Chapter 33 - Corpse raising technique

Chapter 33: Chapter 33 - Corpse raising technique

The technique Jua Gu had just used was not an ordinary cultivation skill.

In fact, corpse-raising was considered one of the most notorious and dangerous forbidden techniques in the cultivation world. Very few cultivators had ever managed to master it, and even fewer were willing to practice it. As generations passed, the technique gradually disappeared. The knowledge surrounding it became fragmented, its manuscripts were lost, and the once-feared art slowly faded into legend.

By the time Jua Gu had become a cultivator, the technique had already been classified as a restricted art. The few remaining records were either hidden away by powerful sects or believed to have been destroyed.

Jua Gu, as a demonic cultivator, had never possessed the technique naturally.

He had searched for it.

Desperately.

After losing his master, he had searched high and low for a complete manuscript, refusing to accept that there was nothing he could do. He had spent years looking through forbidden archives, bargaining with cultivators, entering places he had no business entering, and chasing every rumor that mentioned the possibility of returning the dead to the living.

It had taken him a very long time to finally find the manuscript.

And when he did, he had learned the cruel truth.

The technique had rules.

Rules that could not be ignored.

Jua Gu’s mind briefly flashed back to his countless failed attempts.

His master’s body had remained trapped in ice, perfectly preserved but utterly still. Even after Jua Gu had exhausted every method he knew, those cold hands had never moved again. The face he remembered so clearly had remained as motionless as a statue, forever separated from the warmth of life.

Jua Gu squeezed his eyes shut.

He tightened his arms around Ying Mao, pulling the little boy closer against him.

No.

Don’t think about it.

Don’t.

He forced those memories back into the deepest corner of his mind. This was not the time to remember his master. Not now.

He took a slow breath and looked toward Ying Di.

As his cultivation had deepened over the years, Jua Gu had eventually come to understand the true limitations of the restricted art.

The first rule was simple.

The corpse could not have been dead for more than a few hours.

Once too much time had passed, the body would begin to deteriorate, and the technique would no longer be able to reconnect the body’s remaining life force.

The second rule was far more important.

Once a person’s pulse had completely disappeared, the technique could only restore movement to the body.

It could not bring back the soul.

The person who returned would no longer truly be the person who had died. Their memories, emotions, and consciousness were gone. What remained was only the physical body, bound to the caster’s command.

The third rule was different.

If the person was still on the verge of death and even the faintest trace of a pulse remained, the technique could completely restore them. Their soul would remain intact, and they would return to life as the same person they had been.

But the price for doing so was enormous.

The caster would have to sacrifice a tremendous amount of their own energy to force the dying body back from the brink.

Jua Gu had experienced the first two rules himself.

The third, however, had never been useful to him.

By the time he had finally learned enough about the technique to understand how it truly worked, the only person he had ever wanted to save had already been dead for far too long.

His master’s body had been nothing more than a frozen corpse.

There had been no pulse left to save.

No soul he could reach.

Only an empty body that refused to wake.

Jua Gu’s fingers unconsciously tightened around Ying Mao.

"Jua-ge..."

Ying Mao’s hesitant voice pulled him back to the present.

The door to the room opened slightly, and one of the servants cautiously peeked inside. She had probably only intended to check what had caused the noise, but the moment her eyes landed on the scene inside, her face went completely white.

The room was covered in blood.

Ying Di was sitting in the middle of it, his clothes and entire body stained red. His pale face was smeared with blood, and the sight of him sitting there so unnaturally still made him look more frightening than injured.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

The servant let out a terrified scream and stumbled backward before turning around and running down the hallway.

Her scream quickly attracted the attention of the others. Several servants hurried over, only to stop dead when they saw what was inside.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then the butler’s face changed.

"The young master is hurt!" he shouted. "Quickly! Call the doctor! Call the doctor!"

He rushed into the room, but the moment he got closer to Ying Di, he hesitated. There was simply too much blood. He had no idea where the injuries were or what had happened, and the sight was enough to make even him nervous.

Jua Gu’s eyes shifted toward Ying Di. "Send them away. Act emotional and angry." He gave the command directly through their connection.

Ying Di’s dull eyes moved toward the servants.

Then his expression abruptly twisted into anger.

"Go away!"

His sudden roar made several servants flinch.

The butler froze in place.

The man who had always been so fearful of Ying Di instinctively took a step backward, his face filled with uncertainty. "But, Master, you—"

"Just go!" Ying Di shouted again. "Leave me alone!"

The butler swallowed nervously.

"But you’re injured. We need to—"

"I said leave!"

Ying Di’s voice echoed through the room.

The servants exchanged frightened glances. None of them wanted to remain there any longer than necessary, especially with Ying Di behaving so strangely and covered from head to toe in blood.

The first servant who had discovered the scene had already disappeared down the hallway. The others quickly followed, backing away before finally turning and leaving the room.

The butler lingered for another moment, clearly torn between helping his master and obeying his command. In the end, fear won out. He stepped outside and immediately pulled out his phone, hurriedly calling someone and reporting Ying Di’s condition.

Within moments, the room was empty again.

Jua Gu watched the doorway after they disappeared, his expression unreadable.

The little boy was staring at Ying Di with obvious fear, his small body still pressed close to Jua’s side.

"Shh," Jua Gu said quietly. "It’s okay. He won’t hurt us."

He lifted one hand and waved it toward Ying Di.

The moment he gave the command, Ying Di moved.

His body rose from the floor with an unnatural stiffness. His movements were slow and mechanical, lacking the small unconscious gestures a living person would normally make. His eyes were open, but they were empty and dull, without even a trace of the anger and hatred that had filled them before his death.

Ying Mao watched him approach, his expression becoming increasingly confused.

Ying Di stopped in front of Jua Gu.

Then, without hesitation, he lowered himself onto one knee.

His head bowed.

"Master."

Ying Mao’s eyebrows knitted together so tightly that they nearly met.

He looked from Ying Di to Jua Gu, then back to Ying Di again.

His expression became even more bewildered.

"Jua-ge..."

He tugged lightly on Jua Gu’s clothes.

"What... what is going on?"