The green-eyed zombie followed sheepishly behind Fan Shaohuang. Before them stood an ancestral hall, its main gates tightly shut. Wind lanterns swayed gently beneath the flying eaves, their dim, yellow light casting an eerie, somber atmosphere over the scene.
Fan Shaohuang was naturally quite agile. While he couldn't handle "bungee jumping," scaling a wall was no problem for him. The green-eyed zombie followed him over. The hall’s caretaker had already retired for the night; the only sound was the occasional chirp of insects in the heavy silence.
As the man and the zombie ventured deeper, the yin energy grew increasingly thick. Several arrays had even been laid around the perimeter to prevent the living from entering. These arrays, however, were no match for Fan Shaohuang, who quickly dismantled them all. The green-eyed zombie followed behind, watching with a face full of curiosity.
When they reached the innermost depths of the hall, the space brightened, revealing a large bronze cauldron. The green-eyed zombie turned to Fan Shaohuang with a look of utter helplessness, its meaning clear: *You don't expect me to carry that thing back, do you?*
Fan Shaohuang ignored it with a sour expression. He had scouted this place countless times and was intimately familiar with the surroundings. He walked slowly to the fourth spirit tablet in the third row and gave it a turn. With a silent rumble, the bronze cauldron slid aside, revealing a dark, gaping hole.
The green-eyed zombie was naturally inquisitive. As soon as the hole appeared, it craned its neck to peer inside. Suddenly, a hand shot out from the darkness. The green-eyed zombie was visibly startled, letting out a sharp "Awoo!" as it leaped back.
The movement seemed to trigger a restriction, and a burst of deathly gray corpse-qi erupted from the hole. Fan Shaohuang remained unperturbed. He bit his index finger and began tracing talismans in the air, which manifested as glowing scripts. In the past, the green-eyed zombie would have feared such things, but since it now shared its life force with Fan Shaohuang, talismans created by his hand had no effect on it.
It tilted its head, watching him draw. These sigils were actually the true names of high deities or the sect’s founding ancestors, though each sect added their own flourishes when drawing them—partly to prevent others from stealing their techniques, and partly to add a touch of sectarian flair.
Seeing the zombie’s interest, Fan Shaohuang suppressed his impatience and explained the principles. In essence, talismans were a form of faith. Deities grew stronger through the mental energy of humans, and in return, they were willing to use their divine power to protect their believers.
After a while, the formation was complete. Fan Shaohuang ordered the green-eyed zombie to jump down first and distract the great zombie within. The green-eyed zombie wasn't stupid; it knew there must be a peerless treasure in this hole, otherwise, someone of Fan Shaohuang’s temperament would never be so invested. It jumped in and entangled the zombie that tried to grab its collar, but it was also feeling petty. Fan Shaohuang had clearly known there was a zombie inside but hadn't warned it, letting it get scared for nothing. Thus, the creature gave a cold snort: *Since you didn't tell me, I won't tell you that there's a second zombie in here...*
It hadn't been with Fan Shaohuang for long, yet it seemed to have already learned his devious and petty ways.
Fan Shaohuang had no idea what it was thinking. The moment he jumped down, his nose nearly twisted with rage. *Damn it, there’s another one!!*
It was impossible to say how many years these two zombies had spent in this hole, but both had already become Flying Zombies. Grave robbers who occasionally stumbled upon this place had served as their nourishment. The green-eyed zombie could handle one, but dealing with two at once was no easy feat. Fan Shaohuang had scouted this place several times before, but the overwhelming yin energy—which greatly favored the zombies—had always stopped him at the entrance.
Now that he had finally made it inside, only to be blocked by another one, his hatred was palpable.
He was a man of extremes. Biting the tip of his tongue, he used his pure yang blood to temporarily repel the foul creature before him. He dipped his finger in the blood and drew a Soul-Dispersing Talisman in his palm. Thrusting his hand forward, he shouted, "Primordial Rupture!"
The Technique of Primordial Rupture was a last-resort move used by certain Taoist sects—a "kill a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of one's own" kind of strike. Seeing that things were going south, the green-eyed zombie rushed over, grabbed him, and leaped out of the hole.
Fan Shaohuang saw that he was just about to strike the creature when he was suddenly dragged away. He was fuming; the move hadn't even touched the enemy, only harming himself.
The green-eyed zombie, completely oblivious to his anger, gestured to tell him: *If we start a feud, it'll be hard to go back in.*
Fan Shaohuang glared at it from head to toe and snapped, "You have a way to get in?"
The green-eyed zombie looked delighted. It gestured for him to wait, then its body blurred and it vanished.
Not long after, Fan Shaojing arrived. He had been alerted when Fan Shaohuang left the mountain. He was used to his junior brother’s impulsive nature and only intended to follow him to ensure he didn't cause a major disaster. Unexpectedly, Fan Shaohuang’s "transportation" was far too advanced; Fan Shaojing had spent half the day chasing him and still lost the trail. Fortunately, his own corpse-refinement had tracked Fan Shaohuang’s scent.
Fan Shaohuang’s mood soured even further upon seeing him. Fan Shaojing had dealt with his brother's temper for years and was long accustomed to it. He continued his earnest persuasion: "Junior Brother, masterless treasures are the gathering points of the world's spiritual aura and are tied to the longevity of the mortal realm. Why must you insist on taking it for yourself? Moreover, the guardians of this cave are fierce. Even if you obtain the treasure, you will surely be gravely injured. How will you fend off other treasure hunters then?"
Fan Shaohuang’s face grew darker and darker until he finally exploded in rage. "Shut up! Go back to wherever you came from! You're so annoying!"
Fan Shaojing sighed softly and stood quietly before him, showing no intention of leaving. His own zombie, however, stepped forward with a simple, honest smile and offered a bottle of essence-restoring medicine. Fan Shaohuang swept his sleeve and knocked it away. The zombie bent down, picked up the small bottle, and offered it again with that same simple smile. Fan Shaohuang knocked it away again. The porcelain bottle shattered, so the zombie reached into its pouch, pulled out a fresh bottle, and offered it once more...
Fan Shaohuang felt that if he died of his injuries, it would surely be from the sheer frustration caused by this pair.
The green-eyed zombie returned a short while later, carrying two squealing wild boars on its shoulders!
Fan Shaohuang was bewildered, and Fan Shaojing was even more stunned. "Junior Brother, what is this..."
The unasked question was: *Junior Brother, surely you aren't so leisurely as to plan a barbecue at the mouth of this cave?*
The green-eyed zombie ignored them both and carried the two pigs straight to the hole. Fan Shaojing’s zombie came over to help—it was born to be a laborer and couldn't stand seeing others work while it sat idle.
The green-eyed zombie declined the help and carried the pigs into the hole. A chorus of porcine squeals echoed from within. Half a moment later, it poked its head out and gestured for the two men and the other zombie to enter.
By the time the two brothers entered the cave, the three zombies were already standing with their arms around each other's shoulders, looking like old friends of many years. Fan Shaohuang clutched his chest, feeling like he might spit blood. *Damn it, who knew bribery was popular among zombies too?* If the countless treasure hunters who died here knew this was the way to break the array, they would probably be angry enough to come back to life.
What he didn't know was that these two zombies had stayed in this hole since they first formed. Although their cultivation was high and their intelligence was beginning to awaken, they lacked guidance. Their IQ was no higher than that of a newborn puppy. Every treasure hunter who entered the cave instinctively tried to fight them; in their consciousness, whoever provided food was a good person. As for the treasure? What even was that?
Without lifting a finger, Fan Shaohuang entered the cave and claimed the Shadow-Severing Sword, a legendary weapon said to be capable of slaying any demon—a treasure that every Taoist practitioner dreamed of. He was very satisfied with the prize, but every time he saw the three zombies acting so chummy, and thought of the injuries he had sustained during his previous attempts, he felt a sudden urge to use the sword on his own neck.
That evening, when the green-eyed zombie returned to the wooden hut by the sea, it brought two new friends. Qiao'er was a bit dazed; she could no longer tell which zombie was which in this growing crowd. Although these two new friends were quite old, they retained a childlike wonder, looking at everything with curiosity.
Guiche had been around for some time and was familiar with the other zombies. It stood by Qiao'er's side, squinting its eighteen eyes as it sized up the two "new corpses" whose cultivation was clearly profound.
The green-eyed zombie gathered all the lesser zombies and gave a grand introduction to the newcomers. The two let out strange, chuckling cries in greeting, and thus, they joined the group.
From then on, this "makeshift army" began to take shape. The two new zombies had high cultivation and were responsible for overseeing the daily training of the squad. The red-eyed zombie selected a few agile zombies to occasionally hunt wild boars to treat the two new elders, acting as a sort of cooking crew. To save resources, the remains of the animals were fed to Guiche.
The collective mission of this ragtag force was to guard the wooden hut and protect Qiao'er.
Before long, Fan Shaohuang learned of the existence of this force. He had always been one to "utilize waste," and he immediately came up with a plan.
He hired men to extensively renovate the seaside hut, planting flowers and trees everywhere. In front of it, he built a sturdy stone temple, inscribed with the name: Guantian Court.
Inside the main hall, he enshrined a nameless statue and sent over a dozen of his trusted disciples from Cuiwei Mountain. The isolated wooden hut among the seaside rocks was transformed in the blink of an eye into a Taoist temple shrouded in incense smoke. The nominal master of the temple was, of course, Qiao'er. Given that the name "Qiao'er" was hardly suitable for inspiring the faith of the masses, he said coldly, "From now on, you shall be called Gongxi, with the title Perfected Master Gongxi."
The green-eyed zombie understood Fan Shaohuang’s intentions. He wanted Qiao'er to gather the mental energy of devout believers here, leaving behind a source of masterless incense power that he could use at any time.
But the zombie felt this wasn't a bad thing. When the devout came to the temple to offer incense and pray for blessings, they would surely leave some donation money behind...
Initially, the incense at Guantian Court was not very prosperous, but Fan Shaohuang had his ways. First, he used Guiche as a living advertisement. Guiche was somewhat speechless; as a day-blind bird, it couldn't
