Chapter 25

After returning to the small courtyard, Lin Qingyang activated the formation, sealing the place off. He led Cheng Hui to the room next to the bedroom, which was usually empty, with only a few meditation cushions inside.

Cheng Hui and Lin Qingyang sat facing each other, their hands connected, surrounded by dozens of materials arranged in a circle around Cheng Hui.

As Lin Qingyang channeled his energy, yin energy flowed between them, causing the materials to disintegrate and form a series of beautiful streams of light that circled around Cheng Hui.

Cheng Hui cooperated with Lin Qingyang’s movements, operating his cultivation technique, continuously absorbing and refining the materials that transformed into streams of light.

The first time refining a corpse wasn’t particularly difficult, but it still took the two of them a full three days. Fortunately, Lin Qingyang had sent a message to Zhang Yifan in advance, informing him that he would be in seclusion.

After three continuous days of cultivation, even Lin Qingyang felt utterly exhausted.

When the last cycle was completed, Cheng Hui opened his eyes, a stream of light flickering in his gaze. He lifted his hand, feeling his body significantly more agile.

Although his movements were still somewhat slow, at least he wouldn’t embarrassingly move right when he intended to go left.

“Go rest,” Cheng Hui tried to say a few words, and as long as he controlled his speech speed, his words were clear.

Feeling the changes in his body, Cheng Hui was genuinely overjoyed, especially since he could clearly sense his newfound strength, a stark contrast to the previous weakness where he couldn’t even control his body.

Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he knew that before, he was a complete burden to Lin Qingyang. Now, he finally had some ability to protect himself.

“Want to test your current strength?” Lin Qingyang was also happy for Cheng Hui.

“Okay.” Cheng Hui found that the longer his sentences, the more prone he was to errors, so he kept his words concise.

The two went to the small courtyard to test it out. They discovered that Cheng Hui’s strength had indeed increased significantly, mainly reflected in his strength, which had multiplied several times compared to before.

A large stone weighing several hundred pounds in the corner was easily lifted by Cheng Hui. His skin also had a faint sheen, greatly enhancing his defense.

If before, a strong ordinary person with a stick could easily deal with a walking corpse, now, as a wandering corpse, Cheng Hui would require at least three to five strong men with weapons, and they would still have to pay a certain price to take him down.

This was also why Cheng Hui had tangled with that blue-clothed person’s wandering corpse for so long before; he simply couldn’t break through the defense. He could at most entangle, but it was basically impossible to take down the opponent.

Satisfied with his progress, Cheng Hui also noticed Lin Qingyang’s fatigue and quickly pushed him back to the bedroom to rest well.

Once Lin Qingyang was asleep, Cheng Hui thought for a moment and decided to lie down beside him, closing his eyes and sinking his consciousness into that space.

“Xiao Tong! I’m here!” Cheng Hui happily entered the small villa, looking around but not finding Xiao Tong, which puzzled him.

Ever since discovering this space, he hadn’t really explored it much beyond a quick tour of the hall. Originally wanting Xiao Tong to guide him, but since he wasn’t around, Cheng Hui decided to wander around on his own.

The first floor mainly consisted of the hall and kitchen, with a small storeroom behind the kitchen. The kitchen was well-equipped with household appliances like a microwave and fridge, but he couldn’t find any power cords for these appliances.

Cheng Hui: …

Forget it, quantum mechanics!

He went up to the second floor along the stairs, with two rooms on each side of the corridor. After checking them out, one was a bedroom, another resembled a gym, and the remaining two were guest rooms with basic furniture, seemingly prepared for guests, though he had no idea who could enter such a place.

At the end of the second-floor corridor was a transparent glass door, leading to an outdoor staircase to the third floor. The third floor was a large balcony divided into two parts: one side was a small garden with many plants, and the other side had a glass house with a small swimming pool inside.

This villa completely fulfilled Cheng Hui’s dream, with nothing out of place, like his dream house brought to life.

He was very satisfied after touring the house, but still couldn’t find Xiao Tong.

“Xiao Tong? Xiao Tong?” He called out a couple of times, and soon felt his pant leg being tugged twice.

“Ah!” Xiao Tong stood by his feet, puffing his little face, tugging at his pants.

Cheng Hui picked Xiao Tong up and placed him on the coffee table, sinking into the sofa himself.

“Xiao Tong, where did you go just now?”

“Ya ya!” A light bulb appeared above Xiao Tong’s head, lighting up with a pop.

Then he turned around, struggling to dig for something for quite a while, making Cheng Hui anxious, wanting to help him get it out.

Unfortunately, when he looked behind Xiao Tong, there was nothing there, as if there was an invisible dimensional backpack on his back, from which he was retrieving something.

Xiao Tong finally managed to pull out something, a small figure carrying a red fruit larger than himself, huffing and puffing as he ran to the edge of the coffee table, trying to hand it to Cheng Hui.

Cheng Hui took the fruit and saw that it was the same fruit Xiao Tong had urged him to eat before. He had no idea what it was, so he didn’t eat it.

He casually placed the fruit aside, but Xiao Tong got angry, running over with a pout, insisting on giving it to him.

After Cheng Hui took the fruit, Xiao Tong made an eat gesture.

Cheng Hui scratched his head, eat or not eat, that was the question.

“You should at least tell me what this is first?” Cheng Hui looked at Xiao Tong.

Xiao Tong’s little face scrunched up, looking very troubled, seemingly not knowing how to explain. Cheng Hui was a bit troubled too; this thing didn’t look tasty at all. Could it be some kind of heavenly treasure that would greatly enhance his power if eaten?

Hearing him mutter to himself, Xiao Tong’s mouth twitched, showing a disdainful expression.

Cheng Hui understood; this fruit was likely more precious than those cultivation-enhancing treasures. However, he still couldn’t decide whether to eat it or not.

Seeing him hesitate, Xiao Tong pouted, showing a pitiful expression, big eyes filled with tears, looking at him pleadingly.

Cheng Hui: …

Why is he about to cry…

His intuition told him Xiao Tong was trustworthy, and the reason he didn’t eat was just to be cautious. But seeing Xiao Tong so pitiful, he couldn’t bear it and put the fruit in his mouth.

The fist-sized fruit melted into a clear spring as soon as it entered his mouth, flowing directly into his throat. Cheng Hui smacked his lips, feeling like it didn’t have much taste.

Just as he was about to try communicating with Xiao Tong to figure out the fruit’s effects, he suddenly rolled his eyes and fainted.

His figure quickly disappeared from the villa, and Xiao Tong, seeing him vanish, let out a long sigh of relief before disappearing as well.

---

“—Hmm?”

Cheng Hui woke up from the darkness, momentarily unsure of what had happened. Fortunately, he quickly regained clarity, cautiously observing his surroundings.

He found himself in a guest room, the furnishings of which were of ordinary standard, akin to a typical inn’s top room. Standing up from the bed, he quickly recalled the previous events, noticing that his movements were very agile, but lacked the heavy defensive feel of being refined into a corpse.

He immediately found a basin of water, looking into it to see a handsome man’s face reflected.

Cheng Hui touched his face; it had been a long time since he had seen it. It wasn’t that he couldn’t find a mirror, but after becoming a corpse, his complexion would turn pale, quite different from his current healthy wheat color.

Sometimes, if he wasn’t careful, his face would be full of deathly aura, making it unwatchable.

Sometimes he really admired Lin Qingyang, who could face such a deathly face and still tell people it was his fiancé.

Probably… people from the Corpse Puppet Sect weren’t quite normal.

Cheng Hui looked down, wearing a simple white robe with a green jade pendant at his waist. Checking his clothes, he found some silver notes and loose silver, along with a letter addressed to him.

Opening it, the contents were simple, inviting him to a newly purchased estate for a summer retreat, mentioning some strange occurrences there.

It seemed the letter writer had a good relationship with him, and he could sense the writer’s nervousness and fear through the words.

“So… I have some status here?” Cheng Hui muttered to himself.

Suddenly, a transparent screen appeared before him, displaying a few lines: [Find the hidden secrets in the estate and save your friend.]

Cheng Hui: ???

Wait… how did this suddenly turn into an infinite flow scenario? I crossed into the cultivation world, right?

Knock, knock, knock!

A knock on the door startled Cheng Hui, and with a thought, the screen disappeared. But before it vanished, he vaguely saw a familiar little short leg in the bottom right corner of the screen.

He got up to open the door, finding a beautiful woman dressed in men’s clothing standing outside. Her expression was somewhat arrogant, and upon seeing Cheng Hui, a hint of hostility flashed in her eyes.

Cheng Hui: ?

Why the hostility? I don’t even know you…

“What’s up?” Cheng Hui didn’t know who she was or what their relationship was, so he could only ask tentatively.

“Are you Cheng Hui?” The woman raised an eyebrow.

Cheng Hui breathed a slight sigh of relief. Good, she didn’t know him, so he probably wouldn’t be exposed.

“I am. Do you have any business with me?”

“Did you take on Mr. Shaoling’s commission?” the woman asked.

Cheng Hui was confused.

Who is Mr. Shaoling? His friend’s name was Li Ying. Since he wasn’t sure if this so-called friend had any other names, he could only vaguely say,

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The woman slightly lifted her head. “Let me be clear, this case is mine. You’d better back out early.”

Cheng Hui’s mouth twitched. If he could, he certainly wouldn’t want to get involved in something that seemed so strange.

But with a task at hand, he couldn’t back down.