Chapter 49 Zombies

According to legend, anyone who encounters a passing troop of netherworld soldiers will suffer from qi and blood deficiency and fall severely ill.

Perhaps because Yang Sheng's qi and blood were robust enough, he only felt mild discomfort, whereas Chen You's reaction was far more violent.

Moreover, those underworld soldiers, or rather the entities walking forth from the nether realm, were terrifying beyond measure.

They were so terrifying that when they appeared, Yang Sheng did not even have the leeway to resist.

Previously, Yang Sheng had assumed the difficulty level of this "small world" was quite low.

Staying for seven days and killing seven ghosts would complete the mission, sparing him from having to scheme against a bunch of old foxes—it seemed thoroughly relaxing.

But now it appeared that he must never let down his guard.

The upper limit of power in this world might far exceed his imagination.

After helping Chen You back to the small shop, Yang Sheng also went to bed.

However, his dreams were entirely filled with flesh-and-blood ghosts, and it felt as though he had spent the entire night fighting them, leaving his mind utterly exhausted.

Yet, the next day, Yang Sheng still woke up early and went to You's Kitchen to find Chen You.

This time, Chen You was finally not making glutinous rice dishes; instead, he sat in a corner holding a pot of soup and sipping from it.

Yang Sheng poked his head over to take a look, clicked his tongue, and sighed, "Goji berry, ginseng, and silky fowl soup, You-ge, you're really nourishing yourself."

Chen You retorted irritably, "At my age, I can't take this kind of tossing anymore. Grab a bowl and drink with me."

Although he had lived in Guangdong Province for several years, Yang Sheng still didn't care much for drinking soups; instead, he preferred eating the solid ingredients left inside them.

So he directly fished out the silky fowl meat and began gnawing on it.

As he drank, Chen You said, "I didn't expect your comprehension of Maoshan talismanic arts to be so strong. In just a day, you were already able to execute the Five Thunders Talisman.

Furthermore, your qi and blood are robust, making the method of drawing talismans with blood quite suitable for you, but there is one thing you need to pay attention to."

"What is that?"

Chen You pulled out a strip of talisman paper and explained, "In normal talisman drawing, the talisman paper acts as the medium, borrowing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to converge into the paper—that forms a complete incantation.

Drawing talismans with blood follows the same principle, except the medium is your own qi and blood.

However, for talismans I draw in advance, I only need to use spiritual energy to trigger them when used.

The biggest problem with you drawing talismans with blood is that your speed is simply too slow!"

Chen You mocked, "Yesterday, I used a talisman array to restrict most of A-Jin's power, which gave you the chance to draw talismans with blood at such a leisurely pace.

Otherwise, by the time you finished drawing a single talisman, you would already be dead and cold!"

Actually, Yang Sheng was well aware of this. Yesterday, it was precisely because he had enough time to draw talismans that he chose that method; otherwise, he would have unleashed the Five Fierce Military Spirits long ago.

"Then, You-ge, how should I improve the speed of drawing talismans?"

Yang Sheng did not mind Chen You's sharp tongue and humbly asked for advice.

Chen You raised two fingers and said in a deep voice, "It's very simple: visualization!

In martial arts, when you execute every movement countless times, it naturally forms an instinctive reaction. Only then can you subconsciously choose the most appropriate move the moment you strike.

Otherwise, by the time someone throws a punch at your face, you'd still be standing there wondering whether to use 'Monkey Steals the Peach' or 'Two Dragons Play with the Pearl'?"

Yang Sheng nodded in agreement.

Ever since he began learning traditional martial arts combat, he had always aimed at practical combat and killing.

It was just that nowadays, most people only learned routines, and naturally, the moves they threw out were mere routines.

"Therefore, drawing talismans is the exact same. Use your spiritual power to continuously visualize drawing talismans in your mind, consuming mental energy as if you were truly sketching out an incantation.

When you have visualized it countless times and once again draw talismans with blood, your spiritual power will be released as if by instinct, naturally allowing you to achieve instantaneous casting.

Moreover, mastering one principle grants mastery over all; if you can acquire other secret arts that require mental energy to deploy, you can also practice them following this method."

Yang Sheng nodded and said solemnly, "Thanks, You-ge."

Previously, the traditional martial arts combat techniques Yang Sheng had learned all had traces to follow and could be explained by science.

However, when it came to cultivating supernatural and metaphysical forces like Maoshan arts, Yang Sheng could be said to know absolutely nothing, with no idea where to even begin.

Now, with Chen You's guidance, Yang Sheng could be considered to have truly entered the threshold, giving him a clear direction.

At that moment, Chen You suddenly frowned, sniffed the air, and looked toward the back.

Sitting there was someone—Aunty Mei.

"You-ge, what's wrong?"

Chen You's expression turned somewhat solemn as he said, "There is a scent on Aunty Mei."

"What scent?"

"Corpse stench!"

Yang Sheng also took a sniff, but didn't smell anything out of the ordinary. He merely asked in confusion, "Could it be that we picked it up yesterday while dealing with A-Jin?

Some of those corpses had already begun to rot; not taking a bath would naturally leave behind the stench of death."

Chen You shook his head and replied, "Definitely not. That was the stench of decay, not corpse stench; I can tell the difference.

This is a corpse stench carrying a hint of earthy dampness, and Aunty Mei lives on the fifth floor."

Chen You's gaze held a trace of entanglement; he hoped he was mistaken.

Unlike the three people before her, Aunty Mei was a regular customer of You's Kitchen and a very kind person. He certainly didn't wish to see anything happen to her.

Yang Sheng said in a deep voice, "Let's go take a look at Aunty Mei's place tonight."

"Don't disturb me during the day; I need to recover my energy."

With a solemn expression, Chen You departed. Yang Sheng also returned to the guardroom and began his visualization practice.

This was the first time Yang Sheng had an intuitive perception of such an ethereal existence as spiritual power.

Using mental energy to manipulate spiritual energy and draw talismans in the void, he continuously rehearsed them in his mind. The talismans formed and scattered, scattered and formed.

Not only could this kind of visualization practice drastically increase his talisman-drawing speed, but it also allowed Yang Sheng to exercise far more meticulous control over his own mental energy.

"Maoshan Secret Arts Specialization increased to 16%. This specialization was self-comprehended and can be brought out of the samsara world."

A single day of practice yielded a 1% increase in specialization. This did not mean Maoshan talismans were particularly easy to cultivate, but merely that the level of specialization Yang Sheng currently grasped was still far too low.

Opening his eyes, he saw that the sky outside had already turned pitch black.

It wasn't until past eleven o'clock that Chen You leisurely hurried over.

"You-ge, why are you so late today?"

"I had the bad luck of running into a drunkard. Stop wasting time, let's head straight up. Dragging this past twelve o'clock won't be good."

"What happens after twelve o'clock?"

Chen You gave a light snort and said, "Think about yesterday's passing of the netherworld soldiers; it was already approaching midnight back then.

After midnight, the Yin qi becomes even denser, and who knows what kind of bizarre and evil things might pop out."

The two took the elevator to the fifth floor, and Chen You familiarly knocked on Aunty Mei's door.

"Aunty Mei, are you home?"

After a long while, the door opened a crack, and Aunty Mei poked her head out. Seeing that it was Ah-You and Yang Sheng, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

"It's you guys. What's going on in the middle of the night?"

Ah-You said, "One of my clothes tore, and I wanted to ask Aunty Mei to help me mend it."

Aunty Mei looked somewhat troubled as she replied, "It's a bit late today. Why don't you leave the clothes with me, and I'll mend them and bring them over to you tomorrow."

Ah-You placed his hand against the edge of the door and said in a deep voice, "Aunty Mei, you used to be very enthusiastic. Whenever neighbors needed help, no matter how late it was, you would help them out first before going to sleep.

Moreover, you often suffered from insomnia and wouldn't sleep until the late hours of the night, which is why you loved inviting people over to chat in the evening.

Yet, I don't know when it started, but it seems like it's been a very long time since anyone last visited your home."

A trace of panic flashed across Aunty Mei's eyes, and she hurriedly said, "My insomnia cleared up a long time ago, and now I want to sleep!"

Aunty Mei attempted to close the door, but Yang Sheng suddenly exerted force, pulling the door wide open in a single motion!

Inside the narrow living room, the first thing that met their eyes was a crimson coffin suspended from the roof beam.

That coffin had not originally been crimson, but it had turned red because sticky blood was sprinkled all around it.

*Thud! Thud! Thud!*

Perhaps sensing the aura of the living, a faint vibration actually emanated from inside the coffin, as if something was about to burst out of it.

With an expression of utter disbelief, Chen You stared at Aunty Mei and said, "This is Uncle Dong's coffin? I remember these patterns; I was the one who helped you pick them out when Uncle Dong passed away a while ago.

You actually dug up Uncle Dong's coffin and used evil Daoist arrays to refine it? Do you have any idea what you're doing? Are you trying to refine a corpse into a jiangshi!"

Aunty Mei shook her head in panic, crying out, "I didn't! I just wanted the old man to come back to life! The old man said he would stay with me until the very end, and he wouldn't lie to me!"

"Anything that comes back to life is merely a jiangshi; it hasn't been Uncle Dong for a long time!"

With a stern expression, Chen You slowly drew his peach-wood sword. An imposing aura surged around his entire body; despite wearing pajamas, he actually possessed the bearing of a Taoist master.

This was the very first time Yang Sheng had seen Chen You look so serious.

His lineage had originally become famous precisely for eliminating jiangshi, but Chen You hadn't laid eyes on a real jiangshi in over twenty years.

"No!"

Seemingly aware of Chen You's hidden background, Aunty Mei actually threw herself headfirst directly toward the coffin.

Just as Yang Sheng moved to intercept her, Chen You bit his finger, and the moment his fresh blood was flicked outward, an incantation spontaneously converged in mid-air, transforming into a golden rope that blocked Aunty Mei's path.

However, no one anticipated that Aunty Mei would directly bite her own tongue, spitting a mouthful of fresh blood straight onto the coffin.

*Boom!*

Accompanied by a loud crash, the coffin lid was blasted flying, and a figure clad in hemp garments stood up stiffly.

Its skin was grayish-white, covered in corpse spots and stiff, sprouting clumps of white hair. Its face was concealed behind a copper coin mask, vaguely revealing torn, bloodied, and ferocious flesh beneath.

The moment the jiangshi leaped out of the coffin, the surrounding Yin qi rapidly converged into its body, causing the creature to abruptly grow several inches taller, reaching a height of fully two meters.

"A haired jiangshi... we're in big trouble now."

Staring at the jiangshi, Chen You muttered to himself, yet his face held no fear whatsoever—instead, it carried a trace of excitement.