Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Five Elements Corpse

“Corpse Refining?”

We all looked at Qin Yu with puzzled expressions. This was clearly about paper puppets, so how did it suddenly relate to corpse refining?

Qin Yu didn't answer. Instead, Wang Feiyang suddenly spoke up, asking me if I remembered what he told me before about why the paper puppet technique was banned after the Anti-Japanese War.

I nodded, recalling that one reason was that paper puppetry violated the natural cycle of life and death, and another was that some malicious people exploited it to evade legal punishment.

“Exactly!” Wang Feiyang nodded. “Those people aren’t really interested in creating paper puppets as their main goal. Their real aim is to use the paper puppets as a cover for their true objective: seizing people’s bodies. But they fear that taking over these bodies would attract police attention. So, to avoid trouble, they transform these people into paper puppets. This way, even if the puppets die after a month or two, the police won’t suspect them. It’s their loophole to escape legal consequences.”

Hearing Wang Feiyang’s explanation, it gradually began to make sense. At that moment, Peng Li had requested the birth dates and times of these paper puppets from the police. Qin Yu then began calculating based on these birth details.

She spent about seven or eight minutes making her calculations. Afterward, her brows knitted tightly.

Turning around, she looked at us seriously and said, “Perhaps... this matter has become far more serious than we thought.”

We were all shocked and hurriedly asked what she had discovered.

Qin Yu replied that the birth charts revealed their fate patterns. All of them were people whose five elements converged into one.

“What does ‘five elements converging into one’ mean?” Peng Li asked anxiously.

Qin Yu explained that everyone’s fate is tied to the Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Usually, these elements exist in a balanced state within a person’s destiny. Sometimes, one element is missing—say, Water or Fire. In those cases, a person’s name might include a character representing the missing element to compensate.

But among all these birth charts, there was a special condition known as “five elements converging into one.” Simply put, it means four elements are lacking, and only one element is overwhelmingly strong. For example, if someone lacks Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire but has an extremely strong Earth element, that person is said to have an “Earth destiny,” or five elements converging into Earth.

I was a bit lost and asked what it meant to have five elements converging into Earth, and why they wanted bodies with such singular elemental destinies.

At that moment, Bai Rushuang, who had been silent beside me, tapped my forehead impatiently and said, “Wu Dao, you really have a slow brain. Didn’t Sister Yu just say it’s for corpse refining? If the five elements converge into one, it means they’re refining Five Elements Corpses.”

“Five Elements Corpses!”

Hearing that term, my mind exploded. I hadn’t anticipated that their ultimate goal was to refine Five Elements Corpses.

The Book of the Netherworld mentions these. Among various demons and monsters in this world, there exists a special kind of anomaly: zombies.

Zombies transcend the six realms, no longer bound by the Five Elements. Their soul and body merge into one, never entering the cycle of reincarnation. Yet their lifespan is infinite, their strength immense, and they possess many supernatural powers. For many who seek immortality, becoming a zombie is a dream come true.

However, true zombies are extremely rare. The so-called “zombies” we see in movies and TV shows are not real zombies but at best “corpse demons.” True zombies possess intelligence and are very clever; as long as they don’t reveal their zombie form, they appear indistinguishable from ordinary people.

Corpse demons are evil imitations created by dark arts mimicking zombie traits. They are also strong and can remain fresh for hundreds of years. Some special corpse demons even possess zombie-type supernatural powers. The only difference is that corpse demons lack intelligence and are completely controlled tools.

Among corpse demons, the most formidable are the Five Elements Corpses.

Our understanding divides Five Elements Corpses into four ranks: Gold Armor, Silver Armor, Copper Armor, and Iron Armor, with Gold being the strongest and Iron the weakest. Each rank also has five elemental attributes: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.

Though Five Elements Corpses lack intelligence, rumors say the highest-level Gold Armor corpse’s combat power matches that of the zombie king—the Red-Eyed Zombie. Above the Red-Eyed Zombie is the legendary Silver-Eyed Zombie. Beyond even the Gold Armor corpse is the “Bone-Undying” level. When a Five Elements Corpse reaches this stage, it gains intelligence and can rival the legendary Silver-Eyed Zombie.

Therefore, to refine a Five Elements Corpse, one must have a five-element-converging birth chart. Some extremely rare birth charts can also be used to create even stronger Five Elements Corpses. Special birth charts refer to my Nine Yin Destiny, Qin Yu’s Three Flower Destiny, or Yang Li’s Purple Star Destiny.

Five Elements Corpses refined from five-element-converging charts may start as the lowest Iron Armor type. But those refined from rare charts like ours are likely to emerge as Copper or even Silver Armor, with a high chance of achieving the legendary Bone-Undying state.

Thinking of this, a chill ran down my spine. I then looked seriously at Qin Yu and Wang Feiyang and said, “So, that monster Water Rat mentioned—the one that tore Wang Lun into eight pieces—was actually a Five Elements Corpse they created?”

“Definitely,” Qin Yu said with a frown. “I never expected such an evil organization still existed in this era. What exactly do they want? Just the Five Elements Converging birth charts registered with the police are already numerous. Who knows how many more are hidden in the shadows?”

At this point, Qin Yu spoke earnestly to us: “If I hadn’t known about this, I might have let it go. But since we’re involved now, we cannot stand by. I will immediately inform the Maoshan masters to send reinforcements. Such an evil organization must not be allowed to remain.”

If it weren’t for Liu Dong’s case, even if I knew about this group specializing in refining Five Elements Corpses, I wouldn’t have cared. I knew that a group capable of producing such terrifying corpse demons and mastering the forbidden paper puppet technique would be far from easy to handle. It wasn’t worth risking my life for no reason.

But now, to clear Liu Dong’s name, we must find the real culprit who killed Wang Lun. Plus, Qin Yu is my friend and a Maoshan heir, sworn to exorcise demons. Since she insists on investigating, I have to support her.

So I asked Qin Yu: since we want to investigate this organization refining Five Elements Corpses, we need a breakthrough. Right now, we have no leads on them. We must find a way to draw them out.

“That’s simple!” Qin Yu smiled confidently. “The best birth charts for refining Five Elements Corpses are those rare, special ones. And I happen to have the Three Flower Destiny, one of those rare charts.”

“So, you want to spread word about your Three Flower Destiny so that the organization will come find you?”

I understood immediately.

Qin Yu nodded. “It’s the only way to lure them out.”

My brow furrowed deeply. “It’s a good plan, but you’re just a girl. If that organization targets you, it could be very dangerous. Besides, if they can refine Five Elements Corpses and create paper puppets, their strength must be considerable. They’ve already made so many Five Elements Corpses. The police didn’t notice because of the paper puppets, fine. But don’t you find it strange that none of the righteous practitioners from our Yin-Yang world or even the underworld have detected them?”

(continued...)