Chapter 72: Advancement

The inn’s room was exactly as its exterior suggested.

The chamber was practically empty, containing only a table on the right side, along with a bed and a set of bedding beside it.

Zhou You walked over and felt the bed. He discovered that splinters had not been properly sanded away, while the bedding was covered in stains. It was so dirty that parts of it had already become stiff.

Thinking about it carefully, however, this was perfectly normal.

Madam Bone did not make her living from running an inn. Most of her income came from Animal Transformation, grain trading, and processing human flesh. Furthermore, there had been few guests recently, so naturally she had neglected upkeep.

Zhou You did not care.

After cautiously glancing outside and confirming that the female ghost had already left, he tossed the sack onto the bed and sat down heavily.

Unexpectedly, it was the old Daoist who was dissatisfied.

The head naturally poked itself out of the sack. After surveying the surroundings, he frowned slightly. Then he glanced at the bed, and the wrinkles on his forehead practically formed a deep furrow.

“I say, disciple, after finally making it out of the wilderness, you’re staying in a place like this? Couldn’t you have asked the proprietress to switch you to another room?”

You’re nothing but a head now, and you’re still this demanding?

Zhou You shot the old Daoist a sidelong glance and said nothing. Instead, he opened the bundle and took out the Bone Jade Chime.

The heart of White Dew Spitting Silk lay within it.

Compared to when he first obtained it, however, the thing had shrunk by an entire size. Even its constant beating had become noticeably weaker.

At the same time, the malice that made one’s hair stand on end had grown increasingly intense, while the blood-red coloration within the Bone Jade Chime had become deeper and richer.

No one needed to tell Zhou You.

He knew very clearly that this thing would not last much longer.

The old Daoist stopped complaining and spoke directly.

“After being squeezed this hard, it looks like White Dew Spitting Silk has completely panicked. You can’t keep this thing on you anymore. How are you planning to deal with it?”

“...Master needn’t worry. Your disciple has his own solution.”

Zhou You appeared unconcerned.

He simply picked up the heart, grasped it in one hand, and squeezed hard.

Unlike the first time, however, he had to exert tremendous effort before managing to force out a single drop of pus-like blood.

The blood fell into the Bone Jade Chime. Part of the splashing liquid silently seeped into the jade, forming a strange pattern of blood-red lines.

It was a small, exquisite heart.

Whether by coincidence or not, it happened to rest exactly within the chime’s rib-like structure.

When Zhou You first discovered this pattern, it had genuinely startled him. He had been afraid this hard-earned purple-grade item would be ruined.

Later, however, he found that the Bone Jade Chime’s description had not changed, and the System had issued no warning.

So he simply let it be.

After all, he had no other container capable of holding ghost blood.

Zhou You shook the chime, feeling the yin energy gradually condense. Then, pinching his nose shut, he tilted back his head and drank it all.

This was the seventh day he had consumed this blood.

If nothing unexpected happened, it should also be the final day.

Sure enough, the moment the blood entered his stomach, a System notification appeared before his eyes.

“Congratulations, player. You have completed the entire Feeding Process: White Dew Spitting Silk.”

“Your Yin Ghost Feeding Chant has advanced.”

“Yin Ghost Feeding Chant (Second Stage)”

“Contamination Level: High.”

“Effect 1: Part of your body has begun undergoing corpse transformation, granting you most of the abilities of a half-zombie (extended breath-holding duration, slight resistance to ordinary attacks, moderately increased resistance to bleeding, poison, and instant-death effects, and the ability to inflict a certain degree of corpse poison through melee attacks).

(When attacking with weapons, however, you must first coat the weapon with your bodily fluids.)”

“Effect 2: Once per day, you may shroud yourself in yin energy, temporarily obscuring your presence from the perception of certain monsters.”

“Effect 3: Mutation in progress. Attributes currently unknown.”

“Side Effect of This Chant: Numbness and Unawareness.”

“Effect Description: As you use this chant more frequently, or as its level increases, you will gradually lose sensation throughout your body. First pain, then pleasure, then taste, then touch. In the end, you will become a monster that can see, speak, and hear, yet can feel nothing at all.”

The changes after advancement were not particularly significant.

The negative effects remained.

As for Effect 2, aside from lasting somewhat longer, it was basically unchanged.

Effect 1 had gained three additional resistances and the corpse poison commonly seen in zombie stories.

The real issue was the newly added Effect 3.

“Mutation in progress, and I still can’t see the attributes? What the hell does that mean?”

“Disciple, what are you talking about?”

Faced with the old Daoist’s question, Zhou You casually brushed it aside.

“Nothing. Just talking nonsense. By the way, Master, right now we...”

Before Zhou You could finish speaking, a knock sounded at the door.

“Young sir, are you in there?”

Madam Bone’s soft, seductive voice came from outside.

“...I am. Please wait a moment.”

Zhou You did not immediately open the door.

Instead, he first tossed the old Daoist’s head back into the sack, then put away the Bone Jade Chime and the heart within it. Finally, after quickly inspecting the room and confirming that he had left no obvious traces behind, he walked over and opened the door.

A bewitchingly beautiful face appeared before him.

“Young sir, didn’t you ask me to prepare the grain for you? Here, this is all that’s left in the inn. I’ve brought it all over.”

Zhou You lowered his head and saw two saddlebags on the ground.

One contained rice, the other flour.

Neither looked to be in particularly good condition.

The rice was visibly mixed with sand and small stones. The flour had already clumped together, and there was even a faint smell of mold.

In years of abundance, such food would probably have been fit only for feeding chickens.

But this was Cangzhou, which had suffered drought for an entire year.

Even grain of such poor quality had become a precious commodity.

“Thank you, Madam. I’ll take them inside.”

Zhou You carried the two saddlebags into the room. When he looked up again, he discovered that Madam Bone had not left.

Instead, she was leaning against the doorframe, smiling at him.

“...My apologies, but is there something else?”

Madam Bone’s smile became even more alluring.

“Nothing much. I just suddenly remembered that humans become stiff after death. Since you’re a zombie, perhaps if you tried hard enough, you could still get hard? After all, if one never tries, how would one know...”

“Madam.”

Zhou You suddenly interrupted her.

“...What?”

“My apologies, but I truly have no interest in you.”

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Leaving the female ghost outside with her face alternating between green and pale.

Finally, she stamped her foot angrily.

“Damn it. There’s meat right at his mouth and he won’t eat it. Could it be...”

“That he likes men?”