"Is this... a living dead?"
High in the sky, Jiang Lin 'watched' the images transmitted by several paper effigies, his expression becoming solemn.
The 'people' being observed were: one was a migrant worker, whose life revolved around work and taking care of his daughter.
Another was a white-collar professional, in the process of getting married to her boyfriend.
One was a six-year-old boy, from a harmonious family, with a cheerful disposition.
The last was a company CEO, around forty to fifty years old, with four children at home, two from his wife, and two illegitimate children.
Despite their different identities, statuses, and ages, they shared many similarities.
They did not need to eat, drink, excrete, or sleep, and they felt no pain.
Their meridians and acupoints were in disarray, with only a few functioning normally.
Furthermore, they were all connected to this black pharmacy.
Among them, the migrant worker Li Aiguo and the company CEO carried the aura of the dying.
This meant their remaining lifespan was limited.
Moreover, judging by Li Aiguo's actions, these 'people' had a certain restraining effect on ghosts.
All these signs were similar to Jiang Lin's impression of 'living dead'.
But...
Jiang Lin knew this because he had read records in the Underworld's archives about the period when humans attacked the Underworld.
During the peak of human Taoist arts, many techniques related to ghosts and spirits were developed.
Opening the celestial eye, commanding ghosts, healing ghosts, defending against ghosts...
Talismans, formations, weapons...
In addition to these methods, many forbidden arts emerged during that era.
The book provided several examples,
One of which was the living dead.
"But I remember... after the incident of humans invading the Underworld, the Underworld began to crack down on human Taoist arts.
Various inheritances, weapons, books... basically everything that could be destroyed was destroyed, and everything that could be recovered was recovered."
"Have these been overlooked now?"
While Jiang Lin was contemplating,
The black pharmacy welcomed another guest, the white-collar professional.
After getting out of the car, the woman looked around.
She walked directly towards the pharmacy.
A few minutes later, the woman emerged.
She adjusted her handbag and hailed a taxi by the roadside.
The paper effigies followed at a discreet distance, relaying their sight to Jiang Lin.
About seven to eight minutes later, the taxi stopped in a prime location within the city.
The woman, carrying her handbag, strolled as if out for a walk.
She occasionally checked her phone, sent messages, or bought a cup of coffee.
Then, she arrived near a group's office building.
The front and back entrances of the group were guarded by security.
She didn't go in directly but went to the side of the office building to pretend to rest.
While drinking coffee, she subtly observed her surroundings.
When no one was paying attention, she stuck something onto the wall of the office building.
Then, she opened a gourd the size of an egg from her pocket.
The next second, a black mist emerged from the small gourd and shot towards the office building.
"Hoo~"
Seeing that the matter was successful, the woman breathed a sigh of relief.
She lowered her head and sent a message to her new boss.
Then, she casually left the area, drinking her coffee.
...
As soon as the woman left, Jiang Lin arrived in front of the office building.
Where the woman had been standing, there was a sticker the size of a one-yuan coin.
It was white with a touch of red in the center.
It seemed to be bloodstain.
"A curse?"
Jiang Lin looked up at the tall building before him.
What the woman had released earlier was a ghost.
The ghostly energy was weak, seeming to have only recently transformed from a wandering soul into a ghost.
And its aura was different from the two ghosts Li Aiguo had brought back.
At this moment,
Under the influence of the curse, the ghost was rampaging within the office building.
It would sometimes fly over office supplies, and sometimes pass through the bodies of employees.
Leaving behind traces of Yin energy.
If this continued, the employees' health would surely be affected.
The luck of the entire office building would also be impacted.
Jiang Lin recalled Li Aiguo's actions, "Could this pharmacy owner be using forbidden arts to do business with humans?"
"Is he also competing with ghost officers for wandering souls?"
Creating living dead, using curses to release ghosts to cause trouble...
What this pharmacy owner knew was somewhat beyond Jiang Lin's expectations.
He tapped his fingertip on the curse sticker on the wall.
The next second, the sticker instantly burned into ashes as if it had encountered flames.
Jiang Lin leaped up, subdued the ghost in the office building, and collected it into his ghost-storage bag.
As he moved, he stirred up gusts of cold wind.
Dispelling the Yin energy brought by the ghost.
After coming out of the office building, Jiang Lin flew directly towards the pharmacy.
Preparing to confront the pharmacy owner.
...
The pharmacy was located in a somewhat secluded area, and because it was always closed, many people subconsciously overlooked that there was a pharmacy there.
Passersby hurried past, going to a larger pharmacy on another street.
Jiang Lin observed from the air for a while.
No one approached, which was convenient for him.
However, without knowing how many forbidden arts the other party possessed, it was still wise to be cautious.
Forbidden arts were called forbidden arts for a reason,
One was because of their powerful, heaven-defying effects,
The second was that they violated human ethics and affected the balance of Yin and Yang.
Jiang Lin had stumbled in this regard before.
After a moment of thought, Jiang Lin first cast a barrier around the pharmacy to prevent accidental harm.
Then, he took out several paper effigies with strong combat power and scattered them around the pharmacy.
He also rummaged through his storage bag and took out a ghost-controlling bell specifically used for trapping ghosts.
Just as he was about to place it down.
He suddenly remembered that what was inside might not all be ghosts.
So, he continued to search his storage bag and found a cage made of thousand-year-old profound iron.
This item was brought back from the Dragon Palace by the Seven-Colored Egg.
It had to be said that the Dragon Palace really liked shiny things.
This cage was even inlaid with various sparkling gems.
It could also have a certain effect in restraining evil spirits.
Finally, Jiang Lin spent a fortune to purchase a set of reflective armor from the system and put it on.
Only then did he throw the profound iron cage and the ghost-controlling bell down.
Dong—
Dong—
As the two items landed, the ground around the pharmacy shook.
It was accompanied by the sound of bells.
...
Inside the pharmacy, there was an operating room.
Besides the operating table, there were two bookshelves and a large desk.
On the desk were various bottles and jars.
Some contained medicinal liquids, while others contained strange colored gases.
After entering the room, the man in black closed the doors and windows and lit a candle.
He then found pen and paper.
Just as he finished these tasks and was about to deal with the two ghosts brought back by Li Aiguo.
He suddenly felt the ground shake.
"Is it an earthquake?"
The man in black looked up in surprise and looked around.
After waiting for a while and seeing that the ground was no longer shaking,
He spoke to the air, "Hold the umbrella for me."
As he spoke,
The black umbrella placed aside moved and floated up from the ground.
As the black umbrella opened above his head,
In the man in black's sight, a young ghost appeared, holding the umbrella handle for him.
—This was a ghost who had died from overwork, and the first ghost the man in black had controlled.
For humans to see things that ordinary people cannot, they either need to open their celestial eyes.
Or rely on something connected to that world.
Like this black umbrella.
With it, the man in black could sense the aura of living dead on Li Aiguo.
And he could see the ghosts in the glass bottles.
"Old man, what do you want to do!"
"Let go of my cub!"
Wang Chengming, who was killed by Zhao Yi and the rich second generation—after being put into a glass bottle, he could still see the outside world.
Seeing the man in black pick up the glass bottle where the ghost infant was, he immediately shouted.
The glass bottle, only an inch long, also began to shake.
The man in black, upon hearing this, did not get angry but smiled.
A sinister look crossed his wrinkled face.
"Meeting me is also your destiny... Heh heh..."
"Go to hell with your dog-like destiny!"
Wang Chengming cursed, "You old immortal, why don't you just die and harm my cub!"
"Even if it hasn't been born yet, it's still my cub."
"You old bastard, get your dog paws off!"
The man in black was in the process of trapping the released ghost infant in a spell.
Hearing Wang Chengming's foul language, his eyes turned cold.
He looked at Wang Chengming, his gaze sweeping over him, intending to teach him a lesson.
The next second—
Bang!
The pharmacy door was kicked open.
...