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墨書 Inktalez
Hanno and Elder Brother Li pondered for a while but could not come up with any answers, ultimately having to helplessly let it go— the author knew the reason, but it was not the time to reveal it. Come on, throw those eggs and tomatoes; the author had tomato scrambled eggs for lunch.
Uncle Jiu pointed out a feng shui treasure spot for the Ren Family, and finally, the old master of the Ren Family could be buried. When the coffin was unearthed, Uncle Jiu was astonished to find that Master Ren's grave had been disturbed, and his body showed no signs of decay after twenty years. The malevolent energy had entered Master Ren's corpse, turning him into a Zombie. The first thing a Zombie does is to kill its closest blood relatives, putting both Master Ren and Ren Tingting in great danger. However, Ren Tingting did not believe in Zombies or ghosts at all and forbade Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng from protecting her. This was mainly because Wen Cai was lecherous and looked extremely unsavory, which made Ren Tingting detest him; she also disliked Li Wei Feng's version of Qiu Sheng. Helplessly, Li Wei Feng recommended Hanno to Uncle Jiu, asking him to teach Hanno Daoist Arts to protect Ren Tingting. Uncle Jiu was initially reluctant, but when Hanno performed a spell he learned from Li Wei Feng, Uncle Jiu was overjoyed and immediately took Hanno under his wing, diligently teaching him Maoshan Taoism. Uncle Jiu was thrilled; as a master, he felt fulfilled. Not only did he have Qiu Sheng as a highly skilled disciple in Daoist Arts, but he also gained Hanno as a talented apprentice. In two years, these two disciples would surpass him. With pride as a master, how could he not feel happy?
After learning Maoshan Taoism, Hanno's first task against a ghost was to confront the female ghost Yu who had seduced Qiu Sheng in the original story. Regardless of her grievances, Hanno would not allow her to compete for men; it was enough that she did not end up being beaten into oblivion. Hanno ignored her cries for help and directly opened the gates of the underworld, roughly kicking the female ghost inside. In response, Li Wei Feng's version of Qiu Sheng applauded him: "Well kicked! Beautiful kick!" He wasn't even angry that Hanno had cut off his romantic prospects.
After dealing with the female ghost, Uncle Jiu led his disciples to handle Master Ren's situation thoroughly. By evening, Master Ren indeed appeared, with his target being none other than himself. However, this time Uncle Jiu did not have any lagging disciples; Li Wei Feng's version of Qiu Sheng had improved significantly due to his outstanding performance and hard work in practicing Daoist Arts—his abilities were at least fifty percent stronger than in the original story and he would not fall victim to Zombie poison like before. Uncle Jiu entrusted Wen Cai with protecting Master Ren while he and Li Wei Feng confronted Zombie Master Ren together. Elder Brother Li proved to be much more reliable than the original Qiu Sheng; together with Uncle Jiu, they trapped Zombie Master Ren. Hanno delivered the final blow with a century-old peach wood sword, severing Master Ren's head and completely eliminating the Zombie.
Next, they placed Master Ren's body and head back into the coffin for burial and paid Uncle Jiu a hefty reward. After witnessing a Zombie firsthand, Ren Tingting had her worldview shaken; she changed out of her Western-style clothes and donned a traditional outfit similar to Hanno’s before rushing to the mortuary to learn from Uncle Jiu. After examining Ren Tingting’s aptitude, Uncle Jiu found that although she was not as talented as Hanno, she still showed promise and accepted her as his female disciple once again. With Ren Tingting joining them, how could Awei stay behind? But Awei truly lacked talent and was rejected by Uncle Jiu instead. Awei always sought trouble with Uncle Jiu; feeling overwhelmed by this annoyance, Uncle Jiu accepted an invitation from another town to exorcise demons and took several disciples along to deal with Zombies.
This time their target was unlike any before—a particularly formidable Zombie named Xuan Kui, who had accumulated hundreds of years of power as a "flying corpse."
"What kind of flying corpse is that? Is it stronger than grandpa?" Ren Tingting asked. Her Daoist Arts were just beginning; she had come purely for a cameo role but unexpectedly encountered such a powerful Zombie.
"Much stronger than your grandpa," Wen Cai seized every opportunity to show off in front of beautiful women. "Zombies are divided into two main categories: Dry Corpse Zombies and Jiang Chen Zombies. The Zombies we usually catch are all Dry Corpse Zombies which are further divided into six levels. The lowest level is called White Corpse; it forms when a body enters a corpse-rearing ground after one month and begins growing fluffy white hair all over its body. These Zombies move slowly and are extremely afraid of sunlight; they also fear fire, water, chickens, dogs—basically anything human—making them easy to deal with."
"The second type is Black Corpse; if White Corpse feeds on cow or sheep blood for several years and sheds its white hair in favor of black hair several inches long, it will still fear sunlight and fire but starts becoming less afraid of chickens or dogs—usually avoiding humans altogether."
"The third type is Jumping Corpse; after absorbing Yin energy for several decades, Black Corpse loses its black hair and becomes Jumping Corpse. This type primarily moves by jumping quickly over long distances; they fear sunlight but are no longer afraid of humans or livestock—its combat ability is already quite formidable. Your grandpa transformed into this type."
"The fourth type is Flying Corpse; it evolves from Jumping Corpse by absorbing Yin energy from moonlight over hundreds of years—Flying Corpses are often over a hundred years old or even several hundred years old. They move swiftly like flying through the air without leaving any external wounds when attacking souls. Xuan Kui is currently a Flying Corpse."
"The last two types are Ba and Hound—they're even more powerful with combat abilities comparable to deities or immortals that mere mortals cannot subdue."
Ren Tingting listened in fear and worriedly asked: "Xuan Kui is so powerful; can Master subdue it?"
Wen Cai casually replied: "Our master is even more powerful; he can definitely subdue Xuan Kui."
Hanno sat together with Elder Brother Li, the two of them displaying a close bond that everyone had come to accept. Uncle Jiu was especially pleased, believing that their union was destined and that any children they might have would surely possess exceptional talents, capable of carrying on the legacy of Maoshan Taoism. Little did he know that Hanno and Elder Brother Li could not have children in this world.
"Are you confident you can subdue Xuan Kui?" Hanno asked Elder Brother Li.
Elder Brother Li shook his head. "No, although I have mastered Maoshan Taoism, my power is still insufficient to take down Xuan Kui. I will only be able to eliminate him after I advance to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refinement and with the aid of some tools."
"Does that mean we have to wait a while?" Currently, Elder Brother Li had only reached the peak of the Sixth Layer of Qi Refinement, while Hanno was at the Fifth Layer.
"Don't worry. My master's skills are profound. Even if we can't eliminate Xuan Kui for now, we can still suppress him," Elder Brother Li assumed Hanno was worried about their inability to deal with the Zombie.
"We can't suppress him; Xuan Kui will just run rampant," Hanno sighed. "Have you forgotten that Xuan Kui is an important character in Zombie Taoist?"
Elder Brother Li was taken aback. "Isn't the plot of Zombie Taoist supposed to unfold after Nihong's surrender in 1945? It's only 196 now."
Hanno shrugged. "Uncle Jiu's original name wasn't Mao Fang. We must have crossed into a version of the Zombie world where the plot has advanced earlier than expected."
Elder Brother Li furrowed his brow. "Are you suggesting we should directly eliminate Xuan Kui to prevent him from escaping to Hong Kong Island?"
Hanno sighed again. "That was my original plan. However, neither of our Daoist Arts is fully developed yet, and we can't help Uncle Jiu eliminate Xuan Kui. I'm afraid he will still escape to Hong Kong Island."
Elder Brother Li comforted Hanno. "Don't worry; even if the events of Zombie Taoist unfold, there won't be too much danger. After all, there's still the Five Generations of Wonders around, right? When the time comes, we can help if we can, or just play Cameo Roles if we can't."
Hanno nodded. "I suppose that's all we can do."
Just as the two had anticipated, Uncle Jiu could not contain Xuan Kui, who managed to escape. Uncle Jiu, accompanied by several disciples, pursued him relentlessly. Ren Tingting could not follow Uncle Jiu south due to her elderly father at home, while Hanno had no such concerns. After bidding farewell to Master Ren and Ren Tingting, he followed Uncle Jiu without hesitation. Master Ren and Ren Tingting watched Hanno's retreating figure with a sense of foreboding: they felt they would never see him again in this lifetime.
Xuan Kui was exceptionally powerful, and Uncle Jiu found himself unable to confront him directly; he could only continue to follow him southward. Along the way, Hanno and Elder Brother Li seized every opportunity to train. Finally, just before reaching Hong Kong Island, one ascended to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refinement while the other reached the Qi Layer of Qi Refinement. Their combat abilities had surpassed Uncle Jiu's. He felt a mix of joy and disappointment; however, overall, he was still happy. After all, they were his students—if they grew stronger, it proved that he was a responsible and capable teacher.
With the help of the two formidable fighters, Uncle Jiu finally managed to eliminate Xuan Kui before he could infiltrate Hong Kong Island. In the original story, Xuan Kui was a relatively sentient Zombie who later chose not to feed on human blood after encountering a child resembling his son; he could be considered a good Zombie. However, being a Zombie meant that he posed a potential threat to future generations. Thus, Hanno and Elder Brother Li steeled themselves and eliminated Xuan Kui.
Yet, their victory over the Zombie menace did not bring them joy because the Marco Polo Bridge Incident had erupted, leading to a full-scale invasion of Huaxia by the Mudong Kingdom. As Chinese people, they could not feel happy under such circumstances. After some consideration, Elder Brother Li decided to bid farewell to Uncle Jiu; he intended to join the army and fight against the Mud-Honored Invaders.
"Have you made your decision?" Uncle Jiu asked solemnly.
"Yes," Elder Brother Li replied firmly with a nod. "As a Chinese person, I cannot stand by and watch my country be bullied by evildoers without taking action."
"Good! You are indeed my excellent disciple; I support you!" Uncle Jiu said as he patted Elder Brother Li on the shoulder. "Go on, my child; your master will wait for your safe return."
"Master..." Elder Brother Li called out emotionally. Despite his many flaws, Uncle Jiu was an exceptional teacher who treated Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng like a father since they had no parents.
"Master, I want to join Qiu Sheng in enlisting," Hanno spoke up.
Uncle Jiu did not oppose him: "Go ahead; you are already engaged. It is only right for husband and wife to support each other. You two must help one another on your journey ahead, understand?"
"Understood, Master!"
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