Of course, this method involved a huge risk as the headless zombie was frighteningly strong. Even Lin Jin and Shu Xiaolou couldn’t deal with him after teaming up. They could only seal him in the painting realm with the help of the Demon Slayer. If they get into any accidents this time, hell would be unleashed.
For this reason, Lin Jin had to think hard about every single detail of this plan. They would have to charge headfirst into the painting without making any mistakes, or they would have to go with another plan.
Seeing Lin Jin thinking in silence, Tiger Taoist thought that his injury might have been too troublesome that Lin Jin was at a loss.
“Brother Lin, it’s okay if you can’t treat it. Please don’t worry yourself over this. I’ve endured it for so long already and I can continue doing this. I can take it,” he said readily.
Lin Jin shook his head and smiled. “Brother Tiger, you’ve misunderstood me. Your wound can be treated and I’m just thinking about the approach we should take.”
Tiger Taoist was stunned before revelation took over his facial expression. “Brother Lin, can you really treat this?”
Lin Jin nodded.
Tiger Taoist was ecstatic.
Others may not know but the past several hundred years had been hell for him. The wound on his back never closed and the corpse energy was eating away at his body. Given the rate of corrosion, he probably had only a few decades left to live.
How could Tiger Taoist not be anxious when death was knocking on his door?
After hearing that Lin Jin could treat him, he became overjoyed and expectant.
Lin Jin used the entire night to plan the process.
As it was a grave task, he couldn’t afford to be reckless. For example, if the headless zombie couldn’t subdue the Immortal-Corroding Corpse Refining Energy and if one of them collapsed, the headless zombie might get stronger. That, or the corpse energy might overwhelm the headless zombie. Neither outcome was good in Lin Jin’s opinion. It was best if both of them could mutually restrict each other, thus achieving an equilibrium.
That was difficult. Even if the balance was tipped, Lin Jin hoped it was the headless zombie that gets overwhelmed instead of the corpse energy. When that happens, they could at least seal the headless zombie with the Demon Slayer.
After thinking it through, Lin Jin had to discuss it with Shu Xiaolou.
However, Arid Continent was so far away from Heavenly Spiral City, and traveling by cloud would take too much time. Fortunately, Lin Jin had brought with him one of Shu Xiaolou’s paintings.
It was a painting of Peach Blossom House, crafted by Shu Xiaolou herself.
The realm in this painting had already been activated so Lin Jin could teleport into it anytime with the Cosmic Ink.
He explained his plan to Tiger Taoist and the latter had no objections. So long as his stubborn injury could be treated, he was willing to do anything.
Lin Jin set the painting down before activating the Cosmic Ink. After placing a drop of ink onto Tiger Taoist, he turned into a ray of light before being sucked into the painting. Lin Jin followed after him.
Simultaneously at Heavenly Spiral Academy, Shu Xiaolou sensed something and got up at once.
“The jerk finally remembers me,” she complained.
Then, she smiled and tidied up her dress before entering her painting realm.
Inside the realm was an exact replica of Peach Blossom House. The only downside here was the lack of realism. Lin Jin had been waiting inside with Tiger Taoist for a while before the door was opened and in walked a lady in a crimson dress.
Lin Jin quickly welcomed her.
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Shu Xiaolou had been smiling but when she saw Tiger Taoist standing behind Lin Jin, she was first stunned before a gloomy expression surfaced on her face. She stared at Lin Jin with confusion in her eyes.
She seemed to be asking, ‘What is this?’
Lin Jin introduced them and then explained the situation.
Shu Xiaolou looked grave. The last time they fought the zombie together, it took everything they could to seal it up. If this plan goes even slightly awry, they risked releasing the headless zombie and causing even more trouble.
However, Shu Xiaolou also knew that Lin Jin was steadfast in his work. He would never do anything he had no confidence in, especially after surviving the battle with the headless zombie.
After their discussion, they decided to give it a try.
This painting realm had many layers and the headless zombie was being sealed in the most discreet layer that only Shu Xiaolou could access.
Shu Xiaolou waved her sleeve. Lin Jin and Tiger Taoist saw a blinding flash before they arrived at the discreet layer.
Unlike the bright and gorgeous scenery from before, this place was dark due to the ominous clouds in the sky. The atmosphere was suffocating. Down on the ground, what was once mountains and rivers were corroded by layers of death aura. The harrowing sight resembled a painting that had dark ink spilled over it.
In the core of the darkness was a headless zombie who was pinned to the ground by a long sword. The headless zombie had a pair of eyes on his chest and his abdomen was split open like a mouth. Like your stereotypical zombie, its skin was purplish-green.
“I-Isn’t this Corpse Taoist’s body?!” exclaimed Tiger Taoist after staring at it for the longest time.
Lin Jin was shocked when he heard that. He asked and Tiger Taoist nodded in confirmation. “I know it. Corpse Taoist had the Noxious Yin Gathering Amulet carved into his body. Even without the head, I can recognize him with this.”
Lin Jin gave it a thought and came to a realization.
He understood now.
It was no wonder why Corpse Taoist led his army to attack him in Heavenly Spiral City. So it was because he and Shu Xiaolou had unintentionally sealed up his original body.
That’s why Corpse Taoist went on the rampage.
They were incredibly lucky. If Corpse Taoist managed to retrieve his zombie body which he had been refining for several hundred years, he would have been invincible along with the zombie dragon.
Now, Lin Jin understood the whole process.
It was all the more reason that they couldn’t release the headless zombie. Lin Jin also knew that Corpse Taoist would never forgive after what they had done.
Had his own body been stolen, Lin Jin would be just as relentless.
He could empathize with that!
Still, he couldn’t release the headless zombie.
“Brother Tiger, the Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy on your body is a vicious spell of Corpse Taoist’s. I will use my Psyche Refining Needle to force this destructive energy out of your body later. However, it is too strong to be released into the outside world as it will kill every living thing it comes in contact with. Half of Arid Continent would be reduced into a wasteland, so that is a no-go with all the people living around the area. That’s why we’re here to borrow the painting realm so we can seal both the energy and the headless zombie here.”
Tiger Taoist had heard this explanation from Lin Jin before.
Lin Jin continued, “Our only concern now is the possibility of the corpse energy combining with the headless zombie, further enhancing its strength. It’ll be much more difficult to handle them when that happens. However, based on my calculations, although both of them came from the same source, they might not merge into a single body. Instead, they would try to overwhelm each other and thus, reach an equilibrium. When that happens, we’ll seal them both with the Demon Slayer and that will give us peace of mind for the time being.”
This was the only method he could think of.