30: Entering the village

However, this annoyance did not trouble Chen Heng for too long.

While he was familiarizing himself with his Zombie Body, he slowly discovered that he could perfectly control the changes in his physique.

Whenever he wanted, he could transform into his current Black Zombie state.

Fully reverting to his human form would not affect the immense vitality of his Zombie Body.

The only difference was that after returning to his human form, the strength bonus provided by his Zombie Body would disappear.

As soon as he reverted to his Black Zombie appearance, his strength would return to its original level.

Chen Heng kept shifting his fingers, alternating between human form and black, bony blades.

"This is actually quite fun."

Time slipped away unnoticed, and it wasn't until the rooster in the courtyard began to crow that Chen Heng realized it was already dawn.

"Right, I need to make a trip to Tugou Village today."

Chen Heng hurriedly began to get dressed and wash up.

Although he hadn't slept all night, Chen Heng did not feel the slightest bit of exhaustion.

On the contrary, he felt full of energy.

Seeing that his family hadn't woken up yet, Chen Heng decided not to wake them.

He walked out of the courtyard gate alone and found the gang member from yesterday was already waiting for him.

"Steward Chen, you've arrived." The gang member opened the carriage door with a sycophantic expression, his face full of eagerness to please.

"Let's go, to Tugou Village." Chen Heng said, climbing into the carriage.

"Steward Chen, I can only park the carriage two li outside of Tugou Village; I can't go any further in."

"After all, there are demons and monsters in there, and someone like me is no match for them."

"Besides, if I go in with you, I'd just be a burden, wouldn't I?"

"You're quite sharp." Chen Heng was amused by the gang member's words and nodded, agreeing to the request.

"Got it, Steward Chen, please sit tight." Hearing Chen Heng's agreement, the gang member chuckled and started the carriage.

He wasn't stupid; he knew exactly how much he was worth.

He had heard that this Steward Chen could fight the Hall Master to a standstill, with neither able to overcome the other.

Since a powerhouse like this had been dispatched to handle the matter, someone of his level could only serve as a driver.

After leaving the city, the carriage traveled along a somewhat muddy path.

"What's going on? Why is the carriage so slow today?"

The gang member whipped the draft horse, but found that it still couldn't pick up speed.

"I'm not hauling any cargo, so why can't it move properly?"

He glanced at the carriage tracks behind them and found them unexpectedly deep.

"That shouldn't be right. I fed you three jin of beans and two eggs yesterday, so why are you still so weak?"

The gang member felt increasingly strange, but there was nothing he could say.

Inside the carriage, Chen Heng scratched his face, feeling somewhat awkward.

Don't let his current frail appearance fool you; in reality, his weight had soared to over three hundred jin.

Once he released the compression on his muscles, his size could expand to three times what it currently was.

Coupled with the five-hundred-jin black fiend blade, it was already a miracle that the carriage could move at all on this dilapidated road.

"Steward Chen, I'm really sorry. I don't know what's wrong today; the draft horse seems to have no strength."

"I estimate we'll arrive a bit later than planned."

"It's fine, just take your time." Chen Heng didn't really care about the speed; he had plenty of time anyway.

Sitting cross-legged, Chen Heng began to circulate his Nine Revolutions Longevity Art.

As soon as he started the circulation, Chen Heng noticed something was off.

His internal Qi had inexplicably increased by quite a bit.

It was equivalent to the amount he would normally accumulate after circulating it for a whole day.

"What's going on?" Chen Heng continued to control the flow of Qi within his body.

The rate of Qi growth hadn't changed; it was the same as before.

So, where did this sudden surplus of Qi come from?

"Forget it, why overthink it? As long as I can get stronger, that's all that matters."

After thinking it over, Chen Heng set aside his doubts and continued to circulate the Nine Revolutions Longevity Art.

An hour and a half later, the carriage came to a halt.

"Steward Chen, we've arrived at Tugou Village." The gang member tapped lightly on the carriage door.

"I understand." Chen Heng opened his eyes and stepped out of the carriage.

"You wait here. Once the matter is resolved, I will come to find you."

"Yes." The gang member bowed and parked the carriage by the side of the road.

Looking into the distance, one could vaguely make out a lifeless village.

A large flock of crows circled above the village, their cawing irritating and unsettling.

After walking only a few steps, a thick, putrid stench rushed toward him.

"Just how many people died here?" Chen Heng frowned deeply.

Before coming here, what he had seen were merely numbers on paper.

But when he actually walked into the village, he realized what a tragic scene it truly was.

At the entrance of the village alone, there were a dozen corpses piled up, crawling with fat white maggots, with a few scattered heads hanging with rotting flesh lying nearby.

Resisting the urge to vomit, Chen Heng walked inside.

Suddenly, a thick fog surged out, shrouding the entire village in a silent and desolate whiteness.

The surroundings were terrifyingly silent; even the crows in the sky stopped cawing and sat obediently in the trees.

After walking forward for a while longer, Chen Heng kept feeling as if someone was watching him.

He turned his head abruptly, only to find no one behind him.

There were only the crows in the trees, staring straight at him.

"What kind of hellish place is this..."

Chen Heng felt completely uncomfortable; this feeling was entirely different from what those two from the Evil Path at the Ghost Corpse Temple had given him.

Suddenly, a gust of wind broke the silence.

A thin figure emerged from the thick fog.

"Who goes there?" Chen Heng gripped his black fiend blade, and the rich Evil Qi on the blade dispersed the thick fog around him.

Only then did Chen Heng see the figure clearly.

A gaunt, hollow-eyed youth was walking toward him like a puppet.

"A living person?" Chen Heng did not let his guard down and walked toward the youth while wielding the black fiend blade.

Although the youth looked like a ghost, the Qi and blood on his body could not be faked.

Whether they were demons or monsters, they would not possess Qi and blood.

"Save me..." The youth seemed to have noticed Chen Heng, opening his cracked, bleeding lips to make a sound.

After saying this, the youth collapsed to the ground with a thud and stopped moving.

Chen Heng hurriedly walked forward and reached out to check his breathing.

Fortunately, he was still breathing.

Hoisting him onto his shoulder, Chen Heng walked into a nearby thatched cottage.

He took out his water skin and poured some fresh water into the youth's mouth.

The moment the youth's lips touched the water, he began to suck on it greedily.

After a whole half-skin of water was poured in, the youth finally regained some of his senses.

"Run, there's a man-eating monster in the village."

His first reaction was not to ask Chen Heng to save him, but to urge Chen Heng to leave quickly.

"How did you survive?" Chen Heng ignored him and asked instead.

"Go quickly, that monster is about to come out to hunt for food."

The youth continued to speak to himself.

"Listen closely, I am an Outer Deacon of the White Tiger Hall, and I am here specifically to resolve this matter."

Chen Heng took out his token and revealed the side engraved with the White Tiger.

"Now, tell me your name."

"And what exactly happened here?"