The path suddenly widened into a huge cavern. Wooden coffins were placed vertically around the cavern.
The coffins were black. Some were firmly nailed shut, while some were broken from within. They were placed densely together and went around the perimeter of the cavern.
They lifted their heads to see that a step was carved into the walls about a meter off the ground. There was another ring of coffins.
Another ring of coffins was seen further up.
Tang Hao counted that there were five rings of coffins in total. Each ring had about a hundred coffins.
“Goddess of Mercy in heaven!” Shabby Taoist Master exclaimed. His face displayed utter shock.
He went close to a coffin and took a closer look. His expression changed again, and he trembled out of anger. “These people… were buried alive!”
“What?” Taoist Master Chang Qing exclaimed as his complexion went pale. He walked ahead to take a look and his expression became ghastly. “Who would be so utterly devoid of conscience to bury more than five hundred people alive?” He said angrily.
Tang Hao’s expression also changed.
Those people were alive when they were nailed into the coffins. They must have suffered a period of insanity and despair before dying.
That was more than five hundred people!
Tang Hao could not imagine what sort of living hell it must have been!
“The heavens cannot tolerate such a sinful act! The only fortunate thing here is that the culprit must have been dead after so many years,” Shabby Taoist Master said indignantly.
The three people turned to look at the center of the cavern.
A coffin laid on top of a platform shaped like an altar.
The strange thing was that the coffin was not made of black wood. Rather, it was made of bronze.
“Careful, there must be something fishy about this coffin. It’s in the center of Corpse Cave. If something is inside it, it has to be a hairy zombie,” Shabby Taoist Master said.
He held the peach wood sword in his hand tighter, while he clutched several jade talismans in his other hand.
One needed jade talismans to fight hairy zombies.
Taoist Master Chang Qing was on high alert and clutched some jade talismans in his hands.
Tang Hao was also being cautious. His eyes never left the bronze coffin.
Crack! Crack!
Shabby Taoist Master inched forward carefully. When he reached in front of the platform, everyone heard a loud thwack and the lid of the coffin burst open. Then, a black silhouette pounced out of the coffin and headed straight at the Taoist master.
“It’s a hairy zombie!” The Taoist master exclaimed in surprise and took several steps back. At the same time, he flicked his wrist and threw a jade talisman.
Boom!
The jade talisman exploded and fire engulfed the silhouette.
Soon, the silhouette burst forth from the fire and continued its advance.
Hairy zombies had fortified skin and bones and held a certain level of defense against sorcery spells. A single jade talisman did not do much damage against it.
“Back down, Master!” Tang Hao yelled at Taoist Master Chang Qing. He pounced and rushed forward to Shabby Taoist Master’s aid.
Swish swish swish!
Three jade talismans flew toward the silhouette’s head.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The jade talismans exploded into balls of fire. The resulting shockwave pushed the silhouette back.
Under the firelight, Tang Hao saw clearly the hairy zombie for the first time. It was an unusually-sized zombie clad in ancient war armor wielding an oversized saber. Its body was covered in thick, black hair. Its face was savage, and its eyes glowed in a sinister blood-red light.
“Careful, kid, this dumpling is powerful!” Shabby Taoist Master yelled. He lifted his peach wood sword and poised its tip on his palm, then slashed at the zombie.
The zombie brought down its saber and broke the peach wood sword in two.
Shabby Taoist Master was stunned, then curse words rolled out of his mouth.
“F*ck! Dammit! That f*cker is strong!”
‘Careful, Master!” Tang Hao ran forward and knocked the Taoist master away.
Meanwhile, the zombie’s saber swung toward them, missing them by a hair.
“You, you, you… you bastard! You dare ruin my favorite weapon? I’ll kill you today!” The Taoist master was flustered as he got off the ground.
He flicked his wrist and threw all his jade talismans at it.
Tang Hao and Taoist Master Chang Qing also took the opportunity to empty their hands of jade talismans.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After the fire and lightning receded, the zombie was still standing, though it was heavily damaged. The war armor was broken and the saber was shattered by lightning.
“Another round!”
Shabby Taoist Master was not happy. He retrieved his stack of yellow paper talismans and threw them as though they were free.
Tang Hao activated his sorcery and tossed balls of fire.
Under the barrage of spells, the hairy zombie finally fell. There was not a patch of undamaged skin on his body.
Shabby Taoist Master took a step forward. He took Taoist Master Chang Qing’s peach wood sword and killed it for the last time.
“Haha! That was a blast!” Shabby Taoist Master laughed. It was the first time he had squandered so many talismans, and they were jade talismans, too.
“Your talismans are amazing, kid! We’d have a much tougher battle if not for your talismans.”
Then, Shabby Taoist Master twitched when he remembered the cost of all those talismans.
“How much money was that again? One jade talisman is thirty thousand yuan. That bout just now cost us almost a million yuan.”
He cringed for a while more, then went to pick up the broken peach wood sword and placed it in his cloth bag. Then, he went up the platform to examine it closely.
He noticed something and smirked. “So it’s him! Who else could have been so malicious?”
Tang Hao and Taoist Master Chang Qing went over.
“Look here, there’s the ‘Wang’ character!” Shabby Taoist Master pointed at the coffin.
There was indeed a ‘Wang’ character on a corner of the bronze coffin.
“So it’s him, Wang Changsheng!” Taoist Master Chang Qing immediately understood.
Then, he explained to Tang Hao. “This Wang Changsheng is a notorious figure from the heretical sects. He’s from the late Ming and Qing dynasty, but he was killed by one of the founders of Mao Mountain.”
The three people burned all the coffins with fire, then left the cave.
It was already night time when they returned to the provincial city.
At dinner, Shabby Taoist Master explained the current situation of the cultivation world. Tang Hao was utterly fascinated.
They exchanged phone numbers before they parted ways.
After that, Tang Hao took a three-hour cab ride and returned to Westridge District.
Chapter 107 - Weight-Loss Potions Are Selling Like Crazy
It was past midnight when he returned to the mansion.
He went to check the room. Sis Xiangyi was already asleep.
Tang Hao did not rouse her. He tucked her into the blanket, then went to the living room. He took out pieces of jade, each three fingers long and one finger wide, and placed them in front of him.
The jade pieces were cut from raw jade ore. The colors of the pieces were different as some were jadeite and some nephrite. They were all raw materials to make jade talismans.
Tang Hao had gone to the antique market not long ago to buy more raw ore.
He had depleted his stash of jade talismans in the intense battle earlier. Crafting a new batch was his priority, in case of an emergency.
He exhaled gently and calmed down his emotions, then he picked a piece of jade and laid it flat on his left palm.
He gently p
laced his right index finger on the jade piece.
He channeled the qi in his body onto the fingertip. Suddenly, the surface of the jade piece melted. He traced a complicated rune on the talisman with a few flicks of his finger.
A gentle light shimmered on the jade piece wherever his finger went.
That was the manifestation of qi. A similar phenomenon happened when Tang Hao used his qi to activate the medicinal herbs.
‘Qi’ was the term for the energy within a cultivator. Of course, that only applied to one in the State of Qi Channeling. Once a cultivator reached the State of Foundation Establishment, it was not called qi, but rather spiritual energy.
Once a cultivator was on the Path of the Golden Pill, it would be considered sorcerous energy.
Channeling the qi in his body to the fingertip, Tang Hao continuously drew a set of complicated runes. The final stroke connected all the runes and they erupted in a flash of dazzling brilliance.
As the brilliance faded, a singular Talisman of Righteous Lightning was completed.
“Phew!” Tang Hao exhaled gently and carefully kept away the jade talisman.
Then he continued crafting more talismans.
Crafting talismans taxed the body, even though it was not a physical activity. One needed to continuously channel qi into the talisman when drawing the runes. With Tang Hao’s current cultivation level, he could produce at most thirty talismans in one sitting.
The sky lit up before he knew it.
Tang Hao was surprised when he looked outside. He immediately packed up and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
Under the morning sun, Tang Hao’s spirits were lifted when he heard sizzling sounds from the wok.
He soon heard light footsteps coming from the corridor outside.
“When did you come back?” Qin Xiangyi’s drowsy voice was heard.
She was dressed in only a light pink negligee as she left her bedroom. The bewitching curves of her body were barely visible under it.
“I came back late last night. I didn’t wake you up because you were already asleep!” Tang Hao said as he stirred the rice in the wok.
“Tell me what happened yesterday. What do you Taoist masters usually do?”
Qin Xiangyi sat down on a chair. She propped her cheeks with her hands and looked expectantly at Tang Hao.
Tang Hao nearly rolled his eyes. He told her before that he was not a Taoist master.
“Whatever, she can call me a Taoist master if she wants to!” Tang Hao mumbled to himself.
“I’ll tell you over breakfast!”
Tang Hao described the events that happened yesterday while they ate. His description was vivid and exciting, and had caused Qin Xiangyi to exclaim in surprise multiple times.
“Right, Sis Xiangyi, take off the bracelet and give it to me,” Tang Hao suddenly said.
“Why?” Qin Xiangyi was surprised.
“The jade bead on the bracelet is an Artifact with a defensive spell. The energy in it has already depleted after absorbing the impact of so many bullets and can’t protect you anymore. I’ll have to recharge its energy, and I’ll hand it back to you soon,” Tang Hao said.
“Artifact?” Qin Xiangyi looked clueless. “You can even recharge it like a phone.”
Tang Hao grinned when he heard that.
Sis Xiangyi’s car was wrecked by Chen Sandao and was at the workshop. She had to go to work by cab today. After sending her off, Tang Hao’s phone started ringing.
It was Assistant Han who called him.
“Is there something, Assistant Han?” Tang Hao said after he answered the call.
“I’ve finally got through to you, President Tang,” Han Yutong sighed a breath of relief after she heard his voice. At the same time, she was a little miffed that the president of the company was not very reliable.
Was there another president of a company who was uncontactable every other day? Two days ago, he went deep into the mountains to plant some crops. Yesterday, he disappeared after leaving a text message.
In her two days at work, she had felt as though she had been pranked.
“What’s the matter?” Tang Hao said.
“President Tang, Sis Yan is telling you to come to the company as soon as you can. The company ran a sales meeting yesterday. We invited many people in the industry and gave out many weight-loss potion samples. Sis Yan’s phone was about to explode from all the calls she has been receiving since last night.”
“That’s good news!” Tang Hao said. He did not sound surprised at all.
Given the incredible potency of the potion, he was not surprised that the product sold well. He did not expect it to be popular that fast though.
“It’s good news indeed. Sales have been through the roof. We’re still getting orders, and Sis Yan is wondering whether she should be accepting them,” Han Yutong said.
The factory had just started production and was not at full force. The production capacity would not be able to match the demand for the product.
“Alright, I’ll come now!”
Tang Hao soon rode on his little three-wheeled motorcycle and went to the company.
The company office was bustling with activity. All the employees look excited.
When they came for the interview, they thought they were applying for a job in a typical healthcare company. What happened yesterday had utterly transformed their understanding.
They were speechless at the hordes of distributors and agents at the door and the orders that came in like snowflakes in a blizzard.
All that happened because of the miraculous Bizhi weight-loss potion.
Some employees received several bottles of the first batch of weight-loss potions and tried out the product. They were shocked by the effectiveness of the potion, especially the female employees.
There was no reason that the company would not prosper if they had such an amazing product. With the company thriving, they would receive better benefits.
An employee saw Tang Hao coming in and was shocked.
Then, he respectfully and courteously addressed him as President.
He had heard that the miraculous weight-loss potion had been personally developed by the young president of the company.
“Look at him, the president is so young! He looks about eighteen!”
“Wow, he’s a little handsome too!”
A small crowd of female employees was discussing him in soft voices and sparkling eyes.
“You’re here, President Tang!” Han Yutong came to greet him.
She was dressed in the garb of a typical office lady. Her long legs had caused the male employees around her to go dizzy.
“These… and these, and these require your perusal and signature! Sis Yan will discuss with you later about increasing the scale of production.” Han Yutong handed him a stack of files as she spoke.
Tang Hao looked through the documents after he went into the office.
Tang Hao learned new things quickly. He realized that the documents were not hard to understand after Liu Dajun and the others taught him how to do so. There were no problems with the documents, and he signed each of them.
Then, he went to meet Liu Yan.
Chapter 108 - Harvesting Lingzhi
Tang Hao met Liu Yan in the manager’s office.
Liu Yan was in the middle of a phone call. She ended the call quickly and smiled drily at Tang Hao, “It’s another order. If the orders keep on coming in at this rate, the waitlist will be a few years long.”
“Sorry for the trouble, Sis Yan,” Tang Hao said while smiling.
“It’s nothing. The company has just started. It’s normal to be busy,” Liu Yan said, “To be honest though, I didn’t expect the product to move so fast. I’ve thought of aiming for stability first, but with so many orders coming in, it’s probably better to increase our scale of production.
“We’ll have to increase the acquisition of raw materials, production lines, and personnel so that we can increase our product
ivity.
“I’ve tried the weight-loss potion too. The results are amazing, so we don’t have to worry that the product won’t sell. The weight-loss segment of the healthcare industry is a big one, worth tens of billions. As long as we can establish a reputation, we’re projected to make a profit of several hundred million this year. If the supply can catch up with the demand, there’s no problem with hitting several billion.”
Liu Yan looked excited as she spoke.
Tang Hao nodded. “We’ll definitely have to increase our scale of production. I remember that there are several old factories next to ours. We’ll just buy all of them and expand our production lines!
Don’t worry about the paperwork; I know the town mayor.”
Liu Yan was slightly taken aback.
Soon, she understood what he was saying. She remembered Liu Dajun saying that President Tang was acquainted with Secretary Lin, and the formation of the company had received a lot of support from the provincial government.
“Alright, we’ll do that!” Liu Yan said, then continued as if she had just remembered something, “Right, now that our weight-loss potion has gained some popularity within the industry, we’ll have to protect the recipe. I won’t be surprised if some people are planning to steal our trade secrets.”
“Don’t worry about that. The scenario won’t happen. Even if other people manage to steal our recipe, they won’t be able to produce weight-loss potions of such potency. This product is unique to our company,” Tang Hao said calmly.
“Really?” Liu Yan was doubtful.
“Of course!” Tang Hao said confidently.
Liu Yan did not ask for further elaboration since Tang Hao did not provide it. She understood that Tang Hao had his own secrets.
Tang Hao prepared to leave after he exited the manager’s office.
“Hey, President Tang! Wait for me!” Han Yutong chased up to him.
“What are you following me for?” Tang Hao stopped walking, turned around, and looked cluelessly at her.
“I’m your personal assistant. Of course I’m following you.”
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