Joining Tiandao Company: Starting by mending a zombie world

"Fuxi Hall?" Dai Ran asked Chu Sheng in a low voice, "Isn't that your—"

Chu Sheng nodded almost imperceptibly, not letting her finish speaking: "Mr. Zhou, name your price for this directory."

Mr. Zhou leaned back in his chair, a faint smile playing on his lips, and waved his hand, saying, "No money needed."

Chu Sheng was taken aback.

"My great-grandfather wrote a sentence on the last page of his notebook." Mr. Zhou finished his now-cold tea in one gulp, put down the cup, and read it aloud, word by word:

"If any descendants of Maoshan see this record, return it to its rightful owner and take nothing from it."

The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Mr. Zhou looked at Chu Sheng, his tone more solemn than ever before: "My great-grandfather waited ten years, but no one from Maoshan came."

"My grandfather waited for sixty years, but he didn't live to see it. My father waited for thirty years, but he still didn't live to see it."

"Today, I've been waiting for you."

Chu Sheng's hand gripping the list tightened slightly.

Three hundred years of waiting, the expectations of three generations, just like that, lightly landed on his shoulders.

"Mr. Zhou," he took a deep breath, "is Wild Boar Ridge outside Jingzhou still there?"

Mr. Zhou shook his head, then took out a piece of paper he had prepared beforehand and handed it over:

"After liberation, it was renamed Qingsongling. A highway was built, and a tunnel was constructed. That Taoist temple—"

He paused, a hint of melancholy in his voice: "Destroyed. It was burned once by the Taiping Rebellion, and then bombed by Japanese artillery during the War of Resistance."

"Now only a few sections of the wall and a half-collapsed mountain gate remain, completely covered by weeds."

Chu Sheng stared at the yellowed list on the table, then looked at Mr. Zhou, "I will investigate the deeds of this Taoist Master Zhang."

"As for what he left behind, I will make a trip to Qingsong Ridge. If I can find it, I will certainly live up to the senior's expectations."

Mr. Zhou stood up and solemnly clasped his hands in a fist salute to him.

After the darkened theater closed, it was already late at night.

Duan Henian walked at the front, leaning on his cane, while Dai Ran followed behind, arm in arm with Chu Sheng.

"Chu Sheng," Dai Ran suddenly spoke, "you're not thinking of going to find that Fuxi Hall, are you?"

Chu Sheng joked, "Hehe, of course I won't go now, besides, the chances of it being a disaster are slim."

Dai Ran stared at him for a long time, then finally sighed softly, took his arm again, and pressed her face against his shoulder.

"I'll go, but you have to promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

"Take care of your injury before you go."

Chu Sheng was taken aback: "How did you know I was injured?"

"Nonsense, I'm not blind," Dai Ran said in a low voice. "Your left foot hasn't been walking quite right these past few days, is there an injury on your leg?"

Chu Sheng fell silent.

He does have an injury, but it's not in his left leg.

It's a side effect of taking the 996 Blessing Pill, plus the meridians that were injured by Lü Ci in the Legend World.

Although Duanmu Ying provided the perfect healing, the long and arduous journey still left hidden injuries in his body.

These injuries can heal with time, they just need to be treated.

"I understand," he said softly, adding, "You're quite observant."

Dai Ran buried her face even deeper into his shoulder and said in a muffled voice, "That's right. You think everyone is as heartless as you?"

Duan Henian walked ahead, tossing a remark over without turning his head: "It's so good to be young."

Dai Ran knew that Duan Henian's words had a hidden meaning, and she turned her face away in embarrassment.

That night, after returning to the old house, Chu Sheng didn't rush to rest. He sat by the window and read through the entire "List of Eight Banners Soldiers Killed in Battle in Jingzhou".

On the yellowed pages,

The crimson characters for "zombie" are shocking.

From the twelfth month of the twelfth year of the Shunzhi reign to the third month of the thirteenth year, nearly two hundred Eight Banners soldiers were lost in the garrison in Jingzhou.

Two hundred well-trained soldiers, despite having muskets and cannons, were still forced to retreat by the horde of zombies.

The situation only changed when Master Zhang appeared. But the price was Master Zhang himself.

The smallest line of text on the back of the last page of the directory, written in the faintest ink and the most hastily, seemed to indicate that the writer was exhausted when they reached this point.

"The Taoist priest asked for three things. He said that if these three things could be used to set up an array, it might be able to seal the Corpse King. But if the array was broken, he would sacrifice himself for it. Do not look for him, do not think of him."

He died in battle. Do not search for him, do not remember him.

Chu Sheng remained silent for a long time before gently closing the list.

Three hundred years ago, in a snowy winter, a Taoist priest came from Maoshan.

He entered a city on the verge of becoming a ghost town, and used his own life to save a group of unfamiliar Manchu soldiers.

Three hundred years later, a young man who also came from the Fuxi Hall opened the book that recorded the whole truth.

Cause and effect, fate, or destiny.

"Senior," Chu Sheng said softly to the register, "I will retrieve what you left behind. I will finish what you didn't do."

He opened the company's app and tapped the taskbar.

Among the numerous task lists, a gray task icon that had never been seen before was flickering slightly, like a spark buried in ashes suddenly lit by a gentle breeze.

Those are triggered tasks—special tasks that are only pushed to specific employees when certain conditions are met.

Chu Sheng reached out and tapped the screen.

Chu Sheng reached out and tapped the screen.

"Trigger-based quests: Zombie Warriors"

"Mission Description: In the twelfth month of the twelfth year of the Shunzhi reign, the Corpse King was born at Wild Boar Ridge outside Jingzhou City, and Jingzhou City was in imminent danger. Zhang Xuanqing, the sixteenth generation disciple of the Maoshan Sect, used his life's cultivation to set up a demon-sealing formation and sacrificed himself to suppress the Corpse King at the foot of Wild Boar Ridge."

"However, the Demon-Sealing Array needs to be reinforced every hundred years, and now more than three hundred years have passed, and the array is gradually collapsing. If it is allowed to collapse, the Corpse King will reappear in the world, and the nine million lives of Jingzhou will be in danger."

"Mission Objective 1: Go to the Fuxi Hall Ruins at Wild Boar Ridge, retrieve Zhang Xuanqing's relics, and obtain the core of the Demon-Sealing Array."

"Mission Objective Two: Reinforce the Demon-Sealing Array."

"(Optional) Mission Objective 3: Completely eliminate the Corpse King."

"Task Difficulty: S"

"Task Rewards: Merit Points depend on completion rate"

Mission time limit: 72 days

"Do you accept?"

Chu Sheng's pupils contracted slightly as he looked at the three characters "Zhang Xuanqing." Zhang Xuanqing—that was the Taoist name of Master Zhang.

He took a deep breath, extended his finger, and gently touched the word "accept".

"Mission confirmed."

"Employee Chu Sheng has successfully accepted the S-level triggered quest 'Martial Zombie'."

"The mission will begin in seven days. Please be prepared."

"Friendly reminder: The environment in the Qing Dynasty was complex, so it is recommended to bring sufficient supplies and ritual implements. Whether the Taoist teachings of this degenerate age can illuminate that darkness again three hundred years later depends on you."

Chu Sheng closed the task interface, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh.

Seven days. He has seven days to prepare.

First, heal your injuries; second, gather all the necessary talismans and magical artifacts to deal with zombies; finally—

He stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the swaying shadows of the sycamore trees in the night.

In the twelfth year of the Shunzhi reign, in the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, outside Jingzhou City, at Wild Boar Ridge.

Three hundred years ago, in that winter, a Taoist priest named Zhang Xuanqing walked alone into the swirling snow.

Three hundred years later, a Taoist priest named Chu Sheng also planned to make the trip.

This time, however, he's going to win.