Chapter Seventy-Seven: Moving Out, We Must Move Out

In the backyard of Chen Yushu’s house, although a simple fence had been erected, it offered little real protection. There had once been some vegetables planted there, but as he was not inclined towards cultivation nor had the time to tend to them, the plot had lain fallow.

At this moment, sensing a surge of yin energy in the backyard, he did not hesitate; he grabbed the Soul Severing Ruler and rushed over. Yet, he did not immediately open the back door. Facing an unknown presence alone, he did not feel confident. Thus, he continued to maintain his Qi-seeing technique, perceiving the yin energy moving away from his backyard.

“So it was merely passing by?”

Relief came first, followed by puzzlement. Could merely passing by trigger his warding talisman? With this thought, he became more cautious, refraining from opening the door directly and instead moving to the side window to peer outside.

He was instantly startled.

He saw a person. The figure was clad in black, just passing by his backyard, and trailing behind was another humanoid form. Its feet were together, advancing in a hopping manner, yet landing silently.

Hop by hop.

To any observer, this would appear incredibly eerie. But to Chen Yushu, with each hop, a miasma of evil energy spread, assailing the surroundings. The warding talisman in his room had been activated precisely because this evil energy approached.

The warding talisman was designed to pacify and dispel evil. As the malefic energy drew near, the talisman naturally worked to calm and eliminate it.

“A corpse? Is that a corpse? The corpse walks with that man? Is he a corpse keeper?”

A look of horror overtook Chen Yushu’s face.

Corpse keepers were another branch of the mystical arts, yet because they dealt with corpses for years, living people avoided them and they rarely interacted with others, shrouding them in mystery.

He never expected such a person to exist in Jianghuan Town.

At that moment, the man in black walked up to the last house on the street, opened the backyard fence, and entered. The hopping corpse followed him inside, disappearing from sight.

“That’s the last household? Is he the owner?”

Chen Yushu’s expression changed, unease flooding him.

In this area, he had met most of his neighbors, save for the last house, which was shrouded in mystery. Locals said one could go ten days or half a month without seeing its occupant, and no one had ever spoken to him.

He never expected his first encounter to be in such a manner, and the neighbor turned out to be a mysterious corpse keeper.

“Corpse keepers possess considerable skill, often surpassing even their corpses. Judging from the talisman’s reaction to the leaking evil energy, the corpse’s strength must not be weak—at least at the level of a vengeful spirit. And since a corpse still has a body and immense strength, it is even more dangerous than a vengeful ghost…”

Muttering to himself, Chen Yushu felt a growing unease.

However, as far as he knew, the man had lived nearby for over half a year, and from the neighbors, he had heard nothing unusual—no deaths or incidents. So, though the man was enigmatic, he was not a bloodthirsty killer, at least not someone who would harm those around him lightly.

There was no animosity between them, no grievances. In the short term, there shouldn’t be any problems.

Of course, living here long-term was out of the question.

Though he was also versed in the mystical arts, he considered himself rather weak and had no desire to dwell beside someone with such latent threat. Coupled with the ‘Zuo Family Mansion’ on the road, he suspected the feng shui here was poor and not suitable for prolonged residence.

“Move! I must move!”

He resolved silently.

Chen Yushu replaced the warding talisman, then sat down once more to enter meditation, practicing the White Tiger Visualization.

Incense cultivation +1

…

Early the next morning.

Shi Hao arrived as expected.

“Brother Chen, here’s the silver from yesterday’s talisman sales.”

Shi Hao spoke, handing over the silver, then added, “Lately, talismans are getting harder to sell. I’ve noticed more than one person selling spiritual talismans, and their prices are much lower—some as cheap as two taels per talisman.”

“The warding talisman isn’t a rare spiritual item; it just happened to be in demand due to recent events. Others discovering the business opportunity and selling talismans is only natural.”

Chen Yushu looked at the thirty-odd taels of silver in his hand, nodded, and was not surprised. His talismans were effective, but not particularly powerful; he had simply caught the right timing. Once the commotion died down and martial artists each had one, demand would drop.

Evil spirits and ghosts were commonplace to him, but invisible to ordinary people. Unless someone frequently traveled at night, they were not so easily encountered.

“So what should we do next? Should we lower the price?” Shi Hao asked eagerly.

“No need for that. You’ve built up a bit of reputation now. Those who need help will seek you out. As long as you can truly solve their problems, you’ll never lack customers.”

Chen Yushu waved his hand, his mind drifting to the fake talismans in Old Fu’s incense shop. They looked the part, but were nothing more than scribbles, utterly useless.

In this trade, lack of skill was far worse than mediocre skill. What mattered was efficacy.

If Shi Hao had remained reliant on his constitution, he could sell as many as he could; now, with backing from the Hu family and becoming a disciple, he was a man of ability, ready for long-term business.

There was no need to undercut prices.

After explaining, Chen Yushu handed him more talismans. Alongside warding and evil-dispelling talismans, he added a few for calming the mind.

He too desired lasting business.

…

“You say you’ve already cultivated the Medicine King Stance to minor completion?”

In the backyard of the Liu family pharmacy, Manager Zhou looked at Chen Yushu in astonishment.

“That’s right,” Chen Yushu answered calmly. “Just last night, during cultivation, I broke through.”

Having decided to display his talent, Chen Yushu saw no reason to conceal it. Apprentices at the Liu pharmacy were subject to conditions. The Medicine King Stance was open to all, but further external forging techniques could only be learned once the stance reached minor completion, especially those self-defense skills, which required the same.

Now that he’d achieved this, he didn’t want to wait any longer.

Though reaching minor completion in such a short time was unexpected, this world had its geniuses. Even in remote Jianghuan Town, legends of prodigies occasionally reached from the wider world.

Like the prodigious Sword Sage Xu Murong, Mountain-crushing Zhou He, Tiger-riding Young Hero Qin Feng, Sword Immortal Bai Caixia, and the Musical Fairy Guo Caifeng…

Each had risen to fame in youth, leaving many legends in the martial world.

By comparison, his speed of cultivation was impressive, yet still far from matching these true prodigies.

“Show me!” Manager Zhou did not dare neglect him, urging him to demonstrate.

Chen Yushu nodded, knowing this was expected, and began practicing the Medicine King Stance.

To a martial artist like Manager Zhou, who had reached internal cultivation, the depth of his skill was immediately clear.

In his eyes, Chen Yushu’s stance was executed with natural movements and smooth breathing, every gesture imbued with a special grace. Most crucially, the blood and qi within him flowed like galloping steeds, roaring audibly.

This was indeed a phenomenon only seen when the stance reached minor completion.

Soon, Chen Yushu finished a round. His blood and qi surged, sweat poured down, and a burning energy rose from his body, forming a white mist above his head.

Medicine King Stance +5

“I recall you only started learning the Medicine King Stance half a month ago, correct?” Manager Zhou had already confirmed the breakthrough, yet his tone remained incredulous. “How did you train?”

Chen Yushu panted, saying nothing. Each practice consumed considerable strength, but now that he ate and drank his fill daily, sometimes cooking extra meals at home, he could manage.

“Xu Lihao was considered talented—seven days to enter, a year to minor completion. He was promoted to apprentice healer last year for that. That was an exception. Our Medicine King Stance values martial cultivation highly. I hadn’t expected you to be even more gifted. Less than a month to reach minor completion—even in Tianhe County, you’d be among the best. No, you’re stronger than the county’s prodigies. You still work daily, with far fewer resources than they have…”

Manager Zhou spoke, visibly moved.

He considered himself well-traveled, yet did not expect to find such a martial prodigy in humble Jianghuan Town.

He took a deep breath, finally regaining composure. His first thought was to recruit him as a disciple, but knowing his own limitations, he could only abandon the idea and instead prepared to report to Manager Su.

After all, Manager Su was the head of the Liu pharmacy, and Zhou owed his comfortable life to him. He quickly said, “Don’t tell anyone about this yet. Go home first; later, I’ll personally take you to the secret chamber.”

Seeing Chen Yushu nod, Zhou hurried out to find Manager Su.

Chen Yushu remained calm.

He knew that any place valued talent highly.

Previously, when he had demonstrated the abilities of a Yin Walker, the Daoist Ma from Pine Pavilion had immediately sought to accept him as a disciple, and Wu Hong from the Yin Suppression Bureau had invited him to join and take a consulting post.

The Liu pharmacy had a well-ordered lineage, backed by Medicine King Valley, providing talent annually. They naturally cherished prodigies.

He did not consider himself a genius, but his attribute panel was enough to make him comparable to those ‘true’ prodigies.

That was enough.

He hoped to use this advantage to gain recognition, resources, learn more skills, and grow faster.

…

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