Chapter 113: Little Dou

"This..."
"Something's not right."
The two Taoist priests stared blankly at the black cat sitting on the coffin lid.
"What is it?" asked the person inside the coffin, sounding puzzled.
Meow...
Scritch... scratch...
The black cat stretched, its four paws digging into the coffin lid, leaving deep gouges in the wood.
"Brother... this..." The younger priest pointed at the black cat, his voice trembling as he looked at the senior priest.
"Bad omen. Chase it away." The senior priest raised his hand, intending to shoo the cat.
The black cat cooperated, leaping off the coffin lid and instantly springing up onto the rafters.
Both men were stunned. The rafters were ten feet above the ground, and the cat had jumped up without any momentum or support—a sight that would shock anyone.
Thump, thump, thump... thump, thump... thump...
Suddenly, rapid, rhythmic pounding echoed from inside the coffin.
"Roar... hiss..."
"Ah... help..."
Two eerie sounds followed: one like the roar of a wild beast, the other the voice of the person who had been hiding in the coffin.
Gurgle... gurgle...
Sizzle...
Bright, crimson liquid began to seep out from the gaps at the base of the coffin.
"This... is... this... Brother... this... this... Reanimated? A corpse rising?" The younger priest stared at the coffin in terrified shock, pointing at the floorboards beneath it. As he was about to shout "corpse reanimation," the senior priest clamped a hand over his mouth.
Crunch... crunch...
A sound like a wild boar gnawing on vegetation came from within the coffin, and more blood leaked out from beneath it.
The stench of blood grew suddenly intense.
"Brother... Third Brother... Third Brother... what do we..." The younger priest’s face was a mask of terror and disbelief.
Slap.
The senior priest pushed him aside, pulled a talisman from his pocket, and slapped it directly onto the coffin.
As soon as the talisman touched the wood, the strange noises inside ceased abruptly. Everything fell silent. The mourning hall descended into a brief stillness, leaving only the sound of the two priests' heavy breathing.

Meow...
Another cat cry.
The two priests, having already wet their trousers in fear, immediately looked up toward the rafters.
There, the black cat’s two glowing green eyes were fixed upon them, staring with raw, unmasked intent.
Poof...
The talisman on the coffin lid burst into flames. A pungent, acrid smoke filled the mourning hall, carrying with it the metallic tang of blood.
"Damn it! Go, we have to leave!" The senior priest immediately grabbed his companion and ran toward the exit of the mourning hall.
He knew this was beyond their ability to handle, so he decided to flee, desperate to escape the horror of the scene.
He was afraid of death—who isn't?
Meow...
Bang!!
Bang... bang... bang...
A cat's cry, followed by continuous, violent pounding.
The person inside the coffin had truly reanimated.
The two priests were even more terrified, their legs moving faster. While some people's legs turn to jelly in fear, others become as swift as rabbits; these two had clearly become rabbits.
But the moment they ran out of the mourning hall, they found themselves running right back in, returning to the very spot they had fled.
They stumbled back into the hall, faces filled with bewilderment. This was not the outcome they had intended.
They tried running again, hoping to escape before the corpse broke out of the coffin, but once more, they ran out only to find themselves running back in.
"Sorcery, it must be that cat... it's the one behind this. It's a demon, we're dead." The senior priest collapsed onto the floor, giving up the chase.
He had been the first to run, and he was the first to give up; a consistent end, at least.
The other priest sat down beside him, waiting for death.
Meow...
The black cat cried out again, its green eyes still locked onto them.
It made their already fearful hearts crawl with dread, but they no longer tried to run. Their desire for survival was strong, but their weakened bodies forced them to remain rooted to the floor.
Moreover, the situation had shifted.
"Demon! Prepare to die!" A sharp shout erupted from outside the mourning hall.
A gust of wind suddenly swept into the hall.
A beam of golden light shot toward the black cat, and another landed on the coffin.

Meow...
A puff of black mist erupted from the cat's mouth, colliding with the golden light.
Hiss...
When the black mist met the golden light, it was like sodium hitting water, sparking a violent reaction.
Green flames surged into the air, scorching the rafters, and the fire instantly spread across the entire roof.
The rafters were reduced to charcoal in an instant and began to collapse. By then, the black cat had vanished.
It all happened too fast for the two priests to react.
"Master, save us!" the two priests cried out.
But the master did not save them. The rafters collapsed directly, crushing them beneath the debris, leaving them to be buried alongside the late Madame Zhang and their own companion.
As the roof fell, the sound of the collapse and a cloud of dust engulfed the Zhang residence.
The members of the Zhang family who had been watching from outside looked at the ruins with a mixture of terror and relief, which soon shifted to expressions of regret and sorrow—though whether that sorrow was genuine or feigned, no one could say.
Chen Jin was hidden among the crowd. Although he hadn't seen the events inside with his own eyes, he had sensed quite a lot.
He knew of the black cat, but that was all; just as he was about to observe further, the *Hunyuan* energy he had infused into the mourning hall was repelled by another force of *Hunyuan* energy, forcing him to withdraw it back into his own dantian.
The golden light had not been cast by him, meaning there was a third party—the "Master" the priests had spoken of.
There was definitely something fishy about the Zhang family; Chen Jin was now certain of it.
The black cat was undoubtedly a demon, but its cultivation level was likely only that of a Great Demon, equivalent to someone between the *Dingqi* and *Dingshen* stages of the Ancient Arts.
As for the master of that golden light, they were likely on par with Chen Jin, nearing the *Dingshen* stage. After all, Chen Jin hadn't felt the fluctuations of true essence; the energy used was still *Hunyuan* energy.
Therefore, it was safe to assume this was not an insurmountable threat. Chen Jin was tempted to court disaster; when there is profit to be made, a capitalist is always willing to take risks. And Chen Jin was, after all, a capitalist, wasn't he?
Shortly after, the local authorities arrived—only three constables, as this was just a small town.
The Zhang family also summoned a crowd of strongmen and servants to clear the ruins and retrieve the coffin and the bodies.
Chen Jin was currently playing the role of Zhang Junbao, so he was taken back to his quarters by the family.
He was locked in his room once again.
Chen Jin didn't struggle or attempt to leave; he had developed a keen interest in the Zhang family.
Meow...
A cat's cry suddenly sounded within Chen Jin’s room.