Chapter 1 The Beginning

Zhang Yuanqing returned to the main hall, bathed in the candlelight, calming the throbbing of his old injury and giving himself a purification.

According to his calculations, the vengeful spirit would entangle him within a minute or two. It certainly wasn't suitable to enter the East Yard and face the zombie at this time.

He rested for four or five minutes, but his physical condition worsened. A slight dizziness accompanied his headache. He knew that corpse poison was gradually eroding his body, and initial symptoms were appearing.

The candlelight in the main hall didn't seem to purify the toxins in his body.

"I can't delay any longer..."

He needed to take advantage of the half-hour time limit of the red dancing shoes to fight a quick battle and clear the dungeon in one go.

Zhang Yuanqing left the main hall, followed the cobblestone path, and passed through the weeds to reach the courtyard.

Standing in the courtyard with swaying weeds, he opened his inventory and summoned the red dancing shoes.

Two dark red glows wandered nimbly in the night, turning into a pair of brand-new dancing shoes.

"Select the second form!"

Zhang Yuanqing silently chanted.

The red dancing shoes shattered again into dark red glows, tracing two arcs and wrapping around his feet.

In an instant, the sneakers on his feet turned into a pair of large red dancing shoes.

This, this is just disguised cross-dressing, thankfully they're red dancing shoes, not high heels... Zhang Yuanqing looked at his feet, feeling a little uncomfortable and strange.

He forced himself not to care about the details, took out the zombie-warding talisman, held it in his hand, and passed through the arched door into the East Yard again, amidst the rustling of the banyan tree.

In the East Yard, the weeds swayed, the bright moonlight shone down, and two large houses stood quietly. Everything was so still.

He carefully looked around, but didn't see any sign of the zombie. He immediately cautiously crossed the courtyard and approached the large house divided into four rooms.

The wooden door of the room displaying coffins had been knocked off. He didn't need to enter the room; he looked inside from afar, across the threshold.

Moonlight shone in from the missing tiles, illuminating the corpse, the coffin, the overturned coffin lid, and the copper pestle. They were quietly in their original places, unmoved.

There was no zombie in the room.

"Could it have gone back into the coffin?"

From his angle, he couldn't see the inside of the coffin.

As he hesitated, he suddenly noticed that the moonlight seemed to dim, and a shadow fell from the sky, enveloping him.

Immediately afterward, the night wind brought a strong smell of corpses and a low "ho ho" growl.

It, it was hiding in the tree? Zhang Yuanqing was horrified, his heart suddenly contracted, and he instinctively thought of dodging.

In the next moment, the red dancing shoes on his feet lit up with a dark red glow. Zhang Yuanqing suddenly slipped, and before he could react, he slid out, plowing a trail through the weeds.

Bang!

The zombie, wrapped in ragged clothes, missed its target.

He, he avoided it... Zhang Yuanqing scrambled to his feet, pleasantly surprised, and his heart returned to his chest.

The red dancing shoes were indeed magical; their evasion ability was stronger than he had expected. With his own reaction speed, he couldn't have dodged the zombie's attack just now.

Zhang Yuanqing's confidence greatly increased.

"Ho ho..."

The zombie, with hair like withered grass, let out a roar that vibrated his eardrums. Its protruding eyes became even more ferocious. It bent its knees and lunged at its prey again.

Its speed was as fast as a speeding car.

The stench of blood hit his face. The terrifying Yin creature was already close at hand. Zhang Yuanqing's feet twisted uncontrollably, like a ballet dancer spinning, smoothly cutting out a semicircle. While avoiding sharp nails, he cut behind the zombie.

Immediately afterward, he "naturally" did a split, his body suddenly collapsing. The wind howled above his head, and two arms swept across.

He, he pulled a muscle... Zhang Yuanqing's face twisted. He wanted to clamp his legs and scream, but the red dancing shoes were already controlling his legs, bouncing him up.

He leaped high, his feet kicking hard into the zombie's chest.

Bang!

A muffled sound rang out, and the zombie's ragged clothes kicked up dust.

It let out an angry, unwilling roar, and was knocked backward by the huge force.

An opportunity! Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing ignored the tearing pain in his crotch, strode forward, and slapped the zombie-warding talisman in his hand hard against the highly decayed, foul-smelling face in front of him.

Slapped it on its forehead.

Smack!

The violent, bloodthirsty zombie suddenly froze, as if it had been hit by a immobilization spell.

All movement disappeared, returning to silence.

The zombie lay stiffly in the weeds, the scarlet in its ferocious eyes slowly dimming.

It had lost its "vitality."

Looking at the zombie that had turned into a clay sculpture, unable to wreak havoc, Zhang Yuanqing panted heavily, fatigue and joy surging into his heart.

He survived!

"Without the help of the red dancing shoes, it would be difficult to deal with the zombie single-handedly. And the zombie is just one of the anomalies. It's worthy of being an S-class spirit realm; it's too difficult."

"But the construction team has a lot of people. Logically speaking, dealing with the zombie shouldn't be a problem. How could a group of grown men be so不堪 [kān] (不堪: unbearable, awful)..."

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly sighed. He knew the reason.

The zombie-warding talisman was found in the pocket of the corpse under the window. That senior obtained this item, but he didn't tell his companions; he kept it for himself.

The human heart is more complex and terrifying than ghosts and monsters.

Now that the zombie was dealt with, he should go to the well to find that shameless female ghost.

But before that, there was something else that Zhang Yuanqing was very concerned about.

He left the zombie and walked towards the room displaying coffins. He supported himself on the doorframe and crossed the threshold. In the dim room, moonlight shone like a beam.

He stopped in front of the mummy and bent down to pick up the copper awl.

Although it was a copper object, it didn't feel cold to the touch; instead, it felt warm and jade-like.

Immediately, a message appeared in his field of vision.

[Name: Vajra Pestle]

[Type: Weapon]

[Function: Purification, Spirit Suppression, Demon Breaking]

[Introduction: A weapon containing the power of the sun god, it is the nemesis of all Yin creatures. Sacrificing this pestle with essence blood will grant the power of the sun god.]

[Note: Powerful? It's bought with life.]

It was indeed an item. Looking at the function introduction, it seemed stronger than the candles in the main hall. The senior of the construction team probably wanted to use it to kill the zombie, but failed. Alas, they had already lost too many men before dealing with the zombie... Zhang Yuanqing was glad that he made the right judgment.

He cleverly used the red dancing shoes to solve the difficult problem.

Of course, the seniors of the construction team had no choice. They couldn't subdue this rule-based item, and most of them died from being trampled by the red dancing shoes.

"With this item that specializes in restraining Yin creatures, combined with the red dancing shoes, my chances of clearing the trial mission are greatly improved."

Holding the Vajra Pestle, he felt a surge of confidence in his heart. Taking advantage of the fact that five minutes hadn't passed yet, he left the room and returned to the courtyard.

This time, he went straight to the ancient well for the final investigation.

The well opening was deep and dark, and a damp, rotting smell of vegetation surged upward.

Let's go down and take a look... Zhang Yuanqing gripped the Vajra Pestle, adopted a defensive posture, raised one foot and stepped on the well curb, and then, he walked down like that, walking on the well wall as if it were flat ground.

If it were before, he definitely wouldn't dare to go down to explore. Not to mention whether there was danger at the bottom of the well, without ropes or helpers, jumping to the bottom of the well would mean courting death.

Soon, he arrived smoothly at the shallow bottom of the well, where the moonlight was already very weak.

The water in the well had long dried up. Black silt had accumulated at the bottom, and clumps of weeds grew along the edges. The well wall was covered with dark cyan moss.

"There's no ghost in the well..."

Zhang Yuanqing frowned, thinking that this wasn't right. He had clearly seen a faceless female ghost sticking out of the well.

He repeatedly checked the bottom of the well. Because the wearing time of the red dancing shoes was limited, he could only helplessly step on the steep well wall, return to the ground, and run quickly back under the eaves of the main hall.

Only then did he safely remove the red dancing shoes.

........

In the main hall, bathed in the dim yellow candlelight, Zhang Yuanqing leaned weakly against the offering table, the corpse poison further eroding his body. Following the dizziness, symptoms such as difficulty breathing and chest pain appeared.

Time was running out.

"I've explored both backyards, and I've successfully subdued the zombie. The mission isn't over yet, which means there's still somewhere I haven't explored..."

He had explored every room in the backyard, and even went down to the bottom of the well. There couldn't be any oversights.

So, where is it?

When all possibilities are eliminated, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth... he muttered to himself, slowly supporting his body.

The place he hadn't "explored" was this place, this very main hall in front of him.

Zhang Yuanqing's gaze slowly swept across the main hall, and finally stopped on the clay sculpture of the Three Mountains Goddess. When he first entered the main hall, a detail on the clay sculpture had caught his attention.

The clay sculpture's right hand was empty, but it was in a gripping position, indicating that it originally held something.

He didn't know what she originally held in her hand before, but now he knew.

It was the Vajra Pestle.

With the mentality that it couldn't hurt to try, Zhang Yuanqing stepped forward and inserted the yellow Vajra Pestle into the clay sculpture's palm, then jumped off the base and took a few steps back.

Almost the moment he retreated, the surface of the base "crack" cracked, the crack kicked up a dense cloud of dust, and then the entire base collapsed, revealing a dark cave.