A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

Qiqi told Ji Zuodao everything about what happened in the market.

When she got excited, she puffed out her chest, raised her chin slightly, her big eyes sparkled, and her little face was full of pride, as if saying, "Brother, praise me!"

As she spoke, she gestured, waving her little hands in the air, vividly describing the boss's stunned expression when he heard the recipe.

By the end, she couldn't help but chuckle, laughing like a little sunflower facing the sun.

"Brother, the boss said their recipe was lost hundreds of years ago, but Qiqi could tell the difference in one bite!"

"Qiqi also told him how to make it, and the osmanthus cake he made smelled amazing!"

"The owner said that from now on, when we go to his shop, we can take whatever we want to eat, it's all free!"

Ji Zuodao then realized that he had made a mistake.

Also.

His Qiqi is so well-behaved; she wouldn't even step on an ant, and she'd share her little biscuits with stray cats on the street.

How could she possibly become that kind of arrogant, rebellious girl?

Ji Zuodao silently slapped himself in the face, then smiled and patted Qiqi's head, gently ruffling her soft hair: "Qiqi is amazing!"

Qiqi's eyes curved into crescents from the praise, her little face flushed, and she rubbed against Ji Zuodao's arm.

Like a spoiled kitten, she then skipped and hopped off to wash her hands and prepare for dinner.

She was humming an unknown tune as she walked, her braids swinging behind her head, clearly in a very good mood.

As Ji Zuodao watched Qi Qi's retreating figure, the smile on his face slowly faded.

Ming Dynasty?

He began to have doubts.

He always thought that Qiqi was a person from the previous dynasty.

When I first met Qiqi, she was wearing a dress in the style of the previous dynasty.

Although the fabric was brittle and worn, he recognized the style at a glance.

But the osmanthus cake recipe that Qiqi mentioned today actually comes from the Ming Dynasty.

There were several hundred years between the Ming Dynasty and the previous dynasty.

How many years ago was this girl?

Moreover... Ji Zuodao suddenly remembered a detail.

When he first met Qiqi, the clothes she was wearing seemed a little ill-fitting.

It's too big.

The shoulder line of that garment drooped down to the upper arm, the cuffs covered most of the back of the hand, and the hem was too long, dragging on and on, as if it were someone else's clothes.

At the time, he didn't think much of it, assuming that Qiqi was too small to fill out the dress.

But now, looking back—

Could that dress not actually belong to Qiqi?

Ji Zuodao squinted, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table, making a soft "tap-tap" sound.

The doubt in my mind grew bigger and bigger, like a tangled mess that I couldn't untangle or cut.

That evening, after Qiqi finished washing up and went back to her room to sleep, Ji Zuodao strolled into the living room, plopped down on the sofa, and sank into the soft cushions.

He kicked Dog, who was dozing on the carpet, and poked the furry body with his toe.

"Dog, wake up, I need to ask you something."

Doggy was having a dream when he was kicked awake. He rolled his eyes impatiently and muttered, "Spit it out, don't interrupt my sweet dream."

"With your ability to foresee destiny, can you see Qiqi's fate?"

Dog Master paused for a moment, closed his eyes, and remained silent for more than ten seconds before slowly speaking.

"I can't see through it."

"Can't see through it? What do you mean?"

"Literal meaning."

Dog turned over and lay on his back, exposing his furry belly, scratching it idly with his paws.

"That girl is protected by dragon energy. Her future destiny line is hidden very well, like it's wrapped in a quilt. I can't see through it no matter how hard I try. It's like trying to see into the next room through a wall. You're lucky if you can see a blurry shadow."

"What about the past?"

"In the past, we could see a little bit, but it was too long."

"Dog Master just ran along her destiny line, his legs were almost broken, but he only saw her sleeping soundly in a tomb."

"After all, my ability to see into one's destiny has only been initially repaired, so I can only see forward for about twenty years."

"Wait a minute, I'll show you what I'm seeing."

Dog raised his paw and made a light swipe in the air.

The movement looked casual, yet it carried a mysterious rhythm.

A faint golden thread emerged from Dog Lord's paw, winding through the air like a nimble little snake, and slowly connected to Ji Zuodao's brow.

Ji Zuodao felt a "buzz" in his head, as if something had gently exploded in his mind.

The scene before my eyes was as if I had switched channels; the lights, sofa, and coffee table in the living room had all disappeared, replaced by complete darkness.

He saw an ancient tomb.

The tomb chamber was small, only about ten square meters. The four walls were made of blue bricks, with dark green moss growing in the cracks between the bricks, and a thin layer of ash accumulated on the ground.

The air was thick with a musty smell, a mixture of earth and rotten wood, heavy and oppressive.

In the very center of the tomb chamber, there was a small coffin.

The coffin was not large, and it looked like it was prepared for a child. It was a little over a meter long and no more than half a meter wide.

The paint has peeled off and is now mottled, revealing the grayish-white wood underneath, which is covered with fine, dense cracks, like the wrinkles on an old man's face.

The coffin lid was not completely closed, revealing a narrow crack through which a deep darkness shone.

Through that crack, you could see a child lying inside.

little girl.

He was wearing tattered clothes, the fabric of which was so worn that it was unrecognizable, and the color had faded so much that it was unrecognizable. However, judging from the remaining style, it was from the Ming Dynasty.

Her little face was quiet and still, her eyelashes casting a small shadow on her cheeks, and her hands were folded in front of her chest, as if she were sleeping.

Her breathing was very light, almost inaudible, and her chest rose and fell only very slightly.

It's 77.

Ji Zuodao's heart clenched suddenly, as if it had been gripped tightly by an invisible hand.

Although he had known for a long time that Qi Qi was a zombie and that she came from the tomb, seeing her lying in the coffin still made him feel a tightness in his chest.

The scene was so quiet, so quiet it was almost suffocating.

In the picture, Qiqi is sleeping soundly.

Her small face was expressionless, as serene as a porcelain doll.

If it weren't for the faint rise and fall of her chest, one would almost think she was completely dead.

suddenly--

"BOOM!!!"

A deafening roar shook the entire ancient tomb violently! Dust fell from the ceiling of the tomb chamber like a gray rain.

Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the wall, spreading from the corner to the ceiling, making a "crackling" sound.

Several loose bricks fell from the top and landed on the ground with a "thud," kicking up a cloud of dust.

It was the sound of the thermobaric bomb that was dropped over the Wang family's territory exploding.

In the video, Qiqi is awakened by the loud noise.

She opened her eyes in a daze, her gaze unfocused, as if she had not yet fully awakened from a long slumber.

She sat up abruptly, her movements stiff and mechanical, and with a "thud," her head flipped the coffin lid open.

The coffin lid flew far away, tumbled twice in the air, and crashed to the ground with a loud thud, kicking up a cloud of dust that echoed with a buzzing sound in the tomb.

Qiqi sat in the coffin and looked around.

It was pitch black; I couldn't see anything.

There was no light in the tomb, only boundless darkness, thick as ink, which completely swallowed her small figure.

She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but found her mind blank.

There was nothing there.

No name, no memory, no past.

There was only a vast expanse of nothingness.

Who is she?

Why is she here?

What should she do?

Qiqi sat in the coffin, her small figure appearing particularly lonely and lost in the darkness.

She looked down at her hands, which were small with slender fingers and skin so pale it was almost transparent, revealing the blue veins underneath.

She tilted her head, as if thinking about something, but her mind was blank and she couldn't remember anything.

As Ji Zuodao watched this scene, a feeling he couldn't quite describe welled up inside him.

He always believed that he had brought Qiqi out of that tomb and was Qiqi's savior.

He pulled her out of that dark ancient tomb, brought her into the sunlight, and gave her a new home.

But now he realizes that he may have overlooked some very important things.

such as--

Zombies require an imperial decree to move.

This is basic common sense in the spiritual practice community.

Zombies are essentially corpses driven by resentment or obsession. Without an external command, they will remain asleep forever and never wake up.

Just like a machine without electricity, no matter how sophisticated it is, it's just a pile of scrap metal.

But he never issued an edict to Qiqi.

From the moment he pulled Qiqi out of the grave, Qiqi acted on her own.

She can speak, walk, think, express her own wishes, and even take the initiative to care for others.

What the hell is going on?

Ji Zuodao suppressed his doubts and continued reading.

In the scene, the talisman on Qiqi's head suddenly flashed with a stream of light.

The light was very faint, like the glow of a firefly, flashing and disappearing in the darkness.

But in that instant, Qi Qi's eyes seemed to clear up a bit, no longer completely blank.

Qiqi looked down at the tattered clothes she was wearing.

The fabric was so rotten that its color had faded beyond recognition. It was covered with holes of all sizes, and the edges were blackened and brittle, almost falling apart at the slightest touch.

She pinched a corner with her small hands, and with a gentle tug, the fabric shredded into powder with a "rip".

"Qiqi...I want a piece of clothing..."

She mumbled something in a daze, her voice soft and gentle, like a dream or a soliloquy.

The sound echoed in the empty tomb chamber, carrying a faint echo, making it sound exceptionally ethereal.

Then, she looked up and around.

She noticed a crack that had appeared on the wall of the tomb chamber at some point.