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A moment of self-pitying and self-absorption later, Ye Qing recollected his feelings and thought about the zombies.

The situation was currently under control, and the Pacification Bureau had invested additional manpower to search the entire commandery for anyone who showed any sign of changing into a zombie. For now, Luo Shui should not be in danger of turning into another Racoon City.

That said, they still hadn’t discovered the reason why some people had suddenly transformed into giant zombies. So long as they find the root cause a zombie outbreak would always be lurking around the corner.

Luckily, Ye Qing had a one-stop solution at hand. Biting his tongue and spraying the Annon Sutra in blood once more, he asked, “Why did Deng Qiang transform into a giant zombie?”

Generally speaking, the more specific and simple the question, the clearer the answer the Annon Sutra would provide. Otherwise, the piece of vellum might refuse to answer altogether.

Blood red text began to appear on the Annon Sutra’s surface:

“A lot of people had transformed into zombies today. After a thorough investigation, I discovered that the reason they changed is because they were infected by the likes of Deng Qiang.”

“But why did Deng Qiang transform into a giant zombie to begin with? Was it caused by a Stranger or a human? And was it an unfortunate accident or a devious conspiracy? Regardless, I fear that something bad will happen if I do not solve this mystery in time.”

“But what should I do? Perhaps my examination of Deng Qiang was a little too cursory. I should sniff his body and taste his flesh. It might reveal an important clue.”

“Ayo what the fuck?” Ye Qing was so stunned by the Annon Sutra’s advice that he broke character for a second. Goosebumps popped out of his skin the moment he recalled the disgusting corpse wax leaking out of the giant zombie’s body. He would never smell another giant zombie in his life if he could help it, much less “taste” his flesh. Not in this life, not in the next, not ever!

……

“Can you sniff this, Joyless?”

At Heavenly Heart Clinic, Feng Qingyou handed a bowl of liquid to Ye Qing. It was oily, slimy, and unsavory-looking in general. He quickly found out that the smell was far worse than its appearance might suggest.

“Ugh! It stinks! What the hell is this thing?” Ye Qing immediately moved the bowl away and pinched his nose after catching a whiff.

“I see. Now try sniffing this one.”

“Do I have to?”

Yesterday, a fuming Ye Qing had gone to bed after receiving a most disgusting answer from the Annon Sutra. When he woke up in the morning, he immediately traveled to Heavenly Heart Clinic. It was because Deng Qiang was probably the first ever giant zombie, and Feng Qingyou had had a whole night to research him. He wouldn’t be surprised if she had found a clue or two knowing how smart the woman was.

However, the first thing he saw after stepping through the door was Feng Qingyou holding two bowls of indescribable liquid in her hands. When she saw him, she immediately asked him to taste the liquid.

Ye Qing turned her down respectfully yet firmly as a matter of course, but she changed her request to sniffing them instead. Realizing that this was probably serious, he ultimately manned up and sniffed the bowls of liquid as she requested.

He regretted his decision immediately. The stench was so bad he felt like it had polluted his very soul.

After he was done gagging, Feng Qingyou asked, “Can you tell me what’s the difference between these two bowls of liquid?”

Ye Qing thought for a moment and answered, “One of them smells worse, and the other less so. Seriously, Qingyou, what the hell are these things?”

Feng Qingyou set down the bowls and shot him a beautiful smile, “They are corpse wax.”

“...” Ye Qing immediately felt like his soul was polluted twice over.

“Corpse wax? And you were going to make me taste them?”

Is this an assassination attempt?

Feng Qingyou chuckled. “I needed a test subject, and you just happened to be around. Someone has to sacrifice themselves for the advancement of medicine, don’t you agree?”

“Why don’t you test it yourself then?” Ye Qing countered.

Feng Qingyou replied indifferently, “Because I’m the doctor. I can save you if something happens to you, but you can’t save me if something happens to me, can you?”

Ye Qing couldn’t say anything to that.

Then, Feng Qingyou added, “Also, it smells putrid.”

“I know!” Ye Qing rolled his eyes at her. He might’ve ranted, but the disgusting smell had sapped away all of his energy.

Feng Qingyou’s eyes curled into shapely crescents at Ye Qing’s deflated appearance. Even now, she looked as beautiful and welcoming as the moon. “Fine, I shan’t keep you on tenterhooks anymore. The two corpse waxes are not the same. One of them is ordinary corpse wax extracted from a deceased human, and the other one was extracted from Deng Qiang.”

“What?” Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise. A hint of inspiration flashed through his mind, and the fog of mystery began to fade bit by bit.

Feng Qingyou pointed at the bowls of corpse waxes on the table. “On the surface, it looked like there was no difference between the two. But as you said, one of them has a thicker stench, and the other doesn’t. The one with a thicker stench belongs to Deng Qiang.”

“Not only that, Deng Qiang’s corpse wax is mixed with a strange power so faint that it’s almost undetectable.”

Ye Qing subconsciously asked, “So, you’re saying that Deng Qiang’s corpse wax is the real reason he changed into a zombie, and why he could infect others and change them into zombies as well?”

He was sure Feng Qingyou had already found out about the zombie outbreaks that had taken place throughout the commandery.

“That is correct,” Feng Qingyou confirmed. “Last night, I fed Deng Qiang’s corpse wax to a rabbit. The rabbit quickly turned into a zombie just like the changed civilians.”

Poor rabbit. Your death will save many lives though.

“That’s wonderful!” Ye Qing exclaimed in joy before asking curiously, “But how did you find out something is wrong with the corpse wax, Qingyou?”

She answered, “It’s very simple. Remember what I said about corpse wax? It is a substance that takes form when a body has decomposed so much that the fat is leaking. In other words, corpse wax could only be found in dead bodies that have decomposed for a very long time.”

“While Deng Qiang is dead, he has only been dead for a while. One could even argue that he is still alive. Therefore, his corpse wax can only come from somewhere else.”

“Somewhere else?”

Feng Qingyou launched into an explanation, “You wanted to know why we went to pick the Fruits of Living and Death last night, didn’t you? That’s because the Fruit of Living possesses more properties than just regenerating flesh and restoring energy; one that only a handful of people are aware of. The Fruit of Living is extremely sensitive toward certain energies and can be used as some sort of detector. When I used it on Deng Qiang, it had responded to the corpse wax on his person.”

“After repeated examinations, I discovered that the energy itself is some sort of unusual corpse wax. If I’m not mistaken, Deng Qiang had probably consumed something that was stained with this corpse wax, or made contact with it in some other way. As a result, the unusual corpse wax was able to take root inside of him, corrupt his body, and mutate it into a form that could create its own corpse wax. The unusual corpse wax became nigh undetectable after it was diluted by Deng Qiang’s own corpse wax.”

“Also, the unusual corpse wax is the real reason behind the civilians’ transformation.”

Now Ye Qing understood why Feng Qingyou had purposely ventured into the Black White Forest to pluck the Fruits of Living and Death. He was so impressed he couldn’t help but shoot her an admiring look. If he was the charlatan who pretended to be Sherlock Holmes by using the Annon Sutra, then Feng Qingyou was the real deal who figured out everything practically from the get go. The only reason she waited until now to reveal the truth was because she needed to collect the evidence to prove it.

How awesome was that?

“Thanks, Qingyou. With this, I can finally solve this problem once and for all.”

“Solve?” Feng Qingyou seemed surprised by his confidence. “I might have figured out that the unusual corpse wax is the root cause behind Deng Qiang’s transformation, but that’s all. I have never seen anything like it, nor do I know of its origin. I do not think we have enough information to locate the mastermind behind this just yet.”

Ye Qing shot her an enigmatic smile but said nothing. What Feng Qingyou said was perfectly true, but he was the man with the Annon Sutra. Now that he knew exactly what had caused Deng Qiang and the others to change, all he needed to do was to ask the Annon Sutra where the corpse wax had come from, follow the clues to the mastermind, and then profit!

“Anyway, thanks again, Qingyou! Wait for my good news!”

Ye Qing waved and dashed out of the door. He was gone just like that.

“Strange?” Feng Qingyou furrowed her brow slightly as she stared at the empty exit. She couldn’t understand why Ye Qing was so confident that he could solve the case.

Her puzzlement was quickly replaced by a warm smile though. It looked like a mountain after a good rain; clear and pure.”

After Ye Qing left the Heavenly Heart Clinic, he traveled to a secluded spot and took out the Annon Sutra. Then, he spat his blood on it and asked, “Where did the corpse wax that caused Deng Qiang to change come from?”

The blood slowly vanished into the vellum, and lines of text rose to the surface. However, the words were blurry and unreadable.

Ye Qing knew this was the Annon Sutra’s way of saying that it needed more blood, so he spat out another dozen mouthfuls. The amount of blood essence he spat was enough to put any other Astral Refiner in bed for half a month, but it was nothing to him thanks to his unique constitution.

There was one thing that concerned him though. The fact that it took so much blood to get the Annon Sutra to reveal the answer meant that the mastermind must be very powerful. Whatever comes next, he would have to be very careful.

The blood red text grew clearer and clearer until finally. Ye Qing could read them,

“There is a legend in Luo Shui that goes something like this. Every full moon, a mysterious cook would appear in the streets of Luo Shui. Only those who are kind, noble-hearted, or lucky would have a chance to meet him.”

“The mysterious cook would cook a delicious meal based on his customer’s preference, and it is said that his meals are so impressive that it is like paradise on earth. Not only is the food perfect in terms of appearance, smell, and taste, it could imbue feelings of joy and hope in its customers. The pessimistic would feel joy, the optimistic would feel ecstasy, and the indifferent would come to learn the beauty of this world. It is a wonderful experience that satisfies both the body and the spirit.”

“Not only that, the mysterious cook does not charge a single coin for his services. He would simply favor his customers with a smile and disappear into the night.”

“... That’s it? That’s all you want to tell me, Annon Sutra? You’re not toying with me, are you?”

The Annon Sutra had told him a story about delicious food and hope. It was a simple but beautiful story with dreamlike qualities. In terms of quality, he would rate it a solid 8 out of 10.

There was just a teensy, weensy problem though—this wasn’t what he asked for!

I asked you for a clue, and you gave me a story? Whatever shall I do with you, Anon Sutra?

Ye Qing sighed and put away the vellum. Then, he started mulling over the story.

A while later, he came to the conclusion that… It was just a story. Nothing more, nothing less. That said, the mysterious cook was a central figure to the story. Assuming he wasn’t overthinking this, the Annon Sutra was saying that he must find the mysterious cook first before he could locate the source of the unusual corpse wax.

So… where the heck was he going to find this cook?