Relocation

"Moving? No problem at all."

Ma Yan didn't hesitate to guarantee it.

In this outer city, the dwellings were all dilapidated, and housing wasn't worth much.

Even a house with a courtyard could generally be rented for two silver dollars a month.

"I need something secluded, preferably a place with few or no neighbors," Zhou Yan said, taking the opportunity to state his requirements.

"Small matter."

Half a day later, Ma Yan brought Zhou Yan to a rather remote location.

"This house originally belonged to a shamaness, but she suddenly went mad a few years ago and drowned herself. Since then, the place has sat empty; no one dares to live here..."

As Ma Yan introduced the place, his expression grew strange, seemingly tinged with embarrassment.

"According to what you asked for, this house is the most suitable. But if you find it unlucky, we can look for another place..."

Zhou Yan shook his head, looking quite satisfied. "I'm preparing to practice corpse refinement; what could be unlucky about that? Besides, the environment here is good, and its remote location makes it perfect for me. It really is the best choice."

Ma Yan looked around, feeling the gloomy atmosphere, and couldn't help but mutter, "The environment is good?"

He began to suspect that ever since his brother-in-law started his cultivation, his brain might have gone soft.

Just like those shamanesses and shamans, he was starting to act all strange and superstitious.

Zhou Yan ignored Ma Yan's muttering. This place was remote and heavy with yin energy, which certainly didn't make it a good spot for ordinary people.

However, Zhou Yan walked the path of corpse refinement and control; for him, the heavier the yin energy, the better it was for both his cultivation and his refinement work.

A place like this was truly rare.

Moreover, the interior of the house was quite spacious, with a private courtyard and several rooms, making it suitable for him to refine and keep zombies. It was exactly the place he needed to live.

Zhou Yan made a prompt decision and settled on this location.

"Since you think it's good, then we'll take this one," Ma Yan said with a shrug.

After returning home, the two began preparing for the move.

As for Zhou Yan moving out, both Zhou Chuan and Zhou Jing were unhappy; Zhou Jing even hugged Zhou Yan's leg and wailed.

In her eyes, her second brother was leaving home and didn't want her anymore.

"Second Brother, don't go..."

"I won't be greedy for food anymore, I'll only eat a little bit every day, please don't leave me..."

"Waa..."

Zhou Yan felt a pang of heartache and held Zhou Jing, comforting her incessantly.

Zhou Chuan was doing a bit better; he was twelve, after all.

At this age, in this era, he had already begun to shoulder some adult responsibilities.

He knew his second brother wasn't abandoning the family, but rather had to live elsewhere for certain reasons and could still come home often.

Besides, he could also take his younger sister to visit their second brother.

"Stop crying, I'll take care of you from now on, Third Brother."

"No, I want Second Brother..."

"..."

"..."

In the end, it was Mother Zhou who carried Zhou Jing away, which finally brought some peace.

Zhou Yan felt helpless; it was only a fifteen-minute walk away, yet they were acting as if it were a life-and-death separation.

If he could, he wouldn't want to be apart from his family either.

But he practiced heterodox arts and followed the path of corpse control.

It was not only dangerous but also prone to losing control.

Therefore, he absolutely could not live with his family to avoid any accidents.

Only when his cultivation improved in the future could he ensure complete safety.

"You're the pillar of the family now. Take good care of Mother and our sister. If anything happens, come find me there immediately," Zhou Yan said, patting Zhou Chuan on the shoulder after giving him the address of his new home.

Zhou Chuan nodded firmly, acting like a little adult: "Yes, Second Brother."

Mother Zhou was also reluctant to let him go, but she knew Zhou Yan was doing this for the good of the family.

Zhou Yan's move didn't cause much of a stir, mainly because he didn't have much to move.

Aside from a quilt and a few sets of clothes, there were only things like cinnabar and glutinous rice.

Zhou Jing followed them to the small courtyard, and once she was certain her second brother hadn't abandoned her, she stopped crying and soon began running around the yard with Zhou Chuan.

Children's emotions come and go quickly.

Plus, arriving in a new place made it easy to shift her mood.

Mother Zhou scrutinized the place for a long time before she couldn't help but say, "Second son, why does it feel so eerie here? This isn't a good place!"

Although she was uneducated and lacked worldly experience, she had still accumulated some survival wisdom over her many years of living.

Just like this small courtyard; Mother Zhou couldn't point out exactly what was wrong with it, but she knew it wasn't a place suitable for settling down.

"Mother, the path I cultivate involves this aspect, so being a bit eerie is actually more suitable," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

He had roughly explained his cultivation matters to Mother Zhou before.

However, Mother Zhou likely didn't understand much of it; she only knew her son was like those shamans and spirit mediums, and her heart was filled with reluctance.

But since her son was determined to go his own way, she had no choice.

Mother Zhou's personality was not overbearing. In the past, Father Zhou made the decisions, and later, when Zhou Yan grew up and took charge of the family, most matters were decided by him as well.

When Mother Zhou left for home with Zhou Chuan and Zhou Jing, Ma Yan walked at the very back and quietly whispered to Zhou Yan, "The goods are already available; I will have them delivered to you tomorrow night."

"Mm."

Zhou Yan nodded.

The goods they spoke of were, naturally, corpses.

Originally, corpses from the police station were basically sent to the public mortuary outside the city.

Now that Zhou Yan had intervened, with silver dollars flowing, they were naturally sent to him instead.

Zhou Yan watched his family leave before closing the door and turning back.

Twilight began to descend.

The Yang energy receded, and the Yin energy gathered.

The already eerie residence suddenly became even more saturated with Yin energy, carrying a bone-chilling cold.

Having refined the Profound Yin energy and condensed Profound Yin essence blood, Zhou Yan's sensitivity to Yin energy had greatly increased.

He quickly arrived at the spot in the house where the Yin energy was strongest—not the main hall, nor the surrounding side rooms, but the master bedroom.

Even Zhou Yan, feeling the density of the Yin energy gathering in the master bedroom, couldn't help but curse "perverted" in his heart.

At night, it was like an ice cellar; how could anyone sleep here?

Although he had stepped into the ranks of the heterodox paths, he was still a human after all, different from those shamans whose thoughts and spirits had already become distorted.

Furthermore, Zhou Yan still harbored thoughts of changing his path in the future to become a true practitioner of the Profound Gate.

This place cannot continue to be used as a master bedroom, but it would serve well as a corpse-refining room for nourishing zombies. I'll switch the master bedroom to one of the other rooms on either side, Zhou Yan thought to himself as he felt the Yin energy in the room growing ever stronger.