After finishing the upgrades to his cultivation technique, the first thing Qiu Xia said upon seeing Ren Tingting was, "Tingting, I have good news! The Zombie World has finished its transformation. We can go back now."
Hearing this, Ren Tingting's face lit up with joy. "Is that true?!"
"I don't know exactly what the world will look like now, but the transformation is complete and the lockdown is over. We can head over there."
"Then take me there quickly! It's been years since I last saw my father. Oh, should we notify Master and the others?"
"Let's head over first to see what the situation is, then we can notify them," Qiu Xia suggested.
Just as before, Qiu Xia tucked Ren Tingting into his Small World and pressed the Transmigration Button. Usually, when returning to the Zombie World, he would wake up inside the Yi Zhuang. This time, however, he found himself waking up in the middle of a cemetery.
"Why am I here?" he wondered aloud. "I remember being in the Yi Zhuang when I left. Did the mortuary turn into a graveyard? No, that's impossible. Even if the Yi Zhuang is a place for corpses, it's still quite a distance from the actual cemetery. What's going on?"
Realizing something was wrong, Qiu Xia immediately began to investigate. He soon discovered that the concentration of Spiritual Qi, which had been severely lacking in the old Zombie World,
was now comparable to that of the Naruto World or the One Piece World. This part made sense; before he had left, he had set up a Great Array in Shenzhou to convert astral power into Spiritual Qi.
However, he soon realized he had lost his connection to that array. It had vanished completely. The array he had placed in Shenzhou was purely beneficial, with no drawbacks; it was unlikely that the Heavenly Dao of the Zombie World would have removed it. Had it simply disappeared on its own? That seemed even less probable.
He checked his Data Panel. He was definitely in the Zombie World. But if it was the same world, why was his array gone? Had the Heavenly Dao truly removed it? The Heavenly Dao of this world shouldn't be that narrow minded.
Unable to wrap his head around it, Qiu Xia began searching for local residents. After reading the minds of dozens of people, he finally located where Ren Family Town should have been. However, it wasn't called Ren Family Town anymoreit was now Hepingping Town.
There were other places called Ren Family Town, but they contained no one Qiu Xia recognized. Once he finished gathering information, he let Ren Tingting out and broke the cruel news to her.
Learning that her father was nowhere to be found in this transformed Zombie World, Ren Tingting burst into tears. Although she had only spent a year with Master Ren after her transmigration, his memories and the kindness he had shown her during their time together had forged a deep bond. She was naturally devastated at the prospect of never seeing him again.
To help her move past her grief, Qiu Xia took her traveling. He intensified their cultivation sessions while they toured the land, hoping to keep her mind occupied.
One evening, they arrived at a small town. It was late, and most of the restaurants were already closed. Eventually, they spotted a lone noodle shop.
Ren Tingting glanced at the shop and frowned. "Qiu Xia, that noodle shop has a strong aura of Yin Qi. Let's go check it out. If there are any ghosts or monsters, we can deal with them while we're at it."
"I'll follow your lead," he replied.
They walked inside. There were four people in the shop: three men and one woman. One was the shop owner busy making noodles, one was a night watchman, and the other two were a woman in her late thirties and a young man with a long braid.
As soon as they stepped through the door, Qiu Xia nearly blurted out an exclamation. Not a single one of the four was human. The watchman and the owner were ghosts. The other two carried a heavy Yin Qi but also possessed a glimmer of Divine Light; they were clearly Underworld officials. Furthermore, the young man with the long braid looked strangely familiar.
As Ren Tingting prepared to say something, Qiu Xia raised a hand to stop her. "Boss, please give us two bowls of noodles."
"Certainly! Please, have a seat over here," the owner replied.
Ren Tingting's beauty and ethereal temperament drew the gaze of everyone in the room as they sat down. Qiu Xia, though still appearing youthful, was exceptionally handsomea man who stood out in any crowd. To the onlookers, they appeared to be a match made in heaven.
Once they were seated, Ren Tingting looked at Qiu Xia and sent a message through her Divine Sense. How can you still think about eating?
We haven't eaten dinner yet. Isn't it normal to have a bowl of noodles?
But I feel like no one in this room is normal, she guessed. The owner and the watchman are ghosts. The other two are even weirderthey have Yin Qi, but they don't look like ghosts, nor do they look possessed. Their complexions are all wrong.
Qiu Xia smiled and sent a telepathic reply. The man you're talking about is Ding Tianran. If I'm not mistaken, that pair are Ghost Messengers. They have both Yin Qi and Divine Light, making them very similar to Underworld emissaries.
I know about Ghost Messengers, Tingting replied. But shouldn't they lack physical bodies?
It's likely an improvement made by the Underworld. Forget it for now, let's just eat. If there's anything we don't understand, we can just ask later.
But the owner is a ghost, she said, hesitant. Is the food he makes even edible?
It's fine for today. In two more days, it probably won't be. Besides, looking at his face, he doesn't seem to be an evil ghost. He likely stayed behind because of some unfinished business. We'll ask him later; if we can help, we will. Life isn't easy for commoners in this era.
Ren Tingting nodded. She had seen movies and read history books about how difficult this era was, but those accounts hadn't truly resonated until they began their travels.
She had seen the "devils" of the invading army tormenting the people, and bandits ruling over mountain strongholds like kings. Initially, she and Qiu Xia had shown no mercy to any of them, but eventually, they focused their efforts solely on the Guizi soldiers.
Despite only targeting the soldiers, they still went out of their way to look after the peasants who were struggling to survive.
As they waited for their noodles, the woman stood up, walked to their table, and sat down. "You look like a fresh face, young master. You must be from out of town. Which great family do you belong to?"
"We are indeed from elsewhere," Qiu Xia said with a smile. "I've stayed at home too long, so I decided to take my wife out for a walk."
"Just the two of you?" the woman asked probingly. "Aren't you afraid of running into Guizi or bandits?"
Qiu Xia gave a playful smirk. "If it were you and that big brother with the long braid, would you be afraid?"
Both the woman and the braided man's eyes flickered. They were stunned. How did this kid realize we were together? Looking at the woman beside him, they could tell she was a cultivator of significant strength. For this man to be her husband, he had to be a cultivator as well. Which sect did these two come from?
Seeing her silence, Qiu Xia spoke calmly. "Since I left home, I've seen many things I couldn't stand. Bandits, robbers, Guizi... so many commoners suffering. This area is a bit better, but not by much."
He looked at them intently. "I have a question. When those bandits and robbers die, they fall under your jurisdiction down below. But when those Guizi die, who manages them? We can't just let those lonely ghosts and wild spirits wander aimlessly through our Shenzhou, can we?"
"Who knows?" the woman replied vaguely. "Maybe they're managed by their own side. Or maybe... they fall under our jurisdiction down below after all!"
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