The Unremarkable Little Taoist Master

After reading the book, the old daoist priest began to prepare. He took out bottles and jars and started sprinkling them over the Jiangshi.

As I watched the old daoist priest’s skilled movements, I suddenly shouted, “Boss, put more chili powder on it!”

A carefree smile echoed throughout the cave, and I laughed so hard that I couldn’t stand up straight. Seeing my condition, the old man turned green with fury. He glared at me, then put down the bottles and jars and threw a rock at me with all his might.

I quickly dodged and wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes. I slowly said, “Old man, don’t mind me. Please continue.”

The old man looked displeased but continued his work. He painted the Jiangshi black and then picked up the bell, shaking it to produce eerie notes. While shaking the bell, he murmured something I couldn’t understand. I shook my head and walked out of the cave.

I sat at the cave entrance and stared blankly at the Qilin tattoo on my chest, saying, “What exactly is your origin?”

After a while, the old man looked at the Jiangshi and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, saying, “Finally succeeded, finally succeeded.”

Watching the old man’s frenzied expression, I stayed silent for a long time, calmly standing to the side, observing his manic behavior. The old man hurriedly shook the bell, and the bound Jiangshi suddenly jumped up, staring at him in confusion.

The old man looked at me as if to show off. I ignored him. The old daoist priest controlled the Iron-armored Jiangshi, and with a gentle shake of the bell, the Jiangshi followed him down the mountain.

I silently trailed behind the old man as we walked down the mountain.

I asked him, “Can this Jiangshi advance again, or will it be stuck in the Iron-armored Jiangshi stage forever?” The old man shook his head and replied, “Theoretically, it can be upgraded, but it hasn’t been promoted for many years because that book has been destroyed.”

Looking at the old man, who sighed, my heart ached. Such a book was destroyed, along with the essence of the entire corpse herding family’s legacy. It seemed that the old man’s future path wouldn’t be easy.

Slowly, we arrived at the crumbling temple. We clarified our route and quickly set off on our way back. We planned to stay at Blacksmith Hu’s home for a while, where we would let the old man learn some skills while we investigated the case. The thief who had been stealing corpses had left us feeling quite helpless.

It had been a long time without any news, and we had no clues about what to do next. We could only take it one step at a time and hoped we could catch the corpse-thieving criminal soon.

We traveled day and night, and by the next evening, we reached the entrance of the village. We headed toward Blacksmith Hu’s house, where he stood inside, smiling at us. His gaze fell on the Iron-armored Jiangshi behind Xiaolin, and Blacksmith Hu looked at the Jiangshi with a gentle smile, clearly pleased with the old man.

After admiring the Jiangshi for a while, Blacksmith Hu sighed and said to us, “Please, take a seat.” We quickly went to sit in the small pavilion in the courtyard while Blacksmith Hu went to prepare dinner. As we chatted, a rich spread of dishes soon filled the table, and Blacksmith Hu warmly invited us to eat, bringing out two jars of wine for himself.

Blacksmith Hu sat down, poured a bowl of wine from a jar, and downed it in one go before grabbing some food and eating heartily.

Noticing our bewildered expressions, he filled each of our cups with wine, then said, “Thank you all, truly. I thought I would never leave the mountains again in my life, but you’ve given me hope.”

After saying this, he drained his bowl of wine in one gulp. We followed suit and drank ours. Instantly, I felt a fiery sensation in my throat that was incredibly uncomfortable. I noticed the old man’s face turning red, resembling a boiled lobster. This wine could only be described as fiery.

Blacksmith Hu looked at us and laughed heartily, “This is the wine of the corpse herding family in Xiangxi. Because we often deal with yin energy, it’s particularly strong.”

When the old man heard this, he immediately showed interest. Xiaolin, feeling a bit dizzy, asked, “Mr. Hu, since you’ve been a corpse herder for so many years, why did you suddenly stop?”

I noticed Blacksmith Hu’s expression instantly turned cold, and that chill sent shivers down my spine. He downed several bowls of wine in quick succession and wiped his mouth before saying, “It was a cold winter. My family was having a banquet when we were suddenly attacked by a group of masked assailants. That night, 34 members of my family were killed.

Only I, being the youngest and hidden in the underground tunnel, managed to escape. Afterward, I thought about seeking revenge, but I didn’t know who my enemies were. I began to search frantically, but when I finally learned their identities, I realized my strength was utterly weak in front of them. I could only practice the techniques of corpse refinement tirelessly, hoping to cultivate strength and find an opportunity to take my revenge.”

By this point, tears were streaming down Blacksmith Hu’s face. After drinking several more bowls, he continued to speak through his tears, “Later, I discovered that the secret techniques of my family were incomplete. For all these years, I’ve wanted to restore them, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t succeed. Eventually, I gave up on revenge and just wanted to live a simple life.”

Can you understand the feeling of having your enemies right before you while being powerless to do anything? I felt an overwhelming urge to rush out recklessly, but I realized I didn’t even have the ability to resist.

I tried to forget this hatred, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw the pale, blood-soaked faces of my family, all 34 of them. Turning to look at the old man’s tear-streaked face, I sighed, “It seems that the old man shares a similar bitter experience with Blacksmith Hu. Their bond has formed a kind of master-apprentice relationship. Clearly, they are two sides of the same coin.”

Blacksmith Hu choked up for a moment before saying, “My greatest wish in life is about to be fulfilled. Soon, I will be able to restore my family’s secret techniques.”

Seeing the excitement on Blacksmith Hu’s face, I suddenly recalled something and quickly asked, “Are you saying you’ve found a way for the Jiangshi to evolve?”

Blacksmith Hu nodded fervently, exclaiming, “Yes, I found it! I found it!” His voice was almost a shout.

Watching his ecstatic demeanor, I could understand how he felt in that moment. It was as if years of suppressed resentment had suddenly erupted, and Blacksmith Hu was genuinely happy today.

I asked with curiosity, “Does it have to do with the Jiangshi the old man brought back?” Blacksmith Hu nodded and replied, “Yes. We need to find a wild Jiangshi of the same level, then feed it the refined corpse and take control of the wild Jiangshi.”

After saying this, tears streamed down Blacksmith Hu’s face, giving him a pitiful and haunting appearance.

I shook my head, not wanting to disturb him, and quietly took a deep swig of the strong liquor on the table.

The old daoist priest seemed to realize something and fell into silence.

Slowly, I started to feel a wave of dizziness wash over my brain.