Chapter 18: Red Belly!

  When Autumn Water's upper body returned to the house, Ren Tingting had already prepared a meal, filling the entire table. Meanwhile, Autumn Water and Wen Cai were holding the Nine Uncle's treasure in their hands, while Xiaoyu was blushing with her face red, covering her mouth and looking at Autumn Water.

  Qiu Shui suddenly felt that the pressure was overwhelming and she was speechless.

  What's going on, it turns out that the treasure of the ancestor mentioned by Jiuzi in Autumn Water and Wenchang's hands was actually a bright red bellyband, yes, similar to the one Nezha wore in mythological stories, with golden thread embroidery of talismans.

  Qiu Shui felt helpless at this time, with a somewhat unwilling expression on his face. At this moment, Jiu Shu saw that Qiu Shui was still hesitating and immediately glared over, saying: "What are you still dawdling for, hurry up and put it on."

  When Ninth Uncle finished speaking, the whole room burst into laughter. Autumn Water reluctantly put on the ancestor's treasured red bellyband.

  Pfft! When Xiaoyu saw Qiushui put on the red bellyband, she couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, holding her stomach. Jiu Shu was also stifling laughter, his face bright red, with a smile that no one could hide. As for Qiusheng and Wencai, those two scoundrels had already laughed so hard they were rolling on the ground, pounding it.

  At the critical moment, Jiu Shu calmed down and said seriously: "What are you still dazed about? When the time comes, the zombies will arrive. Don't hurry up to eat." Although his tone was serious, the smile in Jiu Shu's eyes couldn't be hidden from anyone.

  Autumn waters quietly think, a lifetime of honor destroyed in an instant!

  Although everyone is now filled with laughter, they are still extremely nervous in their hearts. After all, they will have to deal with zombies tonight, and this meal might be the last one for everyone.

  When everyone sat down at the dinner table, Jiǔ Shū took out a black bowl. Inside the bowl was blood-red glutinous rice, emitting waves of heat. It turned out that this was "blood rice", cooked with fresh blood. This wasn't for humans to eat, but for ghosts. Qiū Shuǐ saw it and immediately understood, and what Jiǔ Shū said next was no surprise.

  "Xiao Yu, this is specially prepared for you, don't worry, I've cast a spell on this rice beforehand, it's full of pure yin energy, which will be very beneficial to you." Jiū Shū handed the blood rice to Xiao Yu and said apologetically. After all, this matter had nothing to do with Xiao Yu, but Xiao Yu had stayed behind to help despite the risk of her soul flying away, whether it was for Qiū Shuǐ or something else, a person who wasn't even related to them, no, a ghost! Jiū Shū also felt quite embarrassed in his heart.

  Xiao Yu saw the apology on Jiu Shu's face, and with a blush, nodded slightly, saying: "Thank you, Dao Zhang." Then she held the bowl in her hands and smelled it with her nose.

  "Alright, everyone hurry up and eat, nourish your spirit." After hearing Ninth Uncle's words, everyone felt a surge of energy and started eating vigorously.

  Not to mention today's dinner was sumptuous, glutinous rice, three roast chickens, a large bowl of dog meat and strong liquor, filled the table.

  Tonight's dinner is really fiery. To deal with the zombies, Ninth Uncle specially asked Tingting to make a full set of fiery dishes for dinner.

  Although this meal is meant to strengthen everyone's yang energy in order to deal with tonight's zombies, if they fail, it will be their last big meal.

  At the dinner table, no one spoke, filled with oppression. Wen Cai was gnawing on a chicken leg with all his might, and even Jiu Shu, who usually paid attention to his appearance, had lost his usual demeanor, eating with oil dripping from his mouth.

  After seeing this situation, Qiū Shuǐ also didn't care anymore. If he couldn't make it through the night, he would rather die with a full stomach, and so he started eating and drinking vigorously.

  In less than a moment, the table full of food was left in disarray. The blood rice that Xiaoyu held in her hands also slowly turned pale, and if someone were to taste it at this time, they would find it dry and flavorless.

  After everyone had eaten their fill, Tingting got up to collect the bowls and chopsticks. At the same time, Ninth Uncle also stood up and said fiercely: "Now that you've all eaten your fill, go get your gear ready to wipe out the zombies when they come."

  Generally, ordinary weapons can't harm Old Master Ren who has become a golden-armored corpse. Even the peach wood sword is useless. The zombie is impervious to swords and guns, and the peach wood sword can't even pierce it, instead it will break. So tonight everyone's using the eighteen kinds of weapons from the courtyard that have been treated with the method by Ninth Uncle and then opened with the ancestral master's holy water, which has already been activated, but only for one night, after dawn they will lose their effect.

  Jiǔ shū's hand held an ancient bronze sword, the entire body of which gave people a sense of heaviness. This sword was the one that Qiū Shuǐ had obtained from the ancient tomb, and after Jiǔ Shū used the divine water left by his ancestors to clean it, it had restored its original appearance. The surface of the sword was filled with strange curved lines and talismans carved on it.

  Qiu Shui was using a Guan Gong Dao, with the blade's two sides painted with crimson talismans in chicken blood. Qiu Shui originally had innate divine strength, and this also brought out his strong points; after merging with Xiao Yu, his power would increase greatly. Now, Qiu Shui held the Guan Gong Dao upside down, looking majestic and powerful, while Xiao Yu watched from the side, her eyes shining like stars.

  Qiu Sheng held two Evil-Expelling Swords, which had been tempered in sacred water and thus greatly increased their power, making them extraordinary.

  Wen Cai held a large bow, with a quiver full of arrows on his back, and the arrows were covered with talismans. Wen Cai was relatively weak, and he wouldn't be afraid if it were just ordinary zombies. However, when facing the Golden Armor Zombie, Wen Cai's skills would be far inferior. Therefore, Ninth Uncle had Wen Cai hold the bow and arrows on the attic, waiting for the zombies to arrive and shooting them at the right moment.

  When everyone took out their weapons, Ren Tingting had also finished cleaning up and walked out with a teapot to fill everyone's bowls with tea.

  Jiu Shu took over the tea water from Tingting and said to her, "Tingting, I've already posted the talismans in the house. Wait a bit and then go inside. Whatever you do, don't come out before dawn."

  Ren Tingting's eyes turned red after hearing Jiu Shu's words, and she choked back tears as she said to him: "Uncle Jiu, I really don't know how to thank you!" She then immediately turned around and bowed deeply to the crowd.

  "Ting Ting, I'm doing this not just for you, but for the whole town." Jiu Shu said to Ting Ting with a serious face.

  After hearing Ninth Uncle's comforting words, Ren Tingting couldn't hold back the tears in her eyes anymore and burst into sobs.

  Qiu Sheng saw Ren Tingting's tears falling one by one and hurried over to comfort her.

  "Autumn, help Tingting back to the house to rest." Ninth Uncle saw that this was not a big deal and quickly let Autumn lead Tingting back into the house.

  When Autumn gave birth to Tingting and came out of the house, Autumn Water doubted and asked Ninth Uncle: "Master, you posted symbols all over Tingting's room, blocking her breath. Although temporarily deceiving Old Man Ren, how can Old Man Ren find us here tonight with his relatives' blood?"

  Wencai's eyes also fell on Jiu Shu at this time, and he looked at him with suspicion. Jiu Shu nodded in satisfaction and said, "Don't worry, look at what this is." It turned out that Jiu Shu had taken out a lock of hair wrapped in paper from his pocket.

  Qiu Shui looked and exclaimed: "Master, is this Ren Tingting's hair?"

  Ninth Uncle nodded and said, "Not bad, this is Tingting's hair. This small bunch of hair has been enchanted by me, with Tingting's aura amplified several dozen times. Later, Old Master Ren will sense it, but what he senses won't be Tingting, but rather this bunch of hair."

  Qiu Sheng let out a sigh of relief after hearing Jiu Shu's words. After all, when the zombies came, their first target was always Tingting. If Tingting were here, they would have to divide their attention to protect her as well. But now that she was gone, they could focus solely on dealing with the zombies.

  "Autumn Water, how's the practice of 'Inviting the Gods to Possess the Body' going?" Ninth Uncle turned his head and asked Autumn Water and Little Jade seriously, tonight they would be relying on Autumn Water's magic.

  Qiu Shui nodded firmly after hearing Jiu Shu's inquiry, "Master, I've drawn talismans on my body and feel much better. When the zombie comes, I'll let it have a good look."

  "Now, let's sit down together and cultivate our inner energy. Let's refine the fire in our bellies and then we'll take on the Golden Armor Corpse together." Ninth Uncle's words were filled with an unprecedented determination.

  After practicing qigong, Autumn Water's face was flushed red, and she felt waves of heat emanating from her abdomen, an increasingly intense sensation.

  Now Autumn Water is holding Guan Gong's knife and with his face completely red, it's just like Guan Gong in the world.

  When Qiū Shuǐ opened her eyes, she saw that everyone's face was flushed red, including Jiǔ Shū. Only Xiǎo Yù's face didn't change at all.

  After everyone finished their work, Ninth Uncle ordered those standing outside the door to take a look at the sky and hurriedly said: "Everyone hurry up and sprinkle glutinous rice on the ground and also on the roof."

  Everyone said in unison: "Yes."

  Qiu Shui and Xiao Yu each held a bag of glutinous rice in one hand and climbed onto the roof, but Qiu Shui crawled up while Xiao Yu flew up.

  Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai were in the living room, while the courtyard was sprinkled with glutinous rice. Ninth Uncle inspected each arrangement to see if there was anything inappropriate, so as to prevent any omissions.

  Everyone was busy decorating, just waiting for Old Master Ren to arrive.

  Night, midnight.

  When the watchman struck the bronze gong, everyone grasped their weapons tightly and stared intently at the door.

  Bang! The room fell silent, with only the sound of everyone's heartbeat in the living room. Everyone didn't even dare to breathe heavily.

  After waiting for a while, there was still no movement.

  Jiǔ shū sat in the central chair of the living room, his eyes scanning around, but after a long time, he still didn't find anything. Then Jiǔ shū thought for a moment and took out a compass from the table, on which were placed several grains of black glutinous rice.

  It turned out that these few grains of black glutinous rice were found in Mr. Ren's bedroom after he passed away, and it was only after Ninth Uncle asked Ah Wei that they knew about it. When Mr. Ren died in his bedroom, the surrounding area was filled with glutinous rice, some white, some had been corrupted by the corpse's aura and turned black.

  Ninth Uncle took out another talisman from his bosom, and with a flick of his finger, the talisman ignited on its own. He then placed it on the compass. After the talisman was completely burned, the needle on the compass actually started moving!

  Wow!

  When Autumn Water saw it, she was startled and this zombie actually arrived, but didn't know where it was hiding now, and didn't make any sound.