The ultimate master in the city

Monk Yuanzhi frowned and asked, "Killed by a zombie? Didn't you say earlier that you were killed inexplicably? Why are you bringing up zombies again?"

"They were inexplicably killed by zombies!" the landlady said with lingering fear. "That night, we rushed to the Tuojiang River in Fenghuang and stayed at a hotel. In the middle of the night, the two Taoist priests said they had eaten something bad and went downstairs to use the toilet. I was afraid they would run away with my deposit, so I secretly followed them. As a result, I found... they were in the latrine, killed by one of those old zombies from the Republican era. They were suffocated to death by being held down in the latrine."

Monk Yuanzhi asked, "The zombie didn't kill you, so why did you come back?"

"Hmm." The proprietress nodded, then looked intently at the two of them. "You two..."

Zhou Fengchen and Monk Yuanzhi exchanged a glance. "Of course we're not going!"

The proprietress looked utterly disappointed. "Why?"

Monk Yuanzhi shook his head. "That's too frightening! It's scary!"

Zhou Fengchen added, "That's right! Cowardly, afraid of dying!"

The proprietress gritted her teeth. "I knew this was dangerous, which is why I hesitated to tell you. Now I've told you everything. Please consider it. If there's any real danger, we'll run back!"

Monk Yuanzhi thought for a moment, then said, "Well... if we don't succeed, would you be willing to share the restaurant with us in half?"

The proprietress took a deep breath. "If I really can't get it back... I'll give up. I'll consider myself sorry for Ashi Palace for the rest of my life. I'll never go back to that place again. I'll go back to Donghai City, find a rich man to marry, or even be a stepmother. Maybe I'll give you the restaurant then!"

Monk Yuanzhi's eyes lit up immediately, and Zhou Fengchen quickly patted him on the shoulder and said to the landlady, "How about this, we'll go back and think about it, and give you an answer tomorrow."

The proprietress sighed, "Alright!"

……

Leaving the coffee shop and parting ways with the proprietress, Monk Yuanzhi still complained a bit, "Brother, what the proprietress said was scary, but who knows what really happened? Maybe if we find that beautiful demoness, appeal to her emotions and reason with her, we can get the body back in no time. Then we'll have half of the proprietress's little shop. I heard the shop is hers too. This Donghai City is incredibly expensive, and the restaurant is doing pretty well. Just imagine, we can use the restaurant's profits to our advantage, and then we can go out and perform rituals. Tsk tsk, how fast the money comes in!"

"Aren't you taking advantage of someone in distress?" Zhou Fengchen glared at him.

Monk Yuanzhi argued, "How is this taking advantage of someone's misfortune? It's a business where you get what you pay for. Besides, the proprietress is from out of town and has no relatives or friends. It's a good thing that she's finding two grown men to be her partners."

"Okay! To be honest, the landlady has been good to me. One should have a conscience, and I want to help her too," Zhou Fengchen said. "But... although what she said was incoherent, I've sorted out some things."

"What is it?" Monk Yuanzhi asked.

Zhou Fengchen said, "I suspect it's a feud between the corpse drivers and the Miao witchcraft sect. Don't be fooled by how pitiful the landlady sounds; those corpse drivers are actually quite vicious. Perhaps Axigong was a ruthless killer in life! Not to mention the witches."

"I know about corpse-drivers," Monk Yuanzhi asked. "But what are shamans?"

Zhou Fengchen said, "I'm not too sure either, but my dad said that these people like to use witchcraft! They raise ghost children! They command mountain spirits and monsters, travel to the underworld, and raise evil spirits! From Sichuan, western Hunan, Yunnan and Guizhou all the way to South Asia, it's all their territory."

Monk Yuanzhi shuddered. "That's unlikely. Let's think about it some more!"

The two returned to their rented room and watched TV for a while. Before they knew it, it was evening. Zhou Fengchen remained silent, lost in thought. Suddenly, his phone rang. After answering, he removed the battery, threw it aside, and turned pale.

Monk Yuanzhi found it strange and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Let's just agree to the boss's offer and go into hiding for a while!" Zhou Fengchen said, "My parents are determined to get me married, and they want me to work steadily at my dad's company. They've forgotten the lesson they learned from Tang Sai'er a while ago. Tomorrow they've arranged a blind date for me with some female civil servant, seven years older than me, a twenty-eight-year-old spinster. They say it's absolutely reliable, that a woman seven years older than me is a golden brick. Isn't that crazy?"

"Hahaha..." Monk Yuanzhi burst into laughter, and after laughing for a while, he said, "You were a bit too hasty, weren't you? But isn't it a bit hasty for you to agree so readily?"

Zhou Fengchen smiled. "It seems that old corpse demon Yang Wudi has also gone to Xiangxi. That grandson is a thorn in my side. I won't feel at ease until I kill him. Let's go find him and take care of the landlady's matter while we're at it!"

Monk Yuanzhi clapped his hands. "Alright! We should go out for a walk!"

Just then, there was a knock on the door. The two exchanged a glance, opened the door, and sure enough, speak of the devil! The proprietress arrived with a pile of food, smiling and saying, "You haven't eaten yet, have you? I packed up boiled fish, lamb spine hot pot, some braised dishes, and plenty of liquor."

"You're too kind, you're too kind!" Monk Yuanzhi quickly accepted the wine and dishes.

Once inside the room, the three tidied up and sat down at the table to eat and drink. The landlady didn't mention demanding the body back. Zhou Fengchen ate half a pot of mutton and suddenly said, "Landlady, let's leave first thing tomorrow morning! The sooner we go, the sooner we'll be back for the New Year!"

The proprietress paused for a moment, her eyes slowly reddening, and she nodded repeatedly, "Thank you! Thank you!"

Just then, a soft sound came from the window, and Chu Xiaoling and her son floated in, smiling broadly. "Where are you going? Let's go too! I haven't been out of town in ages!"

All three of them were taken aback. The proprietress knew there was something strange about the mother and son because they had talked once, and the mother was not only afraid but also quite happy. "It would be great if the little sister could come along."

Zhou Fengchen and Monk Yuanzhi exchanged a glance and asked, "Old Chu, you can't show yourself in broad daylight, we can't wait for you!"

Chu Xiaoling pouted, "You guys call yourselves experts? You're so stupid! A jar or an umbrella would have been fine!"

"Hey! That's not bad!" Monk Yuanzhi laughed.

After the group discussed and agreed on the plan, the proprietress simply didn't go home that night and spent the night lying on the sofa.

The next morning, they got up early to pack their luggage. Actually, Zhou Fengchen and his companion didn't have much to pack. They lit two incense sticks for Zhou Daoxing's memorial tablet, made some offerings, and then carried their magical artifacts. On the way, each of them bought a few sets of winter clothes, and they also got an umbrella for Chu Xiaoling to hide in, and a rattle drum for Xiao Bao to hide in. Done!

The proprietress was quite efficient; she quickly packed a few sets of clothes, took some money, and handed over the management of the small restaurant to a close friend.

The three of them bought train tickets to Changsha. After boarding the train, they traveled for several days and nights before finally arriving at their destination. When they got off the train, they felt completely exhausted.

After resting for one night, there were no trains running from Changsha to western Hunan the next day, so we had to take a bus.

Then it was a series of transfers: from a large bus to a minibus, and from a minibus to a small bus, making me dizzy from the bumpy ride.

It was already December, and the air grew colder the further west you went. When you reached the rolling mountains, it suddenly started snowing heavily, and everything around you was covered in white.

The minibus swayed slowly along the winding mountain road. Half the passengers were chatting in their local dialect, which Zhou Fengchen couldn't understand a word of. The proprietress, bundled up in a thick down jacket and clutching an umbrella containing Chu Xiaoling, was dozing off, her head tilted to one side. The monk Yuanzhi beside her, however, was in high spirits, shaking a rattle-drum and gazing at the heavy snowfall outside, his poetic inspiration flowing: "Ah! White snowflakes float on green water, red palms stir clear waves, the great river flows eastward, its waves washing away the sands, countless heroes of the past ride in this minibus, watching this heavy snow, this, this is truly delightful…"

The passengers in front of him all rolled their eyes. Zhou Fengchen smiled and said, "Boss Monk, this recitation of poetry... is simply appalling. It fully demonstrates your level of cultural literacy!"

"Hey! I don't like what you said..." Monk Yuanzhi was about to argue when suddenly there was a loud "boom" in front of him. The road was completely covered by a large amount of snow that had collapsed from the mountain, mixed with withered leaves and branches!

I like the novel "The Strongest Master in the City".