Midnight Bookstore

“Eh?” The scabby-headed monk suddenly raised his head. He looked in the direction of the hotel’s main entrance. He was somewhat absent-minded.

The monk’s fingers began to calculate non-stop. His expression alternated between solemn and relaxed.

“Monk, can you calculate?”

The tanned girl curiously placed her hand on the scabby-headed monk’s uneven head and asked.

“No.”

“…” the girl.

“It’s just a habit. When I was young, I was dumb when I first became a monk. My master was afraid that I would starve to death when I went out, so he taught me a lot of superficial knowledge. This is one of them.”

“Why does your master always teach you these crooked ways? My mother-in-law is better. She taught me how to plant flowers.”

That’s right. Your mother-in-law is better. In the end, she was planted by you.

“Otherwise, the masters in this world who can teach their disciples how to eat must be good. They can’t afford to eat. No matter how great their knowledge is, it’s useless.”

“I respect my master very much.”

“Alright. I know that you respect your master and respect your teachings. It’s the same for me.”

“Oh?”

“Mother-in-law often says that she’s old. Back then, most of her contemporaries had already left. She’s so lonely.”

“So?”

“So I planted my mother-in-law. She didn’t understand and even scolded me. She only stopped talking after I buried her.”

“Well…”

“I know a lot about filial piety too. I’m just afraid that my mother-in-law would be lonely. Look, if I planted her and she really bloomed and bore fruit, she would have many, many mothers-in-law.”

“Mother-in-law, won’t you be lonely?”

“You make a good point.” The mangy-headed monk nodded his head, “I am not as clever as you. I would have planted my master before he passed away.”

“Right. Wrong.”

“It seems so. The demonic aura has subsided quite a bit. I feel as if there are two zombie auras inside.”

“Zombies?” The swarthy girl frowned. She immediately asked, “Can zombies grow?”

“Zombies are born to be raised… No, it doesn’t seem like they can’t be planted.”

“How?”

“Well, you choose a place with a strong evil spirit. Set up the feng shui of gathering Yin. Sow more seeds and bury more people who have just died not long ago. If you’re lucky, you might be able to plant one in spring in a few decades.”

“It’s been so long. It’s so boring.”

“Mm.”

“This hotel is so powerful. It’s both a monster and a zombie. The owner of this hotel must have spent a lot of money on them, right?”

The mangy-headed monk smiled. If the owner of this hotel knew what was in his hotel today, he would probably be so happy that he would have a heart attack.

“What surprised this penniless monk is that zombies are zombies. Monsters are monsters. Even ghost messengers are ghost messengers. However, someone inside is killing the Three Corpses.”

“What are Three Corpses? Can they be planted?”

“It’s the theory from the Ox’s nose. The Daoist Book ‘Dream of Three Corpses’ says there are three corpse insects in a human body. Specifically, it includes three upper corpse insects, three middle corpse insects, and three lower corpse insects. This is why it’s called ‘Three Corpses and Nine Insects.’ If cultivators want to walk on the path of becoming immortal, they must eradicate and destroy the root of the Three Corpses.”

“In Buddhism, it’s called the inner demon. Slay Three Corpses and remove the inner demon. Tsk. Tsk. This penniless monk really wants to go in and take a look.”

“Hearing you speak so mysteriously if it wasn’t for the flowers and plants here telling me that I might become fertilizer after going in…I want to go in too but I still don’t want to turn it into fertilizer!”

Hearing this, the scabby-headed monk shrugged his shoulders. Obviously, he believed in the premonition of this flower-growing girl.

Watching a show has been a traditional virtue of the Chinese people since ancient times. If one knew that there was danger and still went to join in on the show, that would be unethical.

“Beheading Three Corpses, one’s state of mind can be pacified to perfection. It is the state of mind that any cultivator yearns for, be it Buddhist, Taoist, mystic, or spectral.”

“What if they fail?”

“If they fail and they are lucky, they will become idiots. If they are unlucky, their original selves will be replaced by inner demons.”

As he spoke, the scabby-headed monk stood up. He touched his head and muttered, “That’s not right. It’s just a small Xuzhou. It’s still the world of the living. It’s not Mount Longhu or Mount Mao. Why would someone suddenly appear and kill Three Corpses? Did the Golden Phoenix really fly out of the grass nest?”

Then, the mangy-headed monk looked at the tanned girl lying in the flower bed behind him. He thought of what the girl had said earlier.

There was great danger inside. It meant that there was a big shot.

A big shot must have killed three corpses before he became a big shot. He couldn’t have become a big shot even after dragging it out until now.

“Could it be…” The mangy-headed monk’s gaze froze. He felt as if he had caught hold of the truth. This feeling was very good.

It was as if you hadn’t even entered the cinema and guessed who the murderer in the suspense movie was.

“There’s a big shot setting up a scheme to push one of them to chop off Three Corpses!”

…

Lawyer An rushed over from the battle that had already been settled, but he stopped halfway. It wasn’t because he saw Zhou Ze kill another Xuzhou ghost messenger and so he didn’t feel the need to go. It was because the closer he got to Zhou Ze, the more numb his scalp became. If he got any closer, he would also be in danger.

Zhou Ze still had his eyes closed. He looked muddleheaded. It was as if he was dreaming. He was killing while dreaming. Was Cao Mengde reincarnated?

Lawyer An stopped at the pavilion in the middle of the lake.

The paper men in the lake below seemed to have sensed the same thing and began to drift further away unconsciously. These Old Antiques had no ability or courage. Their instincts to seek good fortune and avoid danger were all good; to be able to dominate their position for such a long time was also a kind of ability.

Yingying was still fighting against the Red Shadow. Yingying’s strength had increased greatly in her berserk state, but it would still take some time to deal with this sticky candy.

The few immortals and the Black Cat had originally planned to come along with Lawyer An. After all, they also knew that the monkey was a monkey, but the owner of the Yin-yang book was actually Zhou Ze.

They could ignore Zhou Ze’s summons to run errands, but they would never leave Zhou Ze to die.

“Stand down, don’t go. Go over there and look after that old man. Don’t kill him!” Lawyer An waved his hand and ordered.

Eighth Aunt and Brother Huang looked at each other, then turned into streams of light and scattered around the old man in sunglasses. They watched Yingying deal with the brown candy while staring at the old man.

The Black Cat hesitated for a moment and followed.

As for the little monkey, who had been raging fiercely a moment ago, collapsed and returned to his original state. He was held in the Old Priest’s arms and rubbed his stomach. “Yo, it’s been hard on you. Be good, I’ll bring you a delicious tonic tonight.” While comforting the little monkey, the Old Priest was also staring at the other side of the pond.

“The boss didn’t open a Wushuang, right? Tsk. Tsk. The boss who didn’t open a Wushuang can be so awesome?”

…

The woman in leather pants was afraid.

Previously, she was only afraid that the police officer was nearby. Now, she no longer had the time to be afraid of the police officer who had yet to appear. This Tongcheng ghostly messenger in front of her casually killed two Xuzhou ghostly messengers in a row. If they were killed after a fight to the death, it would have been fine. She was so dazed as if she was dozing off.

Instantly killed?

The woman in leather pants was very close to Zhou Ze, only two meters away. She did not dare to move forward nor retreat. Her feet were as heavy as lead. So heavy that she did not listen to her orders at all.

If she had been faster just now, she might have been split into two halves. It would not be her poor companion but herself.

People could use all kinds of psychological hints to make themselves forget the fear of death for a short time. However, if all the psychological defenses were shattered in an instant and the breath of death blew directly against your face, how many people could really remain calm and unperturbed?

At this moment, the woman in leather pants hasn’t collapsed yet. She’s already considered very outstanding.

…

Wearing a white lab coat, he disappeared but the darkness around him hasn’t dissipated yet. Not far away, a figure appeared. The figure became clearer and clearer. It was very familiar.

So familiar that it was the same as what he saw every day when he looked in the mirror.

Except, that person stood there. His fists were tightly clenched. There were tears and anger in his eyes. He gritted his teeth. He had a crazy and repressed feeling.

“You are…” Zhou Ze frowned slightly. Then, he continued to ask, “Xu Le?”

Yes. He was Xu Le.

“You return my life! You return my body! You return my wife! You return my Life!” Xu Le roared angrily. He cried as if he had suffered endless grievances.

“You ruined my life. You took away the person I loved the most. I hate you! Zhou Ze, I curse you to die a horrible death! Why don’t you die?! People like you deserve to die, die, die, die…”

He was shouting hysterically and cursing angrily. Despite the violent emotional fluctuation, it could not hide his weakness, his fear, and his trembling.

The man who married into his family. The man who ran a real bookshop without making money. The man who felt that his wife had been secretly admiring him. The man who was jealous of him. The man who paid someone to run him over.

Zhou Ze had been completely unaware of this matter in his previous life until his death! If he had really done something, he would have accepted his revenge but he knew nothing about it.

He had even forgotten that Doctor Lin had once been his intern. Everything he had worked hard to achieve in his previous life. His life after walking out of the orphanage, more than 30 years of hard work, blood and tears.

Everything was inexplicably ruined because of this b*stard!

If it was someone else who borrowed a corpse to return to life and took over his original body, they would probably be grateful to the original owner.

Zhou Ze didn’t feel that way. He took over Xu Le’s body. It was Xu Le’s karma. It was the compensation he deserved.

He had no shame in his heart, so naturally, he wouldn’t be grateful!

Zhou Ze smiled but his smile wasn’t very clear. It was the kind of cold smile that was filled with disdain, ridicule, and anger.

“You! What right do you have to appear in my dream?” Zhou Ze extended his palm.

In an instant, five black and evil smoke locked Xu Le. They dragged Xu Le’s entire body towards themselves. Xu Le began to scream. He began to fear and beg for mercy.

Zhou Ze was unmoved!

Yes, why can you even appear in my dream? Do you have the qualifications?!

He stretched out his index finger. Long and sharp fingernails stood upright.

“Pu!”

Xu Le’s forehead, which had been forcefully dragged over, was directly pierced through by Zhou Ze’s fingernails due to inertia. Blood began to flow down his fingernails. It was blinding and frightening. It fell to the ground with a tick-tock. It rippled with a dark red color.

Zhou Ze took a deep breath. He slowly exhaled like a smoke ring. He felt his soul trembling. He was moaning in comfort.

Phew. He felt better.

…

“He’s a Constable?” The male ghost who had released the silk thread said in astonishment. Not only was his silk thread ineffective against his body, even his companion who had just rushed over was instantly split in half by him!

Fear enveloped the woman in leather pants and the remaining two ghost chasers. For a moment, everyone forgot what they should do next.

While they were in a daze, Zhou Ze suddenly moved. He stretched out a hand and grabbed the remaining threads on his body.

Then, he pulled forcefully!

The man with the threads focused his gaze and did not hesitate to cut off the threads that were connected to his palm.

The moment the threads broke, they suddenly straightened up. Streaks of black light climbed up along the silk thread. As they descended, they suddenly swept up and wrapped around the silk-thread man ghost messenger’s body.

“Ah!”

The silk-thread man ghost messenger was directly swept up. A tremendous force directly pulled him towards Zhou Ze.

The leather-pants woman and the black-eyed woman nearby stood in a daze. Everything happened too fast. So fast that they forgot to stop it.

The male ghost messenger was tied up and kept rushing towards Zhou Ze. He sensed that something was wrong and also sensed danger. He lost his initial confidence and calmness and began to scream. He began to beg for mercy. He admitted defeat.

He even bowed his head and kneel to a foreign ghost messenger!

Even if he was to be interrogated and hunted down by the emissary from Hell after the incident, he could turn around and try to escape. However, he sensed the aura of death now. It was so close to him!

Zhou Ze still closed his eyes as if he did not care about anything around him.

Zhou Ze’s arm extended forward at the same time. His index finger pointed forward. The nail that gave off a chilling aura stood there. It was like the spear of death.

“Bang!”

A crisp sound. It was like a finger pressing on a piano key and not letting go. The sound lingered. It was intoxicating.

This ghost messenger charged forward. His face and his head were directly penetrated by Zhou Ze’s long and sharp nails.

Even though he was dead, he was still fixed there.

Except for the clothes that swayed gently when the breeze blew past, everything remained motionless as if the world had been pressed into a stop sign.

It became quiet.