Chapter 115: Lacking in Virtue

The two chatted in the teahouse for half a day. Under Zhou Bai's arrangement, Daoist Hou arrived late, his face glowing with undisguised joy; it seemed he had made quite a significant discovery.

"Old Hou, what's wrong?" Zhou Bai asked curiously, seeing his expression.

Daoist Hou chuckled. "My luck is truly good this time. I found another corpse at the farmstead outside. Compared to the previous one, this one is even better."

"You didn't bury it again, did you?"

"Of course. Underground is where the Yin energy is densest. If I don't bury it, when on earth will it ever reach the Green Zombie stage?"

As he spoke, Daoist Hou poured Wen Meng's tea into his own mouth; the two were cut from the same cloth.

Zhou Bai laughed, then repeated what had been discussed earlier.

"That's good news. Once Xiao Wu and the others grow up, I'll be able to relax a bit. Things have been too busy lately." Daoist Hou nodded repeatedly, his heart now entirely focused on corpse-raising.

Indeed, as he said, whether it was the aftershocks of the Ghost Domain or the spreading influence of Xuzhou, the number of demons and ghosts in Hangzhou and its surrounding areas was increasing. Most, however, were still shallow in cultivation and not difficult to deal with.

Daoist Hou rolled his eyes and said with a thick face, "Since I have to take those few to join the Underworld Registry, it's such a hassle. Can you offer some contributions? I happen to need some spiritual materials for corpse refining."

"No need for that. There shouldn't be that many demons left in Xuzhou now. I happen to be going there, and since I'm not familiar with the place, you can accompany me on the trip."

As soon as Zhou Bai finished speaking, he immediately refused. "Are you kidding? I won't go to Xuzhou. The demons are only one thing; the main point is that I used to be considered a respectable figure there. Now that I've become a 'corpse-raiser,' I have no face to return."

Wen Meng smiled. He had tested Daoist Hou several times, but the man seemed ignorant of many basic Taoist tenets; his original identity certainly could not bear the light of day.

"Are you sure you won't accompany me?" Zhou Bai said with a relaxed expression, though his tone carried a hint of threat.

Daoist Hou felt a chill run up his spine. He shivered and replied warily, "What are you planning? Let's get this straight: I am your subordinate now, so you can't trick me like you used to."

Wen Meng intervened to smooth things over. "I'll go look. I should have a map of Xuzhou somewhere, though it's quite old. I'm not sure if it will be of any use to you."

"No need. Old Hou, I'm afraid I have to wrong you." Zhou Bai patted Daoist Hou on the shoulder, his smile kind and amiable.

"What are you doing... I'm warning you..."

Before Daoist Hou could finish, Zhou Bai’s body ignited with Yin fire, and he transformed into his true form of a skeletal dharma body within the private room.

The flames flickering on the skull made Daoist Hou subconsciously swallow hard.

"Let's talk this out. Going there isn't entirely impossible..."

"It's fine. Thinking about it now, it really would be too much trouble for you." Zhou Bai bared his jaw and placed both hands on Daoist Hou's shoulders, his eyes spinning like whirlpools.

Daoist Hou’s face went blank. This time, the skeletal dharma body was slightly more gentle; after viewing the memories of Xuzhou in his mind, he let him go.

The Yin fire on Zhou Bai's body extinguished, and his flesh regenerated. He digested the newly acquired information, cross-referencing it with the memories of Liao Wu.

Daoist Hou had already collapsed to the floor, eyes rolled back, having fainted.

Wen Meng’s eyelids twitched. He set down his teacup and couldn't help but remark, "Is he going to be alright?"

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. At most, he'll be mentally lethargic for a few days." Zhou Bai waved his hand and nudged Daoist Hou with his foot. "Who told him to keep hiding his identity? Now I know his real name."

"What is it?" Wen Meng was curious; Daoist Hou had some genuine skill to have escaped Xuzhou unscathed with his mediocre cultivation.

"His surname isn't Hou. It's Ma. His full name is Ma Hou."

"Never heard of him." Wen Meng thought carefully and shook his head.

Zhou Bai did not elaborate, though he was secretly shocked by Daoist Hou's talent for causing trouble. If not for his ability to peer into others' memories, who would have guessed that such a disreputable man had nearly wiped out the Zhenyi Sect of Mount Hulong?

Of course, it was also possible that the Zhenyi Sect was destined to face this calamity; even without Daoist Hou, something likely would have happened when Xuzhou descended into chaos.

Daoist Hou was originally a fake Taoist wandering the world. In his early years, he had good luck and acquired a few orthodox Taoist techniques. Because these techniques were related to the Tongyi Sect, he had always claimed to be the heir to their traditions.

The Tongyi Sect was considered an orthodox Taoist sect, backed by Mount Hulong and protected by the Zhenyi Sect. Life was decent, but in recent years, as all the promising talents were absorbed by the Zhenyi Sect, they could no longer sustain themselves.

Thus, the sect leader, Xu Qing, merged the Tongyi Sect into the Zhenyi Sect, becoming an elder himself and allowing his disciples to join this premier southern Taoist sect.

Daoist Hou somehow got wind of this. He figured that since he had been claiming to be an heir of the Tongyi Sect for years and was indeed using their techniques, such a good opportunity should surely include him.

He shamelessly showed up at their door. Xu Qing was polite enough to ask him to demonstrate some Tongyi Sect techniques. But he only knew how to cast spirit talismans, and the power was inconsistent. When he finished, he even asked Xu Qing if he could be reimbursed. The outcome was predictable: he was kicked out immediately.

Furious at wasting so many talismans only to be thrown out, he feigned departure but actually hid in a cave on the back mountain. He possessed some skill with spiritual arrays, and by sheer luck, he managed to slip inside right under their noses.

In the dead of night, while the Taoists were resting, Daoist Hou entered the back mountain of the Zhenyi Sect and found the graveyard. It was truly wicked; the corpses buried in the back mountain were at least those who had left their names in the sect's history.

Daoist Hou wreaked havoc on the graves, doing everything deemed taboo. He felt satisfied afterward and walked away, but one of the corpses buried underground underwent a transformation.

If that were all, it would have been manageable. Even if it became a zombie, the Taoists of Mount Hulong could have handled it, even if it meant losing some face. But not long after, the chaos erupted in Xuzhou, with Yin energy soaring to the heavens, and the zombie formed a climate before it was even fully born.

Even near Mount Hulong, deafening roars could be heard. What happened exactly remained unknown, but ever since then, the Zhenyi Sect had sealed its mountains.

Realizing he had caused a massive disaster, Daoist Hou dared not linger in Xuzhou for fear of being hunted down, so he ran away overnight to Yangzhou. It was fortunate he fled quickly; shortly after, the chaos in Xuzhou escalated. Demons and ghosts ran rampant, killing a vast number of mortals—it was no exaggeration to say that nine out of ten houses stood empty.