Chapter 49: Battling the Corpse Fiend

Liu Jun saw out of the corner of his eye that the fingernails on the hand the corpse fiend placed on his shoulder were gradually growing and becoming sharp. A thick wave of corpse Qi surged forth, and the fiend's hand violently grabbed toward his neck.

Damn it, the fellow's fingernails looked sharper than the imported razor blades Liu Jun used to buy; how could he dare let it grab him? Liu Jun first executed a donkey-roll to pull back and create some distance from the corpse fiend. He had almost forgotten that he was a ranged damage dealer—what was the point of engaging in close combat? He tossed out a lightning talisman, and with a "crack," a bolt of lightning struck the corpse fiend dead-on.

As for why Liu Jun did not use a Five-Thunder Talisman, it was simply because he could not afford to use it. Every time the Five-Thunder Talisman was used, his body suffered a bit of damage. To put it another way, this thing went against the harmony of heaven; using it in small doses was a pleasant pastime, but using it in large doses was harmful to the body.

Besides, Liu Jun was a master ghost-catcher; did he really need to unleash his ultimate move to deal with a mere corpse fiend?

This flash of lightning did not kill the corpse fiend; it only injured it. The corpse fiend flew into an absolute rage, black Qi surging all over its body as it charged rapidly toward him. What the hell, why did it have such a fiery temper?

Liu Jun immediately pulled out another lightning talisman and tossed it. Taking advantage of the moment the corpse fiend was electrocuted, he smashed a brick of the Heaven-Sealing Seal right into its face. The blow staggered the fiend, nearly knocking it to the ground, and caved in a patch of its skull. This corpse fiend was no pushover either; the moment it fell, it lashed out with a claw at Liu Jun's lower leg. Liu Jun lost his footing and fell to the ground, and the corpse fiend lunged like a hungry tiger, eager to take a bite out of him.

"Take this!" At the critical moment, the Fatty arrived, smashing an alms bowl directly into the other side of the corpse fiend's face. This evened out the blows nicely, and the Fatty's strength was greater than Liu Jun's. With this single strike, he sent the corpse fiend flying straight into the wall.

Liu Jun and the Fatty reacted with extreme swiftness, immediately swarming forward to beat the fallen dog, hammering away mercilessly at the corpse fiend's head. After pounding on it for about five minutes, seeing that the corpse fiend showed no further reaction, the two stopped. Liu Jun stared at the corpse fiend, while the Fatty walked over to check on the woman.

Suddenly, the corpse fiend let out a piercing roar. Fortunately, Liu Jun had practiced the "Heart-Cleansing Incantation" given to him by the old man, so this roar merely left him in a dazed mental state for a moment. The Fatty, however, was knocked out cold on the spot. What the hell, you're a corpse fiend, how do you even know sonic wave skills? How are the singing sirens of the sea supposed to make a living now?

The corpse fiend probably figured that Liu Jun was not easy to deal with, so it skipped the nearby target, sprang up, and leaped straight toward the Fatty. The very second the corpse fiend launched itself into the air, Liu Jun grabbed its foot and dragged it right back down.

Then, a bizarre scene unfolded: Liu Jun was fighting for his life to pull the corpse fiend back and prevent it from touching the Fatty, while the corpse fiend was fighting for its life to crawl forward and grab the Fatty. As for the Fatty, he was just lying there—sure, if you're going to pass out, pass out, but what was the meaning of your snoring?

Although this corpse fiend lacked the sheer strength of a zombie, it was still stronger than Liu Jun. Dragging him forward, it was just about to poke a few holes in the Fatty when Liu Jun gritted his teeth and pulled out a Five-Thunder Talisman.

"God of Heavenly Fire and Thunder, Thunders of the Five Directions. God of Earthly Fire and Thunder, Descend to Vanquish Demons and Subdue Monsters. Evil Spirits Recede, Acting by My Imperial Decree. Obey Urgently as the Law Commands. Summon Thunder!"

Heh, the familiar flashing and rumbling of thunder, the familiar electrical current, the familiar tingling sensation. Because Liu Jun was still holding onto the corpse fiend, it was a buy-one-get-one-free deal, and he got struck square by the divine lightning as well.

Liu Jun lay flat on the ground, quietly gazing at the dark clouds hovering above that were still discharging thunder. Why did Liu Jun feel that, aside from dropping thunder, the clouds were giving him a mocking, smiling face? The meaning was abundantly clear: "What's wrong, little bro, how come you got electrocuted again?"

After the divine lightning finished striking, Liu Jun lay on the ground for a while until the numbness faded. He got up, looked at the corpse fiend lying motionless on the ground and emitting faint wisps of blue smoke, and then looked at the Fatty, who was lying there snoring away. Rage welled up in Liu Jun—the Fatty's snoring was louder than the rumble of thunder from just a moment ago. He walked right over and delivered a kick.

"Get up, get up, work's done." The Fatty scrambled up, wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, and stared blankly at Liu Jun, taking a long while to react.

"What's wrong, Brother Liu? Where's that ugly monster, and how did I end up passing out?"

"Just now, as you were fighting, you suddenly tried to embrace the corpse fiend and kiss it, shouting that she was a great beauty. I barely managed to hold you back." The master swindler, Golden Coin, was now online.

"Brother Liu, do you even scam your own people now?" The Fatty wore a look of utter contempt.

Just as Liu Jun and the Fatty were shooting the breeze, Bureau Chief Lin rushed over with a dozen guns pointed directly at the two of them. Liu Jun was stunned for a moment. Are these people blind, bro? The killer is right there on the ground!

Liu Jun covered his face and pointed at the ground, and the guns immediately swiveled in unison to point at the corpse fiend on the ground. True to his military background, Bureau Chief Lin showed not a trace of cowardice as he looked at the hideous corpse fiend on the ground, its skin peeled away by the lightning.

"Ugh, Master, ugh, this thing is, ugh, the killer, right?" Bureau Chief Lin asked Liu Jun while leaning against the wall and retching. While gently patting Bureau Chief Lin on the back, Liu Jun replied, "Barring any unexpected circumstances, it should be this thing."

After catching his breath, Bureau Chief Lin waved his hand, and a few officers with stronger nerves came over, packed up the corpse fiend, loaded it into a vehicle, and took it to the funeral home to be cremated. They also took the woman back to the bureau to register her information.

Liu Jun bid farewell to Bureau Chief Lin and left with the Fatty. On the drive back, Liu Jun contemplated for a moment before asking the Fatty:

"Don't you find something strange?"

"What's strange? Is it that you forgot to ask Bureau Chief Lin for the money?"

Liu Jun froze. Oh crap, my money! Bureau Chief Lin, you can't default on a migrant worker's wages! Huh? Wait? What was I about to say again? He fell into deep contemplation once more.

"I mean the corpse fiend."

"The corpse fiend? I know, you find it strange why a corpse fiend knows sonic wave techniques?"

What the hell, he suddenly felt like they lacked any sort of mutual understanding. Liu Jun felt a twinge of irritation.

"What I'm trying to say is, how could a thing like a corpse fiend show up in the city and dare to commit murder so brazenly? Behind this, there's a good chance someone is trying to stir up trouble."

"Then what should we do? Should we go investigate?"

"We'll play it by ear. If there really is a mastermind behind the scenes, with IQ levels like ours, we'd easily get played to death."

Upon returning home, he grabbed some carrots to feed the little fox. Liu Jun had never figured out why a spiritual fox would love eating carrots. After feeding the little fox, he had been exhausted both physically and mentally from half a night's work and originally intended to go straight to bed, but at that moment, the little fox spoke up.

"Someone came into the house, rummaged through our things without permission, and even tried to carry me away." Liu Jun thought about it—so a thief had broken in. However, since the little fox had discovered him, this thief definitely wouldn't succeed.

"Where is the person who came in and rummaged through the place?" Liu Jun asked, lowering his head.

The little fox raised a paw toward the large wardrobe. Liu Jun walked over and pulled open the wardrobe doors. A pungent wave of urine stench hit him squarely in the face. A man dressed in black, wearing a black round hat and possessing a shifty, rat-like appearance, looked at Liu Jun with a thoroughly broken expression.

"Are you a thief?"

"Looking at this outfit of mine, does it not fit my profession?"

"What is wrong with you? You hid in my wardrobe and even peed?"

"Big Brother, I didn't want to either! Other people keep dogs to guard their doors, but you keep a monster to guard yours—it's too terrifying! Such a huge fox with a mouth like a blood basin, I almost became food for your monster." Needless to say, the little fox must have used illusion arts to scare the thief, because the little fox's cultivation level wasn't high enough for it to actually transform into a giant fox.

"Then why didn't you just run? Why hide in the wardrobe?"

"Big Brother, the monster was blocking the door!"

"Then why didn't you go out the window?"

"Big Brother, you live on the twenty-sixth floor!" The thief wore a look of utter despair.

"Even so, you didn't have to pee in my wardrobe."

"Big Brother, let's be reasonable. That monster of yours opened the wardrobe door every few minutes just to scare me, over and over again. I only pissed my pants; it's a miracle I didn't die of fright on the spot."

Liu Jun actually felt a bit of pity for this thief. He hadn't stolen a single cent, yet he had been scared shitless by a fox.

"Well, whatever, off you go. You have hands and feet, why not do some honest work? Don't pull stunts like this next time—just look at how high the risk is."

The thief expressed his endless gratitude before scurrying away, thinking to himself that before he came to steal from this place, he hadn't imagined the risks would be this high.