Finally, after an hour, the master and disciple arrived at the Marshal's mansion.
"Who's there?"
The soldiers standing outside the Marshal's mansion blocked Shi Jian and his disciple as they approached the residence.
"We are Taoist priests invited by the Marshal. Here is the letter."
Shi Jian took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to the soldier.
The soldier guarding the gate took the letter, glanced at it briefly, and then returned it.
"You may enter."
The soldiers opened the mansion gate for Shi Jian and his disciple, and the two proceeded unimpeded into the mansion.
"Marshal, the Taoist priest you invited has arrived."
The soldier led Shi Jian and Ah Wei to the Marshal.
It was noon, and the Marshal was having lunch. The table was laden with various delicacies, and a fragrant aroma wafted through the air.
"Daoist Priest, come, come, don't be shy, sit down and eat with us."
Shi Jian and his disciple did not stand on ceremony, sat opposite the Marshal, and began to eat.
While eating, he noticed that the Marshal's fingernails were unusually long, showing signs of imminent corpse transformation.
During the meal, the Marshal in front of them occasionally twitched.
"Marshal, have there been any funerals recently?"
The letter mentioned encountering a zombie in the wild, but it was possible for a close relative to have undergone corpse transformation, leading to the encounter in the wild.
In such cases, it was essential to first confirm if there had been any recent funerals.
If so, it was likely a case of close-relative corpse transformation, and the culprit would need to be dealt with before treating the corpse poison.
"There have been no funerals recently; everyone is in good health."
"I don't know my luck, but on my way back to the Marshal's mansion in the middle of the night, I encountered a zombie."
After speaking, the Marshal in front of them picked up a piece of chicken and put it into his mouth.
Upon learning that there had been no recent funerals at the Marshal's mansion and realizing he had stumbled upon a zombie by sheer luck, Shi Jian did not pay much attention.
If it wasn't a close-relative corpse transformation, there was no need to search for the zombie; all that was needed was to treat the corpse poison.
"Besides the Marshal, were there any other injuries?"
"Do I need to say? A zombie is so ferocious, impervious to blades and spears. Of course, someone was injured."
"This is bad. Those people will transform into zombies soon. It's still not too late to treat them."
"Marshal, you must find them quickly and treat them all."
Upon hearing that the injured would transform into zombies, the Marshal did not hesitate.
He immediately ordered the soldiers standing nearby to bring back those who had been scratched by the zombie a few days ago.
The Marshal's mansion was not lacking in funds, and they would not abandon anyone for a small amount of money.
"You few, hurry up and bring back those who were injured by the zombie a few days ago for me."
The soldiers, carrying their rifles, ran out of the Marshal's mansion.
Seeing the soldiers leave, the Marshal picked up his chopsticks and continued eating.
Shi Jian was focused on resolving the corpse poison issue quickly, so he did not continue eating.
On the contrary, Ah Wei, standing beside him, ate with great relish.
One-fifth of the large table of dishes ended up in his stomach.
The rest consisted of beef and dishes with added five-spice powder, which Ah Wei did not touch.
"Marshal, I think it's getting late. It would be best to treat your corpse poison as soon as possible to prevent it from affecting your vital organs."
Hearing this, the Marshal immediately refused, acting as if nothing was wrong.
"No rush. Let's finish lunch first, then treat the corpse poison."
Shi Jian did not persuade him further. He put down his chopsticks and followed the Marshal's arrangement, patiently waiting for lunch to end.
As the saying goes, if the patron is not in a hurry to treat the corpse poison, why should he be?
After more than ten minutes passed, the Marshal put down his chopsticks.
Then, he led Shi Jian and his disciple to the side and exposed the wound on his arm.
"Ah Wei, quickly get the glutinous rice."
Shi Jian looked at the festering wound and quickly asked Ah Wei to get the glutinous rice.
Now, the Marshal's wound was festering, and the corpse poison was invading his internal organs.
The glutinous rice could only temporarily slow down the speed at which the corpse poison attacked the vital organs.
In such a situation, only by finding corpse powder for the Marshal to consume, followed by treatment with glutinous rice water, would there be a chance of recovery.
"How is it? Is my injury serious?"
"The wound is festering, and the corpse poison is about to invade your internal organs. A few more days, and there might be no hope."
"Ah, the injury is that serious."
Upon hearing that the corpse poison was about to invade his internal organs, the Marshal immediately panicked, completely different from his demeanor during lunch.
"Daoist Priest, is there any way to treat it?"
"Yes, find corpse powder and combine it with glutinous rice, and you can expel the corpse poison from your body."
Corpse powder is the powder ground from a zombie's teeth.
This powder can be used to dispel corpse poison and is more effective than glutinous rice.
Ordinarily, when corpse poison is about to invade the vital organs, only corpse powder can force the poison out of the body.
"Master, the glutinous rice is here!"
Ah Wei took out a bag of glutinous rice from his satchel and handed it to Shi Jian.
"Marshal, it will be a little painful when the glutinous rice is applied to the wound, so you'll have to bear with it."
"It's alright, just a little pain. This Marshal can endure it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shi Jian untied the bag of glutinous rice, grabbed a handful, and applied it to the Marshal's wound.
As soon as the glutinous rice touched the wound, white smoke emerged.
"Ah!!!!!!"
A pig-like scream rang out, attracting many soldiers from the Marshal's mansion to investigate.
A few seconds later, the glutinous rice on the wound turned black.
"Ah Wei, quickly prepare the glutinous rice water."
Shi Jian threw the bag of glutinous rice in his hand to Ah Wei. Soaking in glutinous rice water was the best method at this point.
"Master, we didn't bring a bathtub with us on this trip."
"Guards, find me a large bathtub."
The soldiers, who were watching, searched the Marshal's mansion and found a large bathtub, which they brought to the Marshal.
The few men poured the glutinous rice into the bathtub and then filled it with water.
"That's enough."
Shi Jian stopped the soldiers from adding more water when he saw that the glutinous rice water in the bathtub was about to overflow.
Then, holding two yellow talismans, he recited a few incantations and threw them into the bathtub.
As the glutinous rice water came into contact with the talismans, it made a "sizzling" sound.
"Marshal, you can now soak in the glutinous rice water."
The Marshal nodded, drove the soldiers out of the Marshal's mansion, and then tested the water temperature with his hand. He took off his clothes and jumped into the bathtub filled with glutinous rice water.
"Comfortable!"
As soon as he entered the bathtub, the Marshal sighed contentedly, with a look of enjoyment on his face.
"Marshal, to completely remove the corpse poison from your body, we still need to find corpse powder."
"What is corpse powder? Why have I never heard of it?"
Shi Jian came to the side of the bathtub and patiently explained the origin of corpse powder to him.
"A zombie's teeth. Do you want me to accompany you to catch zombies?"
Upon hearing that corpse powder was made from zombie teeth, the Marshal became very concerned for the safety of Shi Jian and Ah Wei and insisted on accompanying them to catch zombies.
"Catching zombies is very dangerous. Marshal, you should stay in the mansion and wait for our good news."