowly said the words "Night Patrol Division" and "corpse buriers," a hint of surprise had clearly flickered across Wen Ya's face.
Hard to notice.
Gone in an instant.
But he had caught it.
"Mm-hmm." Seeing that her younger brother had actually noticed, Wen Ya hurriedly nodded. She, too, had her answer now.
It seemed
those three hadn't meant well.
And they weren't good people, either.
Wen Ya immediately told him everything, from what had happened outside earlier to her worries about the three men's intentions.
Wen Jiu understood.
His heart turned cold.
They'd actually dared to lay their hands on his sister.
They were asking for death!
"Sis, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it," Wen Jiu said, reassuring Wen Ya, whose face was tinged with worry.
"Don't do anything rash."
Wen Ya warned him.
Wen Jiu nodded.
Rash?
Of course he wouldn't be rash.
But if you didn't deal with some trouble, it would stay trouble forever.
Early the next morning.
Wen Jiu arrived at Dead Corpse Land.
He had planned to act as if nothing had happened, as if he knew nothing, and wait for an opportunity. But as soon as he arrived at Dead Corpse Land, people surrounded him and greeted him very politely, as though nothing had happened in the past few days.
Just as Wen Jiu was about to ask what was going on, Wang Nian arrived and hurriedly pulled him aside.
"You brat... why didn't you listen to me? You're still joining the Gathering Righteousness Hall?"
Wen Jiu was completely baffled. "Brother Wang, when did I ever say I was joining the Gathering Righteousness Hall?"
Wang Nian's expression turned grave. "Isn't word going around that your sister's planning to join the Gathering Righteousness Hall? Steward Xu has a grudge against them. If word gets back to the Xu Family, your sister's situation might..."
"That's absolutely not true."
Wen Jiu's expression turned grave.
But he didn't immediately turn to look at Fang Zheng and the other two.
It seemed those three wanted to drive him into a dead end. If this got back to the Xu Family, who knew what they would do?
But there'd definitely be a punishment to answer for.
Hearing Wen Jiu's words, Wang Nian gradually caught on. "Looks like people from the Gathering Righteousness Hall are behind this... Be careful these next few days. I've already gotten in touch with an elder. I'm planning to visit him in a few days. If he's willing to put in a good word for you, then even with your Unorthodox Path cultivation, you can still become an Apprentice Disciple. As for your sister, I'll explain things to Old Madam Xu for you."
"Thank you, Brother Wang."
Wen Jiu didn't ask any further questions.
But he was deeply grateful.
This kindness—
he would repay a hundredfold.
"Go on, get to work."
With that, Wang Nian prepared to leave.
Wen Jiu hurriedly called after him. "Brother Wang, could you lend me some more silver? I want to buy twenty or thirty catties of demonic beast meat."
Since he'd already incurred a debt of gratitude,
he might as well owe a little more.
He could quickly boost his body-tempering strength.
He could pay Wang Nian back after becoming a disciple of Corpse Peak.
Midnight.
Wen Jiu tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
He just couldn't shake the gloom in his heart.
"I can't sleep. There's no way I can sleep!" Wen Jiu immediately got up, stepped into the night, and headed straight for Dead Corpse Land.
A short while later,
one man and one zombie
vanished into the darkness.
Like ghosts, they made a beeline for the wooden huts.
But they weren't going home.
They were heading toward the other end of the hut district, closer to the market.
That was where Fang Zheng and the other two lived!
They swept along with the wind. Even when they passed a corpse burier who had gotten up to relieve himself at midnight, he sensed nothing amiss.
Soon,
Wen Jiu spotted Fang Zheng and the others' house.
It wasn't like the wooden huts where ordinary corpse buriers lived. The three of them lived in a small courtyard with green-tiled roofs and vermilion doors.
It wasn't large, but it had everything.
Standing beneath the wall, Wen Jiu could hear the three men cultivating. Using Three Rivers Ghost Concealment to hide himself, he looked up and saw them sitting in the courtyard, discussing cultivation methods by lamplight.
"My Qi absorption is slow right now. I only manage to draw a wisp of Spiritual Qi into my dantian each night. How are you two doing?"
"About the same. I'm a little better, but not by much... I'm afraid it'll take a whole year just to reach Qi Refining Layer One. Thinking about it now, that bastard Wen Jiu really does have terrifying talent for the Unorthodox Path. He reached Qi Refining Layer One in a month."
"So what if he's fast? Practicing the Unorthodox Path means you die fast, too... But his sister really does have a fine figure. If I could spend a night with her... Hahaha!"
Hearing those words,
murderous intent surged within Wen Jiu.
You little bastard!
You're really asking for death!
Wen Jiu immediately glanced at the Black Zombie. The next moment, it revealed itself and charged over the courtyard wall, wreathed in a surging tide of ghostly energy. Killing three ordinary people was child's play for the Black Zombie.
But just as the Black Zombie crossed the wall, a yellow talisman hanging under the eaves suddenly blazed with golden light.
BOOM—
A sheet of golden light crashed down.
It struck the Black Zombie.
The three men jumped in alarm.
"A ghost!"
Fang Zheng hurriedly backed away.
The other two retreated with him and shouted, "Brother Li! Brother Li!"
At that, the door of the fine house beside the courtyard flew open, and a Night Patrol Division disciple at Qi Refining Layer One rushed out.
But the instant he appeared, the Black Zombie had already swept one man away with a rush of ghostly energy. It then leaped high and stomped the other man into the ground, crushing him into a dwarf. Fang Zheng tried to flee, but a mass of ghostly energy was already surging toward him.
Aah—
Amid a heartrending scream, Fang Zheng was instantly drained dry by the black ghostly energy, reduced to a withered husk.
The three of them—
all died miserably.
Seeing that things had gone badly, the Night Patrol Division disciple at Qi Refining Layer One tried to escape. But how could Wen Jiu let him get away so easily?
The Black Zombie pounced.
It used its Blood Transformation Body to block a spell, then suddenly drove a black tiger's paw into the man's chest, punching straight through his heart.
Once it was done,
Wen Jiu didn't dare loot the corpses. He quickly left under the cover of Three Rivers Ghost Concealment.
The Black Zombie returned to Dead Corpse Land.
He went home.
One man and one corpse
vanished into the night.
All that remained were four corpses
and a great deal of ghostly energy.
A short while later,
lamps lit up in house after house.
People streamed toward Fang Zheng's house.
Disciples of the Night Patrol Division arrived soon afterward. When they saw the four men's deaths and the dense ghostly energy lingering around them, their expressions changed dramatically. The appearance of a Yin Soul Ghost Cultivator near the side-peak marketplace was no small matter.
Meanwhile,
Wen Jiu lay in bed, unable to calm down for a long time.
To be honest,
if Fang Zheng and the others hadn't reached their dirty hands toward his sister, he really hadn't wanted to deal with them so soon.
Because although Three Rivers Ghost Concealment could disguise the Black Zombie as a ghost cultivator, the three men's deaths would definitely bring Li Ye to investigate.
No matter what,
he would definitely be investigated.
But Wen Jiu didn't regret it.
As he'd said,
if you didn't deal with trouble,
it would stay trouble forever.
Besides, the three of them had already started spreading rumors. If he'd taken too long to deal with them, who knew what might have happened?
"Sleep, sleep."
"Tomorrow's definitely going to be lively."
With that,
Wen Jiu fell into a deep sleep.
The trouble was taken care of.
And he slept like a log.
[Please vote for the monthly tickets.
Please vote for the recommendation tickets.
See you tomorrow, fellow Daoists.
Oh, and Happy New Year to all of you!]
Some people said his sister was too stupid... Ah, I'd planned to update at eight, but people said it was poison, so I put it out early. I also made some changes to avoid everyone misunderstanding his sister as a silly, sweet girl. If you didn't read Chapter Seventeen at five, don't worry about it. If you did, you can go back and read it again...
Before you continue