64: Chapter 64: Deadly Disaster

The interior of the inn was dimly lit, the air stifling and filled with that faint, elusive stench of rot.

The lobby was completely empty, save for a few dilapidated tables and chairs.

Just as the innkeeper was leading the two through the lobby toward the narrow corridor leading to the guest rooms in the back.

"Creeeak—"

A teeth-grinding friction sound suddenly erupted from behind a tightly closed door off the corridor.

Following immediately after was the sound of something heavy being dragged, along with... a beastly, suppressed, rattling wheeze squeezed from deep within a throat.

The innkeeper's face instantly turned ghastly pale, his legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

Li Wujiu's pupils constricted sharply!

The Diamond Indestructible Divine Art within his body instantly activated, and a barely perceptible yet incredibly resilient golden-bronze halo flashed beneath his skin and vanished.

He stepped forward, shielding Ding Qing behind his side.

His right hand had simultaneously pressed onto the hilt of a long saber at his waist, which had an archaic design but faintly exuded an Evil Qi.

His entire body's Evil Qi was like a drawn blade, instantly locking onto the door that had made the strange noise.

Ding Qing, however, remained silent.

He slightly raised the brim of his hat, revealing eyes as deep as an abyss, showing not the slightest ripple.

His gaze pierced through the thin door panel, as if he had already seen the scene behind it.

"It is nothing but a living corpse; deal with it, then go and investigate the cause of this disturbance."

He left behind those words and entered the room opposite.

The air in the corridor instantly froze like ice.

Only the hair-raising dragging sound and the rattling wheeze inside the door remained, like cold vipers winding their way through the deathly silence.

"Snap!"

The blade light appeared like a sudden thunderclap, tearing through the oppression of the dim corridor!

That door making the strange noise, along with the walking corpse that had just poked half of its rotting body out from behind it.

Under Li Wujiu's furious strike, it shattered like rotten wood at the sound of the blow.

Filthy blood and shredded flesh splattered along with the debris of rotten wood, staining the mottled walls.

Before it could even emit a decent roar, it was completely reduced to a puddle of filthy, rotting flesh on the ground, the stench of blood filling the air.

Li Wujiu sheathed his saber and stood still.

The Diamond Indestructible Divine Art continued to circulate, and the Evil Qi around his body had not yet dissipated.

He swept a cold gaze over the remains on the ground.

Then he glanced at the innkeeper, who had long since collapsed to the ground, his face void of color.

"You useless trash! You keep such filthy, harmful things in your own shop, yet you dare to open your doors to guests?!"

Li Wujiu's voice sounded like cold iron striking, carrying undisguised killing intent.

He took a step forward.

A heavy Aura pressed down, making the innkeeper nearly suffocate.

"If you cannot give me a reason today, I, your Master, will make you, old thing, keep this rotting flesh company!"

The innkeeper was so terrified that he was Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, tears and snot streaming down his face, kowtowing repeatedly as his forehead banged against the cold floor tiles with a thudding sound.

"G-Great Hero, spare my life! Spare me! It wasn't raised by this old one, it wasn't!"

His voice was hoarse, filled with endless fear and grievance.

Li Wujiu did not withdraw his blade; the cold edge pressed tightly against the greasy, sagging skin of the innkeeper's neck.

A trace of crimson slowly seeped out, exceptionally glaring in the dim light.

"Spare my life... Great Hero, spare me! Every word this old one says is true; I dare not hide anything!"

The innkeeper trembled like a sieve, a foul stench of urine spreading from his crotch, whimpers squeezed from his throat.

"It... it is the Ren family!"

"A month ago, the Ren family relocated their ancestral graves and invited a Daoist from out of town to perform rites; the scale was huge... At first, everything was fine, but a few days later, the Ren family... they had a huge disaster!"

His voice carried a sobbing tone, fear overriding the threat of the blade.

"The Ren family's Old Master... was drained of blood silently in the night, and immediately after, several people in the city also died, all in the same way..."

"At first, everyone was panicked, but later it didn't happen again, and this matter... it slowly just faded away..."

Li Wujiu's eyes were sharp as a hawk's, and the tip of his blade pressed down another half inch: "Hmph! Faded away? Then what about all the funerals in the city right now, and the walking corpses everywhere? Speak!"

The innkeeper groaned in pain, tears and snot flowing together.

"Great Hero, please see clearly! The strange thing is that the Ren family... the Ren family had people die again."

"This time it was even more bizarre; several died in a single night, and the rumors in the city went wild, saying the Ren family had done too many evil deeds, and evil ghosts had come to claim their lives!"

"The Ren family truly had no other way, so they spent a heavy sum to invite that Daoist who relocated the graves back again..."

"What did that Daoist say?" Li Wujiu's voice was filled with chill.

"That Daoist said it was... said it was a zombie harming people, that the Ren family's ancestor had undergone a corpse transformation!"

"He gave the Ren family quite a few yellow talismans, copper coin swords, black dog blood, and other such things to suppress evil. Strangely enough, the Ren family really didn't have any more deaths afterward..."

A twisted fear appeared on the innkeeper's face.

"But while the Ren family was fine, this city... this city started to be haunted!"

"More and more people died, panic spread, and everyone didn't dare to go out much anymore."

"As for my inn... this old one... this old one was forced by circumstances! Years ago, I heard people traveling the Jianghu say that if you keep a 'domesticated' corpse, other fierce things won't come to cause trouble after smelling its scent... That is why... that is why I spent all my savings, bribed Limping Li from the Mortuary, and stole the corpse of a poor man who had been murdered... and kept it in the utility room..."

"Raising a corpse to avoid disaster? Absurd!"

Killing intent churned in Li Wujiu's heart; this idiot actually committed such evil acts for self-preservation, he absolutely deserved to die!

But the blade tip ultimately did not descend.

He withdrew his long saber with disgust and kicked the collapsed innkeeper away.

"Get lost! If I catch you messing with these filthy things again, I will definitely execute you without mercy!"

He turned, moving like the wind, and rushed out of the inn, carrying the Evil Qi that had not yet dissipated.

On the deathly silent streets of Guiyun City, his figure was like a ghost, repeatedly intercepting several ghastly-looking passersby, using his blade, money, and intimidation.

The accounts he obtained were largely the same.

The Ren family's grave relocation invited disaster; the Daoist drove away evil to protect the Ren family but abandoned the whole city, evil spirits arose everywhere, and everyone was in danger.

Confirming that what the innkeeper said was not false, the clouds of suspicion in Li Wujiu's heart grew heavier.

He quickly returned and pushed open the door to Ding Qing's room.

Inside the room, Ding Qing stood quietly by the window, like a piece of ancient, unmelting black ice.

Outside the window, pale paper money fluttered like dying white butterflies, sticking to the soles of pedestrians' shoes, swirled around by the wind.

The stench of rotting corpses in the air mixed with the smell of low-quality incense candles, thick and inseparable.

"Master."

Li Wujiu's voice was low.

He reported everything he had gathered, including the Ren family inviting the Daoist twice, the Daoist asserting that a zombie was causing the trouble, the Ren family looking only to their own safety, and the entire city suffering.

As well as the filthy business of the innkeeper raising a corpse to avoid disaster, all was reported.

His brows were tightly locked, cold light flickering in his eyes as he stated his judgment.

"Disciple believes that this matter is definitely not an ordinary murder or a small demon causing chaos.

The Ren family's two incidents both occurred after the grave relocation; that Daoist's words and actions were strange, protecting the Ren family while abandoning the entire city.

Now, all these walking corpses in the city... I fear the root cause lies with the Ren family! It is highly likely that the Ren family's Old Ancestor... has undergone a corpse transformation!

And has become a Zombie King that feeds on human blood!

Otherwise, there is no way to explain why that Daoist only protected the Ren family, nor can it explain why the evil spirits in the city are so rampant!"

The room fell into a brief, deathly silence.

Only the wailing wind outside the window, carrying paper ash, slapped against the window lattice with a rustling sound.

Ding Qing slowly turned around; the shadows beneath his bamboo hat were as deep as an abyss, blocking out all light and hiding the gaze of his eyes, which were like molten abysses.

He did not make any evaluation of Li Wujiu's speculation; he neither affirmed nor denied it.

The air seemed to solidify; only a faint, almost non-existent scent of sulfur mixed with blood and embers diffused from Ding Qing.

It pressed down so heavily that the stench of rot in the room faded somewhat.

After a long time, the lip line, tightly pursed like a blade, parted slightly, spitting out a few words, cold and hard, like quenched black iron thrown to the ground:

"Wait until tomorrow to go to the Ren family, and we will know."