The fox spirit is in a hurry like an imperial decree.

  A scholar encounters a soldier, with reason unable to be clearly explained. My master is most afraid of people like Old Lin who are so ferocious and violent. He doesn't dare to argue with Old Lin again, but he knows I definitely won't "betray my school".

  To be honest, I don't have much enthusiasm for being a godfather, and I'm not too fond of Zhou Tan's timid and hesitant personality either. If the two were on an equal footing and I had to choose, I would choose the heroic and chivalrous Old Lin as my master. But since I became a godfather to survive, once a teacher always a father, I couldn't possibly betray my master.

  One literary and one martial, Zhou Tan and Old Lin are not in conflict, so I proposed that both masters should be invited. Old Lin was actually joking with Zhou Tan, so he agreed quickly.

  Everything has its order, Zhou Tan had already taken the lead, and Lao Lin could only be second. In those years, chrysanthemum was still a flower, 2B was just a kind of drawing pencil, and the word "two" was very popular, so although Lao Lin wasn't quite satisfied with being called Second Master, he accepted it gladly.

  Lao Lin's martial arts skills were learned from a relative when he was young, totaling only a dozen or so moves, called "Fen Jin Cuo Gu Shou" (Separating Tendons and Bones Hand), which has been modernized to be called "Qin Na" (Grasping and Sealing). He didn't know which school or style it belonged to, as long as he could beat others into submission, that was good martial arts.

  Lao Lin was able to rise rapidly in the countryside, half because he was unbeatable in a fight, and also because he was rough on the outside but delicate on the inside, with skilled hands. He was proficient in hunting, fishing, blacksmithing, and carpentry, and there were many things I could learn from him.

  We were drinking and eating, when Wu Zhangya burst in. He's nearly fifty years old, and is good friends with my two masters. He's an expert in traditional Chinese medicine and herbs. Lao Lin has been staying at his place for most of the past few years, secretly working on something. Birds of a feather flock together - my two masters and Wu Zhangya all love to drink and eat, often going to other people's homes to scrounge for food.

  I also drank two bowls of old wine and asked with the excitement of drinking: "Second Master, you are so powerful, who gave you this knife scar on your face?"

  Lao Lin's face was already flushed with drink, and upon hearing this, he touched his scar with a heroic air: "Damn it, that time I didn't even fight back when he cut me, I slept with his wife, he cut me once, and we're even!"

  Everyone burst out laughing, while I was sweating profusely. Being caught in the act and still being so smug, only this Second Master could achieve that.

  Lao Lin said seriously: "A martial artist must not use force against those who do not practice martial arts, nor can they bully others with their martial skills. This is my rule."

  "I hastily said: 'Yes, I absolutely will not strike first and hit people, and I resolutely will not steal other people's wives!'"

  Zhou Tan and Wu Zhangya burst out laughing, but Old Lin pretended to be angry: "You're useless! You should hook up with anyone you take a liking to, that's what it means to be a man. As long as it's consensual, even the Emperor can't interfere!"

  "Don't listen to his nonsense, you flirt with other people's wives, and others will also flirt with your wife. Who knows, you might even contract a few venereal diseases, and that'll be the end of you."

  Lao Lin said with a smile: "I had the foresight not to marry, so I'm the only one who sleeps with other people's wives. Others can't sleep with my wife, and venereal diseases are no big deal, Old Wu can cure them, haha..."

  Everyone is stunned, encountering such an old rascal and scoundrel, what else can be said?

  My mother saw that I had two masters and a backing, and there was some smile on her face.

  Lao Lin stayed overnight at my place tonight, and in the second half of the night, the village dogs were barking frantically again, disturbing me for a whole night, really annoying me to death. At the same time, I also feel a bit uneasy, why have the dogs been barking wildly these days? Some people say that seeing the tall and mysterious figure is true?

  The next day, just after dawn, Old Lin began teaching me grappling and fighting techniques. After breakfast, Master came to my house again to give me lessons, still imparting basic knowledge. Both masters stayed at my place, preventing the Butterfly Gang from causing trouble, so it was a very peaceful day with no one coming to seek revenge, and Sheng Yu Po didn't come to stir up trouble either.

  Won't Sheng Yuba just give in like this? I think she and her son are not that kind of people, they will definitely not let it go. But no matter what, bring it on, I have two masters backing me up!

  At a little past eight in the evening, I was listening to two masters talk about some legendary stories from the countryside. Suddenly, I felt a surge of cold and putrid air coming towards me. I couldn't describe why it wasn't something I smelled but rather felt; in short, that feeling was like facing a corpse in a coffin - an icy numbness spreading rapidly from my hands and feet to my body, rushing up to the top of my head. Before I could even react to what was happening, another stream of cool and comfortable air suddenly spread across my back, quickly pushing out the cold sensation from my body.

  The master sitting diagonally opposite me also sensed the anomaly, with both hands upright on his chest, thumbs and index fingers straight up, other fingers curled in, and both hands clasped together. However, by the time he formed the gesture to gather spiritual energy, I had already returned to normal.

  "What's going on?" the master asked.

  "I don't know, it's kind of strange..."

  My words were not yet finished, when a very sharp and shrill scream suddenly came from next door, followed by several more screams. I had never heard such hoarse and desperate screams before, and the feeling of fear was like an invisible hand grasping my heart. My mother and two masters also changed their faces and jumped up.

  "My goodness!"

  "Run quickly!"

  "It's come back to life..."

  A variety of screams mixed together, although separated by a wall, still made us lose our color.

  I've heard the legend of the corpse many times, but I never thought I'd encounter it myself. It didn't occur to me that it would happen at such close range. Old Lin immediately rushed out, and Master shouted: "Don't go out!"

  This time Lao Lin surprisingly listened and stopped in his tracks, turning around to ask: "Not helping?"

  Master asked me: "Are you okay?"

  I shook my head and he asked again: "What did you feel just now? Tell me."

  I knew it was no small matter, so I hastily recounted the feeling from just now in detail. My master's face turned gloomy, and he pressed his finger on my spine: "Is the cool breath starting from here?"

  I couldn't be certain, but I was pretty sure it started from the lumbar vertebrae area, so I nodded.

  A strange light flashed in Master's eyes, seemingly a mix of surprise and excitement, yet also with a hint of anger, I couldn't figure out what had happened.

  "My mom and Old Lin hastily asked what was going on, but Master didn't respond. He just said no matter what happens outside, don't go out. Old Lin got angry: 'You old cheat, you're starting to pretend to be mysterious again. If you have something to say, say it; if you have fart to let out, let it out. What's with the mumbling and hesitation?'"

  The master sighed: "Alas, this matter has no evidence, so you can just know it in your heart and don't make a fuss. Just now, Sheng Yu's mother sent an evil object to harm Xuanming, but it didn't succeed. That evil object fell on the corpse next door and turned into a zombie!"

  My mother and I were both horrified and extremely angry. This old witch had incited the Butterfly Gang to vandalize, loot and burn, but it was not enough for her; she even used evil means to harm me, which was really too much!

  Lao Lin burst into a rage and immediately wanted to go find Sheng Yu Po to settle the score. Originally, he had some friendship with Sheng Yu Po's husband, so he hadn't caused trouble for their family because of the Butterfly Gang's disturbance. Now, Sheng Yu Po actually used such a despicable method to harm him, and he was furious.

  I pulled La Bu Zhuo Lao Lin, and Master coldly said: "I knew your bull-headed temper would run wild, but going there will only bring trouble to yourself and harm even more people."

  "How can it harm more people?"

  "Master, there are many kinds of fake corpses. Generally, they just sit up or jump a few times and then stop moving. But some can become zombies, jumping around like flying, with great strength, their bodies as hard as iron, and their claws and teeth carrying corpse poison. If you're bitten or scratched by one, you might also become a zombie. If you don't believe me, go try it out and see if you can escape with your life."

  Lao Lin was immediately speechless, his grasping hand no matter how powerful couldn't hold onto the zombie, resisting evil spirits wasn't his strong suit.

  "Master continued: "The formation of zombies also has many kinds, buried in the barren land where grass and trees do not grow will become a zombie; can be refined into a zombie using magic spells; newly deceased corpses possessed by evil spirits or evil energy will turn into zombies; if a corpse absorbs the yang energy from a living person through mouth-to-mouth contact, it may also become a zombie. There is also the possibility of becoming a zombie when a person's soul scatters but their spirit remains in the body at the moment of death. The one next door should be the third kind, possessed by an evil object, this is one of the two most difficult zombies to deal with."

  I thought zombies would come and attack our home, but listening to the sound, they ran far away. I said, "Master, it's running somewhere else."

  The master nodded and let out a sigh of relief: "It's possible that she was counterattacked and can't control it anymore, or maybe it's afraid of the aura on you and doesn't dare to come over..."

  "Feared the aura on me?" I was somewhat surprised, could it be that the evil spirit was driven away by the demon fox on my body, and the evil spirit feared the demon fox's aura?

  The master had an unpredictable and profound expression, yet he furrowed his brow as if worried about something. To be honest, I didn't like the uncomfortable look on his face, like a fish bone stuck in his throat that wouldn't go up or down.

  We were talking when someone rushed to my door and knocked heavily on it, shouting: "Is Mr. Zhou inside? Help! It's an emergency!"

  "Let Sheng Yuba handle it," said the master. "I've been very ill lately and have no energy."

  The people outside said: "We've looked for her and she's also fallen ill. Two people have already been bitten, they're all fellow villagers, you can't just ignore it!"

  "My illness is really severe, I'm too weak... Cough, cough... You can only ask her for help, the one who tied the bell must be the one to untie it."

  The old man's words were always full of hidden meaning, he wouldn't directly say that it was the ghost of Victory Jade, but only said something about untying a bell and being watertight. The person outside the door caught on to something and ran away, but soon someone else came to help, this time it was Master's paternal uncle Zhou Mu. Master still refused to open the door, telling Zhou Mu to use a mirror to reflect the zombie, or to hit it with a broom, a book, a ruler, glutinous rice, or red beans, and if that didn't work, to surround it with ink lines on all four sides and wait for dawn, when the sun would surely kill it.

  Zhou Mu hurriedly ran away, and later several people came to ask on their own initiative, all of whom were relatives or acquaintances, so Master couldn't help but respond, they all made the same request, but he refused to go out.

  All the dogs in the village were barking hysterically, and there were many crying babies, wailing women, and occasional loud screams from afar. A strange and terrifying atmosphere enveloped the village, and I too began to feel my heart racing with fear.