Growing Up Too Fast

Those corpses lined up and marched straight into the great hall.

Duan Yun stood beside the fire, Sword Finger pinched between his fingers as he focused warily.

The gray donkey, showing remarkable intelligence, backed away several steps and shielded Duan Yun in front of itself.

Having spent nights in the open beyond the city, encountered the Red Tower Fairy, that female divine constable below, and Thunder Listening's Thunder Crazies, Duan Yun considered himself someone who had seen the world.

Yet he had never expected this place to pull a new trick on him.

Amid hollow, distant bell chimes, a line of corpses appeared in an abandoned Daoist temple on a rainy day. Even Duan Yun, bold from his skill, could not help but feel his scalp prickle.

Once the hooded walking corpses entered the hall, they immediately formed a neat row.

The next moment, one of the walking corpses stepped forward.

With a swish, a rope suddenly shot out and hung between two broken pillars in the hall.

The walking corpse then pulled off its rain-soaked hood and began shaking a bell.

As the hollow copper bell rang, the entire row of walking corpses abruptly turned to face Duan Yun.

Duan Yun's hair stood on end beneath their gaze. He was already considering whether to strike first, aiming for their heads or feet, when the corpses suddenly leaped upward, hooked their feet over the rope, and hung upside down.

The corpse shaking the bell began wrapping two more loops of rope around their ankles. At a glance, the corpses now hung in the hall like strips of air-dried cured meat.

By then, Duan Yun had determined that the "walking corpse" shaking the bell was a living person.

In the firelight, the man not only cast a shadow, but every gesture carried the air of the living.

At that moment, the man approached, cupped his hands, and said, "I am Huang Shi. I was transporting corpses when I encountered this rain. I startled you, and I hope you can forgive me."

Duan Yun raised a brow. "Transporting corpses?"

The newcomer smiled. "You appear quite young, sir, so you must have only recently entered the martial world. The Huang Family of Yuanling has transported corpses for generations. Of the countless corpses driven across this world, half were escorted by our Huang Family."

As he spoke of his family's history as giants of corpse transportation, he looked rather proud.

Duan Yun cupped his hands. "So that's how it is. My knowledge was shallow, and I made a mountain out of a molehill. Please do not take offense, Senior Huang."

He recalled the corpse drivers of western Hunan from novels in his past life and found some similarities, but also considerable differences.

At the very least, these corpses were not hopping along, nor did they resemble stiff, rigid zombies.

And corpses hanging upside down from a rope like cured meat was something even those novels had never described.

Though the hall was large, there was only this small patch of shelter from the rain. With the upside-down corpses occupying that side, the corpse driver could not stay far from Duan Yun.

As he brushed droplets from his frozen body, he sighed, "What ghastly weather!" Clearly, he was angling to share the fire.

At that moment, Huang Shi took out a small bag of soybeans. Chewing as he spoke, he offered, "Want some?"

Duan Yun declined. "I've eaten."

Huang Shi did not press the matter and simply ate his beans. "It's good to be cautious when you've just entered the martial world. Believe it or not, I'm a good man."

Duan Yun replied, "You jest, Senior. I simply do not like soybeans."

Huang Shi looked shocked. "That's because you haven't tried Yuanling soybeans. They're delicious!"

Duan Yun answered honestly, "I'm afraid they'll make me fart."

Huang Shi immediately burst into laughter. "Little brother, you're interesting. Let me tell you, eating soybeans never makes me fart."

Huang Shi had sparse hair, a gray-white beard, and a sharp, monkey-like face. In short, he was not much to look at.

But after talking with him, Duan Yun found him fairly easy to get along with.

So he could not help asking, "Senior, is there some deeper meaning to hanging these corpses up?"

While eating beans, Huang Shi explained, "Yin energy is heavy at night, especially in a place like this. But once a corpse's feet leave the ground, it no longer receives the earth's energy. Add to that heaven and earth being turned upside down, and it becomes less likely to transform into a corpse."

"Transform into a corpse? Corpses can really transform?" Duan Yun asked in surprise.

"Of course they can. There was once an Old Master Ren in Yuanling. After transforming, he became a Corpse King. His hands were bound in chains of black iron, blood-water flowed through his body like fire, and he bit everyone he saw. He nearly turned everyone in an entire village into walking corpses and brought disaster upon a hundred miles."

Unhurriedly, Huang Shi told Duan Yun a story of corpse transformation.

"This matter is quite famous in the martial world, though it is normal that you have not heard of it since you only recently entered it. Our Huang Family expended tremendous effort to slay that Corpse King. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable. My great-grandfather died there."

Huang Shi spoke with great animation.

Duan Yun could not help saying, "I never imagined your line of work had so many intricacies."

It had to be said: listening to a corpse driver tell a story of corpse transformation before a row of upside-down corpses, in a ruined Daoist temple on a rainy night, made for an incredibly immersive experience.

And it was rather interesting, too.

Huang Shi smiled. "Little brother, you speak so politely. Do you think I'm very old? I'm actually not that old. I just grew up too fast."

"Is that so?" Duan Yun said.

"Go on, take a guess. Guess boldly—how old do you think I am this year?" Huang Shi suggested.

To Duan Yun's eyes, Huang Shi looked like an old man of at least fifty. But since the other man had said so, he steeled himself and guessed younger. "Thirty-five?"

"Too old," Huang Shi said.

"Thirty?" Duan Yun asked in surprise.

"Still too old."

"It can't possibly be twenty-five, can it?" Duan Yun could not help saying.

"To be honest, in five more months, it will be my twentieth birthday," Huang Shi answered.

Duan Yun blinked, feeling his eyes grow a little dry. "So you're actually two months younger than me?"

Huang Shi touched his sparse gray-white hair and replied, "Exactly. I told you, I just grew up too fast. Really, I ought to call you big brother."

Duan Yun: "..."

The person before him was actually his peer. His shock was no less than when he had seen the Red Tower ghost woman, Thunder Listening's madmen, or this procession of walking corpses.

People in this martial world really were damn distinctive.

At that moment, Huang Shi pulled out a water skin and gulped down two mouthfuls. With a sigh, he said, "Because I grew up too fast, no women have liked me from childhood to now. When we played together as children, they all thought I looked like their grandfathers."

"But one girl was an exception. Her name is A Ling. She never minded that I looked old. We agreed that once I earned enough money from this corpse-driving trip, I would marry her."

As he said this, a happy smile appeared on Huang Shi's excessively mature-looking face, making his whole person seem much younger.

Duan Yun could not help congratulating him. "Then congratulations, Brother Huang."

"Thank you, thank you. If Yuanling were not so far over mountains and roads, I would truly like to invite you to drink at my wedding feast."

"I happen to have wine here. Then let me first wish Brother Huang a joyous wedding."

Duan Yun took out his wine gourd and poured some for Huang Shi.

It had to be said that once he learned they were the same age, Duan Yun's social anxiety vanished, and he began chatting freely.

For a time, the sound of their cheerful conversation occasionally echoed through the hall, dispelling more than half its gloomy atmosphere.

At that moment, Huang Shi showed a troubled expression again. "To be honest, Brother Duan, I still feel that I'm not worthy of her."

Duan Yun replied, "Love is between two people. If Miss Ling likes you, then you are worthy of her."

Huang Shi said with some concern, "I'm mainly afraid I can't give her happiness. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, Brother Duan, but I spend every day around corpses. I always feel that I'm not very capable in that respect."

As a gynecologist, Duan Yun immediately caught the key point from Huang Shi's face. "You're deficient?"

Huang Shi nodded. "Sigh, terribly deficient. Even medicine doesn't work."

Duan Yun instantly perked up. "I do have a method."

He had not expected his second transmission of a technique to come so soon.

Yes, his Jade Sword Stance nourished yin and replenished yang. It had left him troubled because his brother was too powerful, while Brother Huang, the corpse driver before him, was too deficient—just the right fit.

Compared to passing on the complete Jade Sword True Canon, a martial art capable of killing, Duan Yun had far fewer reservations about only teaching this stance that nourished yin and replenished yang.

After all, this fell within the scope of medicine. Seven or eight out of ten doctors claimed they could "strengthen yang"; his sword stance merely worked particularly well.

With the benevolent heart of a healer, he would give this service—which he had originally intended to charge for—to Brother Huang, whose appearance had matured far too quickly, so that he could enjoy a happy wedding night.

Huang Shi did not hold much hope, but he still politely asked, "Is that so?"

Duan Yun said with great confidence, "You'll know once you try it! I'm no quack."

Huang Shi asked in surprise, "Brother Duan, you're actually a doctor?"

"Of course. Genuine as gold, a doctor by family inheritance!"

As he answered, Duan Yun automatically skipped over the words "gynecology."

A gynecologist was still a doctor.