Chapter 3: The Copper Coffin of Burma

  Actually, Fu Chuan had also had the opportunity to subdue zombies before, but unfortunately, he only found out later that they were just some low-level undead creatures, completely different from real zombies, and every time he ended up returning in disappointment.

  When Hu Lijing woke up in the morning, she had already placed three train tickets to Yunnan on the table, dated for tomorrow. Fu Chuan asked San Yang to pack his things, and San Yang asked what he should bring along, but Fu Chuan just said "figure it out yourself".

  Fu Chuan had to go see an old friend today, so he got up early. When he left, he didn't bring San Yang with him and drove himself. However, when he walked downstairs and wanted to get in the car, he looked up and saw a figure across the street. She seemed to have noticed Fu Chuan looking at her, but she didn't even lift her head and got into the car in front of her. Fu Chuan kept watching and found out that the driver was a handsome guy.

  Fu Chuan is not a good-tempered person, he got on the car, directly turned the car head to the front of someone's car, and intentionally honked the horn, then drove away quickly.

  "How childish!" The woman's voice in the car was scolding someone, but it made people feel comfortable all over.

  "Do you know each other?" asked the man who was driving.

  Li Baobao neither confirmed nor denied it, and did not respond or make any comment.

  Fu Chuan was going to visit his master's old friend, who was also a long-time friend of the Fu family and was currently recuperating in a sanatorium. When Fu Chuan arrived, Gu Shu was sunbathing in the garden.

  Gu Shu was his master's eldest disciple and also considered Fu Can's senior fellow apprentice. For decades, he had been by his master's side subduing demons and evil spirits. After his master passed away, many years went by, and his body was no longer in good condition. Over the years, his body had been constantly afflicted by evil energy, and now he could only stay in a nursing home to live out his remaining years.

  Gu Shu was over thirty years older than Fu Chuan. When he entered the house, Gu Shu was already in his forties, while Fu Chuan was still a young child, "Little Chuanzi". Gu Shu always called him by this nickname.

  Fuhe sat beside him. Every time he went out to work over the years, he would come here to see him, and it had become a habit for many years.

  Fujiang actually came this time with a deliberate question to ask him, "Shixiong, I've been reading the Palm Gate book these days, why are the last two pages of the Palm Gate book about Xie torn off?"

  Gu Shu's eyes suddenly lit up and he asked: "Have you finished reading?"

  "Yes."

  Gu Shu said: "The manual of the sect leader is something that only the sect leaders of each generation can see, I don't know about these things. However, when it was in Master's hands back then, it seemed to be missing the last two pages as well."

  "What exactly is recorded behind?" Fuchuan thought, wondering if there were still some records about the Jiao, or perhaps a record of an evil demon even more powerful than the Jiao.

  "I don't know," said Gu Shu, shaking his head.

  "The records in the 'Zhangmen Book' are all about the ancestors of the Fugui family subjugating evil demons. As for what is written on the last two pages, I think no one will know unless our ancestors reveal themselves." Gu Shu's words did not completely convince Fu Chuan, who felt that there must be some secret that could not be revealed to later generations, which was why the last two pages were torn off. But as for what this secret was, whenever Fu Chuan thought about it, he felt a ticklish sensation in his heart.

  Gu Shu looked at Fu Chuan and asked, "Your complexion doesn't look good, has something happened?" Gu Shu's insight was very high, and the fact that Fu Chuan had encountered a ghost at his door couldn't be hidden from him.

  He asked, and Fu Chuan recounted the matter of the ghost coming to discuss business with him. After listening, Gu Shu sighed and said: "People have fate with each other, and people and ghosts are no exception. Since this ghost has found you and doesn't intend to harm you, it means that you have a connection with it. And in my opinion, this matter is not as simple as just driving out the demon."

  Fu Chuan's mouth twitched at the corner when he heard this, what's the connection between himself and a ghost? But Gu Shu's words actually piqued Fu Chuan's interest even more.

  He said, "It's like the ghost that came to find me. I think it should be a masterless lonely soul, but looking at his appearance, it seems to be very hardworking. According to reason, after becoming a ghost, it shouldn't be so hardworking. I'm afraid there's some conspiracy behind."

  "You'd better be more careful in everything you do."

  Gu Shu told Fu Chuan to hand over the Jiao Dao: "When you go, be sure to bring the Qiu along, with it everything will be easy to handle. Fu Chuan knew that once the Qiu was released, any demon or ghost would not be able to escape."

  Fu Xiang nodded and continued the topic from earlier, asking: "Big Brother Master, you've been following Master for a longer time than me. Have you ever seen Master subdue an undead creature?"

  "What I'm talking about is a truly top-notch zombie that was born from the essence of the sun and moon." Fu Chuan added.

  Gu Shu seemed to have thought for a moment before saying, "Master was born in the Republic of China and was almost ninety years old when he took you as his disciple. He passed away at exactly one hundred years old. In Master's time, the dynasty was about to change, and all sorts of monsters and demons came out to wreak havoc. How could it be possible that he didn't take any disciples? But those were things that happened many years ago. I was only a few years old then, and I didn't follow Master for many days either."

  Fu Xiang wanted to continue listening and asked: "What kind of zombie?"

  "Gu Shu's age has already grown old, and some memories have become blurred. However, that matter for him will never be forgotten. He said: 'It was a Burmese Iron Corpse, who was a noble in Burma when he was alive. After being struck by lightning and turning into an iron corpse, it became even more ferocious because the people from Burma were skilled in using Gu sorcery. Those who buried him had cast highly toxic Gu sorcery on its body, and after being discovered and transported to China, it sucked the blood of a powerful Taoist priest during the journey, making it even more vicious. Almost no one in the Central Plains who practices Taoism can subdue it.'"

  "Was it Master who finally subdued him?"

  Gu Shu nodded and said, "Master actually had no way to deal with the iron armor corpse, but by chance, he learned that it was afraid of coffin nails stained with rooster blood. So Master took the nails from the coffin and soaked them in rooster blood before subduing it." Fu Chuan thought that such a rare thing might not be around anymore, but judging from Master's temperament, those things were probably destroyed long ago.

  "What happened afterwards?"

  Later, the master thought it couldn't be left behind, so he burned it with lychee wood.

  Fuhe thought as much and said with some regret, "Master has at least caught one, I reckon I won't have the chance to see it in this lifetime."

  "It's better if you don't know," said Uncle Gu. "If there are no zombies, it means the world is at peace; those things coming out isn't a good thing."

  Fuhe did not comment on his words, but in the letter he still felt regretful and said: "What a pity that Master gave me those skills to collect corpses."

  Gu Shu smiled and said, "When you encounter it later, you will find that what you are saying now is ridiculous. Master's death was also due to the long-term collection of zombies, and his body was invaded by zombie poison, so he ascended at the age of 100. The longest-lived one among our South Gate sect masters lived for 333 years."

  Fu Chuan asked why Master didn't mention this matter before, Gu Shu said it was all a long time ago, at that time he was also young, Fu Chuan was even more unknown where he was at that time. Fu Chuan became interested in the bronze armor corpse and asked about the course of events.

  Gu Shu said that in those years, the South Gate was envied by other Taoist friends for its good business and high prestige. Therefore, several people with ulterior motives joined forces to obtain a copper-armored corpse from somewhere, intending to refine it into the world's only zombie. They wanted to deceive Master to collect it, first to take Master's life, and secondly, if they couldn't take Master's life, Master would not be able to withstand the zombie, and in front of outsiders, they would speak ill of him.

  The copper-armored corpse was transported from Burma, and on the way, it had already been awakened once by moonlight. Later, several people were shocked to find that it had been re-awakened in the river. Those who felt that this copper-armored corpse was indeed formidable decided to use their own blood to feed it all the way to Central Plains, making the copper-armored corpse even more ferocious. However, due to the bumpy road, the nails of the coffin were loosened, and later these people died one after another at the hands of the copper-armored corpse. The boat was also stranded elsewhere. By the time Master arrived upon hearing the news, the copper-armored corpse had already disappeared without a trace.

  The master searched for nearly half a year to find the copper-armored corpse, and after several spells were cast, it was finally subdued and burned.