The aliens who were picked up by Superman at the beginning

No superpowers needed to cure a hangover?

Being physically strong doesn't count as a superpower, right?

The two drank on that pile of strange snacks until about 3 a.m., which ended with Zhou Zhanxie running to the toilet, hugging the toilet bowl, and imitating a dragon's roar.

Given that the other party was not a binary gender, Li Zhen didn't meddle. She used her mental power to help clean up the "battlefield," then draped a coat over Zhou's shoulders on the sofa before going back to the guest room to sleep.

It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky the next day that Zhou Zhanxie's mournful cry echoed in the room.

She kicked open the guest room door with a bang, her bloodshot eyes blazing with anger.

"You actually let me sleep next to the toilet all night?!"

Li Zhen yawned and slowly sat up from the bed.

"Given your alcohol tolerance, do you think it's more troublesome for me to put you in bed yesterday and then find you vomiting all over the bed the next day, or for you to just have a simple backache that you can easily get rid of by flushing the toilet?"

Zhou Zhanxie's chest heaved violently, and his gaze, which had initially been set to question him, gradually shifted from anger to confusion.

It seems... it seems to make some sense?

After glaring at him for a while, Zhou finally gave in to Li Zhen's calm demeanor, said he was about to leave, and hurriedly ran back to wash up. It has to be said, Zhou got ready incredibly fast.

Li Zhen had just finished making the bed and cleaning herself up when Zhou was already getting dressed and preparing to leave.

About twenty minutes later, the two arrived at an inconspicuous roller shutter door.

Watching the massive cloud of dust kicked up as the roller shutter door clattered up, Li Zhen took a step back without batting an eye.

"You actually opened a shop?"

"Strictly speaking, this shop was inherited."

Even though Zhou Zhanxie was rough, he still had a normal respiratory system. He was choked by the flying dust that was scattered everywhere.

He coughed until his face turned red and his neck bulged, but he kept walking inside.

"Since...cough...since I joined the official organization, I've rarely come here. Mainly because nowadays everything can be sold online, and my business doesn't require any special procedures for sourcing or storing goods."

With a click, Zhou Zhanxie turned on an old-fashioned pull-cord light, bent down, and rummaged through the cabinet.

"So it's been sitting idle for almost two years, and with the heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic nearby, it's accumulated quite a bit of dust."

Li Zhen calmly brushed aside the ashes before her eyes darted around as she followed him into the shop. Hmm…

A very traditional funeral shop, whose main business is things like wreaths, flower baskets, paper offerings, incense and candles, and urns containing gold and silver ingots.

Among them, paper money was the most common, with yellow paper scattered everywhere, dried cinnabar plates, and calligraphy brushes with frizzy hair.

"Is this a family business that's been passed down through generations?"

"Of course not. Although my parents are somewhat related, this is my master's shop..."

Zhou Zhanxie finally found what she wanted: a piece of yellow paper with some scribbles on it. However, it was probably a bit old, and there might still be rats hiding in some of the nooks and crannies of the shop.

Therefore, the edges of that yellow paper had many pits and dents caused by small rodents gnawing on them.

However, Zhou Zhanxie didn't care about that. Instead, he quietly recited a few incantations and casually stuck the yellow paper behind his waist.

A flash of emerald green light was followed by a series of muffled cracking sounds from the joints.

Zhou Zhanxie straightened up and stretched comfortably.

"Can't you just draw this kind of talisman yourself?"

Li Zhen clearly remembered that Zhou had demonstrated his ability to draw talismans at will in front of her back in the Unjust Universe. Why did she have to come here to find one to use?

Zhou Zhanxie finally looked at Li Zhen again, his face showing no particular expression, but he simply pointed to the darkness deeper inside the room.

Following the direction, Li Zhen's vision pierced through the dust and dimness, revealing the altar in the depths and the black-and-white photograph on it.

"From a young age, I was able to travel between the mortal and the underworld. Taking advantage of this natural advantage, I started wandering when I was seven years old, visiting famous mountains and rivers, and seeking out all sorts of extraordinary people and events in order to cultivate myself."

"They are just ordinary people, whether they are Taoists or Buddhist monks. They are mostly people who don't have any real skills and only know how to make a show of mystery to fool people."

"Of course, there are some who are truly capable, but most of them, after discovering my innate abilities, have become unscrupulous and want to use them for personal gain."

"It wasn't until I got to Hong Kong that I met my master."

"He took me in and taught me some real skills, often praising my unique ability to travel between the two worlds."

Before anyone knew where they were talking, Zhou Zhanxie had already walked to the altar. Without doing anything else, he waved a few talismans and made a few hand seals, making the dusty altar look brand new.

"Later I learned that my master had always dreamed of obtaining a constitution that could truly accept yin energy."

"He has talent, but lacks the right opportunity. He has become a somewhat famous alchemist through his own efforts, but in reality, he can only barely show his skills with the help of various treasures and talismans."

"The talismans I write can catch ghosts, but my master has a hard time doing that. However, he has also come up with many interesting little talismans, and my skills in creating these little talismans that are scattered throughout life are not as good as my master's." Li Zhen revealed a knowing look.

"So that was a 'Zheng Tong Jin Gu Tie' (a traditional Chinese medicine plaster)?"

Zhou Zhanxie was speechless for a moment, and it took him seven or eight seconds to retort.

"You really know how to ruin the mood."

Nonsense. If this were a melodramatic TV series, after Zhou's heartfelt revelation about his childhood, the male and female actors would be kissing the next second.

Of course, Li Zhen is not entirely without empathy.

He only interrupted the conversation because he felt there were loopholes in Zhou Zhanxie's story.

If he is such a kind and devoted master, why hasn't he come back to visit in almost two years?

Let's not even talk about this funeral home; the portraits on the altar were all covered in dust.

So there are probably other versions of the story.

Sure enough, after Zhou Zhanxie had been busy for a few more minutes, the extremely brief second half arrived.

"The year after my master died, I went to visit him in the underworld. At that time, he advised me to cultivate diligently and live a good life." "But a year later, my master changed."

"He thought that after death, he would arrive in the underworld and become a ghost, where he would finally be able to unleash his full potential."

"But when he discovered that even the ghosts in the underworld were not as talented as me, his mentality began to become unbalanced."

"My master wreaked havoc in the underworld, killing many of my friends, all to lure me into the underworld, cause me to lose my mind, and then seize my body."

Li Zhen quickly raised her hand.

"It's ready!"

He wasn't that interested in what happened next.

You can guess how things will develop.

It just goes to show that superheroes are indeed fueled by tragic backstories.

When Zhou Zhanxie recounted his story earlier, he didn't seem to mention that he was an orphan.

He only mentioned that he started wandering at the age of seven and that he had parents, but there's probably more to his family story.

The more he listened, the more tragic it became; it was simply unbearable to witness. Li Zhen didn't have the leisure to empathize with so many people, especially after he gradually regained his human-like emotions, he became quite resistant to any developments that could sway his emotions.

Li Zhen abruptly changed the subject.

"What do we do next?"