033 An Old Acquaintance in a Foreign Land

Year of the Snake, Gui Si.
First day of the sixth lunar month.
Auspicious for: relocation, praying for blessings, consecration.
Inauspicious for: travel.
Fortune: favorable at noon.

...

Having packed their belongings, Xu Xinqi bid farewell to Lu Qiang, his childhood friend. Xu Xinqi and Qu Zhanyi boarded the train bound for Mojiang.

At first, Xu Xinqi felt reluctant, but after a day on the train, the novelty of the journey captivated his restless heart.

“Sis, this is our first time on a train!” he exclaimed, eyes wide with wonder as he looked around.

Qu Zhanyi remained composed outwardly, though inside she was shaken. In her two lifetimes, this was the first time she truly experienced a vehicle that could run without using spiritual energy.

The siblings’ understanding of the world was refreshed.

Excitedly, Xu Xinqi chattered into Qu Zhanyi’s ear.

“So the train runs so smoothly, the phone can be charged, and there’s even a separate little dining car...”

Qu Zhanyi was about to meditate and delve into the third level of the Divine Soul Scripture when his excitement infected her. She changed posture, sat up, and gazed out the window at the receding scenery.

Three days later, they arrived at their destination.

Xu Xinqi, carrying his bag, followed Qu Zhanyi, looking around at the heavily commercialized garden with uncertainty. “Is this really the place where the sun turns?”

“More precisely, the moment we entered Mojiang, we were already at the place where the sun turns,” Qu Zhanyi said, turning off the navigation. “The Tropic of Cancer runs through this city, and this garden is its landmark.”

“No wonder there are so many people!” Xu Xinqi sighed.

Qu Zhanyi circulated her spiritual energy, sensing an unusual fluctuation in the air. A flash of delight crossed her face—this place might be perfect for alchemical refinement.

Ignoring the “No Entry” signs along the mountain path, she pressed on toward the untouched forest.

“Sis, this area is off-limits,” Xu Xinqi reminded her.

“I know,” Qu Zhanyi said without looking back, confidently. “But I’m taking this path.”

Xu Xinqi couldn’t persuade her otherwise and had to stay alert, listening and watching carefully to avoid venomous snakes or insects.

They twisted and turned along the mountain, from the foot to the summit, passing dozens of unmarked graves.

Seeing the many tombs, Xu Xinqi’s heart leapt into his throat. His lips trembled as he asked, “Sis... sis... have we gone far and still not arrived? Where exactly are we going?”

“Looking for a feng shui treasure spot... Strange, the spiritual energy suddenly vanished,” Qu Zhanyi murmured, furrowing her brows, “Something’s wrong.”

“What?”

Before Xu Xinqi could ask further, he caught sight at the left side, not far off, of a figure slowly crawling out of a grave. Terrified, he became speechless and froze stiff.

“Are you scared?” Qu Zhanyi, unaware of the oddity behind her, teased him when she noticed Xu Xinqi suddenly hesitated. “You said you weren’t a scaredy-cat, yet a few broken graves have you frozen.”

Xu Xinqi was too nervous to speak and only gestured wildly with his eyes. Qu Zhanyi immediately sensed something was wrong and spun around just in time to see a man standing up after crawling out of the grave.

“Gh-gh-gh... a ghoul... h-he’s... risen from the dead!”

After a moment, Xu Xinqi found his voice and shouted hysterically before instinctively pulling Qu Zhanyi along as they sprinted away.

“Run, sis! If he bites you, you’ll become a zombie!”

Before Qu Zhanyi could see the man’s face clearly, Xu Xinqi’s sudden pull almost made her stumble. Hearing his words, she stopped him with a sharp tug.

“Zombie? That’s clearly a thief!”

Whether human or ghost, she could tell with her spiritual energy. She wasn’t panicked, only assuming he was a grave robber.

“Sorry to scare you two kids, but what you saw today mustn’t be told to anyone,” the man said, appearing suddenly behind them. His polite words carried an eerie chill, lacking the warmth of a living soul.

Xu Xinqi’s body hairs stood on end, wishing he had extra legs to run faster.

He never expected this “zombie” to be so fast!

Wait—running?!

In movies, zombies can’t bend their knees and only shuffle or hop.

Curious, Xu Xinqi cautiously looked at the man.

First glance: Wow! So handsome!

Second glance: Too bad, still not as handsome as me!

Looking more closely, the man’s complexion was pale and dull, his expression weary, as if his days were numbered.

Though just risen from a grave, he was far from disheveled; his noble bearing even made Xu Xinqi feel inferior.

Xu Xinqi was alarmed but kept his guard up, staring like a hawk, ready to strike at the first suspicious move.

Qu Zhanyi’s pupils contracted sharply upon recognizing the man’s face. Her shock instantly turned to anger, barely holding back as the man spoke again.

“Don’t be afraid. I only came home to get some money. I’m neither a thief nor a ghost.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Xinqi’s first thought was to call the police. Though he could tell the man was alive, he couldn’t guarantee he was trustworthy.

He certainly wasn’t a good person. Qu Zhanyi’s mind seethed with cruel ways to punish him, her anger nearly manifesting as tangible force, as if to tear the man to pieces.

The man clearly sensed their hostility but seemed indifferent, or perhaps too lazy to care.

His cold gaze swept over the siblings, his tone indifferent, “Everyone buried here has been reincarnated. You two can wander as you please. I’ll be going down the mountain now.”

Saying this, he left without looking back.

“Sis, don’t you think that man is very strange?”

It was only after his figure disappeared into the forest thicket that Xu Xinqi asked belatedly.

Qu Zhanyi said nothing, her expression darkening. “Let’s go down the mountain too.”

“Let’s go! I don’t want to see any more grave zombies,” Xu Xinqi quickly agreed.

After dinner and returning to the hotel, night had fully fallen.

Xu Xinqi wanted to visit the night market, but Qu Zhanyi’s mind lingered on the man they had seen earlier. She urgently needed to verify if he was also reincarnated or had lived for thousands of years.

She found an excuse to send Xu Xinqi to bed. At eleven o’clock that night, she slipped quietly out of the hotel.

She arrived at the busiest street in the county, still brightly lit and bustling with people.

Moving through the alleys, her spiritual energy surged rapidly as a familiar aura floated in the air—identical to the spiritual energy that had drawn her up the mountain earlier.

Soon, her gaze fixed on a barbecue stall, where the man from earlier was drinking beer and enjoying skewers.

Sensing her presence, he bit the last piece of meat on his skewer and waved at her across the crowd.

Qu Zhanyi sneered and sat down unceremoniously opposite him.

Her tone carried a sharp edge as she spoke, “Qin Xiangyang, you’re living quite well... beer, meat—how have you not burst from overeating?”

“Would be a pity to die!” Qin Xiangyang dropped his cold, aloof facade from the day and replied with a roguish grin, “If I died, I’d miss seeing Her Highness the Princess.”