71: Chapter 71 Tengteng Town, the Ren Family

Chen Mo walked on the road home.

The night breeze was slightly cool, blowing away the scent of alcohol on his body.

He felt the box in his robes, a cold sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

Tiger Wang wants to buy peace?

Fine, I'll sell it to him for now.

At this stage, Chen Mo needed time to develop and resources to build up his potential. Fighting to the death with the Axe Gang offered no benefits other than wasting time.

Once his strength was sufficient, the rules of West City would naturally be set by him. At that time, whether Tiger Wang lived or died would be decided by a single word from him.

This was reality.

There were no eternal enemies, only eternal interests and temporary compromises.

Just as he was thinking, a crisp chewing sound suddenly came from the bridge ahead.

"Crunch, crunch."

Chen Mo's footsteps paused.

Under the pale moonlight, a young girl in red sat on the stone bridge railing, her two legs dangling in the air. She held a skewer of candied haws, eating happily.

Jiang Hongli.

The elite disciple of the White Jade Capital's Imperial Astronomical Bureau, the "Grandmother" who had taken Chen Mo to catch ghosts last time.

Chen Mo's originally straight back slumped half an inch instantly. The majesty belonging to "Head Constable Chen" vanished from his face, replaced by the slippery smile characteristic of a street hoodlum.

"Yo, isn't this Heroine Jiang?"

Chen Mo approached, cupped his hands, and glanced at her skewer of candied haws. "Eating something so sweet in the middle of the night, aren't you afraid of ruining your teeth? The candied haws in West City aren't clean. If you want to eat them, I'll go to 'Jubao Hall' in East City tomorrow to buy some for you; only that would be worthy of your status."

Jiang Hongli crunched a hawthorn, her cheeks bulging as she squinted at him. "Cut the chatter. I just saw you coming out of the Spring Breeze Pavilion looking radiant. You've got quite a few good things tucked in your robes, don't you? Given by Tiger Wang?"

"Hah, what good things?" Chen Mo subconsciously covered his chest, looking bitter and resentful. "That was Gang Leader Wang seeing how hard my life is and helping me out. You don't know, my broken house leaks wind and rain. This is all money for house repairs, hard-earned money."

"Hard-earned money?" Jiang Hongli threw the bamboo skewer into the river. "I think it's ill-gotten gains. Fine, I don't care about your pittance. Come with me."

Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat, and his feet seemed to take root, remaining motionless.

"Where to? Heroine Jiang, it's too late today. I have to report to the yamen tomorrow morning..."

"Cut the nonsense." Jiang Hongli jumped off the railing and brushed the sugar crumbs off her hands, a hint of playfulness flashing in her large eyes. "It's fine if you don't go. I'll just tell Lord Ye that you pocketed Yin objects while catching ghosts last time. That's a serious crime."

Chen Mo's mouth twitched.

This woman is too ruthless.

"I'll go! Who said I wouldn't go!" Chen Mo immediately switched to an expression of righteous indignation. "Heroine Jiang's business is my business. Even if it means climbing a mountain of knives or jumping into a sea of fire, if I, Chen Mo, blink an eye, I'm a coward! Tell me, where are we going?"

Jiang Hongli looked at him with a half-smile. "Out of the city, thirty li to the west."

"Tengteng Town, Ren Family Village."

The fake smile on Chen Mo's face froze.

Tengteng Town? Ren Family Village?

These few words were like nails driven directly into his brain.

He had watched movies in his past life.

Ren Family Village, Old Master Ren—that was a childhood nightmare.

"Uh..." Chen Mo's Adam's apple bobbed as he asked tentatively, "In this Ren Family Village, is there a local squire named Ren Fa? Does he have a daughter named Ren Tingting who returned from studying abroad? And are they planning to relocate the old master's grave?"

Jiang Hongli looked at him like he was an idiot. "Are you drunk? There is a Master Ren in Ren Family Village, but his name is Ren Dafu. His daughter is only five. What is 'studying abroad'? And relocate a grave? The man just died not long ago and they're preparing for the burial."

Chen Mo let out a long breath.

Fortunately, it's not the world of 'Uncle Nine'. Just a coincidence in names.

Scared the life out of me.

"However..." Jiang Hongli's tone shifted, her expression becoming serious. "Although there's no Ren Tingting, there are zombies."

"Zom... zombies?" Chen Mo's heart, which had just settled, leaped back into his throat, and he instinctively shrank back. "Heroine Jiang, this isn't my specialty, is it? I'm a constable; I catch living people. Those jumping things are the job of your Imperial Astronomical Bureau. What can I do there? Deliver takeout to the zombies?"

"Deliver takeout?" Jiang Hongli was stunned for a moment, not understanding the term, but she didn't bother to ask. "Quit your whining. This time the situation is special. There's an outbreak of Yin Qi in Tengteng Town, and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau is short-handed. I've already spoken with Ye Zhiqiu, and she agreed to let you lead a team to assist me in sealing off the perimeter."

Hearing the name "Ye Zhiqiu", Chen Mo knew there was no way out of this.

A higher rank crushes those below, let alone one's direct superior.

"Fine." Chen Mo sighed in resignation, his shoulders slumping. "I'll go get the men. But let's get one thing straight: if something goes wrong, you have to protect me. I haven't even married a wife yet; I don't want to die young."

"Don't worry." Jiang Hongli patted the long sword at her waist, looking proud. "With me here, I guarantee you'll at least leave behind a whole corpse."

"...That makes me even more worried."

...

Half an hour later.

West City Yamen.

With a dark face, Chen Mo kicked open the door of the duty room.

Inside, snoring thundered. Several night-shift Runners were sleeping like dead pigs, drool pooling on the floor.

"Get the hell up! We've got work to do!"

Chen Mo roared.

The Runners were startled awake, scrambling up dazed. Seeing it was the newly appointed head constable, they hurriedly fumbled with their clothes and hats.

"Boss, it's the middle of the night. What happened?" an old Runner asked while rubbing his eyes.

"Something big." Chen Mo slapped the warrant he got from Ye Zhiqiu onto the table. "There are zombies in Tengteng Town. We're going to support."

"Ah?!"

Upon hearing the word "zombies," the Runners' faces turned pale instantly, and their legs began to tremble.

"Boss, we... we can't deal with those things!"

"Exactly. That's a fight for immortals. Why should we Mortals join in?"

Chen Mo glared at them. "Cut the crap! Orders came from above. Not going is disobedience, which is a capital offense! Move it! Bring black dog blood, glutinous rice, and torches! If anyone dares to wet their pants, I'll hack them down first!"

While the Runners were preparing the supplies, Chen Mo flipped open the dossier on the table.

This was internal information sent down by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

Tengteng Town—this place was sinister.

The dossier stated clearly: this place was a "Triple Sha Position," where the earth's Qi was stagnated and Yin and Yang were out of balance.

The so-called zombies were not the virus-infected mutants from movies who turned after being bitten.

In this world, after a person died, if they held a breath of resentment before death that couldn't be released, and happened to be buried in such a Yin-heavy Corpse-raising land, that resentment would congeal in their throat, connecting with the subterranean Yin Sha Qi.

Over time, the corpse would not rot but instead grow white or black hair, possessing immense strength and an insatiable bloodlust.

This was a "zombie."