The message arrived last night, but the person is already gone today.
Even Xu Qing didn't expect Master Chang's efficiency to be so high!
Looking at the freshly delivered corpse in front of him, Xu Qing followed the usual procedure, binding it tightly with the Five Grains Reincarnation Rope soaked in Holy Spirit Water, then reanimating the corpse and flipping through the pages of the Sutra of Salvation.
Bi Wu's life wasn't worth mentioning, nor did he have any so-called moments of glory.
Since childhood, he liked to hang out with a bunch of hooligans in Linhe District, spending his early years as a petty thief and often watching widows bathe.
Later on, as his courage grew and his conscience shriveled, he committed several acts of bullying, exploiting men and women, and even ruining entire families.
Whenever Xu Qing reached these scenes, he couldn't help but whip the Corpse-Driving Whip across Bi Wu's body.
This wretched creature died so easily, it's too cheap for him!
Just as Xu Qing was feeling bored and ready to fast-forward to the karmic retribution, he spotted a familiar face in the scene of Liao An secretly colluding with the Jinmen Gang.
Isn't this the Celestial Heart Sect demon who once asked for directions outside Linhe District and later returned to behead Liu Youdao?
How could he be mixed up with the Jinmen Gang, and from the looks of it, he held quite a high position within the gang.
Xu Qing felt a pang of realization; if the Celestial Heart Sect had infiltrated the Jinmen Gang, what was their intention in making such a big move to take over Linhe Pier?
In the past, Jinmen Gang had ties with the Prefecture City, and Master Chang could only contend with them due to years of connections in Linhe.
But now, with the Celestial Heart Sect as a variable, it's likely that Master Chang will struggle to maintain his position at the pier!
Reflecting on Linhe District suddenly building city defenses and blocking many refugees, Xu Qing felt there might be something hidden here that even he didn't know about.
The sky over Linhe District might be changing.
Xu Qing shook his head; these matters were beyond his concern. He was just a commoner running a funeral shop, incapable of controlling the heavens' thunder and rain.
Continuing to look, Liao An took the silver ingot rewarded by the Jinmen Gang and returned home to bury it under the rice jar.
Following that was the scene of Master Chang's night raid on the Jinmen Gang's base, stabbing Li Fan in the back.
Xu Qing had seen all these before; they were just from a different perspective this time.
Quickly skipping through these scenes, Xu Qing finally reached the part he had eagerly anticipated in Liao An's final moments.
In the great hall of a mansion, Master Chang was playing with Iron Walnuts, sitting on the Master's Chair, while at the bottom, Liao An, who had been exposed for his crimes, was being righteously beaten by a group of former brothers.
As Liao An lay dying, he muttered through bloodied foam, "How did you find what I hid so well? Can I die knowing the truth?"
Someone nearby spat thick phlegm and said hatefully, "Li Fan died without seeing the light of day, yet you want to die knowing the truth? I won't grant your wish!"
With those words, this person stomped on Liao An's neck, instantly avenging Li Fan.
Bi Wu's life ended here.
The Sutra of Salvation gave him a lower-grade human rating afterward, with the reward being the Two-Faced Three-Blade Technique.
This technique emphasizes dual-faced deception, hiding a blade in a smile, killing invisibly.
Xu Qing carefully grasped its essence, and once fully comprehended, the skin on the back of his head began to twist and change. Within a breath, another living face appeared beneath his loose hair!
A face smiling eerily, identical in features to his usual appearance!
Xu Qing's perspective suddenly shifted, allowing him to see things behind him through the second face.
What kind of evil technique is this—eyes on the back of his head?
He lowered his head, seeing his own back, buttocks, and heels.
Standing before the copper mirror, he saw two faces. The front face had its eyes closed, like in a deep sleep.
The face on the back always had a smirking, easy-going look.
Xu Qing couldn't resist putting his hand on the back face, gently stroking it.
Why did he feel increasingly abnormal?
Xu Qing tried to close the eyes of the back face, and immediately, his perspective returned to the front.
Turning sideways to view the mirror, the back-face closed its eyes, then disappeared into his hair as if performing a trick.
But that wasn't all. Following the bizarre dual-faced technique was a complementary skill called the Three-Blade Technique.
The Three-Blade Technique consists of soft blade, hard blade, and risky blade.
A soft blade kills without blood, a hard blade kills ruthlessly, a risky blade kills unpredictably!
Using soft and hard blades together would make the hidden strike even deadlier, perfect for backstabbing.
Though it's called Three-Blade, Xu Qing discovered through repeated practice that it was actually just one blade.
This blade encompassed stance, skill, and method, making it impossible to defend against.
Imagine someone with their back turned to you, seemingly unarmed, suddenly pulling out a sharp blade to stab your heart. As the blade freezes your heart, they turn around, their flowing hair parting to reveal a sinister, smiling face. Wouldn't it leave a mental scar?
Not to mention the blade wound might be fatal; that eerie smile alone could scare someone half to death!
Xu Qing pondered for a while, feeling the Two-Faced Three-Blade technique was somewhat useful, perhaps winning by surprise.
After all, who casually moves their face to the back of their head to see people? That's pure insanity!
Conversely, the Hidden Blade Skill within the Three-Blade Technique had some practical uses; usually, he could hide a blade in his waistband, which might come in handy in critical moments.
At least, he wouldn't be afraid of dropping the soap in the bathhouse. Whoever dared to approach would be sliced like ripe fruit!
After dealing with the corpse, Xu Qing glanced at the sky. With the moon high above and pedestrians scarce, he closed his shop and headed stealthily toward Liao An's residence with a hidden blade.
At the mansion, sniffing the air to ensure no scent of living beings, he climbed over the wall.
Finding the rice jar's location, Xu Qing removed the green brick pressed underneath, revealing a mid-sized pottery jar.
Instead of checking directly, he wrapped it in cloth and returned the way he came.
Back at the shop, Xu Qing opened the jar's lid, his eyes widening immediately!
Unexpectedly, Liao An was quite wealthy!
The jar not only contained strings of big coins, but gold and silver pieces interlaced between each layer to separate them.
Xu Qing roughly estimated that the jar contained over three hundred taels worth of silver!
He charged three taels of silver per government office corpse, and these three hundred taels were enough to collect over a hundred corpses!
However, as Xu Qing's joy settled, he formed new plans.
Collecting corpses required silver coins, but couldn't use all of it for that. With these three hundred taels, plus his savings, he could finally visit Miscellaneous Street to see if he could buy all the materials needed for a Zombie to advance.
Among Wandering Corpses, Iron Armored Wandering Corpses were the easiest to advance, while Silver Armored and Golden Armored Wandering Corpses required more time and materials.
But the one thing he wasn't lacking was time.
The "Corpse Talk" said, in ancient times, there was a Tree of Immortality, named Great Chun, which had a spring lasting eight thousand years and an autumn lasting eight thousand years, making one grand year.
Compared to the long lifespan of the Great Chun, zombies were also named among the mystical beings.
Xu Qing possessed a body akin to immortality, if ten years weren't enough, he would cultivate for a hundred years. By then, if he couldn't become a Corpse Immortal, he could at least attain the prowess of a Golden Armor Corpse King!