I watched the corpse tucked into the coffin with my own eyes, and only then did I breathe a sigh of relief.
The old man smiled and asked, "Are you afraid of my young lady?"
I nodded, not denying it. My body had warmed up, and I had regained some strength. I looked around and asked, "Grandpa, do you live here alone?"
When he heard me call him "Grandpa," the old man panicked and put me down. He ran to me, knelt on the ground, and said, "Young master, you've killed this old slave. My name is Uncle Fu, and I'm the young lady's servant. You can just call me Uncle Fu."
Old slave? Young lady? Young master?
Did he really think I was his young lady's husband? But how could I, a living person, marry a corpse? Besides, she can't bear me children.
On her territory, I didn't dare say such words. I pulled Uncle Fu up, but I didn't dare let go of his hand.
Because the moment I left him, the surrounding yin energy chilled me to the bone.
Uncle Li was right. This place was truly not a place for living people. Uncle Fu also realized what was happening and hurriedly pulled me into the stone house.
When we reached the door, Chen Hao drifted over, his eyes wide open, afraid to enter. Uncle Fu asked if he was my friend, and I nodded. Uncle Fu then told Chen Hao, "The stone house isn't for ghosts. Stay outside. Since you're the young master's friend, they won't harm you."
I had a lot to ask Chen Hao, but Uncle Fu's words forced him to stay.
Entering the stone house, I felt a sudden surge of warmth. The room was simple. There was a stone bed in the corner, a bonfire burning in the middle, and a copper pot hanging overhead. The aroma of meat wafted from the boiling water.
I stared at the surrounding stone walls, engraved with ancient texts and some strange talismans. The warm air was emanating from the talismans.
I didn't understand talismans, but I could recognize most of the ancient characters. That's because the book in Grandpa's hand mostly contained them.
I recited the Yin-Yang Talisman Sutra. Uncle Fu was surprised to hear this and asked, "You're only eight years old, how can you understand the words above?"
I felt a little proud, pouting and saying, "No big deal! My grandfather said that Sun Zhongmou was well-read at the age of eight, and at nine, he dared to go into the enemy camp alone to claim his father's body. His knowledge and courage were truly extraordinary."
My grandfather often told me stories about the Three Kingdoms, and my favorite character was Sun Zhongmou.
But now, thinking of my grandfather, my eyes welled up. I asked Uncle Fu if my parents and grandfather were in danger.
Uncle Fu smiled when he heard me compare myself to Sun Zhongmou, but then he saw my eyes reddened and his smile faltered. He was speechless, and as if testing me, he said, "We share the same roots, so why rush to harm each other? As long as the young master is out there, they won't dare to mess with your family."
I knew the origin of the poem and frowned, asking, "You said those men in black are also members of the Zhang family?"
Uncle Fu hummed and said, "It's no use knowing now." Would you mind letting me explain the Yin-Yang Sutra to you?
I could partially understand the writing on the wall. The first line read: "The Great Way of Wonderful Harmony, called the Talisman. The sutra is the eternal law."
The following lines contained the mantras for the Yin and Yang Fu Sutras. Uncle Fu read the entire text before explaining it to me in detail.
The Corpse Clan cultivates the Yin Sutra, not the Yang. The Yin and Yang Sutras complement each other, emphasizing the harmony of Yin and Yang.
I interrupted, asking, "Your young lady wants me to cultivate the Yang Sutra so she can complete the Yin-Yang Sutra, right?"
After all, I'm just a supporting tool. Although I don't truly consider her my wife, knowing this fact still makes me feel uncomfortable.
Uncle Fu smiled awkwardly and said, "Young Master, you can't say that. The young lady fell in love with you at first sight. We're so compatible!" He didn't believe it, even if she were a zombie. Forget about the fact that she was a zombie. Even if she were human, who would have seen an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl fall in love with an eight-year-old boy at first sight?
I didn't say it out loud because I could sense that if I practiced the Yang Jing, it would definitely be more powerful than Grandpa's methods.
If the man in black was from the Zhang family, then there must be a reason Grandpa took us into hiding in the remote mountains.
Only by mastering these skills could I save my parents and Grandpa. With this in mind, I readily agreed to learn the Yang Jing.
Uncle Fu was delighted. He said that practicing the Yang Jing was difficult. He had only mastered the basics, barely enough to resist the Yin energy of Shiao Mountain and protect the zombies. If I worked hard, I should be able to master it in three to five years.
Uncle Fu didn't teach me right away. Instead, he found a stone bowl and made me some meat broth.
Hungry, I took it and blew on it as I drank. After finishing the broth, Uncle Fu said, "You'll rest in the stone house tonight."
After Uncle Fu left, I secretly made myself another bowl of meat soup. After drinking it, I didn't sleep. I recalled his explanation of the Yang Meridian and followed his lead, sitting cross-legged on the stone bed. Unfortunately, after a long struggle, I found no results. Instead, my eyelids grew heavier, and I fell asleep.
After so many shocks, my nerves were on edge. Even here, I didn't dare relax. I hadn't slept for a while when I felt someone beside my bed. I jolted awake, and opened my eyes to see the female corpse sitting on the stone bench in front of the bed, her eyes closed, facing me.
I stammered, looking at her, "You, you, didn't you go back to the coffin? Why are you out again?"
The corpse gurgled twice in her throat, her eyes still closed. She stiffly raised her hand, touched her red lips, and pointed at me.
What did she want from me? Kiss her?
I noticed some red spots on the back of her hand. They didn't look like corpse spots, but more like burns. I looked up at the Yang Talisman on the stone wall and realized she would be harmed by it if she stayed there.
My heart softened, and I tentatively asked, "Do you want me to kiss you?"
I thought it unlikely. After all, I was only eight years old. If I really did, she would be too...
Unexpectedly, she nodded as soon as I finished speaking. I quickly shook my head and covered my mouth. I couldn't kiss her even if I killed her. What if she took the opportunity to absorb my Yang Qi?
The corpse woman didn't intend to force me. Seeing that I didn't move, she sat still too. However, the scar on the back of her hand was rapidly darkening and starting to burn black.
I figured if she wanted to absorb my Yang Qi, she could just pounce on me. There was no need to hurt herself. Reluctantly, I said, "Okay, okay, I'll just kiss you, and then you can leave."
In fact, with her eyes closed, she wasn't scary at all. She was quite beautiful. I crawled to the edge of the bed, reaching up to her neck, intending to simply touch her red lips. Unexpectedly, as soon as my mouth moved forward, our lips clung together like magnets, and even my push against her shoulders wouldn't pull them apart.
And just then, a breath of cold air emanated from her mouth, rushing into my internal organs and coursing through my body.
With a "pop," my mouth detached from her red lips.
The corpse, as if finished, stood stiffly and walked out of the stone house into the darkness.
I wanted to ask if the wound on her hand was serious, but the coldness within me was surging, making me feel extremely uncomfortable. However, as she left, the Yang Talisman in the stone house began to glow, and a surge of warmth flowed into me. Because it wasn't a fusion of yin and yang, the two auras were as powerful as water and fire.
The Yin energy was strong, but lacked a source. The Yang energy was weak, yet it flowed endlessly. It soon forced the Yin energy out of my body. The Yang energy that had entered my body didn't dissipate, but instead swirled around my lower abdomen. Suddenly, my whole body felt warm and comfortable, and I leaned back on the bed and fell asleep without realizing it.
The next day, Uncle Fu came back and asked, surprised, "Did the young lady come?"
I nodded and told him about last night's events. My face still burned when I talked about kissing the corpse.
Uncle Fu sighed and said, "The young lady is using her Yin essence to activate the Yang talisman to build your foundation. Now that you have Yang essence within you, you can freely enter and exit Shi'ao Mountain."
Building a foundation, literally, means laying the foundation for cultivation. It's also the first of the nine Yangs in the Yang Fu Sutra. Last night, Uncle Fu said that if I worked hard, I could achieve enlightenment in three to five years. I didn't expect that after kissing the corpse, I'd achieved it overnight.
But the price the corpse paid must have been high. I asked Uncle Fu, and he sighed, "It's more than just a huge loss. That's the loss of the young lady's Yin Essence, a hundred years of cultivation."
I felt a little guilty about that. I was still thinking about it over breakfast, but I couldn't resist and told Uncle Fu I wanted to go see her.
Uncle Fu took me to the cemetery. Just as he'd said, I no longer needed his Yang Essence to protect me. The Yang Essence in my lower abdomen could keep the surrounding Yin energy at bay.
On the way, Chen Hao floated by. I asked him where he'd been, and he said the Yin energy was dense here, perfect for cultivation. After further questioning, I learned that Old Dog Wu had taught him the methods of ghost cultivation. It seems Old Dog Wu is no ordinary person.
I told him to come to the stone house that night. I had something to ask him.
Uncle Fu opened the bronze coffin and exclaimed in surprise. I peered inside and saw the woman's skin was charred black, as if struck by lightning. Uncle Fu said she'd been in the stone house for too long, and excessive Yang energy had entered her body, which, in turn, had consumed Yin Essence while I was building my foundation, and she couldn't suppress it.