Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique

When Li Deyou emerged with his guards, he happened to witness this scene. He was instantly frozen in place, his eyes wide with terror and his legs gone numb, unable to take a single step.

It was not just him; even the guards beside him were shaken to their core.

Many of them were trained in martial arts and firearms, and some had even killed men before, but they were deeply unsettled by the ferocious expression on Zhou Yan's face as he butchered the zombie. They could only conclude that this young man was a truly fearsome character.

Even the zombie, which had looked so terrifying before, now seemed almost pitiful, like a weakling being trampled upon.

However, no one dared to speak at that moment; they all just stared blankly as Zhou Yan continued to vent his rage on the corpse.

It was not until the zombie's chest was nearly shredded and the peachwood sword snapped from the sheer force of his strikes that Zhou Yan finally began to regain his senses.

When a person faces danger, some succumb to excessive fear, losing control of their limbs and waiting helplessly for death.

Others experience a desperate rebound, falling into a state of hysteria or even madness.

Zhou Yan's situation was similar to the latter, though a sliver of clarity remained deep within his mind, allowing him to gradually recover.

He scanned his own condition and found it acceptable.

Aside from some exhaustion, there were no other issues.

"Master, thank you for saving my family. Please, come inside for tea," Li Deyou said, bowing respectfully to Zhou Yan.

As for the rickshaw nearby and Zhou Yan's attire as a puller, he ignored them entirely.

In his eyes, the man before him was either a hidden master living among the common folk or the disciple of one.

Everything else was irrelevant.

Zhou Yan quickly composed himself and nodded slightly. "Master Li, please prepare some dry firewood immediately—peachwood branches or lychee wood would be best—to burn the zombie and the late Taoist priest together.

The zombie carries corpse poison, and those harmed by it are prone to turning into zombies themselves, so it must be incinerated as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Li Deyou quickly replied, "Understood, I will have it prepared at once."

At the same time, he felt a surge of secret relief in his heart.

It was fortunate he had called out to this expert; otherwise, he might not even know how his family had met their end.

Furthermore, the expert's tone and demeanor confirmed his suspicions.

How could an ordinary rickshaw puller possess such poise and presence?

Harboring these mistaken assumptions, Li Deyou became even more respectful toward Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan intentionally kept his words vague, glossing over many details and even throwing in a few empty remarks to make himself appear all the more unfathomable.

This was not because Zhou Yan wanted to be deceptive, but because he understood the darker side of human nature all too well.

Especially with someone like Li Deyou—a hybrid of landlord and merchant—who, despite his kindly face, was actually an old fox.

To survive in these chaotic times and expand one's family fortune, one could never be as simple as one appeared.

He could not afford to entrust his own safety and that of his family to the whims of others.

After a brief conversation, Li Deyou had already formed a firm conclusion about Zhou Yan's identity: he must be the disciple of some great master.

After speaking with Li Deyou for a while, Zhou Yan finally understood what had happened at the Li residence.

It turned out that the estate had previously suffered from the mysterious deaths of chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep, all of which had been found drained of blood.

Li Deyou was no fool; he immediately suspected that an evil entity was in his home and hired a well-known master to exorcise it.

Everything had gone smoothly at first; the zombie hiding in the estate was located and successfully struck down.

But just then, the zombie controlled by Master Ma suddenly turned on him, severely wounding the priest.

A desperate struggle ensued, and in the end, the priest was killed by the very zombie he had been raising.

Zhou Yan felt a sense of speechlessness after hearing this.

So, this Taoist was a practitioner of the heterodox arts, specifically the highly dangerous path of corpse-controlling.

And in the end, he had been killed by his own creation.

That... was truly pathetic luck!

"Master, these are the items found on Master Ma. Please take a look and see what needs to be destroyed along with him."

At that moment, a servant presented a tray holding a book, an oil lamp, a copper bell, several black stones, and some copper coins.

Zhou Yan's eyes flashed. He picked up the book first, seeing the five bold, sweeping characters on the cover: Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique.

To carry this on his person—he was either poorly trained or it was of vital importance.

He thought silently to himself before opening it.

The pages were filled with cultivation methods and annotations, causing Zhou Yan's pupils to dilate slightly.

In that instant, he was certain: this was a genuine cultivation manual, and a highly precious one at that.

As for the oil lamp, the copper bell, and the unknown black stones, they were all related to ritual artifacts.

Regarding the copper coins, Zhou Yan glanced at them and decided to offer a favor. "Master Li, these are Five Emperors Coins. If you string them together, they can protect you and ward off evil."

Li Deyou took the Five Emperors Coins, his face lighting up with joy as he hurriedly expressed his thanks.

As for the other items, Zhou Yan stowed them away, and Li Deyou acted as if he hadn't seen a thing.

Those items were incredibly sinister, and he felt much more at ease knowing Zhou Yan was willing to take them.

Even if they had remained in his hands, he would have either discarded or destroyed them; he dared not keep them in his home under any circumstances.

Having just witnessed Master Ma being backlashed by his own zombies, how could he possibly dare to keep the man's belongings in his residence?

Before long, Master Ma and the two zombies were burned to ashes, and only then did Zhou Yan bid his farewells.

As he was leaving, Li Deyou gifted Zhou Yan two rolls of silver dollars.

Each roll contained fifty, making it a total of one hundred.

Zhou Yan was secretly delighted by this unexpected windfall.

After a brief, token refusal, he quickly tucked them away.

Once he had put some distance between himself and the house, Zhou Yan swiftly turned his cart around and headed toward Zhouli Alley.

Before leaving, he had inquired about Master Ma's address in a seemingly casual tone.

At this moment, he was on his way to collect an inheritance.

Since Master Ma was dead and lived alone, those items would only go to waste or benefit someone else if he didn't take them.

Besides, if there were any evil spirits in the man's home, it would be better to deal with them promptly.

After offering himself a few words of comfort, Zhou Yan hurried on without stopping.

This unexpected turn of events seemed to cause the flame that had never truly extinguished in his heart to suddenly flare up.

Making a fortune off a dead man was secondary to him; what Zhou Yan truly desired was to use this opportunity to embark on the path of cultivation.

That way, he could protect himself and his family, improve their living conditions, and perhaps even escape his status at the bottom of society.

Just as he had told himself earlier that day, he was absolutely unwilling to spend his entire life at the very bottom, living a precarious existence.

He was determined to make something of himself.