“Little Corpse”:

  Yeah, they’re eating him.

  Neat. He got his nickname as his Party Tag.

  -We’ll be back in a few hours to see if any of what he said was real or not,- I tell one of the monks. -The Ghost Servant was actually a Disciple dressed like a corpse, the Disciple wasn’t a corpse manipulator, and tried to run, and I think the girls are eating him, so that’s that taken care of...-

  I purse my lips as I try to remember if I missed anything.

  -Oh! Congratulations on winning your duel!- I clasp Little Corpse’s shoulder as the girls stumble with their boyfriend meal.

  I don’t know how his hair is staying on his bare skull, or how they ate around it like that, but it looks like they started as his face and then worked their way down to his chest. I’m standing there, arms crossed over my chest, watching as they reach, through his robes, no damage to the fabric, pull out chunks of meat, and eat or feed one another. There’s no blood on the robes. No blood on the exposed bone. The bones that are exposed look bleached.

  -You are very neat eaters,- I applaud, Little Corpse sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose with his head lowered. -What? You’ve seen me eat! Look how clean his clothes are! Look how fast they’re stripping his corpse!-

  “I don’t eat flesh. Living or otherwise,” Little Corpse says. The girls aren’t offended, but I am.

  -How many of these villagers would like fish or beef or pork or chicken? Don’t eat flesh... Hmph!- I cross my arms, putting him out of my sight while he shakes his head and walks away from me.

  “Let’s... put that away,” Little Corpse says, looking at the girls.

  “We’ll need to redo our room!” the girls cheer.

  I don’t wanna, but I kinda have to know.

  -Be right back,- I say before transferring us to my void.

  To the house, everyone sweeping in, and now we’re in the girls’ room.

  “What kind of room did you want?” Little Corpse asks.

  Didn’t even occur to me. Kinda assumed they’d cultivator bullshit some house renovations.

  “ ? Honeymoon chamber! ? ” the girls cheer, holding up the body with one hand, other fist raised in victory.

  -I’m counting on you,- I turn to Little Corpse, clasping his shoulder and trying to keep a stern expression.

  “I assumed you would,” he says, cutting his eyes, arms crossed as I update his permissions.

  -Build yourself some chambers while you’re at it,- I pat his shoulder and leave the room.

  Imma take a nap!

  I wake up on my side, resting my head on my outstretched arm, on my porch. Did I not go into my room? I think I wanted to avoid being in a bed while the girls were on their “honeymoon”.

  “The room’s finished. The elders want you to see it so that you know what to look for.”

  This feels like a trap.

  I sigh, get up, and follow Little Corpse into the house, and then down a hallway.

  ...

  Their common room is still a sitting area, but it looks like the main room got a glow up. Clean lines, polished stone, woven fabrics and lacquered wood. Not kids. Got it.

  The fact that they’re fully robed, in bed, with the corpse, under the covers, and cheering when I come into the room is deeply upsetting. And there’s so much red. Red banners, red runners, red sheets, red drapes on their raised four post bed, and they’re wearing red robes. Large red robes, not traditional red form fitting tunics and split robes.

  None of what I’m presented with matches what I have stashed in my Library as “honeymoon” outside of the color. But I’m seeing a lot of funeral shiz. We really need to hunt down anyone who was part of making these two. A corpse wedding. They’re making corpse husbands.

  No sex, just payback and food, and they didn’t get this from me, we just have similar thoughts.

  -How do you strip the flesh without the mess?-

  “I’m gonna keep rebuilding the village,” Little Corpse sighs, and I transfer them out of my void. He wanders off with the monks acknowledging him, but not attacking, because we’re cool like that.

  The girls exchange a look, sitting up in bed, and not saying a word.

  -Seriously.- Did they think I was joking? I’m not. -How do you do that?-

  “We learned from experience,” one of the girls says slowly and I feel my scales lift in buggy goosebumps.

  Oh.

  -Imma go outside now.- I tell the girls, pointing back over my shoulder. -You leave your... snack? Boyfriend? Husband? Leave the body so we can go.-

  They flip back the sheet, just the corners so the corpse is still covered, and climb out of the bed, leaving the sheet folded down so they can climb back in quickly. They put their shoes on, stand at the ready, and then we head back out.

  And I’ve got multiple messages from party chat, sends, and the peanut gallery, all telling me someone used a Ghost Whistle.

  “They’re still at it,” one monk wielding a rake says.

  “We’ll work on purifying,” the girls say, clasping hands and running off to stop the village from being fogged out again.

  Look at us. Demonic cultivators, corpses and non-hunans joining hands with monks to save people. No wonder my fellow Disciples hate me.

  Get fucced.

  I flip off my Sect fellows and come to my senses with a monk waiting patiently for me to stop daydreaming.

  -Hi.-

  The monk opens their mouth, I get tackled by a villager, transfer Little Corpse and the girls back to me, and we all get dumped back into the sect at the foot of Widow’s Sigh.

  -If you’re not talking about the way everyone keeps attacking me, and instead plan on chastising me for whooping their asses, you can send me back to the town now,- I tell him from my place on my back on the ground.

  “You haven’t reported anything,” he tells me and I go cross-eyed.

  -We’ll find out how to do it,- the girls reassure me as I frown.

  -Tch! What the hells have you been listening to? Am I picking on people for no reason?- I snap wiggling around to indicate the spent corpse with its arms locked around me.

  “Sorrow’s Roost is a ton of slaughter where those who can’t or won’t live elsewhere go. Their living Resentments disturb those who died there, alone and weak. It is a prime cultivation area for anyone wishing to create a personal servant. It’s a tradition to create a personal servant before you advance out of the Sect, and you are interfering with that tradition!”

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  -You can advance out of Sects?- There’s a collective sighing groan and the air resonates with the sound of many face palms. -How would I know?- I snap. -I’m told I’m a servant until death, they keep trying to use my corpse, and you can just leave?-

  “Sects are there for people to become cultivators if their families don’t have the resources to train and develope them,” a masked elder says, gesturing with small slow sweeps of his hands. “Once you’ve developed enough, advanced to the point where you can strike out on your own, you are free to make a name for yourself. We are not cults, contrary to what commoners may believe, but we will not allow our secrets to walk away.”

  -Is there someone who can teach me how to share my logs? There was a monk who was going to in order to share his findings about what happened at Green Rivers, but he died because of your stupid tradition!- I snap, sulking that I keep getting in trouble because I won’t let some bastards pick on me. See how I punish them until I learn how to file reports!

  “We could test you to see if you’ve advanced enough to leave the hovels and move into the Sect grounds,” the kinder old man murmurs thoughtfully.

  -*”Move into the Sect grounds”? I thought these were the Sect grounds!*-

  “Oh, no no no. We’re not so poor as this. This is to encourage lower disciples to rank up quickly. You must think quite poorly of us,” the old man chuckles.

  -Yes!- I exclaim, getting annoyed and banking the body so I can sit up. -You’ve got people in soiled clothing shitting in the corner of their bedroom, sleeping on filthy straw, and you think I’ll consider you a rich sect?!-

  “This is called ‘The Hovels’ for a reason,” the old man says, turning and waving for me to follow him. “Come now! Let’s test to see if you can advance in our Vengeful Ghost Sect!”

  -That’s another thing!- I say as I follow the elder, Little Corpse smoothly stepping ahead of me with the girls keeping an eye on Widow’s Sigh as he follows behind. -How many Ghost sister sects are there? Vengeful Ghost, Ghost Flame, Vengeful Ghost Flame!-

  “Where there are living there are Resentments and corpses,” Widow’s Sigh gives a near imperceptible shrug.

  -People are assholes,- I say by way of agreement.

  “You replaced the broken servant? That’s a good start,” the elder ahead says, looking back and giving Little Corpse a once over.

  -No. Same servant. I made a body with a corpse preservation technique,- I shrug when our little procession slows to a stop. -I’m not lacking resources, I’m lacking knowledge, and people keep trying to hoard it.-

  “You made this body for a Broken Servant with a Corpse Preservation technique you learned from this sect?” the elder ahead asks clearly.

  -Iono. It was just a Corpse Preservation Technique. With some modifications, because I can,- I give a bigger shrug, exaggerating and holding the motion while frowning with my eyes as open as I can get them. I’m not sure how else to tell them I have no idea what the fack they want. -You wanna know if it’s from this sect? Show me some Sect Corpse Preservation manuals and I’ll look for the one I used.-

  “Very clever,” he chuckles, wagging his finger at me as he turns back around and keeps the party moving. “Very clever.

  “When you’ve demonstrated your ability you can pass freely between the areas below your current ranking,” the forward elder says as we head to the store. “You’ll gain access to more areas where you can practice your techniques--.”

  -Why was that guy in the Graveyards killing people allowed to get away with it?- I say as I remember being pissed off about Fashionista’s bullshit in the Graveyards. -The one you gave my Resentment Stones to.-

  “We were unaware that there was a problem in the Graveyards,” the elder says slowly, and I can hear the frown.

  -Surely someone saw that bastard’s Chains of Heavens and Hells attack on me!- I snap. No way wouldn’t these gossipy bishes not talk about seeing something that crazy.

  “There were reports of Heart’s Disarray using his Chains of Heavens and Hells, but he never reported a reason behind it,” the elder says coldly. Now the person leading our little group seems a lot less friendly and understanding. “Let us get your tests out of the way, shall we?”

  Widow’s sigh stops near a lantern, crossing his arms and waiting, the girls narrowing their eyes and frowning. When the elder ahead gets to the next lantern and slams his palm against it I’m standing in a dusty stone room, but the stone looks natural, smooth and grey, not creepy crumbly. A quick look around and we’re in a stone building with stone corpse boxes lining what might not be a room but a long hall.

  -It was a trap,- I sigh before waving them to check out the other boxes. -Lets find out what kinda loot boxes we’ve got.-

  Little Corpse snorts as he takes one box, the girls going to another, and then we all open them at nearly the same time. A corpse servant sits up in my box, arms flailing, and I coldcock it in its masked face, not doing any damage, but it was still sitting up, so it flies back. From the girls there’s a cheer as someone starts screaming in their box while Little Corpse just starts using his sickle to dismantle whatever was in his box.

  “Oh, thank gods, you’re just girls.”

  Excuse me? I sputter and turn to get a good non-Ultravision look at this dumbass who thinks the girls aren’t a threat. It’s just some guy in good robes, long sleeved over robes, under robes a different color, and then under clothes a different color besides that. Either he has a short over robe and a different lower robe or it’s an elaborately colored and cut over robe belted to hide the change between its rich deep brown at the top and the golden brown at the bottom.

  He casually hauls himself up dusting himself off before seeing me. He points with a rolled up manual, shouting at me and telling me that the servant is his so I better not try anything when a snort from Little Corpse has him looking over before scurrying to put me between him and my servant. The dumbass hides behind me, literally reaching out to keep me from moving, honestly trying to use me as a meat-shield.

  “Those girls are pretty strong, huh?” he asks, looking over my shoulders to steal looks at Little Corpse, ignoring me completely.

  -He’s my servant,- I point out flatly, not at all amused that he’s marked me as the weakest one and the one to bully. I can’t fight, but I won’t be bullied.

  “Yeah, right,” he snorts, laughing before looking down to see that I’m serious. “Fine! Your servant against my servant. Loser gives up their servant to the winner!”

  -Why do you think your servant can beat mine?- I look over at Little Corpse, watching as he shakes his head but doesn’t pay any attention to us.

  “You don’t have enough Resentment to keep that thing powered,” he scoffs, smacking my shoulder with a fan he’s holding.

  I hadn’t even noticed it. I think I thought he was reading a manual. I look down at the dusty prints he’s left on my robes, -- was this fucker wiping his hands off on me? -- then back up to him.

  -Deal. Which one of your servants against which one of mine.- Catch the hint asshole.

  “My box servant against all of your servants at once,” he snarks, bending down to mock me, eyes wide with a goofy grin before he stands up and swats me on the top of the head with his fan. “Dumbass! If you can’t control one soldier how are you going to control multiple servants?”

  -Who says I need to?- I ask quietly as the girls do their banshee bullshit, Little Corpse hefting his sickle while frowning, and storming over.

  Little Corpse walks up to the foot of the casket, reaching down and flipping it, the other servant apparently not juiced up enough to free itself.

  -I win, now get the fuck off of me!- I snap as Little Corpse comes over and starts dusting me off.

  “You dare!” the girls shriek before spiraling over and back up with the man in their clutches. He doesn’t make a sound, but I get to see his grimace, skin stretched taut over his face muscles, the whites of his eyes visible as he silently struggles before his face is hidden by the back of the girls’ heads.

  -How do I know how many servants I can control?- I ask Little Corpse, stopping him from lifting up the corpse box.

  -You’ll have to develop the skill to fuel multiple corpses at a time,- he shrugs. -You don’t have that problem, but I’m not sure how you being a bank bug affects your ability to manipulate Resentment.-

  -Bank bug and producer. Just because I don’t any more doesn’t mean I can’t,- I remind him, wondering why he usually speaks out loud when he can send. -Wait, did you learn how to send?-

  -Just recently,- he acknowledges, head bowed as he scuffs his feet against the ground.

  -Do you want sandals or something?- I ask when I notice he’s barefoot, but he’s already shaking his head.

  -Shoes feel weird. I usually had old worn ones with holes in them or broken ties. This is more comfortable.-

  I grunt in acknowledgement then turn back to the girls who are finally back on the ground. Only half of the skull is stripped, but, judging from the look on the rest, he either died of fear or he’s in shock.

  -And where are you going to store that?- Little Corpse chastises them, gesturing at the body, hands going to his hips. -You still have the other one you haven’t finished. You’re not going to be stacking bodies in bed!-

  -Bank it for later,- I wave his concern off. -Just make sure to mark it somehow so I know not to eat it.-

  -Fine,- Little Corpse sighs, running his hand over his head.

  -Let’s wait here!- one of the girls says, clapping their hands together with a hop, the body put away for now. -There are plenty of spirits and we can move through the Gates to find out more information for you!-

  I turn from the hopeful expression that screams she’s trying to trick me into accepting something that makes no sense to Little Corpse who stares, arms raised lightly, unmoving while trying hard not to move, why?

  -Why are you scared?- I ask him, because the girls better not be picking on him still.

  -He’s not strong enough to go through the wards.-

  -We are.-

  -That’s handy,- if it’s true. I turn to Little Corpse, the girls cheering silently before disappearing. -You’re in charge of communication. I want a nap but I should eat. Give me some things to study up on while I eat,- I say, waving to him while I make myself comfortable on the bottom of the flipped corpse box.