I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 73 - 62 Zombie Talks About the Past

Before the fair-skinned young man began telling the story, the group of traveling merchants couldn’t help but laugh.

"You’re a scholar, what good stories could you have? Are you going to invent a female ghost and have a romantic encounter with her in an abandoned temple?"

The person speaking was a carter responsible for transporting goods for the merchants. His words immediately caused everyone to burst into laughter, filling the small, solitary temple with an air of joy.

The fair-skinned young man had originally intended to tell a lighthearted story, something like the tale of ’The Painted Skin’ or ’Xiaoqian.’ However, upon hearing the jesting of the traveling ruffians, he decided to choose the most appropriate story for the occasion.

It was said that there was an old man in Yangxin County who lived in Caidian Village and ran an inn. One day, four traveling carters came to his inn seeking lodging, but unfortunately, the inn was full. The only place left was the mourning hall of the old man’s recently deceased daughter-in-law.

The four carters, not deterred by superstition, decided to rest in the mourning hall. As they were about to fall asleep, the corpse of the deceased woman, which had been lying under a mat and a paper quilt for a long time, suddenly lifted the quilt and crept towards their bed...

Xu Qing’s gaze was ghostly as he narrated the story of the reanimated corpse calmly and unhurriedly. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

The tale involved a corpse coming back to life, spraying water, and wild dogs—a compilation of some of the more terrifying stories from ’Strange Tales.’ Among them, the reanimated corpse fit the current setting of them lodging in a small temple, adding to the eerie atmosphere and giving the listeners a feeling of being in the story themselves.

In the tale, the four carters had intruded upon the resting place of the female corpse, and in the end, three of them were drained of their life essence by her, leaving only one survivor.

Now, they were in a remote place, wasn’t it similar with a group of people intruding upon a small temple?

Moreover, among them were indeed a few carters listening to his story, which was quite a coincidence!

Xu Qing chuckled lightly and continued his tale.

"The last carter ran for his life. Guess what happened next?"

By the campfire, the carters glanced at each other. The man who had earlier mocked him swallowed nervously and asked cautiously, "What happened? Did the female corpse get him too?"

Xu Qing grinned, revealing his teeth. "The man ran around a large poplar tree five or six feet in circumference. Eventually, he angered the female corpse, who then stopped circling and drove her hands straight through the tree trunk to get him..."

Just at that moment, a flash of lightning outside the temple lit up everyone’s faces.

The scholars who had gathered around the fire leaned closer to each other, occasionally glancing around nervously.

Someone laughed dryly, "These are all made-up stories. With so many people here, the yang energy is strong. There’s no way any so-called zombies could appear..."

At that moment, the storyteller, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke. "That’s not necessarily true. I once stayed in the Linhe District. Have you ever heard of the Corpse Worker Mill?"

"..."

Xu Qing glanced at the storyteller and thought to himself, ’You really know quite a lot.’

Back then, after he set fire to the mill, all the filth hidden inside was exposed. Although the authorities quickly stepped in to control the situation and the rumors, they couldn’t completely prevent the information from leaking.

The storyteller in front of him clearly belonged to the well-informed category. However, what the storyteller knew was only surface-level; the true insider would undoubtedly be the one who set the fire.

The storyteller, after all, made a living with his words. He spoke with such conviction that he painted Xu Qing as a True Cultivator who cultivated the balance of yin and yang and acted out of his boundless virtue. Xu Qing, offended by the sight of bound souls unable to reincarnate, supposedly summoned true fire to thoroughly cleanse the filthy mill.

Though the story wasn’t particularly scary, it indirectly affirmed the existence of zombies in the world and hinted that they might be near the Jin Sect.

As the night rain drizzled down upon the deserted temple, creating ideal conditions for ghostly apparitions, the people who heard this began to feel a chill. It was as if there were indeed a pair of eyes watching them from the shadows.

"Old Ji, you guard the first half of the night; Shui Sheng, you take the second half..." The leading merchant gave his carters a ghostly look, fearing they might attract zombies in the middle of the night, and thus ordered them to take turns keeping watch.

Not far from the campfire, a veiled female warrior traveling the land bit her lip in frustration, chiding herself for listening to ghost stories.

She had been holding in her urge to relieve herself for a while, but was too scared to go outside alone.

Finally, when she couldn’t hold it any longer, she bashfully asked a scholar she’d spoken to during the day to accompany her outside the temple.

The female warrior and the scholar had already taken a liking to each other, and with the storyteller playing matchmaker, it inadvertently led to a romantic encounter. But these are tales for another time.

As the night rain washed away the day’s dryness, the sky began to lighten with the dawn.

The carters who had kept watch in turns began to boast once again, each claiming great skill.

"Where’s the zombie? We made it through the night just fine. Those storytellers and scholars are good at making up lies to fool people, making me stay up all night for nothing!"

"Exactly! If I’d encountered a ghost, two or three chops from my blade would turn it into a ghost, even if it wasn’t one already!"

Xu Qing silently watched as they bragged. If they were truly this capable, why did they need to go in pairs when they went out to relieve themselves last night?

The group of travelers, having met by chance, now found the wind had calmed, and the rain was nearly stopped. They each resumed their journey.

Among them, some continued their journeys together, forming travel companionships.

For instance, the veiled female warrior and the scholar, as well as the storyteller who tagged along with Xu Qing.

"Old man, I’m not a carter. If you want a ride, you’d better seek someone else. If you wait too long, your old legs won’t catch up easily."

"Young man, how can you say that? If I ride with you, it’s not for free. On the road, a little convenience goes a long way. When we reach the Prefecture City, I’ll treat you to tea at the teahouse."

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow. "Paying me? Well, that’s different!"

Ten taels of silver, no bargaining!

He thought that quoting such a high price would deter the old man, but to his surprise, the old man agreed immediately.

"My surname is Guo, and in my youth, I passed the provincial exams and became a scholar on the red list."

"You might be in luck. Should you have any scholarly doubts, I may help decipher them for you."

On the carriage, Guo Dongyang never stopped talking, opening one topic after another.

As Xu Qing drove the carriage, he listened to the storyteller’s tales, gaining a lot of knowledge.

Midway, he suddenly asked, "You didn’t just ride my carriage to find someone to chat with, did you?"

"What a question! I enjoy the company of young talents like you." Guo Dongyang smiled warmly, but then he revealed his true intent: "I listened to your story last night. It doesn’t seem like an ordinary tale. It has the flavor of a literary work. I’ve never heard it before. Do you have any more stories or further Chapters?"

When Xu Qing heard this, he realized that the storyteller was interested in the story he told the previous night.

"You’re willing to pay so much. Aren’t you afraid I only know this one story?"

Guo Dongyang laughed. "Everyone has their own interests and preferences. They say, ’Each person sees the world differently, like how each favors different kinds of vegetables.’ I have few hobbies, but I love hearing stories. Tales that others consider worthless are priceless to me.

Moreover, to be honest, just that tale of the reanimated corpse can earn me more than ten taels of silver if I tell it for a week or so at the tea house in the Prefecture City."