Chapter Eleven: He Is Actually the Fifth Generation Demon Corpse

Looking at this brand new neighborhood, I realized it had been a long time since I’d last come here. The buildings still looked as fresh as ever. I walked up to Old Ma’s door and knocked. It was Shuang who opened it; I figured Uncle Ma must not be home. Shuang invited me inside, and I was greeted by that familiar, faint fragrance—like sandalwood—that always lingered in their house.

As expected, Old Ma wasn’t home. According to Shuang, he was at the academy giving a lecture and wouldn’t be back for a while. I knew Shuang hadn’t called me over just for tutoring; after all, she was one of the top students in the entire senior class of the archaeology department—graduating smoothly was a given for her.

Sure enough, Shuang had another reason for inviting me. Since there were hardly any classes in junior year, and senior year was a time to relax, she wanted me to come along and go shopping with her.

When it comes to shopping, I think all guys are wary. Don’t be fooled by how delicate girls seem; once they hit the stores, their hidden potential explodes. Their stamina is incredible—they can breeze through three and a half streets without blinking an eye.

I had no choice; since I was already here, I might as well stick it out to the end. Besides, the outfit I had on could still pass for an outing. It had cost me nearly a month of part-time work to buy this 360-brand attire, and I’d only worn it for half a month. It shouldn’t look too shabby in a bustling mall.

The only issue was, I was still a virgin, and walking down the street with a girl like this might raise eyebrows. Not that I cared much, but Shuang was such a beauty that it left me conflicted.

On second thought, it wasn’t a loss for me—having a pretty girl by my side would dazzle everyone. So, gritting my teeth, I said, “All right, Shuang, I’ll go with you.”

After leaving the neighborhood, we took the bus toward our destination. Since it was rush hour, the bus was packed to the brim.

It took some effort for Shuang and me to squeeze onto the bus. Since the mall was on the other side of the city, we’d be riding for a while. Looking around at the sea of bobbing heads, I glanced down and saw a pickpocket with one hand in a girl’s bag and the other hand squeezing her behind.

The world really is full of all kinds. He had the nerve to steal and grope right out in the open. The girl seemed to realize something was wrong but stubbornly kept silent—clearly, she was of the reserved sort. Since she wouldn’t act, I decided to play the hero. I whispered a few words to Shuang, then carefully squeezed my way over.

When I reached the girl’s side, I positioned myself right between her and the lecherous pickpocket, pretending not to notice anything. Then, feigning surprise, I turned to the girl and said, “Hey, aren’t you someone I know?” Thankfully, she wasn’t slow—she quickly caught on and replied, “Oh, isn’t this my friend? What a coincidence.” She edged closer to me.

As for the pickpocket, he glared at me and went off in search of another target. But I could see the way his lustful gaze wandered—he was looking at Shuang. I thought to myself, “No way, I can’t let this bastard defile Shuang’s innocence.” I started moving back toward her.

Just as the pickpocket’s hand was about ten centimeters from Shuang’s waist, I caught him.

To my surprise, he was quite strong, trying to break free from my grip. As his resistance grew, I was forced to suppress him with the power of the Golden Corpse King. When I looked up at him, his eyes suddenly turned gray.

Because of the crowd, no one else noticed our covert struggle. His gray pupils startled me for a moment before I regained my composure. I leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “Remember this, you fifth-generation corpse—try that in front of me again and you’ll die.” I flashed my eyes at him for effect.

He must have guessed my identity, for he immediately begged, “Boss, please spare me! I won’t dare do it again!”

Faced with Shuang’s puzzled look and the astonished stares of everyone on the bus, I decided to show off a bit. “All right, since you’re so sincere, come find me here tonight.” I pulled out a business card and handed it to him.

The pickpocket took the card and got off at the next stop.

After the fifth generation, the hierarchy of corpses was strict—one could tell which generation a corpse belonged to just by its eyes: red, blue, green, purple, gray, white, then black. From the seventh generation onward, their eyes were all black. After the eleventh generation, their teeth could no longer grow freely. After the fifteenth, they lost all self-awareness—just like zombies in a survival horror film.

Jiang Chen is the progenitor, but his mind is still clouded—he hasn’t yet awakened his spiritual consciousness, and each day he tries all sorts of ways to rid himself of Nan Mao and North Ma. He needs someone with fate to teach him. If Jiang Chen awakens and gains the thinking power of a human, not even ten Golden Corpse Kings would be his match.

But I digress.

The tense atmosphere on the bus quickly dissipated, and a little space cleared out around Shuang and me, so I no longer felt crowded.

But looking around at those fearful faces, I realized they must have taken me for some gangster.

Not that it mattered—as long as I had room to stand, I could get off the bus with dignity at our stop.

When we reached the entrance to the mall, Shuang asked, “Why were they all so scared of you? What did you do to that man?”

I just gave her a mischievous grin and said, “Nothing much. He was groping a girl and I caught him.” At that, Shuang’s cheeks flushed bright red. She said nothing more, just lowered her head and slipped into the mall, looking absolutely adorable. I was left standing at the entrance alone.

Shaking my head and grinning, I murmured, “I didn’t grope you, so why are you blushing?” Then I followed her inside.

Shopping with Shuang was pure torture. She kept piling bag after bag onto me; when I counted, there were already twenty packages. I couldn’t figure out how often this young lady actually came out to shop.

Both my hands, my shoulders, my back, and even my head were loaded down with her purchases—especially that little pink hat, which almost covered my eyes. I could barely see the road and had to just follow in her footsteps.

As we walked, I suddenly found my way blocked by a rather attractive saleswoman, dressed in a fitted uniform that accentuated her curves.

I smiled at her and said, “Let me through—my girlfriend’s buying clothes inside.”

But she still wouldn’t let me in. Getting annoyed, I blurted out, “For heaven’s sake, let me through!”

The saleswoman was clearly startled by my outburst. Frowning, she pointed above my head. “Sir, I think you’ll change your mind once you see the sign.”

I nudged my hat up with my pinky and followed her gesture. One glance, and my face turned crimson—“Little Girls’ Lingerie Shop—No Men Allowed.”

Oh, hell. My face burned with embarrassment. That wicked Shuang—did she have any idea how much I wanted to strangle her right then?

With no other choice, I apologized to the saleswoman, turned around, and headed for the waiting area across the way to wait for Shuang to finish.

After an hour, Shuang finally emerged carrying just one bag. I couldn’t help but wonder how many outfits she’d tried on in there.

Luckily, that was her last purchase of the day. Once we left the mall, Shuang arranged for a courier to send all her bags home. Looping her arm through mine, she said, “I’m hungry. Let’s get something to eat!”

Having never had a girl take my arm like that before, I was struck speechless. I could only mumble, “Sure...”

We went into a small restaurant and ordered some home-style dishes. Though I wasn’t excited about ordinary food, Uncle Ma had always said, “Never let anyone notice any difference in your behavior. You still have to eat, no matter how awful it tastes—just pretend you’re chewing wood. Especially in front of my daughter, never let her see that you feel nothing for human food…”

Looking at the table full of colorful dishes Shuang had ordered, I felt no appetite. But for Uncle Ma’s sake, I forced myself to eat, no matter how unpleasant.

I glanced at Shuang and saw how elegant her eating manner was—so much more refined than the hungry wolves in our dorm. Without realizing it, I slipped into a sort of trance, imagining mountains and rivers, hungry wolves devouring food, and a graceful beauty in white descending from the sky. Her slender fingers and porcelain skin, her long black hair down to her waist. On the edge of the pack, a man—not particularly handsome—watched her in awe. I was utterly spellbound.

“What are you staring at? You’re drooling.” Shuang’s voice snapped me out of my reverie. I realized I’d been staring at her and actually drooling, as if she were a hunk of meat.

Embarrassed by my loss of composure, I grabbed a napkin and wiped my mouth. “It’s nothing—I’ll go pay the bill.” I hurried off toward the counter, head down.

As I passed Shuang, I noticed she was secretly laughing, her cheeks tinged with pink.

My heart soared. Was I falling in love? I pictured pink petals swirling all around, and myself walking hand in hand with Shuang down an empty street, utterly delighted—completely unaware that I was standing at the counter, elbow propped on my forehead, grinning like an idiot.

“Sir, sir? Are you all right?” The waiter shook my arm, pulling me back to reality. He looked at me suspiciously, as if he thought I was crazy.

Flustered, I said, “No, I’m fine. How much do I owe you?”

“One hundred ninety-nine,” he replied, going back to polishing his wine glasses. I took out two hundred and handed it to him. “Keep the change.” For a moment, I felt like some big shot—but it was just a penny’s tip. The waiter looked at me with utter disdain, but out of politeness still said, “Thank you.”

By the time Shuang and I got home, dusk was falling. Since the dorms would be checked that night, I saw her to her door, said a few words of caution, and hurried back to campus.

Just as I got back, the room checks were starting. Good thing I arrived early, or I’d have lost points. Even as the top student in the department, I still had to worry about that ridiculous rule.

Back in the dorm, my roommates were already asleep and the dorm supervisor had finished his rounds. It was past eight. Suddenly I remembered the pickpocket waiting for me at our meeting place, so I grabbed two packs of plasma and snuck out of the academy through a weak spot in the wall.

...

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