Chin Hok Arrives

"Hurry up~"

Just as Lin Yu and Jia Le were getting so comfortable they were about to fall asleep, a procession in the distance was preparing to pass their door, beating gongs and drums.

Master Yixiu and the others heard the noise and came out to watch, curious. There wasn't a soul for a hundred miles around. Who had nothing better to do than come out here?

"You two look pretty comfortable."

Four Eyes came out, saw the pair sprawled there, and spoke in a sarcastic tone.

Although he was preparing to change his and Jia Le's living habits, he couldn't resist taking a verbal jab whenever he saw Jia Le.

"Hey, Master, want to try it? It's really comfortable."

When Jia Le saw his master, he hurried over to greet him, wagging his tail.

"Hmph. Come on, let's see who's here."

Four Eyes suppressed the urge to hit him and led the two outside.

Seeing Four Eyes go, Master Yixiu decided to join the fun as well.

"Senior Brother~"

Four Eyes and the others had just approached when they heard Chin Hok calling to him from the procession.

Seeing a familiar face, Four Eyes smiled and greeted Chin Hok with a Maoshan hand salute.

"Junior Brother." "Martial Uncle." ×2

Chin Hok returned the greeting. "Senior Brother."

Because Lin Yu was of a lower generation, he raised his joined hands straight above his head. Seeing him do so, Jia Le hurriedly raised his own hands from his chest to above his head.

Four Eyes was greatly relieved. Fortunately, they hadn't made him lose face.

"Daoist Chin Hok, Amitabha."

Master Yixiu now squeezed past Four Eyes and greeted Chin Hok with a smile.

"Master Yixiu."

"Senior Brother, is this your new disciple?"

Seeing Lin Yu use their Maoshan hand salute, Chin Hok asked curiously.

"I wish he were my disciple, but unfortunately, this is Senior Brother Lin's talented new disciple, Lin Yu. I'm not blessed with such good fortune."

Four Eyes spoke with regret.

"Hey, hey, hey, why are we stopping here?"

Just as they were about to catch up, Minister Wu urged them to get moving.

"Steward Wu, I'm borrowing some glutinous rice from my senior brother."

Chin Hok hurriedly replied.

Minister Wu was still a little reluctant when he heard that. What did they need glutinous rice for? Wasn't this delaying their journey?

"Minister Wu, let's stop and rest here for a while."

The young prince had spoken. He had walked all this way under the blazing sun and was tired too.

Minister Wu hurriedly told everyone to put their things down and rest.

"Martial Nephew Lin Yu, I'm on a mission this time and have no meeting gift for you. I'll make it up to you next time."

Only then did Chin Hok have a chance to speak to Lin Yu. After learning that Lin Yu was Uncle Nine's disciple, he also felt a special kinship with him.

Of all their martial brothers, they had been closest when they were on the mountain. Love extended from the house to the crow on its roof, and Chin Hok was especially fond of Lin Yu too.

"Your mission comes first, Martial Uncle. Gifts aren't worth mentioning. A modest gift can carry great affection; your thoughtfulness is enough."

Seeing this, Lin Yu hurriedly thanked him.

"Jia Le, go get some glutinous rice for your martial uncle."

After they finished catching up, Four Eyes told Jia Le to get the rice, then examined the coffin behind the group.

"A copper-cornered golden coffin wrapped in an ink-fountain cord net. Could it be that inside..."

The more Four Eyes looked, the more astonished he became. The zombie inside was probably no ordinary one.

"That's right. It's a zombie."

Chin Hok confirmed Four Eyes' guess.

Lin Yu quietly opened his Heavenly Eye and examined the imperial zombie.

A towering column of baleful Qi met his gaze. Under his Heavenly Eye, the baleful Qi had nearly condensed into solid form.

Even the weather overhead was affected by it.

"Then why not burn it? Why carry it around everywhere?"

Hearing that it really was a zombie, Four Eyes wanted to persuade Chin Hok to burn it and eliminate the danger.

"Alas, this zombie was an imperial clansman from the frontier. We can't burn it."

Chin Hok sighed at the mention of it. Seeing a fiend right before his eyes and being powerless to act made him feel miserable too.

"We need to transport it back to the capital as quickly as possible and await the emperor's decision."

"Daoist Chin Hok, why don't you take down this canopy and let him absorb some sunlight to reduce his corpse Qi?"

Master Yixiu walked a circle around it, then returned and made the suggestion to Chin Hok.

"Ah~ Master, you make a good point. Thank you for the guidance."

Chin Hok glanced at the canopy. That was indeed true.

"No, you can't take it down."

Seeing Chin Hok about to give the order, Lin Yu hurriedly stopped him. Through his Heavenly Eye, he could see that the weather here was about to change. If they took it down, the ink-fountain cord net would be soaked by rain, just like in the original story.

"Why can't we take it down?" Four Eyes asked, looking at Lin Yu. He knew Lin Yu must have his reasons for saying so.

"The weather's hot and muggy. There's bound to be a thunderstorm, especially since I saw it myself."

Lin Yu looked at Four Eyes and rubbed his forehead.

"Martial Uncle, what do you think would happen if it rained and the ink-fountain cord net got wet?"

"In that case, Junior Brother, listen to Xiao Yu."

Four Eyes would rather believe Lin Yu than dismiss his warning. After all, if anything went wrong, they risked the big fellow inside getting out.

"This..."

Chin Hok looked back and forth between Lin Yu and Four Eyes.

"Junior Brother, what you don't know is that Lin Yu has the greatest talent in Maoshan's history. He's your Senior Brother Lin's treasure. Since Xiao Yu said so, it definitely can't be wrong."

Seeing Chin Hok's doubt, Four Eyes explained.

But words alone couldn't make it clear. Only by seeing Lin Yu for oneself could one know how awesome he was.

"All right, then. I'll listen to everything Senior Brother and Martial Nephew say."

Seeing Four Eyes praise Lin Yu so highly, Chin Hok asked no more.

"Martial Uncle, the glutinous rice."

Jia Le came running over with the rice.

"You just had to open your mouth. You're so quick to speak."

Four Eyes wasn't about to pass up this chance to mock Master Yixiu.

"Speak too slowly and there's nothing left to say; speak too quickly and people curse you. Being a person is really hard."

Master Yixiu wasn't about to indulge him and shot right back.

Four Eyes didn't care. He had won this round anyway, and he shook his head with a carefree air.

"Senior Brother, thank you for the glutinous rice," Chin Hok said, coming over to thank him as well.

"I hope you won't need this bag of rice."

Four Eyes didn't want his junior brother to encounter danger either.

"Martial Uncle, take some of these. Remember, don't be stingy with them. Use them if you run into danger."

Lin Yu took out a stack of Evil-Dispelling Talismans and several Three Teachings True Spirit Talismans.

The Three Teachings True Spirit Talismans could effectively suppress a fierce fiend like this one while it was still in its coffin.

Lin Yu didn't give him any Lightning Talismans, mainly because he remembered that this thing could absorb lightning in the original story, and he was afraid they might instead help him grow stronger.

To keep Chin Hok from being reluctant to use them if it really did get out, Lin Yu reminded him again and again.

"Thank you, Martial Nephew, but how can I take your things?"

Seeing the pile of blue talismans, Chin Hok's mouth watered, but he still resisted the temptation and declined.

"Take them, Martial Uncle, just in case. I have plenty of these."

"Junior Brother, what you don't know is that Xiao Yu can draw them himself."

Four Eyes also looked at the talismans enviously as he explained for Lin Yu.

"Then thank you, Martial Nephew."

Chin Hok's head buzzed as he accepted the talismans.

Looking at the child in front of him, who only came up to his thigh, he wondered, Has the world really changed this much?

"Set off~"

Minister Wu couldn't wait any longer. With the sun gone, he hurriedly urged them onward.

"Farewell, Senior Brother."

Chin Hok had no choice but to bid everyone goodbye.

"Goodbye, Junior Brother." "Goodbye, Martial Uncle." ×2 "Amitabha."

They exchanged their farewells.

Four Eyes and the others were still uneasy. They stood to one side, watching them leave with worried eyes.

"Master, that coffin is really beautiful. It must be worth a lot."

Simple, carefree Jia Le had actually taken a fancy to the coffin.

"Don't worry, Master. If I get the chance in the future, I'll definitely make a fortune and have one made for you too."

Jia Le patted his chest as he made the promise.

"Pfft, Senior Brother, how did you say something so outrageously unfilial with a straight face?"

Lin Yu hadn't thought much of it when he watched it before, but now that he was there in person, he suddenly couldn't hold it in.

"You're quite the filial disciple, aren't you?"

Master Yixiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The two of them made Jia Le lower his head in embarrassment.

Four Eyes glared at Lin Yu and Master Yixiu. What was wrong with his disciple being filial?

"Martial Uncle, I have a feeling Martial Uncle Chin Hok may be in trouble this time."

Lin Yu cut in, drawing everyone's attention in an instant.

Suddenly, a clap of thunder rang out from the distant horizon.