Chapter 137: Driving Corpses (Part 2) Well, Ten Rings
Ning Congyun, clutching the knife, was thrown heavily to the ground. He tilted his head back, gritted his teeth, and looked extremely painful. He struggled a few times, but ultimately failed to get up and lay flat on his back.
The race team rushed onto the field, shouting:
"Doctor! Doctor, come here quickly!"
The doctor briefly checked Ning Congyun's condition and waved:
"Bring a stretcher and carry the man back to the clinic!"
The referee announced in the chaos: "Ji Zian wins——"
"Is this some kind of wrestling match?" A voice murmured in the audience. "Yesterday, the Big Devil also threw his opponent. Each one was more skilled than the last, and each throw was more severe than the last."
Shi Can looked across the crowd at Ji Zian, who was concerned about Ning Congyun's injury, with a smile in his eyes.
Ye Yangjia shook the biscuit packaging he had finally retrieved, and after discovering that only crumbs were left, he angrily stuffed the packaging into the trash bag, looked at Shi Can unhappily, and asked:
"You seem to like Ji Zian very much?"
"Hey, the word you used..."
Shi Can paused and changed his words.
"However, I do like him. Only someone with such strength is worthy of being my opponent."
Shi Can has always hated useless people and admired those with talent. However, he wasn't exactly a flatterer; after all, he was talented himself. His actions were, at most, a search for similarities.
The day when Lin Zhuyue would step onto the field soon arrived.
Her opponent is named Yan Yiyu, a fifth-year student from Kunlun Branch. He is a corpse driver - not the kind who suddenly came across a secret book and became a corpse driver halfway through, but a real corpse driver who has been passed down from generation to generation.
Crafts like corpse-driving, corpse-raising, and corpse-interrogation are destined to disappear in the tide of time as society develops. Yan Yiyu's family is fortunate to have preserved their craft, but it's unclear how long it can survive—one, two, or three generations... In short, their time to shine is running out.
Shi Can was not in the audience, but at the side of the court. He put the bear hat on the nervous Lin Zhuyue's head and asked:
"What do you want for lunch?"
Lin Zhuyue began to name the dishes:
"Bird's nest, shark fin, sea cucumber, abalone..."
Shi Can bent his index finger, tapped Lin Zhuyue's forehead, and said:
"You're not that nervous, and you're in the mood to joke."
After a while, Shi Chan said again:
"Okay, fight hard. Regardless of whether you win or lose, I'll stew the eight-head abalone that my father has treasured for many years."
Shi Yingshao sneezed while he was on a long mission.
It was almost ten o'clock in the morning when Lin Zhuyue stepped onto the field.
Yan Yiyu had not yet appeared on the stage, and the competition staff was helping him move the coffins he brought with him onto the stage. There were eight coffins in total, placed in an arc at the edge of the stage.
Yan Yiyu walked up slowly, holding the flagpole in his hand, and the huge black and green flag fluttered in the cold wind.
At ten o'clock, the referee announced:
"The game begins—"
Lin Zhuyue and Yan Yiyu stood on both sides of the field, and neither of them rushed forward.
Yan Yiyu looked at Lin Zhuyue leisurely and asked:
"I heard that you went to Bonan to treat corpses?"
Lin Zhuyue nodded and answered truthfully:
"The teacher took me there."
Yan Yiyu asked: "What do you think?"
"...The corpse raiser made a terrible mistake and caused such chaos. In fact, he was just trying to preserve and pass on the craftsmanship of his ancestors. It's a bit sad."
Lin Zhuyue gripped the recurve bow tightly and said,
"Those ancient corpses were only concerned with escaping and didn't hurt anyone, so I never got to experience their power."
"But my friends told me that you are very good, senior."
"Thank you."
Yan Yiyu was humble but did not forget to introduce himself clearly. He raised the flag and said,
"However, I'm a corpse-driver, not a corpse-keeper. Corpse-keepers in Bonan Province use magic and Yin energy to manipulate corpses, using them as weapons. But what my ancestors and I do is to bring the bodies of those who have died in foreign lands back to their homeland and rest in peace."
Yan Yiyu waved the flag towards Lin Zhuyue and said:
"I will let you, and everyone present, see the true art of corpse-driving with their own eyes."
As soon as he finished speaking, the eight wooden coffins behind him broke open, and pigs, sheep, chickens, and birds wrapped in cloth stood up from the coffins. They seemed to have died not long ago, and the smell was very strong, but their bodies wrapped in cloth still looked plump.
The audience suddenly became lively.
"Don't you need a corpse?"
"He's going to rely on these things to win?"
Lin Zhuyue also frowned.
"The corpse-driving technique can only be used on relatively fresh corpses."
Yan Yiyu waved the flag rhythmically. The corpses that slowly rose from the coffins were becoming more flexible and swift. He said,
"If I had used a human corpse, what I would be doing now would not be playing in the game, but being investigated by the police."
The dead animals rushed towards Lin Zhuyue.
Under Yan Yiyu's manipulation, the animals showed many characteristics that did not belong to them.
The pigs were incredibly fast. The sheep stood up and ran on their hind legs, looking almost human. The chickens stretched their heads out like snakes. The most terrifying thing was the bird; when it opened its mouth, sharp teeth sprouted from it.
Lin Zhuyue immediately summoned the golden amber fire.
The golden amber fire shattered into tiny petals, flying forward. They first struck the pig, causing the petals to explode and the golden amber fire to engulf the pig's corpse. But the next second, the pig's corpse burst out of the golden amber fire intact, crashing straight into Lin Zhuyue.
Lin Zhuyue threw out a piece of white paper: "Paper barrier! Rise!"
A square barrier rose up, protecting Lin Zhuyue inside.
The paper barrier, which was very strong against spirits, had little chance of withstanding physical impact. The paper barrier had barely risen when a swooping bird carcass pecked a hole in it.
"I know your spiritual weapon, the Golden Amber Fire, can restrain Yin energy."
Yan Yiyu waved the flag in an orderly manner and said,
"If you were to encounter a corpse raiser from Bonan Province, your spiritual weapon would be a sure kill. But unfortunately, I don't rely on Yin Qi or magic to drive corpses. I rely on—"
Lin Zhuyue shot an arrow through the flying bird: "Poisonous insect."
The bird's corpse was carried backward by the arrow and fell to the ground. It struggled a bit and spat out a worm. The worm crawled on the ground for a while before turning into black water and no longer moving.
"Your corpse-driving technique involves implanting poisonous insects into corpses, controlling the nerves, tendons, and muscles of the head, limbs, and torso. You then use flags to command them to move as you desire."
Lin Zhuyue drew his recurve bow again and said,
"The bow I'm carrying today has a talisman engraved on it. If any poisonous insect touches my arrow, it will turn into water."
Yan Yiyu asked: "Have you studied me?"
Lin Zhuyue threw the question back:
"Didn't you study me too?"
"The poisonous insects in birds are easy to find, but pigs and sheep are so large. Can your arrows hit them?"
Yan Yiyu took a deep breath, waved his flag more vigorously, and said,
"Also, if there are enough of them, can you handle it?"
Rats, snakes, and insects crawled out of the eight open coffins. It wasn't densely packed, but there were still at least twenty of them.
Lin Zhuyue didn't know whether the corpse-driving technique could allow the corpse to rest in peace, but she knew that if she was crawled upon by these things, she would definitely be buried in peace.
Lin Zhuyue made up her mind and ran around the edge of the field, nocking her bow and arrow as she ran:
"Senior, my friend and I made a major discovery while researching you."
Yan Yiyu asked: "What?"
Lin Zhuyue replied:
"The Gu divides into mother and child. Only by holding the mother Gu can you control the mother and child. Where did you place the mother Gu? I heard that a long time ago, you planted the mother Gu on yourselves, but later you stopped doing that..."
Although Lin Zhuyue was asking questions, her eyes were closely following Yan Yiyu's flag. Yan Yiyu was startled.
Lin Zhuyue pulled the bowstring and aimed at the flag.
Yan Yiyu quickly turned the flagpole in his hand, intending to roll up the flag to avoid the arrow.
His mother Gu was not actually kept in the flag, but in the flagpole. However, his flag was specially made, and if it was damaged, it would be very troublesome to repair it.
But Lin Zhuyue guessed that he would give up the flag. She threw away the arrow with a sharp arrowhead, and the golden amber fire condensed into a new arrow, which flew off the bow and hit Yan Yiyu right in the middle of his eyebrows.
Lin Zhuyue said with satisfaction: "Well, ten rings——"
At this point, the winner has been decided.
Yan Yiyu sighed and unfurled the banner again. Corpses on the field crawled into the coffins from all directions, and after crawling back, they politely replaced the lids.
The referee announced the result of the match: "Lin Zhuyue wins!"
Lin Zhuyue left the arena and walked in front of Shi Can.
Shi Can frowned and commented:
"What a sick victory."
He felt that Lin Zhuyue was really powerful. If it were him, when the eight coffins brought by Yan Yiyu were opened, he might just lie down on the ground and admit defeat.
Shi Can felt that Lin Zhuyue deserved a reward. He extended his wrist and held it under Lin Zhuyue's nose:
"Let me show you, sandalwood smells so nice."
If Lin Zhuyue praised him, he would give the perfume to Lin Zhuyue.
Lin Zhuyue grabbed Shi Can's arm with both hands and took a bite without any hesitation.
Shi Chan asked, “…What are you doing?”
"If you stay among corpses for too long, you'll turn into a corpse and start biting people."
Lin Zhuyue then carefully sniffed Shican's wrist.
"Yeah, it does smell nice, much better than that cedar perfume you usually spray on yourself... Um, why does it smell like cat food?"
“Is it abnormal for people who own cats to smell like cat food?”
Shi Can pulled his hand back, put it to his nose, sniffed it carefully, and said,
“It would be nice if it didn’t smell like cat litter.”
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