After Dong Xiaoyu's matter was finally resolved, Qiu Sheng felt a distinct murderous intent emanating from behind him. He turned around nervously and saw Lin Jiu, who had been beaten into a spectacular black eye by his own fists.
"Master..."
Qiu Sheng shrank his head and called out with obvious guilt weighing heavily on his voice.
"You are truly my excellent disciple, Qiu Sheng!"
Lin Jiu gritted his teeth and began patting Qiu Sheng with his hand, each pat carrying significant force and displeasure.
Every time Lin Jiu delivered a firm slap, Qiu Sheng's entire body would tremble with anticipation of worse punishment to come.
Looking at this harmonious scene of master-disciple discipline, Gustave and Zhang Zhiwei both displayed satisfied smiles on their faces, finding the interaction rather amusing.
"I'll settle the score with you later!"
After delivering one final, particularly heavy pat to Qiu Sheng, Lin Jiu gathered his equipment and headed determinedly toward the charity cemetery.
"Hey, Master didn't actually punish me?"
Seeing that Lin Jiu had not immediately imposed severe punishment, Qiu Sheng stood up from the ground with a look of tremendous relief washing over his face.
In reality, it wasn't that Lin Jiu didn't want to punish Qiu Sheng severely, but he had been beaten far too thoroughly by Qiu Sheng during their earlier altercation. Now Lin Jiu simply wanted to return to the charity cemetery to apply medicinal treatment, otherwise it would be extremely embarrassing if Ren Fa came to consult him in the next few days while he was sporting such a prominent black eye.
"Master, Master, wait for me!"
Although he had not yet been formally punished, Qiu Sheng knew perfectly well that something even more severe was waiting for him in the near future. If he didn't attempt to please Lin Jiu immediately, he would surely suffer greatly.
"Fellow Taoist Lin Jiu is such a benevolent master!"
Looking at the departing figures of Lin Jiu and Qiu Sheng, Zhang Zhiwei sighed with genuine admiration.
"Taoist Tiantong, you mentioned that you wanted to help that female ghost reincarnate, do you actually possess this secret method?"
What Gustave was most interested in now was discovering exactly how Zhang Zhiwei planned to help Dong Xiaoyu achieve proper reincarnation.
"How would I possibly know the secret methods of reincarnation? There are no longer any immortals or gods remaining in my world, and all related inheritance has also been permanently severed."
Zhang Zhiwei smiled knowingly and replied with complete honesty.
"Aren't you going to break your solemn promise then?"
Gustave looked at Zhang Zhiwei with genuine confusion.
"I promised Qiu Sheng that I would help Dong Xiaoyu reincarnate, so I absolutely cannot break my word. Although I don't personally know the secret methods of reincarnation, Lin Jiu must certainly know such techniques. Even if Lin Jiu cannot accomplish it, don't we still have that Land God we encountered a few days ago?"
After hearing what Zhang Zhiwei explained, Gustave understood that the method Zhang Zhiwei was referring to involved finding someone else to provide assistance.
"Let's not discuss this matter any further for now. Let's return to the cemetery. We've been busy all night long and desperately need some quality sleep."
Zhang Zhiwei patted Gustave on the shoulder companionably and followed after Qiu Sheng and Lin Jiu.
"This old fellow is really something else. He truly pays careful attention to the quality of his sleep."
Gustave complained silently in his heart with mild amusement.
But when Gustave and his friends returned to the cemetery, they immediately discovered that something was seriously wrong and there were clear signs of violent fighting throughout the cemetery grounds.
"This is terrible, what happen to Wen Cai!"
Lin Jiu didn't care about the injuries on his face caused by Qiu Sheng's earlier beating, and hurriedly began searching for Wen Cai throughout the charity cemetery.
Gustave activated his advanced Observation Haki and began conducting a thorough investigation of the entire cemetery grounds.
"Fellow Taoist Lin Jiu, we have located Wen Cai. He is in the room where Old Master Ren's coffin was placed!"
Gustave called out to the increasingly anxious Lin Jiu.
After hearing this urgent information, Lin Jiu immediately rushed toward the room where Old Master Ren's coffin had been stored, and Gustave and the others followed closely behind.
When everyone arrived at the room, they discovered Wen Cai lying unconscious on the ground with several large, deep gashes on his arms, from which thick black blood was flowing ominously.
Old Master Ren had completely disappeared from his coffin. It was immediately obvious that Old Master Ren had taken advantage of the brief period when Gustave, Zhang Zhiwei, and Lin Jiu were away from the cemetery to rapidly complete his transformation into a jiangshi and escape from his coffin.
Wen Cai must have rushed over after hearing the supernatural commotion, and encountered Old Master Ren who had already transformed into a zombie. He was completely no match for the creature in combat, and had fainted on the ground after being severely beaten by Old Master Ren.
As for why Old Master Ren had not taken the opportunity to drain Wen Cai's blood after injuring him, this was thanks to the protective statue of the founder of Maoshan that had been positioned in the room.
Looking at the fallen and completely shattered statue, Gustave deduced that it was the spirit of the Maoshan founder who had manifested and saved Wen Cai from certain death.
"This is catastrophic, he's heading for the Ren Mansion!"
Since Old Master Ren had been temporarily defeated by the protective spirit of the Maoshan founder, the next people he would inevitably seek out must be Ren Fa and Ren Tingting. Although Gustave had originally wanted to give Ren Fa a proper scare, he certainly didn't want to cause any actual deaths.
Therefore, Gustave revealed his thunder-based abilities in front of Lin Jiu and the others for the very first time. Gustave transformed into a brilliant ray of lightning and disappeared completely from the sight of Lin Jiu and the others.
"This, this, this!"
When Qiu Sheng witnessed Gustave transforming into pure thunder and departing, he pointed at the location where Gustave had just been standing and was so thoroughly shocked that he couldn't form coherent words.
Ren Mansion
Ren Fa was carefully counting today's business accounts. Ever since Old Master Ren had been excavated from his original burial site, the Ren family's business had seemed to experience noticeable improvement.
Ren Fa could already envision that after his father was properly buried in the feng shui treasure land that Lin Jiu had selected, his Ren family would rise again and return to their former position as the wealthiest family in the entire province.
When he contemplated that the prestigious position of the richest man in a province was beckoning to him, Ren Fa's aged face couldn't help but reveal a distinctly greedy smile.
Bang bang bang!
There was an urgent knocking at the door.
"Who is it? Is that you, Tingting?"
Hearing the persistent knocking, Ren Fa called out, but received no response whatsoever.
"How peculiar?"
Ren Fa was about to open the door with growing confusion, but he didn't expect the door to suddenly explode inward with tremendous force and a disturbingly familiar figure appeared directly in front of him.
"Father!"
This was unmistakably Ren Fa's father, Old Master Ren! Now he had come to Ren Fa to demand a familial kiss of death.
Old Master Ren extended his arms and leaped toward Ren Fa with supernatural jumping ability.
"Help me, someone help me!"
Ren Fa was absolutely terrified and shouted desperately for assistance, but mysteriously no one in the Ren Mansion heard his cries, as if everyone had fallen into an unnatural sleep.
"Dad, I am your son Ren Fa, please don't kill me, Father!"
Looking at Old Master Ren getting closer and closer to him, Ren Fa collapsed to his knees and begged pathetically for mercy.
But Old Master Ren showed no recognition and continued advancing relentlessly toward his terrified son.
Ren Fa attempted to flee, but Old Master Ren leaped directly in front of him, blocking any escape route.
"Ahhh!"
Ren Fa was certain he was about to die.
At this critical moment of life and death, a tremendous thunderclap was heard in the sky, and a massive hole was blown open in the roof of Ren Fa's house. Gustave appeared dramatically and kicked Old Master Ren far across the room with a single powerful strike.
Immediately afterward, Gustave struck Old Master Ren with a devastating bolt of lightning, and Old Master Ren was directly transformed into charcoal.
"Thank you, Master Gustave, thank you, Master Gustave!"
Ren Fa discovered that it was Gustave who had saved his life, and considering the incredible supernatural methods Gustave had just demonstrated, Ren Fa desperately wanted to cling to Gustave's leg and never let go.
Gustave was not in the mood to pay attention to Ren Fa at the moment, because when Gustave had arrived, he had detected that something resembling a supernatural barrier had covered Ren Fa's room. Because of this mystical barrier, Ren Fa's desperate cries for help had not been heard by anyone.
Tonight, Old Master Ren, who had already shown signs of regression, had suddenly transformed into a zombie precisely when Wen Cai was the only person left in the cemetery. Coupled with the barrier covering Ren Fa's room, Gustave understood that Old Master Ren was being controlled by someone and there was definitely a mastermind orchestrating these events.
Therefore, Gustave utilized his Observation Haki to its fullest extent, and the entire Renjia Town fell under Gustave's comprehensive surveillance.
While continuously expanding his observational range, Gustave sensed a distinct abnormality five kilometers to the southeast, and he raised his hand and sent out a concentrated bolt of lightning.
But the abnormal spiritual aura did not disappear. It immediately relocated after being struck by Gustave's attack.
Gustave wanted to pursue the mysterious figure, but Ren Fa was gripping his leg tightly.
"Master Ren, I need to chase after the mastermind, please release me!"
Gustave said to Ren Fa with obvious helplessness.
"Master Gustave, please don't leave. Perhaps the person behind these events is attempting to lure the tiger away from the mountain. Maybe the enemy is waiting for you to depart and then will attack the Ren Mansion."
Ren Fa held Gustave's leg and refused to let go, while making what was actually a very reasonable argument.
"Lure the tiger away from the mountain?"
Gustave considered this possibility and felt that it was indeed quite plausible. Judging from the fact that Old Master Ren had suddenly transformed into a zombie tonight, the mastermind behind these events was extremely cunning and strategic.
"Master Ren, please release me. I promise I won't leave the Ren Mansion tonight, agreed?"
After analyzing the complete situation, Gustave decided to remain in the Ren house for the remainder of the night. After all, it was indeed unsafe with Zhang Zhiwei and Lin Jiu not present. But he definitely needed Ren Fa to stop clinging to his leg.
"Really?"
Ren Fa was afraid that Gustave was deceiving him.
"Absolutely!"
Gustave waved his hands helplessly. Ren Fa truly valued his own life above all else.
Only after receiving Gustave's definitive assurance did Ren Fa finally release his grip and rise from the ground.
"Why is there a smell of urine?"
Gustave suddenly detected an unpleasant odor, and when he looked down, he discovered that Ren Fa had just been frightened to the point of wetting himself by his father's supernatural attack.
"Heh, heh heh!"
Ren Fa also realized that his pants were soaked and he smiled with tremendous embarrassment.