IMMFBCG Chapter 76

Chapter 76: “Wealth and Fortune”

Lu Xuezhen was so terrified that he made several typos in his messages. Seeing this, Ye Xue immediately asked, “Where are you? Send me your location.”

After receiving Lu Xuezhen’s location, Ye Xue reminded him to keep his protective charm with him.

A moment later, Lu Xuezhen shared his location on WeChat. When Ye Xue checked, it was Yunjiu Mountain.

Yu Qiwang frowned slightly upon seeing the location and asked, “Why is he there?”

Yunjiu Mountain was remote and undeveloped, with almost no tourists venturing there.

Ye Xue also looked a little concerned. “I don’t know.”

She wanted to give him more instructions and even asked if he had brought his Bluetooth headset, so they could stay in touch on the way. But after sending his location, Lu Xuezhen stopped responding altogether.

Not wanting to waste any time, Ye Xue grabbed her bag and said to Yu Qiwang, “Let’s head to Yunjiu Mountain first.”

The mountain was about a 40-minute drive away.

Yu Qiwang sped up as much as possible, while Ye Xue, sitting in the passenger seat, kept checking her WeChat messages.

There were still no replies from Lu Xuezhen.

Meanwhile, Lu Xuezhen was staring at his dead phone, nearly in tears. He tapped the phone and tried rebooting it, but the rain seemed to have damaged it. It had powered off right after he sent his location.

Inside the cabin, snores echoed, competing with the sound of footsteps outside. Something stopped just outside the door and began banging against it.

Despite the loud noise, Lu Xuezhen’s roommates remained fast asleep, as if he were the only one who could hear it.

He tried to wake Xue Jia, who only mumbled and turned over. He then shook Da Mao and Lin Yichun, but they were dead to the world, no matter how hard he tried.

The pounding on the door grew more intense as if whatever was outside would break through at any moment. Lu Xuezhen clutched the protective charm he had received from Xuanzhen Temple, hoping it would bring him some comfort.

But when he looked at it, he realized it was soaked through from the rain, the ink on the talisman smudged beyond recognition.

“I still have the wooden charm the master gave me!” he thought, frantically pulling out his belongings. He placed the protective charms on each of his three roommates, one by one.

Even so, they didn’t wake up.

When the door finally broke open, Lu Xuezhen hurried back to his bed, holding his breath as he stared at the shadow outside.

The figure hopped awkwardly, its long, sharp fingernails gleaming faintly in the moonlight.

Covering his nose, Lu Xuezhen suddenly recalled the zombie movies he had watched as a child.

“A zombie…!”

But there was no Master Lin to save him this time.

“Thud. Thud. Thud.”

The zombie hopped closer, trying to enter the room but was momentarily blocked by the threshold. It stumbled back, then tried again, only to be stopped repeatedly.

Watching its clumsy movements, Lu Xuezhen was momentarily bewildered. It didn’t seem quite like the zombies in the movies.

Finally, the zombie made a larger leap and successfully entered the room.

It raised its stiff arms and slowly swayed them, locking onto Lu Xuezhen’s position.

Pale-faced and trembling, Lu Xuezhen watched as it hopped toward him.

Just as it neared, a deafening snore erupted from another bed, drawing the zombie’s attention.

Relieved to have escaped for the moment, Lu Xuezhen quickly began worrying about his roommates’ safety. He threw a random object toward the door to distract it, but the zombie merely glanced outside before resuming its approach toward Lin Yichun.

“No!” Lu Xuezhen’s eyes widened in horror.

The expected gruesome scene didn’t happen.

Instead, the zombie paused above Lin Yichun, as if drawing something from him. Lu Xuezhen faintly saw a white light flowing from Lin Yichun’s breath into the zombie.

Moments later, Lin Yichun’s snores stopped. His head lolled to the side, completely still.

The zombie then hopped toward Da Mao and repeated the process, draining his vitality.

Watching this unfold, Lu Xuezhen realized it wasn’t feeding on flesh but seemed to be absorbing their life energy.

Soon, the zombie turned its attention to him.

Feigning sleep, Lu Xuezhen tightly shut his eyes, though his trembling eyelids betrayed his fear. When the zombie leaned closer, he turned his head to the side, pretending to sleep deeply.

The zombie hesitated, then moved to his other side. As it leaned in again, he turned back, disrupting its actions.

Finally, the zombie seemed to lose patience. It extended a hand with long, bluish nails glinting ominously in the moonlight, ready to strike.

Just as it leaned closer—

Ye Xue and Yu Qiwang arrived at Yunjiu Mountain amidst a drizzle.

Walking along the muddy mountain path, Ye Xue’s shoes and pants were quickly caked in dirt.

Yu Qiwang held an umbrella over her, tilting it to shield her as much as possible from the rain.

Ye Xue followed the GPS for directions, occasionally glancing up at the umbrella. “Yu Qi, I’m not getting wet over here. Shift the umbrella toward yourself.”

Yu Qi nodded lightly but didn’t adjust the way he held the umbrella.

Continuing to follow the location, the two gradually arrived at a hidden spot.

Yu Qi looked up and remarked, “A mortuary.”

Mortuaries were places built in ancient times to temporarily store corpses. Nowadays, they were rarely used, as bodies were typically stored in hospital morgues. Only those who died far from home but needed their remains returned to their ancestral land for burial would be temporarily kept in such places, awaiting transport by corpse drivers.

Ye Xue sighed. “Lu Xuezhen and his friends must’ve been fooled by something and mistaken this mortuary for a guesthouse.”

The two stepped lightly over the threshold and entered the building.

The mortuary’s threshold was built unusually high, traditionally meant to prevent animated corpses from hopping outside and causing panic. By design, a high threshold could stop many less agile corpses.

Ye Xue carried a whip crafted from willow branches entwined with peach wood.

When they reached the second floor, they saw a room with its door wide open and a dark figure approaching a living person.

Ye Xue’s expression sharpened as she raised the whip and lashed it out forcefully. The long whip coiled around the rigid corpse and slammed it against the wall.

Yu Qi stepped forward and slapped a “Command Seal” talisman onto its forehead.

The zombie’s body trembled occasionally, and its previously outstretched arms fell limply to its sides.

Yu Qi touched its icy, stiff hands.

“They’re broken.”

He glanced at Ye Xue, suddenly gaining a new appreciation for his girlfriend’s strength.

Lu Xuezhen, thinking his life was over, looked up to see Ye Xue appear before him like a divine savior.

Choking back tears, he cried out, “Boss!”

Struggling to his feet, he stammered anxiously, “Boss, what do we do? The protective charms didn’t work, and my roommates…”

Ye Xue, having already put away her willow-and-peach-wood whip, prepared to check on the others.

Just then, faint groans came from nearby.

Lu Xuezhen, eyes brimming with tears, turned toward the sound in disbelief.

Lin Yichun and the others were waking up, looking confused. Xue Jia, still dazed, mumbled, “What’s going on? Why’s it so noisy all of a sudden?”

Lu Xuezhen screamed, “A ghost!”

Startled, Lin Yichun and the others frantically looked around. “A ghost? Where?!”

When they finally spotted Ye Xue and Yu Qi, they exclaimed in surprise, “Ye Xue the Daoist?”

Ye Xue studied them briefly before walking over.

In the moonlight, her delicate features appeared even cooler, but the faint warmth in her eyes softened her demeanor.

When she suddenly leaned in close, Lin Yichun blushed and stammered, “W-what is it?”

Yu Qi glanced at them before stepping forward. “Let me check.”

Ye Xue stepped aside to let Yu Qi examine them.

After finishing his inspection, Yu Qi said, “They’ve just had some of their life energy drained. It’s nothing serious, but they’ll feel physically weak for a while and be more susceptible to illness. They should be careful in the coming days.”

Lu Xuezhen sighed in relief. “So they’re okay?”

Ye Xue nodded, then walked over to the zombie. She lifted its wrist and carefully peeled back part of the talisman to inspect it.

Turning back to the group, she said, “Luckily, it’s just a half-human, half-corpse. No real threat. If it were a zombie like the one from Fengyang Village, it might’ve drained you dry.”

As a child, Ye Xue had heard the villagers of Fengyang talk about a zombie rampage. Her master, Ye Yangyun, had nearly exhausted all his spiritual power to subdue it, finally destroying it with fire.

This one, however, was simply a case of lingering life force—commonly known as “not quite dead.”

Still somewhat bewildered, Lin Yichun and the others stared at the talismans corpse illuminated faintly by the moonlight.

Upon recognizing what it was, all three screamed, “A ghost!”

Yu Qi stepped back, distancing himself from the “noise pollution.”

Ye Xue was left speechless.

Seeing that his roommates still had the energy to scream, Lu Xuezhen finally relaxed.

He snapped, “You guys have the nerve to scream? When that thing came in earlier, no matter how much I called, none of you woke up!”

Ye Xue explained, “You had a protective charm, so the corpse’s energy didn’t affect you. Otherwise, you would’ve been just as deeply asleep as they were.”

Lu Xuezhen hesitated. “But I gave them charms too.”

“You gave them the charms afterward, didn’t you?” Ye Xue glanced at the wooden talismans hanging on the others and chuckled. “Protective charms work as a preventive measure. If you put them on after being affected, their effectiveness is reduced.”

Lu Xuezhen let out an “Oh, I see.” Then he turned to his roommates, extending his hand. “Well, if that’s the case, give the charms back. We’re fine now anyway.”

Lin Yichun and the others exchanged glances before quickly tucking the protective charms into their clothes.

Lu Xuezhen’s eyes widened. “You guys! Don’t you have any sense of camaraderie?”

Xue Jia retorted without hesitation, “Camaraderie? Never heard of it.”

Ye Xue glanced at the group and spoke up. “Alright, let’s get out of this mortuary.”

Lu Xuezhen froze for a moment. “Wait, isn’t this a guesthouse?”

Ye Xue raised an eyebrow with a smile. “A guesthouse? Take a look around and check what you’re wearing.”

She used cinnabar to mark their foreheads one by one, then went to the window, fully drawing back the curtains and opening it to let more moonlight pour in.

Finally, Lu Xuezhen and his friends saw the room.

It was empty except for four open coffins. To their horror, they realized they had been lying on the coffin lids.

The “sleepwear” they thought they were wearing? Funeral shrouds.

“What the hell?! Bad luck, bad luck!”

The four high school boys scrambled off the coffin lids, frantically trying to pull off the clothes.

Yu Qi stepped forward, shielding Ye Xue from the scene.

Ye Xue covered her eyes, sighing in exasperation. “Can you guys please be a little more mindful?”

It was only then they realized there was a girl in the room. Embarrassed, they fumbled to put the clothes back on.

Lu Xuezhen consoled himself internally. Well, I’ve been wearing it for so long anyway. What’s a little longer?

Meanwhile, Ye Xue picked up a bell and gently shook it in front of the zombie, guiding it back into position.

She then said, “You all head outside with Yu Qi. I’ll put it back in the coffin and join you.”

The group nodded eagerly.

As they left the building, they realized that every room on the way down contained coffins. Some held only one, while others had several. Worse still, what they thought were “people” earlier were corpses.

On the first floor, Lin Yichun caught something out of the corner of his eye. He nudged Lu Xuezhen and whispered, “It’s that old lady!”

In the largest room on the first floor, the doors were wide open. The elderly woman lay peacefully on a coffin lid, seemingly fast asleep.

The realization that they had been near corpses all night sent shivers down their spines.

Seeing their trembling, Yu Qi reassured them, “She took you in and didn’t harm you, so there’s no need to worry. She won’t hurt you.”

Even so, they couldn’t shake the lingering fear.

Ye Xue, having settled the zombie, came downstairs and burned some joss paper in a copper basin. Rising to her feet, she said, “Let’s go. Time to head back.”

The group closed the mortuary doors behind them and began descending the mountain.

As the sound of roosters crowing broke the stillness, dawn arrived.

Ye Xue looked at the group and asked, “I have to ask, what were you thinking coming to a place like this? Yunjiu Mountain is deserted—didn’t it strike you as odd that there wasn’t a single person here other than yourselves?”

“Huh?” Xue Jia scratched his head, confused. “This isn’t Yunling Mountain?”

Ye Xue froze.

Pointing to a stone tablet nearby, she said, “Read it carefully. This is Yunjiu Mountain. Yunling Mountain is on the other side.”

Following her direction, Lu Xuezhen squinted at the inscription on the tablet. Upon reading the words, he paused, then laughed awkwardly. “Haha, well, that explains it. We, uh, misread the sign!”

The group laughed nervously to cover their embarrassment but quickly quieted under Ye Xue’s calm, unwavering gaze.

Recognizing defeat, Lu Xuezhen admitted, “Okay, okay, we were wrong!”

Ye Xue glanced at him but didn’t say much more. “Just be more careful next time.”

A few days later, Ye Xue received a call from Lu Xuezhen while she was in her dorm room.

Answering from the balcony, she asked, “What’s up? Did something else happen?”

Lu Xuezhen laughed. “Nah, nothing bad this time! Do you think we’re cursed or something, always running into trouble?”

Ye Xue’s mouth twitched slightly.

Lu Xuezhen continued, “But, hey, something weird’s been happening. My roommates have been super lucky lately. They’re winning free meals, and getting prizes from Weibo giveaways, and when we went to the supermarket, we joined a raffle—and out of four of us, three won! They all got prizes… except me.”

By the end, his tone turned sour. “Do you think I should go light incense for the ancestors? I’m not unlucky, but compared to my roommates, it feels like I’m cursed!”

Ye Xue chuckled knowingly. “Nothing strange about it. They exchanged coffin energy with the zombie. Coffin energy connects to wealth energy, so they’ve got a bit of a financial boost right now. It’ll wear off in a few days.”

Lu Xuezhen sounded bewildered. “Wait, what? Coffin energy? Wealth energy? What are you talking about?”

Ye Xue patiently explained, “At the mortuary, your three roommates got their yang energy drained by the zombie. In return, they absorbed some coffin energy.”

Lu Xuezhen was stunned.

After a moment, he asked excitedly, “Do I still have a chance? If I go kiss that thing twice, can I hit the jackpot?”

“…” Ye Xue replied with a single word: “Scram.”