After getting over her initial shock, the elderly woman gasped. Her wrinkly hands covered her mouth as her head twitched sporadically. Her neck snapped towards Wu Lingtian and she lunged forward, immediately grasping onto the front of his robes. Tears began to form at the edges of her eyes as she clung desperately onto him, like a man drowning at sea.
“Please! Please, ask that woman to spare my granddaughter,” the elderly woman sobbed. “Please—I take back everything I asked for. I shouldn’t have agreed!”
Despite the alarming and erratic display, Wu Lingtian remained calm on the outside. He ignored the familiar pounding against his skull and grasped the trembling hands that held onto him. Grannie Li’s head shot up abruptly. Tears streamed down her wrinkled face as it distorted into something that looked neither human nor monster.
“Grannie, I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to,” Wu Lingtian said gently. “Have you mistaken me for another person?”
The elderly woman seemed to have received a shock. Her hands slowly released Wu Lingtian. They fell back to her lap and she stared at Wu Lingtian agape.
“That’s right…that young man didn’t have a mole, did he?” the elderly woman whispered to herself. “No, no. He had a clean face. And he smiled more…yes, you aren’t him.”
The woman sobbed. Her shoulders shook as she held her head in her hands. “Oh, my dearest granddaughter. I’m so sorry…”
Wu Lingtian took a deep breath and smoothed down his robes. He took a moment to compose himself and crouched down once he did. He set his sword on his lap and leaned against the bed. “Grannie, you keep mentioning your granddaughter, but was your grandson truly not affected?”
“My grandson…my grandson is alive,” the grandmother insisted tearily. “I saw him just yesterday!”
Wu Lingtian hummed. He stood and glanced at Fan Yi. “We’ll be right back, okay?”
“Yes…yes…”
The two men exited the inner room and stood at the wall furthest from the door.
“Are you okay?” Fan Yi asked.
Wu Lingtian nodded. “Though, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t alarmed.”
“Me as well,” Fan Yi murmured. He glanced back at the door. When he spoke again, his voice rang out in Wu Lingtian’s mind in a voice transmission. “You saw her eyes, right?”
“And her nails were black,” Wu Lingtian nodded.
“I couldn’t sense the breath of the living on her, but she doesn’t seem to realize she’s already died,” Fan Yi said. “Not to mention, her limbs aren’t the same as a corpse’s.”
In this world, many people had experimented and tampered with the dead. The dead couldn’t feel pain and were arguably this world’s strongest soldiers. The only problem was how to make them last longer. Some people had abandoned the old ways of making walking corpses into fierce corpses by summoning their resentment. Although the summoner could easily control them hoards at a time, they were ineffective in fighting and couldn’t think for themselves. If something went wrong, then the owner would be torn apart by their own tools.
The alternative became the implanting of a Gu, like Wuma Qiongling’s late shizun had done. Through years of tinkering, these puppets became the ideal soldier. They moved quickly and wouldn’t rebel against their master because of the Gu living inside of them. There was still the downside of the corpses’ limbs stiffening the longer they had been dead.
These were all practices that were frowned upon. After all, disturbing the dead was a sign of utmost disrespect. However, unless you stepped out of line, really it was only the righteous sect that would target you.
But, throughout the years, there have been rumors that people have been researching other kinds of puppetry—the kind where one could turn a person into a braindead corpse, yet not fully kill them. The first attempts had been snuffed in the crib by Frost Cliff Pavilion. Such practices were deemed immoral and unlawful. It was experimentation on the soul and human life. Once that person was apprehended, all the research that they had done and all their successful experiments were burned to a crisp, dying along with its creator.
“Do you think it’s a living corpse?” Wu Lingtian asked.
“Perhaps,” Fan Yi nodded. He glanced back at the door. “But I’ve seen a living corpse before. They can recognize their master alright, but they aren’t sentient. A living corpse wouldn’t be able to talk to us like that one had spoken to us.”
Wu Lingtian frowned. “Then, what could it—”
The front door beside them creaked open, followed by the quiet tinkling sound of a bell.
A pale, slender hand grasped the door as a man, dressed in black from head to toe entered the rickety establishment. Once the man was fully inside the house, his head turned towards Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi who were standing in the corner. His eyes slowly curved into crescents as his lips became upturned into a smile.
“It’s the two cultivators from earlier,” the undertaker smiled. “What a pleasure to see you two in my humble abode. But may I ask why you’re here?”
Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi exchanged glances.
“This is your house?” Fan Yi asked.
The undertaker smiled. He set down a basket of groceries. “This is where I live. Oh,” his eyes fell on the closed door, “and my grandmother.”
“Why are the windows boarded up?” Wu Lingtian asked.
“That’s because my grandmother doesn’t like the light,” the undertaker said with a small frown. “She said it makes her head hurt. When her head hurts, she becomes really crabby. Why, she even scratched me several times!”
The undertaker laughed as if it wasn’t a big deal, but Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi could see anger in his eyes.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“So, what brought you two gentlemen here?” the undertaker asked. “I thought you two would be investigating the deceased’s families. How come you’ve found yourselves in my home instead?”
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As he rounded the table, the bell at his wrist jingled again.
“As for a grandson,” the undertaker observed the dusty cups and placed it back down without another thought of using them. He looked up at Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi. “I’m her only grandson.”
“I see,” Wu Lingtian frowned. “It seems we were mistaken them. Our apologies for disturbing your home.”
“Not at all, not at all,” the undertaker smiled indolently. He raised his wrist and fiddled with the bell. “But I’m just a bit curious—did she say anything strange?”
“Strange?” Wu Lingtian raised a brow.
“My grandmother is a bit senile, you see,” the bell’s ringing became more pronounced. “I was just wondering if she had said anything…out of the ordinary.”
“Not at all,” Wu Lingtian shook his head.
“That’s good,” the undertaker let out a soft sigh. He cupped his hands together, “Then, I won’t be seeing you two out.”
Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi bowed as well. They made their way to the doors when the bell rang again, swaying louder to the undertaker’s movements. Wu Lingtian rested his hand against the door and pushed out.
It was locked.
An inhuman shriek sounded from behind them. A dazzling blue sword light streaked through the air, flinging the creature to the opposite wall.
Fan Yi stood with his sword out and pointed to the undertaker and the elderly woman, who no longer looked so weak and frail. The woman, who had been slumped over even when she was sitting, was now standing tall without a hump. Her black nails had become elongated and her white eyes stared at them unblinkingly. Her skin stretched unnaturally across her skeleton, as if it were trying its best to keep everything inside, and her entire being radiated demonic energy.
The undertaker applauded excitedly. “Impressive! I seem to have underestimated you, Sect Leader Fan.”
Fan Yi laughed. “Sir, you’re overpraising me. I would say that you’re more impressive! You’re quite the good actor.”
“Oh, not at all,” the undertaker shook his head in surprise. His eyes flickered to Wu Lingtian beside Fan Yi. “I would say the one beside you is the better actor.”
Wu Lingtian remained silent.
“I don’t seem to understand what you mean,” Fan Yi smiled.
“That’s a conversation for you and Lord Yu Lan to have,” the undertaker sighed, as if he found the entire situation to be a pity. He smiled. “Of course, that’s only if you’re able to get out.”
At that, the undertaker raised his hand and gave it a good shake. The sound of the bell rippled through the air. The elderly woman flinched at the sound. She seemed to grow agitated for a second before she lunged for Fan Yi again. Fan Yi blocked her a second time and mercilessly shoved her to the side. The tea table and the objects on top shattered to pieces as soon as Grannie Li fell on top of it.
Despite the great impact, the elderly woman stood up again and headed straight for Fan Yi once more.
Fan Yi grabbed Wu Lingtian and placed him firmly behind himself. He fought nimbly with one hand and managed to avoid most of the elderly woman’s attacks. Her nails came close to scratching his cheek, but only managed to skim his earlobe.
Fan Yi frowned and twisted his sword to thrust it into the woman’s chest. Before the sword could land, the elderly woman seemed to regain a hint of clarity. Fear took over her face and she collapsed to the ground with a trembling cry.
The sect leader stopped his sword in time and pulled back, however, as soon as the sword disappeared, the elderly woman regained her previous ferocious disposition. She grabbed onto Fan Yi’s legs and flung him out the door.
The door crumbled on impact and Fan Yi careened into the ground.
Wu Lingtian quickly followed after Fan Yi. He dropped to the gravel and helped Fan Yi sit up. “Sect Leader, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Fan Yi coughed lightly.
The undertaker’s delighted laugh followed them out. “So, even the great Sect Leader Fan Yi can’t handle one of my little prototypes.”
“She’s still alive?” Fan Yi pressed his hand against his chest as he tried to compose himself.
The undertaker giggled. “You could say that. Why? If she’s still alive, you don’t dare harm her?”
Seeing Fan Yi and Wu Lingtian’s lack of response, the undertaker laughed even harder.
“You two both have a reputation for being ruthless and vicious, but it turned out it was just rumors? One’s so crippled he’s useless and the other doesn’t want to harm a living human even if they’ve been turned into a monster! How extremely laughable!”
The elderly woman lumbered over. When she wasn’t fighting, her movements were just the same as that of a walking corpse. You would never expect her extreme speed and precision in battle.
“Aw, don’t tell me you’re done already,” the undertaker frowned. “You have to get up, Sect Leader Fan. There’s still more games to play.”
At the drop of the last word, the woman lurched forward again.
This time, Wu Lingtian unsheathed the Rui Sword and met the attack head on. He blocked the oncoming attack with the flat of the sword and kicked creature in the stomach. The Rui Sword vibrated unhappily.
“Master, let me cut that thing to pieces! You know you want me to!”
“She’s still alive,” Wu Lingtian said through gritted teeth as the monster in the form of an elderly woman shot forward again.
“Tsk! That’s not true at all. This woman was once human, but now she’s something that’s neither dead nor alive! She’s absolutely filled with demonic energy. Even if you managed to capture her alive and tried to purify her, she’ll just die in the end!”
“Really?” Wu Lingtian asked as he parried another attack.
“It’s more than true! How could I ever lie to you, Master?”
Wu Lingtian hesitated for a millisecond before he drove the Rui Sword through the woman’s hand.
To his surprise, the woman didn’t even scream in pain. Instead, her lips curved away from her teeth in a snarl and she ripped her hand through the blade. The wound in her hand dripped blood that was a blacker shade of red than normal. The veins in her hand pulsed a strange inky color and the wound quickly closed up again.
The undertaker let out a delighted chortle. “What do you think, Lord Yu Lan? Fascinating, isn’t it? No matter how much you stab her or attack her, she will always heal again!”
Wu Lingtian jumped back to avoid the woman’s attack. He narrowly missed the sharp black nails. He took several quick steps back and stepped behind the elderly woman. He flipped his sword and slashed down, completely severing the elderly woman’s arm.
The nub that formed spurted blood, but the arm that fell down began to writhe and wiggle as if it gained a mind of its own. As for the main body, the woman acted as if she hadn’t felt a single thing.
Wu Lingtian’s eyes widened. He jumped into the air and flipped over the woman. He landed back beside Fan Yi and just narrowly managed to block the arm that came flying their way.
“Oh, how marvelous!” the undertaker clapped his hands together again. His grin became twisted as he watched the ongoing fight. A frown emerged from his smile and he raised a brow. “But I feel like I’m dishonoring you two honorable cultivators by making you just one puny prototype.”
Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi looked up.
The bell rang out clearly three times. A short, eerie silence followed before horrified screams emerged from the village’s center.
“Then, what will you do?” the undertaker asked with a small smirk.
“A-Tian,” Fan Yi turned to Wu Lingtian.
“I’m fine,” Wu Lingtian threw the Rui Sword in the air. He enacted a series of complex gestures and raised a fire wall between them and the undertaker and the elderly woman.
He wrapped his arm around Fan Yi’s waist, caught the Rui Sword, and teleported into the center of the village. As soon as they landed, he released Fan Yi and smacked the nearest creature into the wall. The wall crumbled into rubble and Wu Lingtian turned back to Fan Yi.
“Sect Leader, please cover me.”
Fan Yi nodded. He wielded Tian Ya and launched himself at the creatures to draw their attention away from the civilians.
Wu Lingtian drove the Rui Sword into the ground and drew an array in the air. A golden barrier began to form around him and the Rui Sword, shimmering and expanding the longer Wu Lingtian muttered the incantation.
“Wait, Master, if you use me as the pillar for the barrier, what are you going to wield?”
“I don’t need a sword to fight,” Wu Lingtian’s eyes opened. “Besides, with you here, the barrier will last longer. Stand strong.”
“Master, wait—”
Without waiting for the Rui Sword to make its case, Wu Lingtian flew from the barrier. “Everyone, stand inside the golden ring and don’t get out until we say so!”
The villagers gratefully thanked Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi as they fled into the golden ring.
Wu Lingtian landed near Fan Yi and sent one of the monsters flying with a kick to the chest. Fan Yi flicked Tian Ya as he glanced over his shoulder at Wu Lingtian.
“No sword?”
“If even an enlightened artifact can’t slice these creatures to death, even if I had a sword, we wouldn’t be able to defeat them,” Wu Lingtian said.
Fan Yi hummed in agreement as he mercilessly pulled Tian Ya from a creature that was creeping up on them. “Then, what should we do?”
“We can try decapitation,” Wu Lingtian locked one of the creature’s arms and flung it over into a nearby pillar.
“Alright,” Fan Yi agreed readily.
Wu Lingtian slid under the attack of the next creature. He quickly turned around and hooked his arms around the monster’s arms, successfully locking him into place. Although the monster continued to struggle, Wu Lingtian knocked out its knees and drove his feet into them.
Fan Yi ran his sword through the monster that tried to grab him from behind. He spun and swiped Tian Ya cleanly through the monster’s head.
The darkish blood just narrowly missed Wu Lingtian’s already abysmal looking robes.
The two men watched the head roll off to the side but, to their complete dismay, the body still struggled and even the head’s mouth still moved.
“How could something still move if it’s decapitated?” Wu Lingtian threw the headless body aside and jumped over the oncoming attacker
Fan Yi ducked under Wu Lingtian and stabbed through the creature before kicking it down the street. He flicked his sword to rid it of blood on his blade and turned back to Wu Lingtian. “I’ve already stabbed them in the hearts, but they’re still wriggling around like a bunch of cockroaches.”
Wu Lingtian sighed in irritation. “Instead of being a threat, these things are more like a nuisance now.”
“Are you getting impatient?” Fan Yi ran his sword through another one.
“Mn. I still have disciples to check up on,” Wu Lingtian kicked one of the monsters into the one right behind him.
The sound of bells echoed over the empty streets of the village. Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi shared one look before turning back the way they had come from. The two men hopped onto the roofs lining the streets in order to avoid more confrontation with the monsters below.
It was just unfortunate that when they arrived at the rickety house, the undertaker had already disappeared. Even the elderly woman was no longer there. However, it was unmistakable that he was still in the village, since the sound of the bell continued to follow them wherever they went.
Wu Lingtian frowned as he looked around. He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at the rickety house again. He brought his gaze back to Fan Yi.
“Sect Leader.”
“Hm?”
“There’s two things we can do right now,” Wu Lingtian said.
Fan Yi smiled. “What’s that?”
“Destroy his bracelet or destroy him.”
“That’s true. Then, do you know where he is?”
Wu Lingtian nodded. “I probably do, but first, we need to trap the creatures in fire.”
“Fire?”
Wu Lingtian nodded. “Although they aren’t afraid of spiritual energy, nor are they afraid of losing limbs, fire can burn everything to a crisp. Even if they can still attack afterwards, their bodies will be ashes, so how can they bother us? If they’re stupid enough to follow, then let them burn to a crisp.”
“But if they aren’t, they’ll remain quietly in the fire,” Fan Yi nodded.
“On the off chance, they made the creatures resistant to fire, we can lock them in with a talisman,” Wu Lingtian said.
“Those things are teeming with demonic energy, so that would repel them at least,” Fan Yi agreed.
“The important thing is we have to keep at least one alive.”
“To hand over to Frost Cliff Pavilion?”
“Precisely.”
“Alright. But how do you plan to get them over?” Fan Yi asked.
Wu Lingtian smiled. “Sect Leader.”
“Yes?”
“Please be the bait.”
Please be the bait oh my little lover xD
Thank you for the chapter !
Wu Lingtian doesn’t ask for much 😂. Fire was my first thought too – although I probably would have let the Rui Sword have his way with them first, just to see what happens.