Scum Gong Walks the Career Line in the Crematorium

TL: Moonlit

Lin Hanchuan’s words made Rong Ziping hesitate for a long time.

The space was his biggest trump card, and also his only one. Unless absolutely necessary, he would never expose it to anyone. Ever since being betrayed by the person closest to him in his previous life, Rong Ziping found it difficult to have absolute trust in anyone.

“If you’re not willing to show sincerity, then there’s no need for us to make a deal,” Lin Hanchuan, well-versed in negotiation tactics, spoke directly when he saw Rong Ziping’s hesitation.

“I promise!” Rong Ziping blurted out.

Although the jade pendant space could only bind two masters, he believed in Tu Ji, the man who was willing to die for him. Besides Tu Ji, he had no idea who the other master of his space could be.

Lin Hanchuan remained composed; everything was within his expectations.

“I have the space, but you can’t tell anyone,” Rong Ziping tried to negotiate with Lin Hanchuan.

Lin Hanchuan calmly replied, “The value of a psychic with space abilities is high. If you publicize this, it will be more convenient than keeping it a secret, and you’ll gain more protection.”

Rong Ziping was taken aback. He hadn’t considered so much, but Lin Hanchuan’s words seemed reasonable. After some thought, he found that there was nothing more to add to the terms, so he could only say, “You have to safely escort me back to the Rong family in the imperial capital.”

“Agreed,” Lin Hanchuan said directly, his gaze falling on Rong Ziping, making his intentions clear.

Rong Ziping had no choice but to bring Lin Hanchuan into the jade pendant space.

Lin Hanchuan carefully observed this jade pendant space. Its size was not much different from the original text. It had mountains, waters, and a serene and waveless spirit spring. In the center of the space was a small wooden house.

It appeared like a paradise secluded from the world, but it was silent and tranquil, almost making one feel suffocated, unable to catch their breath, as if they could hear their own heartbeat and breathing.

[“001, can you analyze the reason for the formation of this space?”] Lin Hanchuan asked as he continued to observe.

[“This world used to have ancient martial artists, but as the spiritual energy became sparse, the ancient martial artists gradually disappeared and became ordinary martial practitioners,”] 001 explained. [“This jade pendant space was created by the ancient martial artists, carving space formations on the spiritual jade abundant with spiritual energy, forcibly opening up a space.”]

A hint of interest flashed in Lin Hanchuan’s eyes as he continued, [“Can it be duplicated and copied?”]

[“It can be copied, but the specific directions of spiritual energy and the exact manufacturing methods can only be explored by yourself,”] 001 replied, quickly transferring the hidden formation into Lin Hanchuan’s mind. It kindly reminded, [“Due to the difference in spiritual energy concentration between the ancient martial period and the present, even if you successfully research it, the space you create won’t be exactly the same as this one.”]

Being able to duplicate it was already good enough for Lin Hanchuan. He wasn’t greedy; he didn’t expect to obtain a spirit artifact that could match the jade pendant space. He only wanted to mass-produce the formation.

After leaving the jade pendant space, Lin Hanchuan immediately gathered everyone and announced Rong Ziping’s identity as a psychic with space abilities.

Everyone was shocked, “There’s another psychic with space abilities?”

“That means we can collect even more resources, right?”

“No wonder you treated him so well before, I thought you really liked him, but it turns out it was because he is a psychic with space abilities.”

Upon hearing the last comment, Lin Hanchuan did not refute it. He had no affection for Rong Ziping, and in the future, he would find his own love, letting others have such misunderstandings didn’t matter to him.

Rong Ziping’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant. He had decided to treat this as a mere partnership, but hearing others speak about it made him strangely unable to feel happy.

Everyone was ecstatic about having a psychic with unheard-of space abilities. Cheng Jizhou was also curious about psychic abilities, but he didn’t like Rong Ziping and couldn’t be bothered to curry favor with him.

After arranging everything, Lin Hanchuan returned to the co-driver’s seat in the large car, holding a piece of paper with a smaller version of the formation drawn on it.

While it didn’t feel complicated in his mind, Lin Hanchuan was amazed when he actually drew it. The intricate patterns almost filled the entire A4-sized paper, and if carved into stone, it would require exceptional control and vision, like micro-carving.

No wonder the jade pendant space was the only one. It was already difficult just to carve it on stone, not to mention the difference in spiritual energy. Lin Hanchuan sighed, and suddenly a little head popped up behind his shoulder, “What are you looking at?”

It turned out that Cheng Jizhou had somehow climbed into the car and was sitting in the back row, peering forward.

Lin Hanchuan didn’t retract the formation. “I’m learning how to draw.”

Cheng Jizhou instinctively felt that Lin Hanchuan was lying, “Learning such complicated drawings during the apocalypse?” He thought it would be better to spend this time on cultivation.

Lin Hanchuan just smiled.

Cheng Jizhou boredly rested his chin on Lin Hanchuan’s shoulder and sniffed the rich fragrance emanating from him. For the umpteenth time, he wondered why he found this person’s scent so intoxicating, even the zombified sense of smell couldn’t resist it.

He idly toyed with Lin Hanchuan’s hair with his fingertips, somewhat dissatisfied. Why was this person so defenseless? If it were any other zombie, he would have been devoured long ago.

The group encountered little difficulty on their way to the imperial capital. The route they chose seemed to have very few zombies, and the journey was smooth, unlike the apocalypse; it felt more like a field trip.

The day before arriving in the imperial capital, Lin Hanchuan and Rong Ziping distributed the resources within the space. Lin Hanchuan took all the team’s supplies, leaving only his “reward” for Rong Ziping.

In just one night, the gradually filled space of Rong Ziping emptied again.

“Why do we have to separate?” Rong Ziping looked at Lin Hanchuan with a disappointed gaze. “As you’ve heard from other survivors, the influence of the Rong family in the imperial capital is considerable. If you join the Rong family, I’ll fight for the best benefits for you…”

Lin Hanchuan chuckled, unsure if Rong Ziping had truly forgotten or was just disregarding it. He reminded him, “The Rong family is my enemy.”

Rong Ziping’s face stiffened.

“The next time we meet, we’ll be enemies,” Lin Hanchuan said calmly, carrying an indisputable certainty.

“It’s been so long, and the apocalypse has already come. Are you still going to hold on to past grudges…” Rong Ziping’s breath hitched, and he smiled bitterly. “In the imperial capital, you have no influence against the Rong family. Dealing with them would be like hitting a rock with an egg. Why don’t you let go of your hatred, and we’ll compensate you a thousand times over?”

Rong Ziping looked up, but Lin Hanchuan had already left, not even listening to the rest of his words.

Although he could accompany me to death in my past life, in this life, he seems like a different person. Could it be that all the feelings from our previous life were fake? Rong Ziping didn’t know what to feel in his heart. He wanted to be just friends with the other person, but their relationship felt so distant, and it made him uncomfortable.

Rong Ziping himself didn’t understand what he truly wanted anymore.

“Why did you go to find him again?” Cheng Jizhou watched from afar as Lin Hanchuan talked to Rong Ziping. He felt a surge of anger in his heart. “Didn’t we agree to part ways with him after entering the city?”

Cheng Jizhou gritted his teeth.

After spending so much time with Lin Hanchuan, Cheng Jizhou had developed possessiveness towards him. He didn’t like seeing Lin Hanchuan talking to others, especially Rong Ziping.

‘Maybe I should just bite him and turn him into a zombie. Then I can leave with him and get away from these humans.’ Cheng Jizhou thought resentfully.

Unaware of Cheng Jizhou’s thoughts, Lin Hanchuan explained, “I just went to retrieve the team’s belongings from his space.”

Although they had agreed that the supplies found by the team belonged to the team, and Lin Hanchuan’s personal findings were his own, Rong Ziping, with no combat power, had very few personal findings.

As he was gently petted, Cheng Jizhou’s emotions gradually calmed down. His anger faded away, and he felt that he shouldn’t turn this person into a cold and emotionless zombie.

However, always being treated like a child made Cheng Jizhou subtly resentful.

Since meeting this man, Cheng Jizhou experienced emotions that he hadn’t felt in over twenty years. The feelings were complex and intense, making him feel as if he were tied to the man by a string. All his emotions fluctuated with the other’s actions.

It was strange and uncomfortable, yet he didn’t dislike it.

Lin Hanchuan perfunctorily pacified the pouting little friend and returned to studying the space formation. During this time, he had discovered that the jade stones no longer contained spiritual energy and could no longer be used as materials.

However, zombie nuclei contained energy and could serve as carriers. Yet, the nuclei were very hard and much smaller than jade stones, about the size of a thumb. Carving formations on them was challenging, and Lin Hanchuan had tried countless times with no success.

He had found the right direction, and success was just one step away, but Lin Hanchuan couldn’t make that final breakthrough.

The next morning, the group counted their supplies, packed their belongings, and joined the queue to enter the city.

While everyone else present looked ragged and dirty like refugees, Lin Hanchuan’s group was neat and tidy, attracting a crowd of onlookers. Some people living in the outer city also gathered around.

“Brother, please have mercy. I haven’t eaten for three days.”

“Kind sir, please, I beg you for some food. My child is barely holding on.”

“Uncle, I’m so hungry. Can you give me some food…”

The people surrounding them were women holding children, elderly folks, and thin, small children – all of them appearing pitiable. Some individuals in the team couldn’t bear it and took out food they had scraped together to offer to the woman in front of them.

However, before they could hand it over, the half loaf of bread in their hand was snatched away by a frail-looking child. Other refugees also rushed forward to compete for the food, and chaos ensued as everyone fought to get something to eat.

Seeing that things were about to escalate, the guards of the team arrived just in time. A water-based ability user cast a spell and drenched the people who were fighting: “Stop it!”

Having witnessed scenes like this in his previous life, even now, Rong Ziping felt a softness in his heart and took out his own food, distributing it to the children.

However, Lin Hanchuan looked at these people with a glimmer of pity in his eyes and stopped Rong Ziping: “Don’t give it to them.”

The more uncertain the future, the less moral boundaries there were. Giving food to these children now wouldn’t guarantee their safety and might even attract trouble.