Old Man Li’s first encounter with the gruesome scene made him desperately want to bolt, yet he feared that any move would draw the zombie’s attention straight to him. Old Immortal Wang seemed to read his mind, leaning close to Old Man Li’s ear to whisper, “Old Man Li, do exactly as I say now. We’ll each pick up a small pebble from the ground, mind you, gently. Once we have them, wait for my signal. We’ll throw them simultaneously toward the river by the gravesite. The splash should lure the zombie away, and then we make a run for the base of the mountain.”
“Surely you have some way to subdue this zombie?” Old Man Li’s eyelids involuntarily twitched, his voice trembling, a perfect match for his shaking legs. Meanwhile, Li Yang was pinning down a half-dead worker, his teeth grinding with a sharp kaka, his mouth practically embedded in the man’s neck. Thick, warm blood continuously dripped from Li Yang’s gums, staining his jaw and drenching his chest. Every so often, a low, excited growl escaped him, the intense stench of gore causing Old Man Li to gag repeatedly.
“Zombies have no soul; my spells are useless against him. The only way to destroy a zombie is to burn it, but ordinary fire won't work; it requires the eternal lamp fire from a temple, so we must retrieve that fire now. Otherwise, once he finishes feeding on these people, he’ll move on to slaughter others in the village, and anyone whose vital blood is drained risks reanimating as a zombie within days. Think of how many more people might die then!” Old Immortal Wang covered his nostrils, his face contorting slightly.
“Is there no other way? Can’t we wait until dawn to leave? Aren't zombies afraid of light?” Old Man Li was terrified, fearing that a single move would result in him being slaughtered indiscriminately by his own son, just like the other workers.
“Not so, not so!” Old Immortal Wang shook his head helplessly. “This is a Black Zombie, not a common reanimation; a Black Zombie can roam even in daylight. Stick to my plan, quickly! Or we’ll run out of time.”
Old Man Li had no choice. The two men bent down cautiously to retrieve their pebbles, exchanged a look, and Old Man Li nodded toward Old Immortal Wang.
“Plop!” The sound of the pebbles hitting the water was jarringly loud in the still, deep night.
Indeed, Li Yang’s shoulders suddenly jerked, and he dropped the ‘food’ he held. His two greenish eyes revealed a greedy, beastly glint. His body, stiff as a log, sprang up from the ground in a flash. With his arms held straight forward, without twisting his waist or bending his knees, he leaped toward the riverbank with a rhythmic dong-dong-dong bounce. His two ‘old staffs’ flailed haphazardly; clearly, he was the type who ate what was in front of him but coveted what was in the pot, unwilling to forfeit any chance for ‘predation.’
Seeing Li Yang distracted, Old Immortal Wang immediately pulled Old Man Li toward the Lingguan Temple. After running for a while, Old Man Li suddenly stopped. “Son, I haven’t retrieved my son’s soul yet. That ‘Altar Jar’—I need to go back for it.”
“Oh, my heavens, Old Man Li, you are really asking for trouble! Going back now is a near-certain death sentence, and besides, how can that wretched thing be more important than a human life? As for the ‘Altar Jar’…” Old Immortal Wang hesitated for a moment, settling on a compromise: “Let’s burn this ghoul first, and then we can retrieve it!”
“No, I cannot leave my son there. I cannot…” Old Man Li was adamant.
“This…” Old Immortal Wang drew out the sound, indecisive. Although the concept of ‘the customer is always right’ hadn't been invented yet, Wang was dedicated to his craft. Despite his minor flaws, he was diligent and honest, a model among charlatans. Finally, he gritted his teeth. “Fine. Since I, Wang Weizhen, have accepted your commission, I will see it through. I will retrieve the secretary’s soul; you go to the village’s Lingguan Temple to get the fire seed. Old Man Li, remember this! Once you have the fire seed, go home and use it to light one stick of white tallow candle. Then, soak the area in front of your door with oil, and whatever you do, don’t let the fire seed go out, while I lure this great corpse back. If I don’t return within one shichen, prepare several large drums and beat them fiercely in front of your house—beat them to death! By then, it should be nearing the fourth watch of the night, which should draw the zombie over. When the zombie approaches, light the fire and burn him to ash!”
Going myself is just suicide; Old Immortal Wang has a sliver of a chance. For now, I can only do as he says. Old Man Li reasoned internally.
“Then you be careful, and take care!” Old Man Li finally agreed. Old Immortal Wang nodded and turned back the way he came. Old Man Li continued with quick, small steps toward the Lingguan Temple. When Old Immortal Wang returned to Li Yang’s grave site, the great corpse was still savoring its prey. The Altar Jar sat in front of the donkey cart; retrieving it required sneaking past Li Yang. Old Immortal Wang employed his old trick again, picking up another pebble and tossing it toward the clear stream. A zombie is just a zombie; it cannot think. Old Immortal Wang easily lured the foolish Li Yang away once more. Taking advantage of Li Yang’s departure, he stooped low and quietly crept toward the back of the donkey cart, using the wooden railing to shield himself.
Just as he neared the cart, he spotted Young Master Liu hiding by the gravesite. It turned out that before Old Immortal Wang arrived, Young Master Liu and Granny Fan were already there. Having seen Li Yang gnawing on the workers’ corpses, they immediately hid by the graves and remained silent. They stayed hidden by the grave, and Li Yang continued to consume his ‘meal.’ Granny Fan, having weathered many storms, was relatively prepared for the sight, but Young Master Liu, still underage, nearly fainted upon seeing it.
“Li Yang’s bazi is inherently Earth, and Earth overcomes Water, so what he lacks is Water. The ash and marble placed under the stele seat have cut off the underground water source. And the double dragons playing with the pearl carved on the stele head is even worse—the divine dragon sucks water, drying up all the water. Where would he get water? These are external matters; the real trouble is that this stele acts like a great gate, completely blocking the moisture vapor that collects here from miles around, resulting in drought. No wonder he became a Black Zombie,” Granny Fan muttered to herself.
“Eh? What’s that sound?”
“Never mind that now; getting the ‘Altar Jar’ is what matters,” Old Immortal Wang murmured. He finally managed to scramble onto the cart just as Li Yang returned to his dining spot. Seeing he hadn’t been discovered by Li Yang, Old Immortal Wang gently scooped up the ‘Altar Jar,’ opened the lid, and secured Li Yang’s soul within the Soul-Locking Chain for ease of carrying. Now, he needed a clever way to lure Li Yang to the Li family residence, an idea he already had prepared. He pulled a yellow talisman from his sleeve, his fingers turning, and with a thought, the talisman folded itself into a vivid, lifelike lark—remarkably similar in craftsmanship to the paper crane Granny Fan had handed to Young Master Liu earlier. Old Immortal Wang spoke to the lark: “Lark, lark, everything depends on you this time. Lead that beast to the Li house.”
The talisman lark, hearing Old Immortal Wang’s command, flew toward Li Yang while chirping. A zombie’s only reliable sense is sound, and Old Immortal Wang was cleverly using the lark’s sound to slowly draw Li Yang toward the Li family residence. As expected, Li Yang chased the sound.
“It’s Old Immortal Wang; is he here to subdue this monster? Where was he before? Over ten people are already dead! And now he shows up!” Young Master Liu cursed quietly.
“Why is he hiding over there? Why doesn't he go and capture him! Granny, should we call out to him?” Young Master Liu nudged the old woman beside him.
“Hush, this one has transformed into a Black Zombie; ordinary Daoist magic is useless against him. Only burning him will work, and even then, normal fire isn’t enough; it requires the eternal lamp fire from the temple. The zombie can only perceive external sounds; this Wang fellow is trying to lead Li Yang somewhere,” Granny Fan replied softly. Yet, inwardly, she nodded, thinking that Old Charlatan Wang had actually made some progress over the years.
“Leading him somewhere? That direction is…”
“It must be the Li house!”
“Don’t make any rash moves now; wait until they leave. Then we’ll smash the stele. This zombie’s yin energy will dissipate, and dealing with him will be much easier,” Granny Fan instructed.
Granny Fan and Young Master Liu had seen Old Immortal Wang arrive, but for some reason, they hadn’t called out to him. Finally, both Old Immortal Wang and Li Yang vanished into the night. The pair immediately scrambled up and walked to Li Yang’s stele. Granny Fan reached out and touched the soil beneath the stone, which was dry as alkali, sighing, “I haven't been gone for more than ten days, and look at the huge mess in the village—so many dead. If this zombie turns into a Hanba, it will truly be beyond saving.”
“Child, take action!”
“Watch me!” Young Master Liu decided instantly, seizing the heavy sledgehammer and striking Li Yang’s stele without hesitation. Crack! The stone shattered across the ground, the tiny shards looking painfully sharp on the earth.
Meanwhile, Old Immortal Wang relied on the conjured lark to lead Li Yang for quite some time when suddenly, Li Yang collapsed onto the ground and went still. Old Immortal Wang watched from a distance, afraid to approach.
Did the lark stop singing? That makes no sense! The bird was singing fine, but…
Old Immortal Wang pondered. At that moment, a sound of drumming drifted from the direction of the Li house. Old Immortal Wang had spent considerable time retrieving the Altar Jar. He hadn't managed to lure the zombie all the way to the Li house before the fourth watch arrived.
“Damn it, get up and move! Ah, I wonder how long Old Man Li’s white tallow candle will last. What on earth is going on?” Old Immortal Wang cursed in frustration as Li Yang lay motionless. “We can’t just wait here.” Old Immortal Wang cautiously approached Li Yang, only then noticing that Li Yang’s eyes were closed, no longer wide open as before.
“Huh? How strange,” Old Immortal Wang murmured to himself. He kicked Li Yang, who still showed no reaction. Li Yang had reverted to a corpse because the stele that conflicted with his bazi was the cause of his reanimation. Now that the stele was smashed, the curse of the broken stele was broken.
“It looks like he’s… Never mind, it’s better if he’s still. Now, let’s go get the fire seed and burn him.” He then took off his Daoist robe, covered Li Yang’s corpse, and ran toward the Li house.
Granny Fan and Young Master Liu rushed after Old Immortal Wang after smashing the stele. Halfway there, they spotted the corpse covered by Wang’s Daoist robe.
“Granny, that’s Li Yang’s corpse! Smashing the stele really did stop him. You are amazing!” Young Master Liu couldn’t help but praise Granny Fan now that the pest was finally dealt with.
“Not at all, I only did what was necessary,” Granny Fan smiled.
“Modest! Oh, where did Old Immortal Wang run off to?”
“He probably went to fetch the eternal lamp fire. We can’t let him burn the body!”
“Why not?” Young Master Liu asked.
“If someone who died an unnatural death is cremated, they will inevitably be relegated to the Animal Realm during the cycle of reincarnation. Because their previous physical body was burned, the judges in the Underworld will assume the person detested the mortal world and sentence them to the Animal Path. Although Li Yang’s soul has been retrieved, this body still belongs to him. Burning him now would be harming him.”
“Then what should we do?” Young Master Liu asked again.
“We must transfer the soul back into this body, choose an auspicious time for reburial, and erect a pillar,” Granny Fan replied.
“Erect a pillar?”
“Erecting a pillar means setting up a new stele for the deceased, but it must be an Eulogy Stele, inscribed with dedicatory text. The ancients had a saying: ‘An old friend rests in a felicitous place, securing fortune for generations to come.’ However, this saying only applies to those who died of old age or lived out their natural span. Those who died violently require an Eulogy Stele to facilitate their transcendence. The inscription for someone who died violently should only briefly summarize the deceased’s main life experiences and the significance of erecting the stele, coupled with condolences for their unfortunate passing. Absolutely do not write down any meritorious deeds, because those who die unjustly are paying off debts from a past life; writing down merits is deceiving the judges of the Underworld, and Li Yang’s next life will be even more tragic. That’s why writing this inscription is the hardest part.” Granny Fan explained.
“Writing the inscription? That’s easy, leave it to me,” Young Master Liu slapped his forehead.
“That would be best. Remember the method I described for writing it,” Granny Fan cautioned.
When Old Immortal Wang reached the Li house, Old Man Li was still furiously beating the drums. When Old Man Li saw a figure approaching, he shouted, “You men, light the fire!”
“Wait! Wait! It’s me! Old Man Li, it’s me!” Old Immortal Wang called out urgently.
“You’re back! I thought that zombie got you… Is the zombie behind you?” Old Man Li asked, relieved to see Old Immortal Wang.
Old Immortal Wang recounted what had just happened to Old Man Li.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go burn him!” Old Man Li exclaimed.
“No!”
“Fan… Granny Fan! It’s Granny Fan! Where have you been these past few days? I searched everywhere for you!” Old Man Li rejoiced. Granny Fan and Young Master Liu had hurried along and managed to catch up just as Old Immortal Wang and Old Man Li were about to depart.
“I had some matters to attend to, so I disappeared for a few days, hehe!” Granny Fan smiled.
“Since you are here, everything can be discussed easily. Why can’t we go destroy that zombie now?” Old Man Li asked cautiously.
“Burning him now is the same as harming your son…” Young Master Liu repeated what Granny Fan had just told him to Old Man Li. Upon hearing this, Old Man Li’s heart jolted.
“Old Immortal Wang, what do you say—burn him or not?” Old Man Li, fearful of making another mistake, sought Wang’s counsel.
“Let’s do as she says! I don’t have a better plan either. Keeping the body intact is better than burning it,” Wang conceded.
The broken stele hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. The moment Old Immortal Wang saw Granny Fan, he was instantly transformed, looking like a withered eggplant, utterly deflated. “Good, Granny Fan, with both you and the young master here, I am completely at ease. After this is over, I will thank you handsomely,” Old Man Li said, smiling at Granny Fan.
Ever since the last exchange, Old Immortal Wang had been staring intently at Granny Fan, as if wanting to say something. Young Master Liu felt something was strange.
By the Mao hour, the sky was beginning to lighten. Young Master Liu, Granny Fan, Old Immortal Wang, Old Man Li, and the others reappeared at Li Yang’s burial site.
Now, this was not just Li Yang’s grave; it held the resting places of the more than ten workers killed by ‘him,’ and Old Immortal Wang’s two disciples. Granny Fan had carved their markers personally. Since they were all made of peach wood, they were finished quickly.
“Granny, why are all their markers made of peach wood?” Young Master Liu inquired.
“They all died unnaturally; they don’t need permanent ‘Underworld’ passes like stone steles. A wooden one is enough for the judge to see,” Granny Fan replied with a smile.
After paying their respects by kowtowing to the graves, everyone left. The dozen or so mounds of earth, large and small, were left to keep each other company.
“Everyone, what happened last night was a complete accident. I, Li, express my apologies here to the families of the deceased. This bit of money is for compensation,” Old Man Li said to the more than ten women gathered in the living room. But they only wept continuously; nothing seemed to help.
“Sir, please help persuade them!” Old Man Li turned to Old Immortal Wang. Wang also had to find a way to calm them.
“These workers all died unjustly. We just performed the necessary rites to help them pass on peacefully. If you continue to weep and wail here, perhaps those who can’t let go will return to find you. So please, stop crying!” Old Immortal Wang’s tone was strangely firm. It proved effective; the women quieted down.
“Sir is right. Alright, please take your compensation and go home now!” Old Man Li said when the women quieted down. After seeing them off, Old Man Li noticed Granny Fan was gone too.
“Huh? Where did Granny Fan and Young Master Liu go?” Old Man Li asked.
“She said she had something to do and left,” Old Immortal Wang replied.
“Why did they leave? I still need to thank her!”
“Old Man Li, since the matter is concluded, perhaps I should go look for Granny Fan? I have something I need to ask her,” Old Immortal Wang said to Old Man Li.
“Very well. While you’re at it, give her this two hundred yuan. Tell her it’s a small token of my appreciation.”
Old Immortal Wang took the money and headed to Granny Fan’s only residence in the village. But when he arrived, the house was empty, the door locked, and knocking brought no response. He then figured the pair might have headed toward the mass graveyard and went out of the village on a hunch.
“Child, those words the snake spirit spoke before leaving—I had some doubts, but in these short decades, so many strange things have happened in our village. Now, I fully believe it. Alas! Where there is abnormality, there must be a demon. What could be stirring up such waves…” As Old Immortal Wang walked, he saw Granny Fan and Young Master Liu sitting among the weeds. Approaching them, he overheard Granny Fan saying these words.
“Sister disciple is indeed here!”
“What are you doing here?” Granny Fan’s voice instantly turned icy upon seeing Old Immortal Wang.
“I know my tone was a bit harsh last time; I came to apologize,” Old Immortal Wang said. Though Granny Fan and Old Immortal Wang were like fire and water, they were actually disciples of the same master, the Old Daoist, more than twenty years ago. The Old Daoist was a highly respected and resolute figure, the foremost leader in the village. While he lived, Old Immortal Wang was entirely submissive, diligently learning skills and accomplishing some commendable deeds; the relationship between the two junior siblings was quite harmonious. But once the Old Daoist passed away, Old Immortal Wang completely soured. Without restraint, the many vices he had previously hidden surfaced one by one. When Granny Fan tried to admonish him, she was met with mockery and counter-accusations, leading to a complete rupture of their relationship. It must be known that Old Immortal Wang was a very calculating and excessively proud man. Now, he was humbling himself, ceaselessly offering apologies to her. Granny Fan assumed that the years had tempered him and he had truly reformed, so the anger in her heart significantly subsided.
“Forget it, I’m not that petty,” Granny Fan retorted, rolling her eyes at him dismissively.
“I knew you wouldn’t be so small-minded, hehe. Uh… May I presume to ask, didn’t you return to the town? How did you suddenly end up here?” Old Immortal Wang asked, gesturing toward the graves.
“What, you’re not welcome?” Granny Fan countered, then sneered, “If I hadn't put on a show for that zombie, you probably wouldn’t be enjoying this good outcome, would you?”
“I know, I know, Sister disciple is superior!” Old Immortal Wang asked cautiously.