Step Back! Master is Here! - Chapter 53

Chapter 53: The Solitary Foodie

The pale-faced man’s face twisted.

The Feng Clan did employ many corpse transporters, but people from the Feng Clan didn’t learn corpse transporting. Their ways were a hundred times more powerful than corpse transporting.

Why would they need to learn corpse transporting?

The Feng Clan raised corpse transporters like dogs to make it more convenient for them to do their deeds.

“Doesn’t seem so.” Tang Luo asked again, “Then, young man, does your Feng Clan have ruthless and murderous elders?”

The pale-faced man looked pretty young. Also, his earlier arrogance and recklessness gave off the vibe of a young person.

Such an arrogant and reckless young man must have some powerful and protective elders at home, right?

They probably beat up all his enemies for him, as part of the clan tradition, right?

The pale-faced man didn’t even know how to answer the monk’s questions. Was he going to continue speaking aggressively and say, “If you dare do anything to me, the adults in my clan will come out and beat you to death!”?

A sudden, inexplicable sense of shame made the pale-faced man find that very hard to say.

“Say, if I hang you on the wall, the elders of your Feng Clan will probably come and give me trouble, right?”

Before the pale-faced man responded, Tang Luo spoke excitedly.

The pale-faced man’s body shivered. “You lunatic!” He yelled, crawling away from Tang Luo instinctively.

‘This Monk Xuanzang from the Great Thunder Temple, is planning to use me as a bait to catch more people from my Feng Clan?

‘What is he, if not a lunatic? Is he not afraid that Feng Clan will tear him to pieces? No, they’d probably torture him till he wishes for his death.’

In the memory of the pale-faced man, nobody had ever looked down on Feng Clan like this.

“Come, try it.” Tang Luo smiled and said, “It can be a test of your importance in the clan. Life is made up of one test after another.”

Tang Luo bent over, grabbed one leg of the pale-faced man, and dragged him toward the terminal entrance. After all, the mission requirement was to stay here for one night until six o’clock in the morning.

If it was not necessary, Tang Luo would not go out, going against the mission.

It was a good choice to hang the pale-faced man on the wall and attract more mushroom-planting people from Feng Clan.

Tang Luo could sit and wait for others to come knocking on his door.

‘I, Tang Luo, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, am a big writer, a master actor, and a master of tactics. An all-rounded Buddha!’

Tang Luo placed the pale-faced man outside the door and said, “Shout.”

“Shout?”

“Shout: Help! If you don’t, how will your clan know about your predicament? If they don’t know about it, how can they save you?” Tang Luo said, “If they don’t come to save you, and I don’t ki— save them, how do I gain merits?”

“Gain merits?”

The pale-faced man’s eyes widened. He was sure that this monk was mad.

‘Gaining merit through murder? Which temple did this mad monk come from? Oh, it’s the Great Thunder Temple…’

“Punishing evil and saving the wicked produces merits,” said Tang Luo.

‘You’re the wicked one!’ The pale-faced man kept this sentence to himself.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t shout.

What was the Feng Clan like? Powerful, cruel, ruthless, devoid of feelings!

Feelings were as disposable for the Feng Clan as a straw.

His shouts for help would indeed make people from the Feng Clan to appear, but those people wouldn’t do so to save his life. They would simply come because the pale-faced man was a member of their clan.

No Feng Clan member would ever come to save someone—they would only come to kill!

They would kill the arrogant person that provoked the Feng Clan, proving their strength with the provoker’s blood!

As for the pale-faced man, if he didn’t die, he’d probably become a Pot of the Living.

Saving him? No such thing could happen.

This had always been the style of the brutal Feng Clan, which came from the north.

“I have a special method to contact them. They’re already informed,” said the pale-faced man with a firm voice. He had to buy time and find an opportunity to escape.

“Oh, they know?” asked Tang Luo.

“Yes.” The pale-faced man said, “Since you’re so anxious to die, I have to fulfill your wish.”

Tang Luo stared at the pale-faced man and murmured, “I can’t see.”

“What?” asked the pale-faced man.

‘What can’t see?’

Right after he asked, immense uneasiness and fear rose in his heart.

“I—”

Right after he shouted one word, the pale-faced man felt a hand gently stroking the top of his head.

Pfft!

The pale-faced man’s head burst!

This time, there was more than just mushroom substance inside.

Since the Feng Clan had already been contacted, the pale-faced man’s use had been fulfilled.

Tang Luo didn’t need a hostage and a bargaining chip. He simply wanted people to come to their death.

The Feng Clan didn’t need a hostage, nor did he, Tang Luo. When the pale-faced man realized this, it was already too late.

As for the “I can’t see”, it meant that Tang Luo couldn’t see whether or not the pale-faced man was lying.

A master actor was simply very experienced and could make judgments based on those experiences. However, it didn’t necessarily mean that he could see whether or not someone else was acting.

The headless corpse collapsed. Tang Luo walked to the side and picked up Ill Omens, which he had casually thrown on the floor when sparring with the bronze-armored zombie.

He returned to the small room.

‘Maybe I should make a holster or something for Ill Omens? To fit it on my forearm.’

The wide and elegant sleeves could cover up Ill Omens, and it’d be more convenient when he needed to use it. After all, in the mission world, he couldn’t store his equipment after summoning it.

‘The Gods and Demons are pretty stingy.’

“Eh?”

Not long after, Tang Luo’s wandering gaze was fixed on the door. It wasn’t because someone from the Feng Clan appeared.

The pale-faced man’s corpse started changing. His hands, feet, and body shriveled and shrunk.

In a mere two to three minutes, it became like a dried corpse. Then, on the headless neck, a mushroom slowly grew out. It was a black mushroom shining with colorful light.

It was unknown if it was the one inside the pale-faced man’s body, or a newly grown one.

The Feng Clan called it Longevity Mushroom. In fact, since it was grown on corpses, or even living bodies, it was also appropriate to call it Corpse Mushroom.

Tang Luo had blessed the pale-faced man but hadn’t blessed the corpse mushroom away at the same time.

The body from which the Corpse Mushroom grew started moving and slowly got up.

Late at night, a dried corpse with a black mushroom for a head was getting up…

“Now it’s really a mushroom spirit, huh?”

Tang Luo’s hand broke through the window, reached the mushroom spirit, and grabbed it.

The corpse mushroom released a large number of spores, like dust particles.

Tang Luo’s belly moved slightly, and he exhaled, breathing all of the spores away, before pulling off the corpse mushroom forcefully from the dried corpse.

The dried corpse collapsed on the ground and broke into pieces as if it had been dried for countless years. And there was no corpse mushroom inside.

The corpse mushroom in Tang Luo’s hand was previously growing in the pale-faced man’s chest.

Tang Luo looked at the corpse mushroom in his hand and fell into contemplation, as memories flooded his mind.

…

“Wukong[1], do you know about the 108 ways to cook a monster?”

“Monk, you want to break your vows again!”

“Even if one consumes wine and meat[2], Buddha can remain in one’s heart.”

“Do you really have Gautama in your heart?”

“The monster wanted to eat me and ended up being digested by me. This is karma. If Gautama Buddha knows about it, he will also approve.”

“Monk, you are full of evil aura, you’re more monstrous than a monster, okay?”

“I’m just a solitary foodie.”

…

The table in the small room had cupboards, so Tang Luo opened them and found an electric cooker.

He took it out and looked at it. It wasn’t very clean. He went outside to fill it with water, clean it, then fill it with water again.

Tang Luo plugged it in, threw the corpse mushroom inside, and closed the lid.

‘Boil it slowly. I don’t know if I can cook a nutritious mushroom soup.’

The corpse transporter and the pale-faced man had provided less power of virtuous merits than Jack the Ripper in the first world.

After consuming the power of virtuous merits to heal his injuries, Tang Luo’s maximum output remained at 8%, just a bit away from 9%.

Even if he consumed all his remaining power of virtuous merits, he wouldn’t be able to make it. Thus, he kept a part of it just in case, as per usual.

It was like saving money. With no savings, one may collapse if met with an economic crisis. Tang Luo couldn’t be someone with no savings and zero risk-resistance capacity.

Tang Luo closed his eyes again, and like an old monk, he adjusted his breathing to heal his injuries.

An hour later, Tang Luo opened his eyes. He added more water and continued boiling the mushroom.

He repeated this a few times.

It was already 05:30 a.m. The sky was gradually lighting up.

The corpse mushroom looked the same—it hadn’t shrunk, nor expanded.

However, the water was no longer clear. It seemed very much like a clear mushroom soup now.

The Feng Clan’s members had not appeared either.

Feng Village was totally silent. There wasn’t even the sound of cock crows.

Tang Luo picked up the pot and took a sip of the soup, saying to himself, “It’s alright.”

It had no healing effect, but could warm the stomach and mitigate the hunger a little, like ordinary people drinking warm water.

Of course, if actual ordinary people drank the soup, there was no knowing what would happen.

If they were lucky, they would probably get stronger.

If they weren’t, they might die right away.

After drinking the soup, Tang Luo grabbed the corpse mushroom and bit down at it.

The corpse mushroom melted once it entered his mouth.

A fiery, manic force burst in his mouth.

Tang Luo suppressed and absorbed it in full.

“Hmm. This does have some effect.”

Tang Luo was slightly happy, finishing it in three bites. Then, he once again closed his eyes to heal his injuries.

His injuries recovered a bit more.

This way, Tang Luo could use 9% of his strength without affecting his injuries.

Rustle…

Heavy, dragging footsteps came from outside the room.

Tang Luo turned his head and saw Auntie Shufen walking shakily toward the room, holding her broom.

Upon seeing Tang Luo turn his head, Auntie Shufen’s eyes lit up. Before she could say anything, she collapsed on the ground.

Mico had sacrificed this auntie at the moment of danger. The corpse transporter had kicked and sent her flying, but surprisingly, she hadn’t died.

What a joy!

Tang Luo approached Auntie Shufen, crouched down, and asked, “Are you alright?”

“Master… Save me.” Auntie Shufen’s tears rained down.

“Okay, I will bless you right now.” Tang Luo erected one hand in front of his chest, closed his eyes, and started reciting a sutra.

At that moment, the painful expression on Auntie Shufen’s face turned vicious. She grabbed the broom and suddenly swept it toward Tang Luo’s head, just like how she had waved it toward the three zombies and the conductor on the bus!

[1] The Monkey King in Chinese classic novel Journey To The West

[2] consuming wine and meat are forbidden in common rules for Buddhist monks