IW: Chapter 268 Awei: Where is the most dangerous place in the zombie world?
"Spiritual Infants?!"
Could this be the exact sequence of events from New Mr. Vampire?
Once the senior priest finished explaining that the core reason he required immediate assistance was the management of those specific infant spirits, the entire situation became significantly more intriguing.
These miniature entities were currently stranded while waiting for a secondary chance at reincarnation. From the lightning master's perspective, however, the older cultivator's ongoing method was far less efficient than simply casting them straight into the depths of the Netherworld—even if the actual statistical probability of them securing a rebirth down there was remarkably slim.
At the end of the day, the veteran Taoist was simply far too soft-hearted. By continuously housing these tiny entities, he was playing a dangerous game. Take that highly aggressive, malevolent one, for instance—the senior priest had consistently offered it opportunities to cross over, but the entity had unfortunately failed to reincarnate every single time, ultimately harboring a deep, toxic resentment toward its caretaker.
Thus, in the younger cultivator's estimation, if these spirits were bundled off to the Underworld without their core grievances being properly cleansed, they would likely remain locked in limbo for the rest of their existence.
Even so, practicing this specific method of sheltering souls did offer a distinct advantage: it allowed a practitioner to steadily accumulate celestial merit. Driven by pure intentions, the senior priest simply wanted to stack up as much positive karma for his own soul as possible.
During this current era, orthodox practitioners were severely limited in their options due to the extreme scarcity of environmental spiritual energy. Since he absolutely refused to resort to forbidden, heretical arts to advance his path, he could only seek out alternative avenues of cosmic progress.
"Those young spiritual infants are truly pitiable creatures," the older priest sighed, his fingers tracing the edge of his wooden table. "My sole desire is to facilitate their rebirth, but the bureaucrats of the Netherworld keep bypassing their files entirely. That is why I made the executive decision to house them under my own roof, hoping I might personally find a way to guide them over. It is just that three specific entities among them have grown exceptionally malevolent..."
"So, Daoist Brother, what exactly is your goal here?"
The lightning master understood the underlying logic perfectly. Since the veteran practitioner had gone out of his way to request his direct intervention, he was genuinely curious about the specific nature of the task.
What precisely did the old man want him to achieve?
The senior priest certainly wouldn't ask him to completely obliterate these vulnerable infant spirits. Was he looking for an escort to forcibly march them into the gates of the dead?
Yet, the veteran Taoist already possessed the inherent spiritual authority to perform that exact ritual himself. As he had just openly admitted, it was his profound pity for these discarded souls that compelled him to keep them close, constantly searching for a loophole to grant them a favorable reincarnation.
"Would you be able to construct a specialized arrays system to completely secure these spiritual infants within the compound?"
Originally, the senior priest's backup plan involved temporarily transferring the custody of these volatile entities over to his martial sister, Zhegu.
However, the mere thought of dealing with Zhegu instantly brought a massive, throbbing headache to his temples. It was an open secret among the cultivation community that his martial sister had harbored deep, romantic feelings for him for decades, but the old priest found it incredibly difficult to accept her advances.
Consequently, he went out of his way to avoid any direct contact with her whenever humanly possible.
Deep within his heart, he remained entirely unable to let go of his past memories with Lotus.
Zhegu had actively chosen to remain completely unmarried for his sake all these years, a sacrifice that the old man witnessed with a heavy heart. But if the two of them were to actually settle down together, he...
He shook his head, cutting off the train of thought.
Since the lightning master was currently present on the mountain, he sincerely hoped the young powerhouse could lend his weight to the matter. Zhegu was already entirely swamped with her own daily duties, and dumping a collection of volatile spirits onto her doorstep would only saddle her with unnecessary, dangerous complications.
It would be infinitely more practical to simply secure them right here inside the Mortuary Village. With a high-tier array constructed by the young master guarding the perimeter, he wouldn't have to spend a single night worrying about these clever little entities breaking out of their vessels.
"Constructing a sealing array won't be an issue," the younger cultivator replied, his hand resting calmly on his knee. "But regarding those three exceptionally hostile spirits you mentioned, Daoist Brother... don't you think it would be far wiser to pack them off to the Netherworld as quickly as possible?"
After all, one of those exact infants was destined to become the primary catalyst behind a massive, bloody chain of disasters in the very near future.
It wanted to use Nine Uncle's old lover, Lian's body, to reincarnate.
Even if he blocked it with a formation this time, Nine Uncle would still face this situation next time. Since he was already here, wouldn't it be better to resolve this monster in advance?
"This…"
Nine Uncle hesitated. In fact, he also understood that Bai Ye's proposed solution was the most permanent one.
After all, these malevolent infants already hated humans from the bottom of their hearts, and entrusting them to the Underworld was the best option. However, he also knew that given a bit more time, he could change these infants.
So he didn't want to do that.
"It seems Daoist Brother has his own way of handling things. Then we'll follow Daoist Brother's method."
Bai Ye didn't need Nine Uncle to follow his way exactly.
Since Nine Uncle had his own ideas, then setting up the formation would be fine.
Besides, these spiritual infants weren't really that difficult for Nine Uncle to deal with.
"Thank you."
Nine Uncle was somewhat surprised and also felt more grateful towards Bai Ye.
He felt as if he was quite respected. In fact, many righteous cultivators' first reaction when facing such malevolent infants was to eliminate them.
Nine Uncle had thought Bai Ye would insist on his own idea.
"No problem, I'll set up a formation and then leave."
He would set up a lightning formation there, and basically, no one would be able to enter, even humans. The effect would be similar. When Nine Uncle returned, he could slowly resolve it.
After deciding, Nine Uncle was in a good mood. He even had a small drink with dinner today.
Doing this meant he wouldn't need to go find Zhegu.
After dinner, upon hearing that Nine Uncle was leaving and would be leaving him and Wencai behind, Awei's face fell.
However, after learning they were going to Zombie World, he immediately gave up the idea of going with them.
After all, Awei had heard of the name Teng Teng Town.
If he went there, he probably wouldn't even know how he died.
Similarly, Wencai was also scared.
Thinking that he probably wouldn't need to do anything, and couldn't do much anyway, Wencai also decided to stay at Yi Village.
"Master, please rest assured. With us watching Yi Village, there will definitely be no problems. Besides, with Bai Ye Daoshi's formation, not even a fly can fly out or in from here!"
Awei patted his chest, assuring Nine Uncle.
Wencai, beside him, also nodded repeatedly. He was truly prepared to stay at Yi Village.
Awei had his own home in Ren Family Town. Like Qiusheng, Awei would usually go home to rest, but if there was something important, they would stay here.
Wencai was different; he had been picked up by Nine Uncle when he was young and had always lived at Yi Village.
"En."
Although Nine Uncle didn't quite trust the two of them, as they were always so unreliable.
Nine Uncle had seen countless times how much trouble these two could cause.
However, Nine Uncle trusted Bai Ye's formation.
"Is anyone there?"
Just as the group was discussing when to head to Teng Teng Town.
A female voice called out from outside the door, towards Yi Village.
"Who is it?"
Wencai quickly ran to the door and saw the person, a young girl.
"You are?"
She was a new face, someone he had never seen before. It seemed he hadn't seen her in town.
Although Wencai had always lived in Yi Village, he generally knew who lived in the town.
The girl in front of him was dressed in a way that clearly indicated she was from a wealthy family.
This was rare; there were only a few well-known wealthy families in Ren Family Town.
"My name is Nian Ying, and my sister asked me to come here to find someone named Lin Fengjiao."
Nian Ying?
Wencai mumbled to himself, then shook his head and said, "Sorry, you've come to the wrong place. We don't have anyone named Lin Fengjiao here."
He thought for a moment and then came to a conclusion.
This girl must have come to the wrong place.
"That's impossible, my sister said it's right here!"
Nian Ying took out the map in her hand and pointed to the location marked on it.
This was the result after she went to Ren Family Town and inquired.
Within a hundred li radius, this was the only Yi Village, and what her sister said was Yi Village, so it couldn't be wrong.
"Impossible, impossible, you've come to the wrong place!"
Saying that, Wencai was about to close the door.
However, Nian Ying didn't think so and stubbornly insisted that she hadn't come to the wrong place at all. Their voices also caught the attention of Nine Uncle inside the house.
Nine Uncle quickly walked out. He thought Wencai had gotten into a conflict with a guest. After all, besides guests, who else would come to Yi Village for no good reason to stroll around?!
"Wencai?!"
Nine Uncle's voice came from behind Wencai, startling Wencai, who then quickly explained, "Master, I didn't do anything! She insists on looking for someone named Lin Fengjiao, and I've already told her we don't have anyone named Lin Fengjiao here!"
As he spoke, Wencai didn't notice Nine Uncle's face growing increasingly dark, while Ma Ma Di was stifling a laugh, looking as if he wanted to speak but held back.
He hadn't expected Nine Uncle to not have told his true name to his disciples.
Lin Fengjiao was Nine Uncle's real name.
"Impossible, my sister said it's here, my sister wouldn't lie to me!"
Nian Ying quickly retorted.
And Wencai was about to say something else when Nine Uncle, with a dark face, slowly said, "I am Lin Fengjiao."
"Ah?!"
Wencai's mouth dropped open, looking at Nine Uncle in disbelief.
No way?!
Nine Uncle's real name is Lin Fengjiao?
Pfft!
Awei and Qiusheng couldn't hold back and burst out laughing, but the next second, after meeting Nine Uncle's death glare, they both reined in their laughter.
This was Nine Uncle's oppressive presence!
"Who is your sister?"
Nine Uncle tried to avoid letting this matter be discussed further.
It was so embarrassing!
This name was one Nine Uncle had always been unwilling to mention.
Even to his own disciples and others.
He glanced at the reactions of everyone around him. Ma Ma Di he couldn't control. Bai Ye looked very serious and didn't mock him because of his name.
As for his three disciples… Nine Uncle had already made up his mind; he would definitely discipline them well later.
However, compared to this matter, Nine Uncle wanted to know something else more: who sent Nian Ying to find him.
Very, very few people knew his name.
"My sister is Mi Qilian."
"Lian?"
A trace of reminiscence flashed across Nine Uncle's face. He hadn't expected it to be Lian.
She is now…
As soon as he thought of Lian, a hint of sadness couldn't help but flash across Nine Uncle's face.
He and Lian used to be so close, but now she was already someone else's wife.
"Lian!!?"
The voices of Wencai, Qiusheng, and Awei suddenly rose a notch.
Then the three of them exchanged glances, and from each other's eyes, they saw a hint of gossip.
The three of them simply stopped talking and waited for Nine Uncle to continue.
They wanted to see who this Lian was!
"Cough… What did your sister ask you to find me for?"
Nine Uncle reacted and quickly asked.
He didn't want to look at his disciples' expressions anymore; he had already been embarrassed enough today.
"It's like this…"
After Nian Ying briefly explained the recent events that had occurred at her sister's home to Nine Uncle.
Nine Uncle immediately understood what was going on.
Wasn't this a premonition of zombie transformation?
From the looks of it, Lian's husband seemed to be turning into a zombie?
"Daoist friend, what do you think…?"
After hearing Nian Ying's words, Nine Uncle also felt a surge of emotion.
He decided to go and help.
A cultivator naturally couldn't stand by and do nothing in such a situation.
"I have no problem, going there is fine too."
Bai Ye was indifferent.
If Nine Uncle was willing to go, then going there was fine. He was just a little emotional about the plot's self-correction.
He hadn't expected to be sought out like this.
But speaking of which, if Nine Uncle didn't go, and the Marshal turned into a zombie, wouldn't Lian be his?
Cough, cough.
Bai Ye felt his thoughts were a bit despicable and quickly discarded them. Nine Uncle's character simply wouldn't allow him to do such a thing.
"Then I'm truly troubling you, Daoist friend."
A hint of awkwardness flashed across Nine Uncle's face, as his personal matters had delayed this.
They were about to go to Teng Teng Town. They couldn't possibly split up, could they?
"Stop talking, old ghost, let's go!"
Ma Ma Di packed his things and was ready to leave.
After dealing with the matters in Teng Teng Town, he still had to continue his corpse-herding business.
He had been resting in Yi Village for quite some time now.
Although his reputation had been somewhat affected because of A Hao, now that he was personally back in action and some time had passed, presumably fewer people remembered that incident. Besides, if he didn't start working again, he would truly starve.
"Master, have a safe journey!"
Awei and Wencai waved their hands, 'tearfully' seeing Nine Uncle off.
"Nine Uncle, I still need to go to Ren Family Town."
"What's wrong?!"
Nine Uncle looked at Bai Ye in confusion. Still going to Ren Family Town?
The things they had prepared should be enough, right?
"My three disciples and Snowflake are all at Ren Mansion, so I need to go back and call them to come along."
Earlier, when he parted ways with the four, Snowflake and the others went to Ren Mansion. He thought of coming to Yi Village alone to talk.
Plus, Ren Tingting hadn't seen Ren Fa for a long time, so he didn't force Ren Tingting to come with him.
Later, they agreed that when it was time to leave, they would go to Ren Mansion to call them.
"Tingting and the others are here!"
A look of understanding flashed across Nine Uncle's face. It seemed they had returned to Ren Mansion.
It made sense; Tingting's father was still there.
"Yes."
"Wait!! Wait?! Cousin Tingting is also here? At Ren Mansion? And will come along later?"
No way?!
Awei, who was just about to close the door, practically jumped up after hearing Bai Ye and Nine Uncle's conversation.
He had originally thought Ren Tingting hadn't come.
Who could tell him, how could this be?!
"Master, I've decided. Since Yi Village has Bai Ye Daoshi's formation here, I feel one person is enough. How about this, I'll go with you, Master, and Senior Brother Wencai can watch over things here!"
As soon as Awei knew Ren Tingting was coming, he immediately decided to go along.
What did he care about Teng Teng Town being dangerous now?!
So what if it's dangerous?!
Where is the most dangerous place in this world?
Of course, it's Teng Teng Town!
Then Awei would go to Teng Teng Town!
He, Awei, always enjoyed danger!
His words made Wencai, beside him, so angry he couldn't speak.