Youbao Chapter 2: Killing the Corpse (2)
Bronze-armored corpse? Is it something made from corpses, as described in the novel? I continued to ask.
Almost, said the old Taoist priest.
If I were a reporter, the old Taoist priest would not be a good interview subject. This guy answered the questions too briefly, so briefly that I didn't know how to continue.
It's starting to get cold...
I felt the atmosphere was very awkward, and at that moment, an old man walked out of the dark room. He was wearing a short-sleeved cotton shirt, worn-out blue pants, and black cloth shoes. He looked like an old farmer who had just come back from the fields, but his muscles showed that although he looked like he was seventy years old, it would definitely .
Alright? The old Taoist looked at him.
Well, that's it. The old farmer replied, then looked at me: Is that him?
Hmm. The old Taoist priest's answers became shorter and shorter.
Looks like an ordinary person. The old farmer frowned.
He is indeed an ordinary person, and this lineage has declined. The old Taoist priest answered with an unspeakable sadness in his tone.
What are you talking about? I asked.
Hehe, nothing. The young man is very strong, he even dares to enter the corpse room. The old farmer relaxed his brows and said with a smile.
I didn't tell him. The old Taoist priest answered for me.
You are not afraid of killing him. The old farmer frowned again: At least teach him some of the rules that should be taught.
No need, I will send him back after this is done, said the old Taoist priest.
The old farmer frowned and wanted to say something, but he didn't. They were playing a guessing game here, which made me extremely curious.
When are you going to start? asked the old farmer.
How long will it take you?
Two days, and in another two days it will be the Yin period, so it should be done, the old farmer said.
Then two days later, said the old Taoist priest.
As they talked, I felt my hands slowly getting hot. Remembering what the old Taoist said before, I quickly threw away the rice in my hands.
When I looked down, I was shocked. The originally white rice had turned mostly black.
The old Taoist looked at the pile of rice on the ground, then his expression relaxed slightly.
We will stay here for three days, and we will send you back after we are done, said the old Taoist priest.
What about my jade pendant...?
Return it to you. The old Taoist priest's answer was still brief.
With his words, I felt more or less relieved. At this time, I heard the old farmer say: Young man, do you want to see the bronze-armored corpse?
The copper-armored corpse can be seen in many novels. It is said that it is a corpse made by secret methods, and is invulnerable to swords and guns. There are also silver-armored corpses and gold-armored corpses. The most powerful one is the flying yaksha. It can go to heaven and earth and is omnipotent.
Novels are just novels after all. Besides, since it is made from corpses, it must not be afraid of knives or guns. Have you ever seen a corpse cry out in pain? If it can cry out, then it is faking its death.
However, probably no one has ever seen a real bronze-armored corpse.
I came here just for these mysterious things, so there was no reason for me to refuse the old farmer's invitation.
No, he had just been freed from the evil spirit. The old Taoist priest rejected me outright.
The old farmer raised his eyebrows, but didn't continue. If he doesn't speak, what can I say? I can't do such a shameless thing. This damn old Taoist priest tricked me all the way here and vomited like a shoe horn, and he didn't even let me see the bronze-armored corpse. It's too deceptive.
Not long after the old farmer came out, people from every household came out.
They were still walking around, doing what they were supposed to do. I looked around and saw that they were mostly adults, no children.
At this time, an old lady shouted: Eat.
Everyone in the village walked towards her, and the old farmer said: Let’s go, let’s eat first and then talk about other things.
The old Taoist nodded, looked at me and left. I cursed this weird old man in my heart and followed him.
Everyone in the small mountain village eats at the same place, which is a huge round stone table that weighs at least several thousand pounds. No one knows how they got it.
The meal was simple, with a large bowl for each person, containing rice and vegetarian dishes. I could tell what the vegetarian dishes were, but I couldn't tell what the meat was. The meat was chewy but tender, much better than chicken or something like that.
I looked around and saw that everyone in the village was eating in silence, so I was too embarrassed to ask.
After the meal, the old Taoist priest took me to a room where we lived.
The room was simply furnished, with a wooden bed with a mattress and a quilt on it. On the wooden table in the room was a bronze oil lamp that looked very old.
As I watched curiously, the old Taoist took out a Bagua mirror from his bosom and hung it above the bed. He then took out a handful of copper coins and scattered them on the ground as if he was haphazardly doing so.
Don't look in the mirror at night, and don't touch the coins, the old Taoist priest warned.
I said "oh" and asked him curiously: What are these two things used for?
To suppress the corpse, said the old Taoist priest.
What kind of corpse is it? The bronze-armored corpse? I became even more curious.
The old Taoist nodded, which was considered as his answer to me.
What does a bronze corpse look like? Is it really wearing armor made of copper? Or is it just used to describe its hardness? I asked.
It is a description, said the old Taoist priest.
What is the jade pendant in my house used for?
This question seemed to attract the old Taoist's attention. He looked at me with a strange expression, as if he was very puzzled.
Don’t tell me that your ancestors left you nothing? He asked me.
Yes, I kept it. It’s a jade pendant, right?
I mean, for example, telling you what a jade pendant is, or something like a book, etc. The old Taoist priest explained.
No. Oh, that's not right. I remember seeing an ancient book in my grandfather's possession, which seemed to be called Tongmingjian or something. Later, when my grandfather passed away, he burned all his belongings together with the book.
The old Taoist priest stared at me with a shocked look. I felt very nervous under his gaze, as if I had done something wrong.
Alas... the old Taoist priest suddenly sighed: Just burn it, you are already doomed anyway.
I've heard you say many times that our lineage has declined. Could it be that my ancestors were the same as yours?
The old Taoist nodded, as if reminiscing: Your ancestors were all capable people, omnipotent and powerful. But time is more powerful than supernatural powers, even you have fallen, and I still... Forget it, what's the point of telling you this.
He didn't finish his sentence, and I couldn't guess what he left out.
I sat next to the old Taoist priest, looking at the copper coins scattered on the ground, and then thought of another question: You said before that two days later, what are you going to do in two days?
Before the old Taoist priest looked at me like an idiot, I realized: Oh, it means to kill a corpse. But I don't know what this means. What kind of corpse are you going to kill? The bronze-armored corpse? But why do you want to use my jade pendant?
That's not a bronze-armored corpse. The old Taoist priest shook his head: It's a living corpse.
Zombies are a type of corpse transformation. There are five types of corpse transformation: red-haired, green-haired, natural, and earth-raised. Each of these four types represents an extreme and is very difficult to deal with. The one we want to kill is a earth-raised corpse.
What about the other kind? Didn't you say there were five kinds?
The fifth type… The old Taoist paused, I don’t know if he was organizing his thoughts or thinking about something else. After a while, he answered me: The final type is the human soul. This type is almost the same as an ordinary person, it is difficult to distinguish, and it is also the most difficult to deal with. Because it has the breath of a living person, but the magical power of a zombie.
Oh, what you mean is that it is like a chameleon, like an undercover agent, and you never know who is around you.
Well, you can describe it this way, the old Taoist said.
I think my face must have looked very ugly at that time: There shouldn’t be such things around us.
When I asked this question, I shuddered unconsciously.
It is very difficult for a human soul corpse to appear. Throughout the ages, it has only appeared three times in thousands of years. The old Taoist priest said! So even if you want to meet one, you can't.
My mouth twitched: It’s better not to let me meet him.
Think about it, someone you know may be a symbol of corpse transformation, and may turn into a grinning monster and pounce on you at any time. How scary. This is a bit like the monsters mentioned in some horror comics that can turn into human form, such as parasitic beasts.
What is it like to raise corpses underground?
It’s hard to describe. If you want to know, I can take you to see it, said the old Taoist priest.
I thought about it, shuddered again, and quickly said: I'm just asking out of curiosity, so don't look at it.
Are zombies all very cruel? They eat human flesh and drink human blood like zombies, or suck human essence like in some horror movies?
Sucking human essence? That's just a ghost movie, not real. The old Taoist said: zombies are transformed corpses, different from living people, so human essence is useless to them. But they can eat human flesh and drink human blood, just like people eat pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and fish. But only red-haired green ghost corpses can do this.
Keep corpses on the ground but don’t eat them?
Don't eat.
Then why did you kill it?
Eliminate evil and defend the Way, the old Taoist priest replied.
Uh, what does this mean? At this moment, I felt that the old Taoist priest was very much like the kind of pedantic and righteous person who, when encountering something that looks evil, would kill it first, regardless of whether it harms people or not.
This is a bit like when we see a tiger in the wild. Regardless of whether it eats humans or not, we always feel that it will pounce on you and bite you at any time.
Do you think I am old-fashioned? said the old Taoist priest.
I was a little surprised that this old man could not only calculate, but also see through people's hearts.
The so-called earth-raising requires that the corpse be raised in extreme terrain. Just like when a person is born, the mother's womb is the place where the embryo grows and finally gives birth. And the earth-raising corpse must be cultivated in a special terrain. People need to give birth, and the earth-raising corpse also needs to do so, but the method is different. It is difficult to use an extreme terrain for the second time. After all, this kind of corpse transformation is a robbery of the heaven and earth. Therefore, they will continue to look for other places to raise their offspring. But the extreme terrain is not so easy to find, if they leave the mountains and forests and enter the city.
I understood before the old Taoist priest finished speaking. If a normal person saw a corpse walking on the street, the first reaction would be to run away, and the second reaction would be to kill it. But a zombie would definitely not sit there and wait to die, so it would turn into a war between the living and the dead.
Therefore, they must be eliminated before they leave the forest , the old Taoist priest said in summary.
