Chapter 5: Borrowing a Corpse to Return to Life

As Zhong Xu and Di Jiang left the city, they followed the Jiudu River downstream. The peach blossoms on both banks were in full bloom, their fragrance rich and enchanting. If it weren’t for the dry corpse strapped to Zhong Xu’s back emitting corpse qi, Di Jiang might have thought she was walking through paradise.

However, the corpse had become even stranger than yesterday. Although his face was still covered with deathly pallor, one could faintly see a hint of blush on his cheeks, and his lips had regained some color. It almost seemed as if someone recovering from a serious illness was gradually getting better...

Di Jiang suppressed her disgust and took his pulse again. She discovered that after one night, not only had his pulse returned to normal, but there were also faint signs of a heartbeat—though much slower than an ordinary person’s, this was undoubtedly a miracle in medical history.

Di Jiang praised, “This old man has such a strong will to survive!”

“How do you know it’s not a case of borrowing a corpse to return to life?” Zhong Xu asked.

“What does borrowing a corpse to return to life look like?” Di Jiang shot him a glare and laughed, “If you were a wandering soul, would you choose such a broken body to return to? You wouldn’t even have the strength to kill a mosquito—it would be a waste of effort!”

“That makes sense,” Zhong Xu nodded. “Then, according to Shopkeeper Di’s experience, what do you think happened?”

“In my opinion... he must have been framed, causing his soul to be forcibly separated from his body, and recently it returned to his body,” Di Jiang pondered further and added, “The porcelain jar that Miss Zhang shattered might have been the container that sealed him. But this is just my guess; I need to see the yellow paper used to seal him to confirm.”

“Alright, I’ll take you there.” Zhong Xu’s gaze remained calm, and he didn’t seem out of breath despite the journey. Di Jiang was curious about how many layers of cultivation he had reached.

Thinking this, Di Jiang suddenly struck Zhong Xu’s abdomen with her palm.

She expected him to dodge or ignore her palm strike completely, but instead, Zhong Xu endured the blow directly. He let out a muffled groan, his features twisted in pain as he bared his teeth and said, “Di… Shopkeeper Di, why…”

“Oh, sorry!” Di Jiang quickly apologized. “I just wanted to test Daoist Zhong’s cultivation, but I didn’t expect you to fail to dodge such a simple trick!”

“I trusted you too much, yet you secretly attacked me…” Beads of sweat formed on Zhong Xu’s forehead. Di Jiang hurriedly pulled out a pill from her sleeve and fed it to Zhong Xu.

This pill was entirely crimson, appearing even more advanced than the golden elixir from before. Before Zhong Xu could refuse, she forcefully shoved it into his mouth.

The pill dissolved instantly upon entering his mouth, transforming into wisps of green smoke that spiraled upward from above his head and disappeared into the clouds.

Zhong Xu no longer felt any pain in his body. Instead, he experienced a sensation of being as light as a feather, floating and ethereal.

“What is this?”

“A homemade immortality pill,” Di Jiang grinned. “Don’t you feel the pain gone?”

Zhong Xu nodded blankly.

“There you go. My medicine cures all diseases, guaranteed effective every time.”

“…” Zhong Xu continued walking forward, no longer speaking to her.

He felt that this pill wasn’t as miraculous as she claimed. Instead, it felt more like he had received some enlightenment. Something he had pondered over countless times without understanding suddenly became clear, like receiving a sudden epiphany.

His body hadn’t changed at all, but his consciousness had made a leap forward.

This feeling was extraordinary.

When Zhong Xu looked at Di Jiang again, he saw her strolling by the riverside in a tender green dress, her two braids swaying back and forth with each step. Against the backdrop of blooming peach blossoms, her vibrant colors made her appear even more beautiful and charming.

Zhong Xu shook his head, thinking that what he had just consumed definitely wasn’t something good. Perhaps… he had been drugged by her!

Di Jiang walked ahead, her expression calm, but inwardly she was blaming others. How could she have anticipated that Zhong Xu would be so suspicious?

She had merely resorted to desperate measures, randomly pulling out some pills given to her by friends to help relieve his pain. When her friends gave her these pills, they boasted them to be otherworldly treasures. Who would have thought that after Zhong Xu consumed so many, he still treated them as ordinary painkillers? How could this not be disappointing?

Each harboring their own thoughts, the two continued walking forward until the afternoon when they finally arrived in front of the Yangchun residence.

Just as Di Jiang was about to knock on the door, she was suddenly scooped up by Zhong Xu. Before she could react, Zhong Xu leapt into the air with her in his arms, and the three of them moved effortlessly across the rooftops of the various courtyards of the Yangchun residence.

“There seems to be something strange inside. Let’s not alert them,” Zhong Xu whispered softly into her ear.

“Hmm?” Di Jiang blinked, her face slightly flushed, but when she looked up, she saw the dry corpse facing her open its mouth and exhale a puff of corpse qi directly onto her face. Her vision went black, her breathing stopped, and she nearly fainted.

Fortunately, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky at that moment. The cold raindrops landing on her forehead barely preserved her consciousness.

“Can you... keep him farther away from me?” Di Jiang turned her head, but Zhong Xu forced it back.

He said tensely, “This poor Daoist only has two hands. To maintain balance, I can only inconvenience Shopkeeper Di.”

Di Jiang had no choice but to endure the discomfort, cursing inwardly: This Yangchun residence is too large! Why haven’t we reached our destination yet?

Just as Di Jiang was on the verge of fainting, Zhong Xu landed steadily on a small clearing halfway up the mountain behind the Yangchun residence. This spot offered an excellent view, allowing them to observe the entire Yangchun residence below.

“Where is this?”

“The location of the Meng family’s ancestral graves.”

Upon hearing this, Di Jiang turned around and noticed dozens of burial mounds against the mountainside. At the center stood a massive tombstone, as large as five doors combined. The words “Yangchun Mountain Man” were engraved in dazzling gold letters, radiating brilliance.

Zhong Xu placed the breathing corpse down and pointed to the tombstone, saying, “I carried him out from there.”

“What?!” Di Jiang’s eyes widened in shock. “You mean he’s Meng Zichang, the immensely wealthy and charitable ‘Yangchun Mountain Man’ from fifty years ago?!”

“Precisely.” Zhong Xu nodded.

“Amitabha, what sins have been committed.” Di Jiang clasped her hands together and crouched down in front of the living corpse, examining him closely. She then added, “I’m certain he’s still alive. Otherwise, after all these years, he would have already entered the cycle of reincarnation. With his accumulated blessings, his next life should be filled with prosperity and success.”

“Doctor Di seems quite knowledgeable about matters of the underworld?”

“I’ve read a few books, that’s all,” Di Jiang replied. “We need to help him.”

“How?”

“Isn’t it simple?” Di Jiang gave a sly smile. “We naturally send him to the Western Paradise.”

“What?!” Zhong Xu was greatly alarmed.

“He should have died long ago. Now that his soul has returned to his body, we just need to stab his heart once more, ensuring his spirit returns to the underworld to be reborn. With the good karma he has accumulated in this life, his blessings in the next will be inexhaustible. Why force him to remain in this world, enduring suffering?”

“... “ After pondering for a moment, Zhong Xu urgently said, “What Doctor Di says makes sense, but I feel something is amiss... If we do this, it’s no different from taking a life!”

“Hey, this isn’t taking a life! He’s been dead for how many years?” Di Jiang stood up and tried to grab Zhong Xu’s sword, but he refused, retreating repeatedly.

As he backed towards the edge of the cliff, with nowhere left to retreat, Zhong Xu grabbed Di Jiang’s hands, immobilizing her in his embrace. He frowned and said, “No matter how he died before, he is now a living person. We cannot act rashly. Since you are a ghost doctor, show your medical ethics and teach me not to look down on you.”

Seeing Zhong Xu’s serious expression, Di Jiang burst out laughing, saying, “Alright, I’ll listen to you.”

In truth, Di Jiang was only joking earlier. She merely wanted to test Zhong Xu’s character.

She had always thought of him as a ruthless ghost-killing Daoist, but through their recent interactions, she realized his temperament had changed significantly from before.

He was finally willing to consider others and understood the difference between salvation and eradication. This pleased her greatly.

“Look over there.” Zhong Xu pointed to a courtyard below the mountain.

Following his finger, Di Jiang saw a piece of clothing hanging from a peach tree beside a rockery in the courtyard. By now, the mountain was experiencing strong winds, yet the clothing swayed only slightly.

Di Jiang suddenly realized that... this might not just be a piece of clothing.

The garment seemed somewhat familiar to Di Jiang, especially the hat above it—a flat-topped azure hat with a red ball on top, quite eye-catching.

Only then did she realize, if it were just clothing, why would it have a hat?

“That looks like a person. I’ve seen him...” Di Jiang paused momentarily, exclaiming, “It’s Liu Si, the gatekeeper! Quick, let’s go down and take a look!”

Di Jiang pulled Zhong Xu to run down, but Zhong Xu wasn’t in a hurry. He freed himself from Di Jiang’s grasp, walked back, placed the Yangchun Mountain Man under the tombstone, and covered his head with his outer garment. As he did so, he said, “This mountain is damp and cold. First, to prevent him from getting wet in the rain, and second, to avoid him catching a chill.”

“Daoist Zhong truly has a Bodhisattva’s heart.” Di Jiang praised sincerely.

After Zhong Xu finished, he stepped forward, picked Di Jiang up horizontally, and flew down. In no time, they arrived in front of the peach tree.

Zhong Xu set Di Jiang down, and both looked up, their faces changing color.

Liu Si’s eyeballs were bulging, and his tongue was half-hanging out of his mouth. Protruding eyes and tongue were typical signs of death by hanging, but he was somewhat different from others.

His mouth was stretched wide upwards, clearly displaying an excited, smiling expression.

His head was caught in his neck, sticking out his tongue and widening his eyes, grinning menacingly down at those below. Who wouldn’t be terrified? Who wouldn’t find it horrifying?

Di Jiang’s legs went limp, nearly causing her to collapse. Fortunately, Zhong Xu supported her from behind, preventing her from falling.

“Doctor Di, are you alright?” Zhong Xu asked.

Di Jiang shook her head. “It must be because I didn’t sleep well.”

“The fourth one...”

At that moment, a murmur came from behind them.

They turned around to see a middle-aged woman dressed in fine clothes standing behind them, her gaze somewhat vacant.

Beside the woman stood a green-clad maid, who kept her head bowed and trembled uncontrollably, clearly frightened out of her wits.

The middle-aged woman’s face was dazed, her eyes filled with fear. From her initial muttering to her later frenzied shouting—

Di Jiang finally heard clearly what she was muttering: “There’s no escape... None of us can escape... It’s Old Master’s curse!”