Chapter Fifty-Two: The Ghost Servant Makes His Move

Wei Qi tapped my shoulder and slowly began to back away, making it clear that it was time for us to leave. Everything needed careful planning—today, neither of us had the power to stop Old Zhao’s actions. He had already raised a portion of his corpse soldiers, and if we barged in recklessly, it would surely end badly.

Just as we turned to retreat, we found ourselves with no escape. Standing behind me was a man, arms folded. Without even looking, I knew it was Old Zhao. Beside him, lined up, stood seven or eight figures—not quite human, for they appeared stiff and expressionless. Clearly, these were the corpse soldiers Zhao had cultivated, all male.

No wonder he needed so many corpses—he was raising an army of corpse soldiers. Now Wei Qi and I were in deep trouble.

“You two have guts! Sneaking in here? Don’t blame me for being ruthless, then.” Old Zhao’s face was dark and sinister, his hands hidden in his sleeves.

He was bold indeed—forming a corpse soldier array right here in the village, not even worrying about being discovered. As a walker of the underworld, with his Yin-Yang eyes, why bother with a corpse soldier formation?

But now wasn’t the time to think about that. The urgent question was how to get out. With just Wei Qi and me, we had no way to deal with Old Zhao and his corpse soldiers. These soldiers were much like zombies, and we had little ability to handle zombies—Wei Qi could deal with ghosts, but couldn’t drive away soulless corpse soldiers. As for me, I had little but my three-foot Longyuan sword.

“Master Zhao, I think there’s been a misunderstanding. We just came to ask when you needed those soulless corpses. Nothing else,” Wei Qi said with a bright, easy smile. He was clever, and at this critical moment, he wanted to avoid a confrontation with Old Zhao.

“Too late. Now that you’ve discovered my secret, there’s only one path for you—death. And my men are hungry, not enough to eat.” With that, he flicked his hand toward the corpse soldiers and stepped back.

Like automatons, the corpse soldiers clattered toward us. Wei Qi grabbed my hand, and we rushed in another direction, but barely took a few steps before being surrounded again. The female corpse soldiers who had been gnawing on flesh in the room came out.

We were just two, but they had more than a dozen corpse soldiers, encircling us.

“Uncle Qi, what do we do?” Back to back, we faced the emotionless soldiers.

“Catch the leader first. These soldiers have no souls—they only follow Old Zhao’s command. I’ll deal with them, you break through and take care of Old Zhao. He’s not much physically, skinny as a monkey.” Wei Qi was fairly calm, whispering to me.

“Alright!” I answered, springing forward to charge through. There was a gap, but the soldiers moved quickly, and I slammed hard into two of them.

It hurt! Their bodies were as hard as stone. Before I could get up, one of them grabbed me by the throat and hurled me aside. Pain spread through my whole body as I slid down the wall.

Wei Qi’s body flew over next, landing just as badly as I did.

“You fools! I told you to collect corpses, but you dared come to the backyard? The Blood Lingzhi is a sacred object—how could you just take it as you please?” Old Zhao spat coldly, turning away, leaving behind an icy command: “Kill them both and share them among my brothers who haven’t had their fill.”

Damn it! This was way too much. I hadn’t expected to die here today.

“Don’t move, none of you—I’m quite formidable!” Wei Qi, holding my hand, leaned against the wall and pointed at the approaching soldiers. But they didn’t listen, coming closer and closer. I could only smile bitterly—was this really the end?

Suddenly, I felt light underfoot. Wei Qi and I, still holding hands, soared into the air and, in the blink of an eye, flew over the wall.

“Uncle Qi, you’re amazing! You can fly?” I felt relieved—who could have guessed Wei Qi had this ability.

“It’s not me! Someone’s helping us.” Wei Qi gripped my hand, staring at the stiff soldiers in the courtyard.

“Someone’s helping us? Who?”

“Master, don’t speak, focus. I don’t have much strength left, won’t hold out for long,” came a voice—it was Xuan Li. In our moment of greatest danger, it was my newly acquired ghost servant who saved us.

No time for pride—before we knew it, we dropped from midair to the ground with a thud. Xuan Li’s voice floated by: “Master, run! I’m out of strength, they’re catching up!”

“What about you?” Despite the pain, I worried about Xuan Li. He’d risked himself to save us, showing true loyalty. Such a little ghost—I couldn’t abandon him.

“No worries, I’ll hide in the soul jar. Run now!” Xuan Li’s voice was weak.

Seeing he was safe, I relaxed, pulling Wei Qi along as we dashed to the car, started it up, and raced away. When we finally looked back, there was nothing but empty fields and moonlight. The memory of the ordeal still haunted me.

I picked up the soul jar and shook it. “Xuan Li, are you there?”

“Master, I’m here. Let me rest a bit.”

I tucked the jar into my pocket and asked Wei Qi, “Uncle Qi, is there really no way to deal with these corpse soldiers?”

Wei Qi, still shaken, replied, “There must be, but I don’t have it.”

We’d wanted to rest along the way, but fearing more trouble, we didn’t dare stop, heading straight for Wei’s Vegetable Garden Village. By the time we arrived, dawn was breaking.

“Da Chuan, get some rest. When the sun’s up, we’ll go see Li Danian—see if he knows a way. Old Zhao has completely strayed from the path of the underworld walker; if he keeps this up, he’ll become more ferocious than even the fiercest evil spirits.” Returning home, Wei Qi spoke wearily.

At the doorstep, I didn’t go inside right away. Instead, I opened the soul jar and glanced inside—Qing Ting was sleeping soundly in one corner. Xuan Li lay there too, weak. I called him over, bit my finger, and let him drink a little blood.

It was strange—my blood had subdued him last night, and now he could sustain himself with it. Clearly, there’s a world of difference between good and evil. Xuan Li had changed for the better. I understood Wei Qi’s point: raising ghosts has its benefits. Without Xuan Li, we’d have been doomed tonight.

After drinking my blood, Xuan Li recovered well. Seeing him asleep in the jar, I finally knocked on the door.

Opening it was Shangguan Wan’er. She stood in the doorway, clad only in a bikini, all charm and allure.

“Sister, what… what are you doing? Aren’t you afraid of bad people?” I felt awkward looking at her. No matter what, her corpse was real, and so was everything else about her.

“I’m a ghost, what bad people should I fear? Besides, I knew it was you coming home.” Shangguan Wan’er closed the door, smiling sweetly. Her voice was crisp and pleasant.

Inside, seeing me dirty, she quickly fetched clean clothes. “Brother, take a bath and change—weary from a long night. I’ll go heat water for you.”

I grabbed her arm. “Sister, put on some clothes first. I’m losing my composure. It’s summer—no need to heat water, a cold bath will do.” I held her hand, unable to look at her. Was she naive, or what? Why stand before me in just a bikini?

She grinned mischievously. “Brother, isn’t this clothes? I was watching TV while you were gone—a beauty contest. All the women wore this, and none looked as good as me!” She giggled, pointing at herself.

I was speechless. I’d taught her to watch TV before leaving, and now she’d learned this. I quickly grabbed a shirt and helped her put it on. “Sister, remember, this is underwear—meant to be worn inside, not outside!”

She pouted, thinking for a while before saying, “So that’s it! I thought the less you wear, the more beautiful you are!”

What could I do? Two thousand years apart—we’d have to take it slow.

“Alright, you rest. I’m going for a bath.” I picked up soap and clothes and headed out. The summer night was still warm, and after a busy night, nothing felt better than a good wash.

After bathing, I returned to find Shangguan Wan’er still sitting on the sofa. When she saw me, she stood up with a bright smile. “Brother, you’ve had a tiring night. Let me massage your shoulders.”