Chapter 9

Wang Qi drank a lot and, for a moment, actually forgot about the task of exorcising the demon. Reminded by Xuan Kong, he was instantly frightened pale.

He quickly grabbed Xuan Kong and trembled, saying, "Senior Brother, what should we do?"

Xuan Kong blew out the already dim and weak oil lamp on the table in one breath, lay down on the bed, and crossed his legs, saying casually, "Now? It's almost midnight, why not go to sleep?" He was quite mischievous, scaring Wang Qi sober, while he himself started to snore.

Wang Qi clung tightly to Xuan Kong, not daring to move, and couldn't possibly fall asleep.

The house Xuan Kong chose by luck had a view of the opposite side through the window, where a carriage with a corpse was parked. He could vaguely see the body covered with a paper blanket under the carriage's curtain.

Wang Qi didn't know if the female corpse had "come back to life" and didn't dare to go and check it himself. His mind was full of wild thoughts, and he couldn't help but feel a bit frightened. He hated himself for not drinking more of Senior Brother's fine wine earlier; how nice it would be to pass out now?

It wasn't impossible to fall asleep, after all, he had drunk quite a bit and was wary of the female corpse. Before long, he was extremely drowsy.

Listening to Xuan Kong's snoring getting louder and louder, Wang Qi sighed in his heart. He could only pinch his own thigh to stay awake. Just as he was half-asleep, he suddenly heard a rustling sound from the opposite house.

Wang Qi tightly closed his mouth and secretly prayed to the gods in his heart.

He opened his eyes and looked over, only to see the female corpse standing up straight from the carriage, pushing aside the curtain and hopping closer to the wooden house where they were sleeping. The wooden door creaked open as it was pushed from the outside.

The female corpse hopped right up to the bed, feeling fortunate that the heavens had sent her two vigorous men.

As long as she absorbed the yang energy of these two men, she would be close to achieving the state of yin-yang harmony and forming a corpse elixir.

She bent down and sniffed in front of Xuan Kong, just as he belched, and the smell of alcohol mixed with garlic almost overwhelmed her. "This guy is too stinky!" she cursed in her heart and turned to Wang Qi's face.

Wang Qi cursed in his heart, regretting that he had insisted on coming down the mountain with Senior Brother.

Senior Brother was indeed powerful, even having a connection with a female ghost.

He was half-numb and half-awake, watching the female corpse pause over Xuan Kong and then move directly toward his face. As she was about to reach him, Wang Qi's back was already drenched in cold sweat, and he couldn't help but hold his breath and squeeze closer to Xuan Kong.

Wang Qi prayed and kicked Xuan Kong with his foot, but Xuan Kong was too deeply asleep and didn't even grunt.

His snoring only got louder.

The fear in Wang Qi's heart grew unbearable, and his hands and feet started to tremble. The female corpse's red lips were about to touch his mouth. How did he know her lips were red? It was simple; he was so scared that he jumped up from the bed.

Facing the female corpse directly, Wang Qi cried, "Please, my Senior Brother is better to eat..."

The female corpse's already pale face turned even paler, as if she was startled by Wang Qi's "revival." Wang Qi roared, "Better to die with a friend than alone, I'll fight you to the death!" As he shouted, he tried to fight the female corpse and shrank down to the ground.

He thought the old Taoist master was just fooling him when he said that mastering the wall-penetrating technique could turn into the ground-penetrating technique.

But in a moment of panic, he actually managed to use it.

He buried his head into the ground.

The female corpse was startled and reached out to grab the bed. Fortunately, Wang Qi had not been lazy in his daily practice and had accumulated some true energy, focusing it all on the ground-penetrating technique. In a moment, he escaped from the female corpse's side.

The female corpse screamed and plunged her hands into the ground like iron knives.

Wang Qi's cultivation was too shallow; he couldn't burrow deep into the earth and had to come up for air every so often.

When the female corpse's nails stabbed down, he would shrink down a bit. When she pulled her hands back, he would come up to breathe. This went on like a game of whack-a-mole for a while.

Both sides were exhausted from this stalemate. The female corpse finally couldn't contain her anger and stretched out her arms through the soil to cast a spell.

Wang Qi watched helplessly as a yellowish spiritual light gathered at the tips of the female corpse's fingers. Although he didn't know what spell it was, he knew he was doomed and almost fainted. But after waiting for a long time with his eyes closed, he didn't feel any pain.

When he looked up, he saw Xuan Kong, who had been sleeping comfortably on the bed, grab the female corpse's arms.

A talisman was pasted on the female corpse's forehead, immobilizing her. She was gradually subdued and stood there stiffly.

It turned out that Xuan Kong had been awake all along, or at least pretending to sleep. He had watched the drama unfold, and only when the female corpse was about to use a powerful spell did he intervene.

Wang Qi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and smiled bitterly in his heart, "I'll never go out with Senior Brother again, who would sleep in front of a zombie like that?"

Xuan Kong, unable to hold back a laugh, said, "Clean yourself up, you're covered in mud. Be careful, Second Brother won't let you back up the mountain." In the Laoshan Sect, Xuan Kong usually didn't handle affairs, and the rules were in the hands of Second Brother.

Second Brother was particularly fond of cleanliness and couldn't do anything about the messy Xuan Kong, but he could easily deal with a new disciple like Wang Qi.

Wang Qi rushed over, "Thank you, Senior Brother, or I wouldn't have survived tonight!"

Xuan Kong, feeling a bit guilty, patted Wang Qi's shoulder, "Come to the back mountain often, and I'll teach you some interesting tricks."

Wang Qi was overjoyed, realizing that Xuan Kong's Taoist skills were profound. What he called "interesting tricks" was definitely not something trivial like breaking a brick with his chest.

He had come thousands of miles from home to learn a set of skills.

Xuan Kong pointed to the female corpse and said, "Go and tear off the talisman on her head."

Wang Qi was stunned. After so much effort to subdue the female corpse, how could he just let her go? Xuan Kong explained, "From her behavior, it seems she only wants the yang energy of men. Although I haven't seen the bodies of those she has drained, I have some confidence that I can save them."

Xuan Kong's confidence came from the *Lingbao Duren Jing* in his possession. The hunter in the village was a ghost who died prematurely. He had lost his yang energy and had to become a wandering ghost. Calculating the time, he probably hadn't been taken to the underworld by the soul collector yet.

Therefore, if their yang energy could be restored, Xuan Kong wanted to try and save a life, which is better than building a seven-story pagoda.