I Am Your Natural Enemy

Tonight, who knows how many people are lying awake, afraid that if they fall asleep, they’ll miss some important news.

Any updates, they all have to react at the very first moment.

The first piece of confirmed news, not needing any verification, came from Hua Qianshu from Second Artillery—he plunged straight into Mount Zhongnan.

Because this was something you could see even if you stood a bit farther away.

Now, one thing’s for sure—the Taiyi Observatory must be rebuilt.

And before dawn even broke, all kinds of news were already being secretly passed around everywhere.

Mount Zhongnan isn’t home to just the Taiyi Observatory—the folks from those small Taoist temples spent a whole night living in fear, and now that the dust has settled, their phones are burning hot, still ringing off the hook.

Wen Yan, after he flew out of Mount Zhongnan by helicopter, called the little zombie and Sparrow Cat at home and told them to open the window for him.

Wen Yan didn’t go to the Scorching Sun Department; he went straight through the window, bringing along three Great Uncle Masters, the Nether Path Soul Lamp, and the sealed-up Ma Mingzi, and returned home.

The Old Celestial Master’s Magic Sword walked off with Wen Yan by itself, and the Scorching Sun Department people couldn’t say anything about it.

More importantly, the Old Celestial Master himself didn’t say anything, just told them at the start to bring the Magic Sword over.

And since the Magic Sword itself followed Wen Yan, that was the Old Celestial Master making his stance clear.

Back in the basement, now with so many people, it felt a little cramped.

Wen Yan looked at Cai Qidong, lying in the corner inside a body bag.

”Eighth Uncle-Master Ancestor, can you check if he’s really still alive?”

”He’s dead,” Eighth Uncle-Master Ancestor answered offhandedly. But when he saw Wen Yan’s look, he sighed, walked over to the body bag, pulled it open, reached out and touched Cai Qidong’s body, feeling it carefully for a long while, eventually even revealing his true Great Zombie form.

After quite some time, he drew back his hand, zipped the body bag back up, his expression a little odd.

”I think... he’s probably dead.

His body has already entered a stagnant state—there’s no sign of life.

But so far, there’s still no Death Qi coming off him.”

”What do you mean?”

”I mean... I don’t know if he’s really, completely dead.”

Eighth Uncle-Master Ancestor rubbed his fangs and said,

”How about this, I just take a bite and test it out. It’s been ages since I’ve bitten anyone.

Honestly, I always thought Cai Qidong was kind of a bastard.

But him throwing everything aside and pulling off that Momentary Beauty at the last second—that took real guts.

If I take a loss and bite him, I could turn him into a zombie.”

”Don’t...” Wen Yan jumped, quickly stopping Eighth Uncle-Master Ancestor. ”Eighth Uncle-Master Ancestor, there’s no need! Just rest! Cai Heizi doesn’t deserve to be bitten by you.”

”That’s not it—I kind of want to turn him into a zombie, actually, been thinking about it for a long time.”

Fourth Great-uncle Master shook his head and switched topics.

”Did you try summoning his soul?”

”No; I’m sure he’s definitely not really dead, so I didn’t dare. I was scared that if he wasn’t all the way gone yet, my soul summoning might actually kill him.”

”But, look. He’s the Minister of Nanwu County’s Scorching Sun Department—if you keep his body here, it’s not really right, is it? Got any thoughts on how to handle this?”

”I was thinking about going through the motions at the Virtue City Funeral House, then keeping the corpse. Not the first time I’ve done stuff like this.”

”But have you considered that even if you just go through the Virtue City Funeral Home, even if the body stays here—

if one day he really does wake up, he won’t have an identity anymore.

He’s not a minister anymore. On paper, even Cai Qidong as a person doesn’t exist.

So if he wakes up, what then?

The only reason he could do so much before was because of his status.

If he’s got no real identity, even if he’s alive, he’ll just have more trouble on his hands.”

”Please, Fourth Great-uncle Master, do advise.” Wen Yan straightened up and bowed for guidance.

”If I take him away, no one will come asking you questions. If anyone does ask, just say I took him to Fuyu Mountain.

Anything else, you don’t know. If they keep pushing, just tell them he’s in the Zombie Cave on Fuyu Mountain.

He’s neither dead nor alive now.

Get it?

This is the best situation for now.

For what Cai Qidong needs to do, he can’t do it while alive.

He can only do it dead.

But if he goes through the whole process and actually gets cremated and dies for real—

you definitely can’t accept that. Anyway, in the Zombie Cave, his body won’t rot, no matter what.

The rest, you don’t need to worry about.”

”Then I’ll leave it to you Gentlemen.”

Eighth Uncle-Master Ancestor picked up Cai Qidong’s body bag like it was a baby chick, grinning in a way that made Wen Yan shudder a little.

”Eighth Uncle-Master Ancestor, please, remind everyone—don’t let anyone carelessly take a bite out of Cai Heizi.”

”Relax, relax! We’re heading back now—Uncle-Master’s definitely waiting for the results. Let’s hurry up and go.”

”I’ll go too.”

”Forget it. You’ve got a ton of stuff to deal with here. For now, just be good and stay home. The Old Celestial Master’s Magic Sword absolutely cannot show up at Fuyu Mountain.”

Wen Yan glanced at the Magic Sword on his back, speechless.

The gray cloth wrapped around the Magic Sword was now tied straight to him, strapping the sword to his back.

Of course, he knew the Old Celestial Master was just showing an attitude, wasn’t really giving him the sword.

Besides, what use would the Magic Sword even be in his hands? At best, he could wave it around as a fire poker—he can’t get any of its mystical effects to work.

”Alright then, Gentlemen, you all go ahead. I’ll pay my respects to Grand Uncle Master another day.”