"Dad, come, have some porridge..."

In front of the dim oil lamp, the young man held a bowl of hot porridge, using a wooden spoon to scoop it up, carefully blowing it cool before feeding the old man.

The old man whined and shook his head from side to side, millet porridge smearing all over his face.

The young man's face instantly twisted with rage, forcefully shoving the wooden spoon into the old man's mouth, gritting his teeth.

"Drink, drink, drink quickly, if you don't you'll die!"

Bam!

The rickety wooden door was kicked open, blinding sunlight immediately flooded into the small house, and a group of people appeared darkly at the door.

The young man's face showed fear,

"What... what do you want to do?"

The middle-aged man leading the group outside showed no expression, waving his hand, "Drag him out!"

A few men immediately stormed into the house with iron hooks, hooking onto the old man with a squelch, dragging both him and the chair out.

"Don't touch my dad!"

The young man went berserk, trying to rush up to stop them, but unfortunately, he was tightly restrained by the middle-aged man who had entered.

"Shuisheng, Shuisheng, don't be like this. Your father is already dead, let him rest in peace..."

Outside the door, the old man tied to the chair was illuminated by the sunlight and immediately started hissing and roaring, his darkened and pale face showing blood-red eyes and ghastly fangs.

Without a word, the men first chopped off his head, then piled firewood and set it on fire.

"No, no, he can still be saved, he can still be saved!"

The young man cried and struggled.

Behind him, the middle-aged man held him tightly, also watching the blazing flames outside the courtyard, his eyes full of desolation,

"This damn world..."

...

Lu City, a large city on the western border of Qingzhou.

Named after a huge reed river outside the city, the farming was prosperous, and the carp from the reed river was especially delicious.

But starting last year, this city lost its previous peace.

First, Water Ghosts haunted the reed river, claiming several lives. Later, ghostly fog arose and strange occurrences spread, making people panic. Only after building a River King Temple by the river, as guided by someone, did it somewhat calm down.

And just a month ago, people in the city began to fall ill one after another, transforming into zombies at midnight and biting their relatives, with bloody incidents frequently occurring.

No one dared to bury the dead anymore,

everyone feared getting sick,

tragedy after tragedy unfolded daily.

The Venerate of the Mansion was incompetent, the Astronomical Bureau had no clue, the whole city was clouded with sorrow, devoid of vitality.

It's not that no one thought of escaping, but the people's ancestors had lived here for generations. Without their land, anywhere else meant certain death.

Zhang Kui arrived just as zombies were being burned by the roadside.

Family members dressed in mourning clothes sobbed, while the zombie tied to the scaffold howled in agony amidst the flames, paper money flying chaotically, absurd and mournful.

Beside him, the young swordsman Ye Fei's knuckles turned white, his eyes full of sorrow.

"Taoist, this is how it is. There's simply no way to find the cause, the Astronomical Bureau people used to put on a pretense, but now they don't even care."

"Most of the living turning into zombies are the elderly, children, and the sick. Before I came, someone had already gone mad, setting their whole family on fire."

Zhang Kui frowned,

"Let's go into the city first!"

Even the soldiers at the city gate were too lazy to check and collect money. The streets had sparse pedestrians, with faces numb and expressionless, the entire Lu City like an old man awaiting death.

The suddenly loud sound of a conch shell echoed, it was a Daoist on the street selling talismans, brandishing a wooden sword and jumping left and right, "Celestial Yang, Earth's Yin, Yin and Yang of heaven and earth separate, talismans drive away evil and reveal Divine Power..."

The Daoist put on a diligent performance, and the shouts of the Taoist Child beside him were even louder,

"Corpse Suppression Talisman, Corpse Suppression Talisman, one tael of silver for one, buy it for your family's peace, drink it to ward off calamity and solve troubles..."

A crowd of people gathered beside them, numbly taking out taels of silver to buy, the Taoist Child's face glowing red, shouting more energetically.

The young swordsman Ye Fei snorted coldly,

"Ever since the incident, a bunch of Daoists and monks started coming to sell talismans all day. Those talismans are completely useless, yet people keep buying them, can't be persuaded otherwise, so ignorant."

Zhang Kui patted him on the shoulder,

"It's not ignorance, it's desperation."

Having said that, he took a big stride forward and shouted like a thunderclap, "Hey Daoist, are these talismans of yours genuine?"

The Daoist performing his ritual was taken aback and stopped, while the people nearby also stood numbly, watching the commotion.

With so many Daoists and monks selling talismans to exorcise lately, conflicts naturally arose, with frequent turf wars.

This might be the only entertainment currently in Lu City.

This Daoist, upon seeing Zhang Kui's physique, was momentarily surprised but then laughed.

"Is this fellow Daoist short on travel expenses? I, a humble Daoist, can lend you some. Dressed like this, you disgrace our Taoist Sect."

The bystanders also nodded in agreement.

Not a single one of these mages wasn't dressed beautifully and exuding an extraordinary aura.

Zhang Kui, in his plain black robes, his Daoist bun messy, with a twig casually stuck in it, indeed looked quite unappealing, probably couldn't sell many talismans.

"Hahaha..."

Zhang Kui shook his head and chuckled.

He initially didn't want to waste words and thought of slapping this fraud away, but upon seeing the gazes of the people around, he changed his mind.

"So what if you look like an Immortal, I only ask, are these talismans of yours genuine?"

Turns out he's here to stir up trouble...

The fake Daoist sneered,

"Of course, my talisman is genuine!"

"Can it suppress corpse poison?"

"Of course it can."

"Great!"

Zhang Kui turned to the surrounding townspeople, "Anyone who has a family member afflicted with corpse poison can bring them here for this Daoist to try it in the street."

The townspeople were unmoved, but the fake Daoist mocked, "Corpse poison is a death sentence. My talisman is for prevention. Could it be your talisman can raise the dead?"

"Raising the dead is an exaggeration..."

Zhang Kui smiled slightly, a Disease-removal Talisman appeared in his hand, "Removing corpse poison isn't a big problem."

"Hahaha..."

The fake Daoist laughed, turned to the townspeople beside him, "Whoever has a sick person can bring them and let this friend heal them. Don't worry, I just want to expose this fraud. Whoever brings a sick person, I'll do a free ritual."

The townspeople looked at each other but made no move.

The government announced that anyone afflicted with corpse poison must be executed and burned, even if they are still alive.

But after all, they are family, many people held a sliver of hope, tying them up and hiding them at home.

If they were brought out, wouldn't they immediately die?

But eventually someone was moved, an old man gritted his teeth and looked at the fake Daoist, "Daoist, do your words count?"

The fake Daoist nodded.

"Alright, wait here!"

The old man immediately returned, and after a while, he and a young man carried a small child forward.

The child's face was ashen, the canines protruding, tied on a stretcher and barely breathing.

The old man wept bitterly,

"My grandson took ill three days ago, now there's no cure, poor as I am, can't even afford a ritual..."

As he spoke, he began to sob uncontrollably.

The fake Daoist didn't care, glanced sideways at Zhang Kui and sneered, "Friend, let's see yours..."

Zhang Kui gave him a cold look, and the fake Daoist felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, his whole body chilled, not daring to say more.

"Go get a bowl of water."

Zhang Kui bent down to check, then turned to Ye Fei and instructed.

"Yes, Daoist!"

Ye Fei, looking excited, hurriedly ran into a nearby shop and carefully brought back a bowl of water.

Zhang Kui flicked the Disease-removal Talisman with his fingers, the talisman paper spontaneously combusted without wind, and then he threw it into the water, there wasn't even a trace of cloudiness.

Seeing this miraculous scene, the surrounding townspeople's eyes widened.

What was even more delightful was, after drinking a bowl of water, the child suddenly vomited yellow-green pus, and then his complexion began to recover, his canines slowly retracting.

His eyes remained closed, still not awake.

The old man was ecstatic, cautiously asking:

"Daoist, this..."

Zhang Kui didn't pay much mind, "The corpse poison is expelled, but it has consumed a lot of vitality, some medicine will solve it."

The Disease-removal Talisman can remove pestilence and blood toxins, but to fully recover requires medicinal tonics.

"Benefactor..."

The old man immediately cried, pulling his son beside him to kneel and kowtow, then tremblingly gathered some spare change from his body.

Zhang Kui stopped him with one hand and turned to the surrounding,

"My talismans are free; anyone with family members afflicted by corpse poison can bring them here."

A large crowd had already gathered, and upon hearing this, it erupted, some began pushing forward, others ran madly home.

The fake Daoist, seeing things turning unfavorable, prepared to slip away but was met with a sword at his throat.

Ye Fei sneered, "Where do you think you're going?"

After capturing the fake Daoist, the young fencing enthusiast turned and asked, "Daoist, how should we deal with this person?"

Zhang Kui thought for a moment, "Go find people and bring all the fake monks and Daoists in the city, make them pay for the disaster they caused."

"Consider it done!"

Ye Fei cheered and quickly ran off.

This young lad was a well-known Ranger in Lu City, quickly gathering a group of lads, some maintaining order, others going to capture fake monks and Daoists, it was extremely lively.

Zhang Kui then found a table on the street, painting talismans to expel corpse poison while writing prescriptions.

He just opened up the Medical Skill in the Earth Demon 72 Techniques, this is a Magic Technique where medicine leads to Dao. Although level one can't raise the dead or regrow flesh and bones, he is already a good physician.

Many townspeople were in tattered clothes, presumably unable to afford treatment, Zhang Kui simply decided to save to the end.

Of course, the talisman paper money and medicinal costs would all be paid by the bruised and battered frauds.

From one to ten, ten to a hundred, more and more people brought patients here.

The street became livelier, some set up reed shelters, nearby shop owners spontaneously boiled water on the side, even doctors from pharmacies came to help...

Lu City seemed to gradually regain its vitality.

Continuously, family members knelt on the street to give thanks, only to be shooed away by Zhang Kui.

He did this not for others' gratitude but only to clear his conscience.

Suddenly, Zhang Kui's expression changed.

In his Personal Space, the bizarre stone ball given to him by the Three-eyed Giant Corpse suddenly trembled...

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