Chapter 48: As Long as You're Bold Enough, the Female Ghost Takes Maternity Leave

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Qiusheng spent the entire night in revelry, all in a desperate effort to grant the female ghost a maternity leave. Meanwhile, Wencai had a rough time—he danced through the night and was so exhausted that he actually fell asleep. Upon waking, he noticed his body beginning to take on a zombie-like stiffness. Just then, Awei arrived to ask Uncle Jiu to return and capture some zombies, also to check on Wencai. Realizing that he couldn’t go out looking like a ghoul, Wencai took care to trim his nails and apply various cosmetics borrowed from Tingting before making his dazzling reappearance. Though his appearance was grotesquely unsettling—yellowed and ghastly—it still had some effect, especially considering Awei’s limited intellect.

Qiusheng returned looking worse than Wencai, with bruises on his neck that clearly indicated he had been out mingling with ghosts—that is, literally “ghosting around.” Indeed, he had been fraternizing with spirits. Uncle Jiu had no choice but to split his attention between his two disciples, instructing Awei to track down zombies. Awei was a complicated character; seemingly timid and cautious, yet when it came to action, he truly stepped up.

They ventured into the mountains in search of zombies but instead stumbled upon a large gorilla. Uncle Jiu fed Wencai some glutinous rice porridge but overlooked the fact that the rice was impure. Meanwhile, Qiusheng, having acquired a taste, sought out Xiaoyu for more “ghostly” encounters, unaware that Uncle Jiu had long suspected Qiusheng was bewitched. Not only had he inscribed talismans on Qiusheng’s body, but he had also secretly followed him.

When the talisman’s power activated, the female ghost was violently repelled. Yet, blinded by infatuation and lust, Qiusheng foolishly wiped off the talisman. The audience watching was beside themselves with worry, but Uncle Jiu was even more anxious. Rubbing his eyes with pomelo leaves, he activated his yin-yang vision and saw through Xiaoyu’s disguise. It turned out Xiaoyu’s face was marred by a large patch of decayed flesh—a sight that was truly gruesome.

Determined to capture the ghost, Uncle Jiu’s formidable spiritual power was nonetheless compromised by a traitorous disciple who deliberately sabotaged the effort. Qiusheng then acted exactly like Wang Guang and the others, lamenting, “Luckily it was discovered late; if it had been earlier, we might have missed a night of bliss with Xiaoyu.”

“Truly, you are one of us,” they all laughed.

“Ha! To die beneath the peony blossoms, even as a ghost, is still romantic!”

“Isn’t that the wrong allusion?”

“Well, it’s close enough.”

Wang Guang and the others chuckled mischievously. The two disciples were unmatched in their own ways—one timid and weak, plagued by zombie poison, the other reckless and bewitched by lust.

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They were truly like the sleeping dragon and the crouching phoenix, each equally formidable. Uncle Jiu knew Xiaoyu would not give up easily and prepared accordingly. That night, clad in his Taoist robe and wielding a peach wood sword, he sat imposingly at the gate of the mortuary, waiting for Xiaoyu to make her move.

To prevent Qiusheng from betraying them again, he bound him to a chair alongside Wencai, unaware that Wencai was succumbing to zombie poison and on the verge of full transformation. Wencai began to zombify, yet not completely, and formed a brotherly bond with Qiusheng in their shared ordeal.

Xiaoyu appeared, but Uncle Jiu’s superior cultivation quickly drove her out. Xiaoyu cared for Qiusheng deeply; upon hearing his cries for help, she rushed in to rescue him. Qiusheng wished to protect Xiaoyu, Uncle Jiu attempted to capture her, and the partially zombified Wencai added to the chaos, making the scene wildly tumultuous.

In the end, Qiusheng let Xiaoyu escape, and Wencai was saved by Uncle Jiu. After dealing with the minor zombie, it was time to face the main antagonist. When the big boss emerged again, the battle intensified in the mortuary. At first, they were utterly outmatched.

At a critical moment, Uncle Jiu’s junior disciple, the Four-Eyed Taoist, happened to pass by on a corpse-carrying route and cleverly turned zombie against zombie. They finally subdued the main zombie, and the classic scene from “Mr. Vampire” unfolded once again: Uncle Jiu insisted that to control a zombie, one must draw out the breath within.

Awei truly was fearless—when action was needed, he stepped up. Pouting his fiery red lips, he boldly approached the living corpse. But at the crucial moment, he chickened out. Tingting, anxious, pushed Awei aside and took the lead, embracing the living corpse and attempting to draw out its breath with a bite. However, before she could succeed, the zombie broke free.

In the nick of time, Qiusheng, the Four-Eyed Taoist, and Uncle Jiu joined forces, using an oil lamp hung from the ceiling to set fire and kill the big boss. The old master had not lied—his ancestor truly feared fire!

The movie ended. Yet Wang Guang and the others felt somewhat reluctant to leave, having unknowingly watched it all the way through.

“Damn, this was so damn good, way better than those crappy movies they shoot in theaters.”

“Right? After watching, my head feels kind of itchy—is that brain growth?”

“You’re not growing brains; how many days has it been since you washed your hair?”

“Honestly, this film is really meticulous. There were so many intricate and impressive details that somehow felt perfectly reasonable.”

“Yeah, like the dragonfly point water acupoint, the three long two short, two short one long, and that plum blossom fragrance formation…”

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“Do you think Wencai tricking Awei was believable?”

“Are you seriously buying that? Can you even draw talismans? Though it looked plausible, it’s just a movie—don’t take it so seriously.”

With the release of “Mr. Vampire,” Chen Mo and the three major video platforms closely monitored real-time box office numbers, which was much more convenient than traditional cinema releases since they could see ticket sales instantly.

There were several ways to measure, but only effective clicks were counted.

Viewers could also leave comments directly below after watching “Mr. Vampire.”

“The bright moon in the sky refuses to shine, the moonlight flickers, and the cold wind blows through the willow alley—it’s the female ghost seeking her beloved.

Who would dare to love her? A mournful ghost bride accompanies the female ghost, secretly worshipping the moonlight deep into the night.

The bright moon flickers; the restless ghost sways in the wind...

The ghost bride scene was truly stunning, imbued with a unique Eastern horror aesthetic. The phrase ‘moonlight flickers’ uses the word ‘flicker’ so cleverly—the moonlight is no longer pure but carries a sinister aura that echoes the female ghost’s presence. The following line, ‘accompanying the female ghost, secretly worshipping the moonlight at midnight,’ captures the ghost’s gaze shining like stars, a strange yet mysterious image that invites vivid imagination.”

“The dragonfly point water acupoint, snowflakes covering the top—somehow I have a feeling that many cemeteries will be prying up their cement slabs soon, hahaha!”

“Can you imagine me taking tons of notes while watching this and then searching each one on Baidu? Turns out they’re all authentic folk legends! Learned so much!”

“Full of sincerity! Movies like this could totally outshine many theatrical releases!”

“Even knowing it’s fiction, the story feels so plausible—that’s impressive!”

“No dull moments the entire time, insanely good. Is this what online movies have become? If all online films were like this, I’d watch a dozen!”

“The casting was great too. Awei cracked me up—said he was timid, yet he dared to seek out zombies and even puckered up to play kiss-kiss with one. But at the same time, he sent his subordinates in first. Wang Xun played his role perfectly—a truly shameless character brought to life!”

“I am your captain Awei, hurry and open the door! Hilarious!”

“Doesn’t anyone else think Uncle Jiu is the real star? He perfectly embodied the Taoist priest image I had imagined!”

“Yeah, Uncle Jiu is adorable. Despite his power and knowledge, he sometimes shows a cunning side—like when he pushed Awei aside to protect his disciples or when he pinched Awei’s ticklish spot to get him noticed by zombies. So sly, so cute, hahaha!”