I open a restaurant in Mysterious Recovery

Chapter 744 Ye Zhen's Death and Rebirth, Zhang Youhong's Ambition

Like a curious child discovering a new world, Ye Zhen was full of curiosity about everything here. "When I was the housekeeper here before, I never saw him prepare this rice. Are you sure this rice was prepared by Old Man Zhang?"

Old Zhang?

Zhang Xianguang looked over calmly, seemingly without any emotion, but this change in state itself was an emotion, an attitude.

"Did I say something wrong? I've lived for over a hundred years, and I'm not Old Man Zhang?" Ye Zhen looked puzzled, seemingly unaware of Zhang Xianguang's hostility.

Zhang Xianguang: "..."

Alright, what this kid said is actually true. It's perfectly fine to call Zhang Dong, who has lived for over a hundred years, an old man. His son, who has lived for over seventy years, can also be called an old man.

Considering that the boy had stayed by Zhang Dong's side in his final moments, Zhang Xianguang decided to let this detail go.

"Hey, do you want to give it a try?"

Luo Wensong handed over the bowl, and Ye Zhen didn't stand on ceremony, chuckling, "Then I won't be polite."

With the supernatural power of a scapegoat attached to him, Ye Zhen wasn't really wary of these supernatural items. Instead, he had long been accustomed to using death to perceive the true essence of things.

He grabbed a handful of rice and stuffed it into his mouth. "It doesn't taste like anything, it's like eating plain rice... um!"

With a series of crisp cracking sounds, Ye Zhen's face suddenly froze. Then, time seemed to flow through his body a hundred or a thousand times faster in an instant, causing him to age rapidly, decay, and finally rot.

After the body decomposes, the bones beneath the flesh become pale and fragile, unable to support the body's original weight, and shatter into pieces.

Ye Zhen is dead!
But in the next moment, all of time began to flow backward.

The way this body rotted and weathered is how it was restored to its normal state when turned upside down. "Damn! How can this rice be so chewy, so domineering..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Zhen, furious and exasperated, froze on the spot once again, his body embarking on the same process of death, decay, and weathering as before.

Death...resurrection...

Death...resurrection...

Death after death, resurrection after resurrection—this went on for an unknown period of time. When Ye Zhen was resurrected once more, ready to face a new death, that new death was long overdue.

"it's over?"

Ye Zhen's eyes were blank, as if he had been tormented by death and was somewhat numb. At this moment, Zhang Xianguang was the only one left in the mourning hall.

Looking at Ye Zhen, who was almost completely worn out, Zhang Xianguang slowly said, "This rice isn't for the living, it's for the dead. Because only the dead, only ghosts, can't die again. But even a ghost only needs one grain to be quiet for a long time. You've eaten so much and still managed to hold on, that's already quite impressive."

Ye Zhen just grabbed a handful, and although there weren't many, he still managed to grab about thirty grains even though Luo Wensong deliberately stepped back.

These thirty-odd pills represent Ye Zhen dying and being resurrected more than thirty times.

The scapegoat bug was incredibly powerful at this moment, but Zhang Xianguang didn't care. If he wanted to, killing Ye Zhen completely wasn't impossible, it was just that the price to pay would be too high.

He clearly distinguishes between the body and consciousness.

The same applies to the other members of the Seven Elders of the Republic of China. Unless Ye Zhen can grow to a higher level, using scapegoats as his bones and supplementing them with a sufficient number and powerful flesh and blood, it is impossible for him to stand in front of the Seven Elders of the Republic of China, nor is it possible for him to stand in front of Ye Zhen.

Such a promising young man, who had even served as Zhang Dong's steward for several months, was clearly favored by Zhang Dong. As Zhang Dong's only son, Zhang Xianguang would also provide him with some assistance.

Just like now, we can't let Ye Zhen become depressed, otherwise he will lose face as "Zhang Dong's steward" and Zhang Xianguang, as "Zhang Dong's son", will also be very embarrassed.

However, the next moment, Ye Zhen, whom he had been worried would have his consciousness worn away by repeated deaths and rebirths, coldly interrupted his "enlightenment," saying, "It's just a mere death, which I, Ye, don't even care about. But I have already gained some insight into the opportunities involved. I need to go into seclusion now to comprehend this insight, so I won't say any more. I will return here when I have the chance."

After saying that, Ye Zhen casually waved the cloak of justice behind him, then turned and walked out of the old house.

"This kid is really interesting. Would you have allowed him to stay here and tamper with your coffin trees a few months before you died?"

Zhang Xianguang withdrew his gaze, looking at Zhang Dong's photo on the memorial tablet. A strange meaning flickered in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared. He glanced at the back door, then lowered his head again and quietly placed a piece of yellow paper into the brazier.

Crackling and popping! It was just a piece of paper, yet it made the sound of firewood burning out in the flames, sounding so jarring in the silent mourning hall.

At the end of the alley behind the back gate, Luo Wensong, Luo Qian, Meng Xiaodong, Zhang Bohua, Li Qingzhi, and Zhang Youhong were all standing in the open space.

Looking at the six old graves in front of him, Luo Wensong placed the empty bowl in front of his own grave and chuckled in a hoarse voice, "I never thought I'd see my own cenotaph again. It's really quite interesting."

Meng Xiaodong held the bowl; the rice inside was still there, but she hadn't touched a single grain.

It wasn't that she was afraid to eat; the vegetable basket she was carrying contained an almost endless number of substitute dolls. Let alone this bowl of rice, even if she ate all six bowls from before, it wouldn't harm her in the slightest.

Besides, so what if you get hurt?

As long as she dies in this era, countless versions of herself can be resurrected by invading from the past to the present through endless invasion.

The reason they didn't eat was simply because they didn't want to break the rules, just like Zhang Bohua did.

Of the six people present, only she and Zhang Bohua hadn't eaten from their bowls; the bowls of the others were empty, without a single grain of rice left.

“You don’t have to eat.” Meng Xiaodong looked at Zhang Youhong with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Zhang Youhong was certainly aware of the effects of this rice, yet she still ate it and paid a considerable price, which is quite puzzling.

“Brother Yuan said I should eat, so I ate. Besides, given my condition, eating a bowl of rice like this isn’t a big problem.”

Zhang Youhong smiled sweetly, not at Meng Xiaodong, but at Lin Yuan, who had already left.

Afterwards, like Luo Wensong, Luo Qian, and Li Qingzhi, she placed the empty bowl back in front of her grave. However, unlike the others whose graves were intact, hers had collapsed.

After putting everything away, Zhang Youhong's gaze swept over everyone. "I really didn't expect the future to turn out like this. But it's alright, at least we can all be together again. Especially, Meng Xiaodong, Zhang Dong will be entering the Peace Hotel in a couple of days. You should be the happiest one, no matter what, you don't have to worry about that promise anymore."

The intense hostility made everyone present feel a chill.

Everyone knows what happened back then. After all, they had been teammates for many years. If they hadn't all wanted to return to their hometowns, they probably wouldn't have separated so easily.

And everyone remembers clearly the relationship problems that arose back then.

“What’s the point of talking about this now? Are you suggesting we keep Meng Xiaodong stuck in 201 forever? Zhang Youhong, you died too young; you have no idea what happened afterward,” Zhang Bohua said in a deep voice.

Zhang Youhong glanced at him and said, "Blind man, you should just shut up. How dare a living person like you get involved in the conversations of us dead?"

With just one sentence, the six people present were divided into two camps.

Surprisingly, Luo Wensong, Luo Qian, and Li Qingzhi did not refute this statement.

Zhang Bohua laughed nonchalantly, "Zhang Youhong, are you really still dead? Don't forget, you've already lived a second life, and that's been recognized by 'He'."

"So, are you ready to test your skills against me? Perfect, I died too young, and I don't know how much my brothers have grown since then. If you're willing to give me some pointers, I'd be happy to." Zhang Youhong said aggressively.

Zhang Bohua was not swayed. "My identity at the Peace Hotel is just that of an old Chinese medicine doctor. I'm not in charge of security and I don't make a living by force. You, if you want to prove your strength, all you can do is use brute force? Sure enough, even if you live a second life, you haven't changed your personality from the previous one."

Zhang Youhong narrowed her eyes slightly, and the atmosphere became somewhat dangerous.

"Alright, there's no need to argue anymore. Zhang Youhong, everyone knows your purpose, but the path to godhood isn't easy, especially the path to becoming a 'Goddess.' The three of us can't help you, but if you can persuade Meng Xiaodong and Zhang Bohua, that's your ability, not something you can achieve by force," Luo Qian said in a deep voice.

They're all ancient foxes, and they were teammates for many years, so why are they still playing the ghost story?
The moment Zhang Youhong spoke, they already understood what she was thinking; they just hadn't expected her methods to be so brutal.

Zhang Bohua actually thought of using force to subdue Meng Xiaodong?

The group hadn't competed for many years, but they were very familiar with each other's strengths. If they were to actually fight, it would be difficult to determine a winner in a short time.

Moreover, such a barbaric approach was unnecessary to persuade Meng Xiaodong and Zhang Bohua.

Zhang Youhong was not surprised at all, but still insisted on her idea, "In the end, there has to be a leader. Before, it was Zhang Dong, my brother who led me to the end of the road. Now, I will forge a completely new path and I need to have enough say! Meng Xiaodong, Zhang Bohua, what do you say?"

(End of this chapter)