A scroll of the Sutra of Salvation can reveal one's past life.
The man before Xu Qing, who was physically and spiritually transformed, was named Li Fan.
He had lived in the Capital City since childhood; his father, Li Ping, was a butcher at the Slaughterhouse Pavilion, and his mother, Madam Fan, did mending and laundry work for others.
Not wanting their child to be as unaccomplished as they were, the elderly couple took out their lifelong savings to send Li Fan to a martial arts hall to learn martial arts.
Li Fan had always been the king of the street kids, loving to wrestle and fight. Now, going to the martial arts hall was like a fish returning to the sea, and he became unstoppable.
At fifteen, he trained his skin; at eighteen, he strengthened his muscles and bones; before the age of twenty, he had already achieved the status of an External Cultivation Martial Artist.
However, as the saying goes — education is for the poor, martial arts are for the rich.
Li Fan's family was not well-off, and their savings were nearly exhausted by this point.
Left with no choice, Li Fan had to pause his training at the martial arts hall and begin doing various odd jobs to save up for further training.
During this period, he worked as a bodyguard, killed people, and even served as a constable for a few years. By the time he was thirty, although he had not returned to the martial arts hall, Li Fan found other ways to step into the realm of an Inner Cultivation Martial Master.
By then, the sharp edges of his youthful ambition had been worn down by the daily grind of making ends meet, leaving him immersed in the mundane.
He married and had children in the Linhe District, then, for the sake of livelihood, he became a trusted operative under Master Chang.
That day, Master Chang called Li Fan to his side, took out silver notes worth two hundred taels, and said to him, "You've been with me for three years now. I appreciate your concern for your family and reluctance to keep living a life of licking blood off knives. A man who doesn't care for his family isn't a true hero."
"But even if you want a steady life, you need money. Will your boy not train in martial arts in the future? Daily expenses require money too, don't they?"
"Take these two hundred taels of silver. Since you've followed Master Chang, I can't let you live miserably in the future!"
Li Fan took the silver notes without much gratitude; he knew there was no such thing as a free lunch. Master Chang clearly had a task for him, and the two hundred taels were just the payment for it.
After hesitating for a moment, Li Fan finally accepted the job, as he needed to save more money to give his family a good life.
The task was to go to the harbor, fend off the Jinmen Gang's vanguard, and completely squash any notion of the Jinmen Gang trying to take over Linhe.
The pre-dawn fifth watch in January was darker than midnight, the damp cold wind from the Baisha River could freeze even the toughest man.
At such an unimagined hour, Master Chang led his men quietly to where the Jinmen Gang was resting, with knives in their mouths.
Li Fan charged at the front, followed closely by other bodyguards, while Master Chang waited outside for support.
After breaking into the water stockade and hacking through the place, they found it was already empty, the bedding filled with shredded cotton jackets, no sign of anyone!
As confusion set in, torches flared up at the back of the stockade, revealing fully armed Jinmen Gang members surrounding them!
That night, the harbor lights flickered, the flashes of blades and swords seemed like death summons, sending lives away before the rooster's crow at sunrise!
Li Fan, holding the Mountain-Cracking Saber, blocked the enemies with all his might, roaring to the outside, "Master, run!"
Just then, a cold glint flashed behind him – a fellow brother under Master Chang's command, secretly attacking and stabbing him through his back!
It's said that beneath flowers always lie hidden thorns, who can guard against poisonous hearts?
Li Fan couldn't understand why a brother who used to drink and share secrets with him suddenly turned against him?
Blade flashes continued before him; slightly distracted, Li Fan was struck by several more knives. Struggling with his last breath, even when he lost grip of his saber, he determinedly pulled the traitor along to death.
Li Fan, trained at the Dragon and Tiger Martial Arts Hall under Zhang Longhu, was a named disciple proficient in the Dragon Tiger Fist.
Even without a weapon, Li Fan had no fear. He took out the Finger Tiger, strapping it onto both hands, like a vengeful tiger returning home. He forcibly punched his way to the traitor.
His opponent's hand holding the knife was trembling. Li Fan used his last strength, spat blood and said three words–
"I, hate… you…"
With that, he collapsed, a spear piercing through his chest.
Ultimately, a top expert from the Jinmen Gang broke their silence and struck, making Li Fan's last task his final one as well.
Roaming the martial world, life is as thin as paper.
The Sutra of Salvation gave a final assessment: Middle Grade.
The reward was a pair of Vajra Claw Tiger and a set of Tiger Seal Dragon Form Fist.
The Tiger Seal Dragon Form, originally the Dragon and Tiger Martial Art's Hall's ultimate technique, perfected Zhang Longhu's famed Dragon Tiger Fist.
Cultivated until small achievement, the punches roared like dragons and tigers.
Achieving major success, one could harness the transformative power of dragons and the threat of gathered tigers, an elite fist method comparable to the Condensed Gang level!
Martial arts have six realms: External Cultivation, Internal Cultivation, Meridian Passage, Condensed Gang, followed by Martial Arts Grandmaster and the Heaven-Man level.
"A fist technique cultivated to Condensed Gang..." Xu Qing, absorbing the Tiger Seal Dragon Form Fist's principles, pondered, "I just don't know what Condensed Gang level corresponds to in zombie terms – Golden Armored Wandering Corpse or even higher Three Corpse Transformations?"
Setting aside his doubts, Xu Qing picked up the Vajra Claw Tiger, observing them under a dim light. The cold glint on the claws seemed to embody a real tiger's strike.
Excited, Xu Qing put on the claws, and began practicing the Tiger Seal Dragon Form Fist!
Zombies themselves possess immense strength, now combined with martial enhancements. The eerie stillness in the funeral shop was suddenly filled with a flurry of fists, the lamps flickering.
The fierce swipes of the claws traced graceful arcs, and the vigor in his movements sounded like genuine dragon roars and tiger growls!
Xu Qing felt elated, as though all his strength found the perfect release. The technique was tailored for him, fully amplifying his physical power.
After finishing a set of the fist technique, Xu Qing approached Li Fan's body, unbinding the ropes.
He then scattered some odor-removing powder and wrapped the body in a thin corpse-binding cloth.
Having done all this, Xu Qing set it aside, preparing to perform salvation for the next client.
"Humanity values sincerity, Ghost Dao is innately ferocious, Immortals value life providence."
The Sutra of Salvation flipped pages under his hand; before he knew it, he had converted all seven remaining corpses.
However, these bodies did not yield anything valuable, mostly techniques like King's Dominance Fist, Dog Bark Fist, as well as some underhanded tricks from the streets like eye gouging and groin strikes.
The only somewhat useful skill was a specialized door-picking technique.
Seeing the bodies were thoroughly converted, Xu Qing opened the shop door, looking to involve the neighborhood in distributing tasks.
Things like imminent funeral arrangements, coffins, paper effigies, incense candles, and burial clothes were essential, and planning a large funeral required even more – like hiring musicians, which he couldn't handle alone!
Moreover, helping the neighbors gain some benefits and building good relationships was also worthwhile!
Opening the shop door, Xu Qing was about to step out when he noticed someone pacing outside. The man clapped his fists, seemingly troubled.
"So the Shopkeeper is home." Upon seeing Xu Qing, the man stepped forward quickly, saying, "I'm one of Master Chang's men. Li Fan... was my brother. He had an incident yesterday, and I heard he was brought here by the broker's assistant. I wanted to come and see him one last time..."
Looking at the man, Xu Qing felt a sense of familiarity.
After a brief thought, he immediately recognized the man's identity.
Wasn't this the very traitor who betrayed Li Fan in his life story?