The Unusual Living Corpses

After listening to the village chief's explanation, the two suddenly realized. "No wonder these zombies are so tough; they can't be made by ordinary people. They must have gotten lost."

Is it common for zombies to go missing?

The village chief shook his head. "How could that be? I'm eighty years old, and this is the first time I've ever seen an unclaimed zombie. I've only ever heard people talk about them before."

What are the reasons for the unclaimed corpses?

"I've heard that there are only two reasons why a zombie is unclaimed: either the owner has died and the zombie has lost control and wanders around all day, or the owner has actively released the zombie from control, or the zombie has turned on its master and eaten him."

"Judging from the attitude of these zombies in our village, they are not bloodthirsty, which doesn't seem to be the third scenario."

Is there any way to find the owner of the zombie?

Upon hearing Lu Yang's question, the village chief looked conflicted, his brows furrowing, and finally he sighed.

"Some."

"Each corpse-driver leaves a unique mark on their own corpse to declare their ownership. The corpses in our village all have the same mark on their right wrist, like this."

The village chief squatted on the ground and drew three interlocking rings with his finger, with the character "ghost" written in the middle of each ring.

"If the owner of the zombie is still alive, he will also have the same pattern on his right wrist."

"Although I am only at the peak of the second level of Qi Refining and my cultivation is limited, I studied under a remarkable corpse driver when I was young. My teacher was at the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refining!"

"During my studies with my teacher, I recognized the patterns of corpse-driving masters from all the surrounding counties, but none of them had a similar style. As for corpse-driving masters from other places, I have never seen them."

This is also one of the reasons why the village chief did not report the case. The living corpse was not left by the nearby corpse-driving craftsman. Even if the case were reported to the authorities, they would not be able to find the owner of the living corpse.

"Have you ever heard of the Corpse-Driving Sect, sir?"

The village chief chuckled, "How could I not know the name of the Corpse-Driving Sect? Thirty years ago, I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of a disciple of the Corpse-Driving Sect from afar. He was truly a young talent, Non-Self who struggles even to get started with the art of corpse driving."

Do you know the location of the Corpse-Driving Sect?

"That's quite far."

The village chief pointed west. "The Corpse-Driving Sect is located in the very center of our desolate state. From here, it's a journey of eighty million li to the west."

Meng Jingzhou nodded. "It seems we'll have to travel for a few more days."

With Old Ma around, the journey of 80 million li is not far. When he ran away from home, the distance from the capital to the Ask Dao Sect was more than 80 million li, but it was only a matter of a few days.

Whether he walks fast or slow depends entirely on Old Ma's mood.

At first, Meng Jingzhou thought the carriage was fast because it had a spatial array on its chassis, allowing it to travel through space at will and shorten distances. Later, he learned that the carriage was indeed a treasure, but the real reason it was fast was because of the old horse.

"Now that we know about the living dead, old man, could you let my brother and me stay the night?"

"Alright, anyway, my wife has passed away, and my children have all moved to the county. It's just a matter of adding two blankets for you to stay overnight."

The two rested and recuperated in Jianshi Village for one night, and bid farewell to the village chief the next day before embarking on their journey.

"You two had good luck last night." The Immortal Fairy stretched and yawned, twisting her body and loosening her muscles.

Although the soul has no concept of bones, some of its habits from life are inherited after death.

"Good luck?"

"Yes, the group of zombies you encountered last night were carefully crafted by a powerful cultivator. They were left unattended and lacked sufficient yang energy, so they were too weak to move. They could only sustain themselves with those large steamed buns each day; otherwise, you two wouldn't have been able to defeat them."

"If I'm not mistaken, that group of zombies acting together is enough to deal with a Body Integration Realm."

"Body Integration Realm!" Lu Yang was shocked. He only knew that the zombie from last night was strong, but he never expected it to be so powerful as to be able to deal with someone at the Body Integration Realm.

Even though Lu Yang didn't understand the techniques for refining living corpses, he knew that someone who could refine living corpses of this caliber must be Integrated Body Realm Cultivator.

These living corpses are a combat tactic employed by Integrated Body Realm Cultivator; how could they possibly be discarded so easily?

Did a corpse-driving master of the Integrated Body Level die?

The thought sent a chill down Lu Yang's spine.

Nowadays, people rarely fight fiercely, and it's rare for cultivators in the Body Integration Realm to kill each other. Not to mention how powerful Integrated Body Realm Cultivator are, with multiple means of self-preservation. If the gap weren't so large, such as the gap between his master, the Silent Daoist, the Grand Elder, Qiu Jin'an, and an ordinary cultivator in the Body Integration Realm, it would be very difficult for Integrated Body Realm Cultivator to kill another Integrated Body Realm Cultivator.

Seeing Lu Yang's expression change slightly, Meng Jingzhou asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"You should still remember that an immortal fairy resides within me."

Meng Jingzhou was watching from the side when the Immortal Fairy was resurrected.

Meng Jingzhou blinked, pounded his hands, and looked as if he had just woken up from a dream.

"Ah~ I remember now, there's High Antiquity immortal within you. What did the immortal say?"

"... Wait a minute, let's put aside what the immortal said for now, why do you look like you just remembered something?"

"It's not my fault."

Meng Jingzhou scratched his head sheepishly, counting on his fingers. "Mainly, in my imagination, someone with High Antiquity immortal within them should have endless good fortune, use High Antiquity incomplete magical Law Treasure as weapons, master all sorts of earth-shattering secrets, be familiar with multiple cultivation methods, be invincible at their level, often utter amazing words, have knowledge that shouldn't be possessed at this level, and have beautiful women throwing themselves at them, going to secret realms like going home, and so on."

"I don't think you usually behave like this. The only characteristic that fits is being invincible among those of the same level, but that's not a particularly outstanding characteristic in our Ask Dao Sect."

"Oh right, you also know all sorts of High Antiquity secrets that can only fool the Nine Nether Sect."

Lu Yang: "..."

Yes, I'd like to know the reason too.

"What did the immortal say?"

"She said the horde of zombies we encountered last night was comparable in strength to those at the Body Integration Realm."

Meng Jingzhou's pupils contracted slightly, clearly indicating that he had thought of the same question as Lu Yang.

How could a zombie of this caliber be left to roam freely outside?

Something must have happened that no one knows about!

"Find out in a major city if any battles have taken place, or if any Body Integration Realm have perished. It's impossible for something of this magnitude to go completely unnoticed."

Lu Yang nodded; he thought so too.

"By the way, since High Antiquity immortal resides within you, could you help me ask if she has a way to resolve my karmic backlash?" Meng Jingzhou looked at Lu Yang eagerly. Yes, even without the help of his senior sister, there was still the help of High Antiquity immortal.

High Antiquity immortals possessed extraordinary abilities; resolving mere karmic backlash would be a piece of cake for them.

"I already asked."

What did she say?

"She told you to die."

"?"

The second update will be around 11 PM.