The brothel madam spoke mysteriously and told Zhan Zhao and the others about a strange incident that had recently occurred.

Not long ago, a new customer arrived at Wan Hua Brothel—a man they had never seen before. His hair was gray, and he appeared to be around fifty or sixty years old. Such elderly guests were not uncommon, so the courtesans still served him carefully.

This guest only said his surname was Shan and that he was not a local, just passing through.

According to the courtesan who attended to him, the old man was very strange. He called her into the room but then immediately lay down and went to sleep, instructing her to make a bed on the floor beside him. He had plenty of money and was quite generous with it.

And so, he stayed at Wan Hua Brothel for three days.

Everyone listening was perplexed—what kind of hobby was this?

The courtesan who had served him shook her head. “I slept on the floor for three nights straight—my shoulders are all sore!”

“This man is so odd. Wouldn’t it have been better to stay at an inn?” Zhao Pu found it strange.

“Right? But it gets even weirder!” The courtesan shuddered. “On the third morning, when I woke up, I found that he had died in bed!”

“What?” Gongsun was shocked. “How did he die?”

“No idea! His eyes were wide open, his body was stiff, and he was lying there motionless. I was so terrified that I immediately screamed for help!”

Everyone turned to look at the brothel madam. “So, what did you do afterward? Did you report it to the authorities for an autopsy?”

The brothel madam looked embarrassed. “This is a brothel. How could I dare report it? If word got out that someone died in my establishment, how would I continue doing business?”

Everyone understood. Normally, brothels would simply dispose of such bodies discreetly.

“So, how did you deal with the body?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“I had a few of my workers take the body to the mass grave at night and dump it there,” the brothel madam said, her face grim. “I even sealed off the room where he died. But who could have known…”

“What happened?”

“The next night, we started hearing noises from that room,” the brothel madam shivered. “We even heard snoring.”

Everyone exchanged glances—this was getting eerie.

“The strangest thing was, the next morning when we opened the door, we found that the dead old man was lying in bed again, exactly the same way he had died the first time!”

“…Are you serious?” Ouyang Shaozheng was intrigued. “Did the dead man crawl back by himself?”

“Oh, I was scared out of my wits…” The brothel madam patted her chest. “Nearly fainted.”

“And then?” Zhao Pu was deeply interested.

The brothel madam shook her head. “The man was already dead, so we couldn’t just leave him there. I got a couple of brave workers to take the body back to the mass grave. This time, to be safe, we even dug a pit and buried him. But who could have guessed that the next morning…”

“He came back again?” Gongsun was fascinated. A corpse that stubbornly returned to the same room—it was strangely persistent.

Zhao Pu and the others also found it amusing.

“You all find this funny? We’re at our wits’ end here!”

Bai Yutang was curious. “Why not just burn the body?”

“Who would dare?!” The brothel madam grimaced. “Right now, he’s just coming back to lie down. If we burn him, what if he returns to take revenge or burns down my brothel?”

Everyone looked at each other and asked in unison, “So the corpse is still in that room?”

“I don’t know.” The brothel madam was cautious. “None of us dare to check anymore. The room is sealed. Sometimes we hear sounds, sometimes we don’t… but we haven’t gone inside again.”

“I’ll go take a look!” Gongsun was excited and was about to rush upstairs, but Zhao Pu grabbed him by the collar.

Gongsun turned back, dissatisfied.

Zhao Pu glanced at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. “This looks like a trick from the martial world.”

Bai Yutang nodded slightly but didn’t comment further. Instead, he asked Zhan Zhao, “Could this be a form of suspended animation?”

Zhan Zhao frowned as if hesitating.

Bai Yutang seemed to understand something. He gently pulled Zhan Zhao aside and asked in a low voice, “What are you thinking?”

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang’s fingers pinching his sleeve… rather naturally, at that.

Zhao Pu narrowed his eyes slightly—these two had only just met, but they already acted like old friends. If they hadn’t known each other before, then they must have hit it off exceptionally well.

“There are only a few ways to fake death—turtle breathing, breath-holding… But based on what the brothel madam described, it sounds like a different type of internal technique. No righteous sect would know it—only demonic sect practitioners do!”

“What kind of technique?” Bai Yutang was intrigued.

“This technique is rather sinister. It doesn’t have an official name, but an elder once told me that people call it ‘Die and Come Back to Life.’” Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin. “As the name suggests, the person dies completely, then comes back to life!”

Bai Yutang frowned. “That’s absurd… Which elder told you about it?”

Zhan Zhao looked up at the sky. “I forgot…”

Bai Yutang laughed helplessly. “Makes sense. You have too many elders.”

Zhan Zhao glanced at him. “Don’t you have plenty of elders too?”

Bai Yutang smiled faintly. “I do, but unlike yours, mine all treat me like an enemy rather than a treasure.”

Zhan Zhao was stunned and whispered, “I’ve heard that the Tianshan Sect is in chaos. Is it really that bad?”

Bai Yutang shrugged. “Worse than you can imagine.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Zhan Zhao crossed his arms. “Your master is so powerful. He can’t control his disciples?”

“The problem isn’t with my master.” Bai Yutang spoke seriously. “The so-called righteous sects are just too despicable. The demonic sects are actually easier to deal with.”

“That’s true.” Zhan Zhao nodded in agreement.

While the two whispered, Zhao Pu was getting impatient. How long were they going to keep whispering?

Just then, he felt a tug on his robe. Looking down, he saw a small child staring up at him with a round, chubby face, reaching out with both hands. “Jiujiu, hug me!”

Without thinking, Zhao Pu immediately picked him up—this little ancestor was probably tired of standing.

Ouyang twitched at the corners of his mouth. Zhao Pu showed no awareness that he was a grand marshal. But he did seem to get along well with this child—perhaps he should just adopt him as a godson.

A while later, as coughing sounds of impatience filled the air, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang finally snapped out of their conversation and returned to the group, looking a bit sheepish.

“What did you two decide?” Zhao Pu asked. “Are we storming in?”

“Let’s check the room first.” Zhan Zhao glanced at the sky. “He’s probably not here right now.”

“How do you know?” Zhao Pu was puzzled.

“If it’s really the ‘Die and Come Back to Life’ technique, it only works just before dawn,” Zhan Zhao explained while leading everyone upstairs.