Chapter 174
Chapter 174
In a dream.
I found myself standing outside Li Miao’s courtyard, with a woman in a white dress before me.
Her back was turned to me.
I knew this had to be Zhou Min. She had drawn me into a dream once again.
Since I didn’t understand corpse speech, this method of communication was probably much more convenient.
“Sister Zhou.”
I called to her.
She turned around.
Then I froze.
The Zhou Min within this dream no longer possessed the sinister, terrifying aura or feeling she had before. She seemed utterly peaceful, just like a living person.
Her face was no longer pale, and her expression was gentle.
“Thank you, Xiao Wu.”
This was the first time she had truly spoken. Her voice was surprisingly soft.
“Huh? Sister Zhou? This… You…”
Even within a dream, I couldn’t immediately process such a dramatic change.
From the moment I first encountered her, she had been a terrifying floating corpse drifting in a pool of water. After that, she had always behaved forcefully and never gave me any chance to consider or choose anything for myself.
Now she was treating me with such warmth!
But then I thought about it. Perhaps most of her resentment had already dissipated?
Faced with her gratitude, I scratched the back of my head and said,
“You don’t need to thank me, Sister Zhou. You gave me an enormous benefit too.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them a little.
Didn’t that make me sound far too mercenary?
What if she got angry?
But Zhou Min didn’t become angry. Instead, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
“I still need to thank you. The nether covenant may be a form of restraint, but I can tell whether you’ve truly taken my request to heart. Besides, I was the one who used certain methods to force you to help me in the first place.”
By now, Zhou Min had completely lost the terrifying pressure and menace she once exuded.
She resembled a friend I knew but wasn’t especially close to.
There was sincerity in her manner, together with a touch of courtesy and small talk.
Even I began to feel a little embarrassed.
“But Sister Zhou… I still failed to kill the person chiefly responsible for your death. Our nether covenant hasn’t been completely fulfilled yet.”
“He’s half-dead now, isn’t he? Everything you’ve already done for me is worth that corpse core. There’s no need to hurry with the rest. Kill the rogue occultist when the opportunity arises. His cultivation is extremely high. Thank you for all your hard work.”
What I actually wanted to say was, of course there was a hurry!
Until that man died, our nether covenant would remain incomplete. Somewhere along my future path of cultivation, it might suddenly become a heart demon and damage my progress.
But since she was being so considerate, I certainly wasn’t stupid enough to respond with something so discouraging. I smiled and nodded instead.
Zhou Min continued,
“Mr. Li has retrieved my body from the evil formation at the bottom of the river, so this remnant of my soul is much freer now. Sleep well, Xiao Wu. I’m going back to visit my parents.”
I knew she meant to enter her parents’ dreams.
“All right, Sister Zhou. Be safe on the way… Uh, force of habit.”
Good grief!
Why would a powerful vicious corpse need to worry about safety?
Besides, only her remnant soul was traveling through dreams.
She was acting so gently and looked so much like an ordinary living person that words like “be safe” had slipped instinctively from my mouth.
She couldn’t help laughing too.
The moment she turned away, the scene before me began to blur.
She left my dream…
The next morning.
Since I needed to return to the coffin shop from Li Miao’s home first, I woke an hour earlier than usual.
Li Miao was still sound asleep and snoring softly, so I didn’t disturb him.
I quietly dressed, put on my shoes, opened the door, and walked into the courtyard.
After all, not everyone knew sleep cultivation!
Master had even said it was exceedingly rare for the coffin bearers of Old Cao’s lineage to preserve a tradition of sleep cultivation. It was unusual for a small folk arcane lineage to possess such a profound method.
Even among those mysterious great sects, a method of this caliber would be considered extraordinary.
Old Cao had taught it to me entirely out of respect for Master.
No matter how close he was to Li Miao, he could never pass it on to him!
Li Miao still needed ordinary sleep and rest to recover his strength…
Of course, he recovered far faster than a normal person.
I went to the woodshed in one corner of the courtyard and glanced inside.
The female corpse Zhou Min lay quietly on a straw mat spread across the floor, looking as though she were asleep.
Dawn had only just broken. The eastern sky was turning pale, and the sun would soon rise.
This was the time all yin entities feared most. Naturally, she could no longer move and remained obediently hidden inside the woodshed.
“Rest well during the day, Sister Zhou. We’ll take you to be buried and rest in peace tonight.”
I even greeted her, though I had no idea whether she could hear me.
Heizi rubbed affectionately against my legs, making adorable whimpering sounds.
I hugged its large, furry head and rubbed it for a while, then left for the coffin shop.
It was still several miles away.
Unfortunately, I had only just crossed the threshold of the spirit-paper arts and couldn’t yet control a paper horse well enough to carry me at a run. That was why Old Cao had taken both paper horses back with him last night…
“Forget it. I’ll treat this as a morning walk and enjoy the scenery.”
Winters in the Sichuan-Chongqing region brought frequent fog and frost.
That was especially true along the Chuan River.
From early morning until noon, mist blanketed the mighty river that had flowed since time immemorial.
Humming a tune, I strolled leisurely back to the coffin shop.
Wang Hu was already awake and cleaning the building.
He floated in midair while remotely controlling two brooms and a rag to do the work.
The brooms seemed to sweep dust from the floor by themselves, while the rag wiped down the finished coffins stacked in a corner.
An ordinary person who saw this would probably wet themselves on the spot.
“Oh, Young Mr. Wu is back!”
He immediately greeted me with a smile.
Cleaning in this way continuously strengthened Wang Hu’s spirit body. He cleaned the coffin shop and cultivated at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.
“Mm. Keep working, Uncle Hu. Once I’ve packed my schoolbag, I’ll buy breakfast for you and Old Cao from the steamed-bun shop.”
I spoke while heading upstairs.
As I passed the storage area in the hallway outside my room, I noticed the two paper horses looked travel-worn. Their colors were no longer as vivid as before, probably because we had ridden them so often lately.
I gently patted the paper horses’ heads and said with a smile,
“What good horses! Old Cao should find some time to repaint you or give you a proper restoration. Ha ha ha.”
As I entered my room, I seemed to hear the cheerful whinnying of horses beside my ears.
Apparently, the pair were delighted and considered me a loyal friend.
…
Time for school!
Wang Dachun and Zeng Jin were waiting with their gang of friends at the three-way intersection between Lianghe Main Street and Lianghe Bridge. When they saw me, every one of them actually bowed in unison today and shouted greetings such as “Good morning, Boss!” and “Greetings, Boss!”
The nearby street vendors stared at us with looks ranging from bewilderment to contempt.
I was mortified!
In later internet slang, this would be called “social death.” I was so embarrassed I could have clawed a two-bedroom apartment, living room and all, into the ground with my toes!
Wang Dachun shamelessly sidled up to me, looking as though he expected praise.
“Well, Boss? Wasn’t that awesome? I learned it from Hong Kong gangster movies. Underlings are supposed to greet their boss that way.”
My face darkened until it was as black as soot from the bottom of a pot.
“Get lost, idiot!”
I raised my foot and kicked him in the butt.
“Ow! My ass!”
The fool screamed and went flying.
Everyone, including Zeng Jin, burst into laughter.
They radiated the sunshine and vitality of middle school students.
I smiled.
Yeah. This was wonderful!