"Clang!"
The cat-faced old woman leapt onto the dining table, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at the zombie before her.
Li Zhuiyuan seized the opportunity to spit out the dried fruit he had been chewing, pressing both hands against his forehead. That piece of dried fruit had felt like a mouthful of star anise, and now he found himself utterly confused by the situation.
He could understand that the old woman was holding a birthday banquet here, and he had even tried to use the rules of the gathering to blend in. But what was the deal with a zombie appearing out of nowhere?
This place felt like a strange mix of dream and reality, and shouldn't it be the old woman's domain?
Li Zhuiyuan could hardly believe it; was she so lonely celebrating her birthday that she decided a zombie was needed to liven things up?
In that moment, Li Zhuiyuan felt foolish, like a student at the bottom of the class. The teacher had just introduced a difficult question, and now she announced, "Let's look at another problem, a variation of the previous one."
Li Zhuiyuan felt even more lost.
However, unbeknownst to him, the cat-faced old woman standing atop the table wore a far graver expression than he did—she was feeling bewildered and even fearful. The sheer malice radiating from the zombie made her heart race.
White mist billowed from the zombie's mouth and nose as it curiously surveyed its surroundings, eventually turning its gaze toward the cat-faced old woman.
Feeling the oppressive gaze of this fearsome creature, the old woman trembled, her arms shrinking slightly as her fingers curled downwards. She crouched a little, as if to show submission.
Having only just become a corpse demon herself, facing such a loathsome being left her intimidated and with little courage to fight back.
"Why are you here? Have I wronged you in some way?"
...
"Eh?"
Li Sanjiang, who was leading the zombie troop in the Forbidden City, scratched his head in confusion. Just as they were making a turn, he noticed that one row of zombies had suddenly lost a member.
"Why does it look like there's one less zombie? Do they get tired and skive off too?"
...
"Roar!"
The zombie lunged forward, arms extended, ready to pounce on the old woman.
It paid no mind to her submission; after all, it didn’t even know why it was here!
The old woman, seeing this, stiffened her resolve and leapt up, her claws striking out.
Both parties crashed into one another above the table, and in an instant, it splintered into pieces.
Fortunately, Li Zhuiyuan had already vacated the table and avoided the danger. He rushed to Qin Li's side, and seeing her still watching the scuffle, quickly grasped her hand.
"What are you looking at? Hurry and hide!"
He pulled her toward the corner where a table was stacked up, providing some semblance of safety.
Once they crouched behind it, Li Zhuiyuan peeked through the gap, observing the chaos.
He saw the old woman dodge the zombie’s grasp with feline agility, then she slashed her claws across the zombie’s right arm.
"Crack!"
The zombie's clothes ripped open, revealing the blackened, flaky flesh beneath, which now bore five deep scratches, pus oozing from the wound.
But soon, the zombie swept its arms in a mighty arc, striking the old woman hard.
"Bang!"
She was flung back, crashing against the wall. After sliding to the floor, she stared dumbfoundedly at her fingers, then back up at the zombie’s injury.
"How is it not as terrifying as I thought?"
...
Li Sanjiang, lying on a bed on the second floor, found a scratch on his right arm, blood seeping out.
"Hiss! That hurts!"
As he led the zombies through their routine in his dream, the pain disrupted his balance, causing him to tumble left, and the entire line of zombies fell in unison like a row of dominoes.
Li Sanjiang turned to glance back at the first row of three zombies trailing behind him.
"Who the hell is sneaking up on me?"
The three zombies didn’t answer but turned to look behind them, and soon, all the zombies twisted their heads back as well.
"Damn it! Does it hurt this much to get injured in a dream?"
Ignoring the gash, Li Sanjiang scrambled back up, determined to keep jumping.
He knew he couldn’t afford to let these zombies catch a moment’s respite; if they did, they might bear down on him and tear him apart.
"Come on, keep jumping!"
...
"Roar!"
In the dining hall, the zombie charged at the old woman again.
This time, she didn’t confront it directly. Instead, she scanned her surroundings; a green ghostly light flickered in her eyes. All the paper figures that had been standing still now rushed toward the zombie.
Some clung to its legs, some pulled at its arms, while others even jumped onto its head.
The zombie swung its arms wildly, gnashing its teeth, shredding several paper figures to pieces, but there were simply too many. The old family was renowned for their paper crafting.
Seizing the opportunity while the zombie was distracted, the old woman began to circle around. At last, she saw her chance. With a powerful leap, she pounced behind the zombie, claws outstretched, and sank them into its back.
"Crack!"
This time, the zombie’s back garment was torn into shreds, and pus gushed freely from the injuries made by her claws.
...
On the second floor, Li Sanjiang’s body jerked, and the straw mat beneath him turned soaked with blood.
"Damn it, that hurts!"
In his dream, he let out a howl just as he leaped, crashing face-first onto the ground.
Behind him, all the zombies jumped simultaneously, landing in a neat line like frogs.
"Ah..."
Li Sanjiang felt a sharp pain in his back, enough to rob him of his voice. Reaching back instinctively, he felt blood on his hand.
Staring wide-eyed at the bloody hand, he felt puzzled.
"How can this be happening? Yesterday’s dream was dangerous, but I was able to jump and dodge without a scratch. Why is it so miserable now just when I came up with a good plan?"
Having discovered he had entered a dream and returned to the familiar setting of the previous night, he quickly tossed the orange cat from his lap and sprinted towards the center door.
As the heavy door creaked open, the sound of "bang! bang! bang!” echoed from within. He forced himself to calm down, mustering bravery, and began to jump when the line got close.
In this way, he managed to take the lead.
Such a clever plan, yet why did it lead to such disastrous results?
Suddenly, Li Sanjiang noticed the zombies behind him were shifting, as if about to rise, and the line began to disintegrate.
Clenching his teeth, with his back throbbing painfully, he found he couldn’t get up anymore. He could only raise his toes and stretch out his arms to crawl along the floor.
Seeing the lead zombies on their feet, the others mirrored their movements, quickly regaining their previous formation.
In the Forbidden City, a horde of zombies in Qing dynasty attire crawled along behind the guy in ragged white shorts.
As he crawled, Li Sanjiang cursed inwardly, feeling terribly restrained. Crawling was much more exhausting than running! Had he known it would be like this, he would have played hide and seek like he did yesterday.
He was old now; in reality, he lived a comfortable life filled with good food and drink. With age closing in, he thought little about taking care of his body, telling himself he’d just be buried when his time comes, but now he found himself stuck exercising in this dream!
But he couldn’t help it now; with the pain in his arms and back, he couldn’t risk standing up to try hide-and-seek against the pack behind him.
"Little Lord Yuan, when will your luck turn around? I’m about to give out here... ah!"
Li Sanjiang cried out again, looking back to see that his already injured right arm had now developed five new holes, blood flowing freely.
Crawling was no longer an option; he could only lean his body against the ground with his left side, dangling his right arm while clawing forward with his left, pushing his legs along.
The zombies behind him likewise shifted tactics to crawl low to the ground.
...
In the hall, enraged, the zombie raised its arms again, aiming for the old woman’s head.
The old woman, who had been prepared to face the zombie with her own demise in mind, suddenly let go, springing up and sliding smoothly out from beneath the zombie.
"Thud!"
The zombie’s claws slammed into the ground, momentarily stuck, leaving it in a push-up position.
The cat-faced old woman stood up, her body shaky and charred black, her whiskers gone, a testament to her dire state.
Yet she somehow found the presence of mind to turn and look at the corner where Li Zhuiyuan and Qin Li stood.
"Hey, little ones, heh heh, your grandma can't beat it."
Her call was chilling, her eyes filled with malice. Just like the first time Li Zhuiyuan saw her in Cuicui's dream, she was perched on Niu Fu's back, looking at him that same way.
"Roar!"
The zombie finally freed its fingers from the ground, turning to face the old woman again, standing despite looking ragged and oozing pus. Nevertheless, its ferocity remained, far beyond what the cat-faced old woman could match.
The zombie lunged at her once more.
But at that moment, the old woman sidestepped, choosing not to confront the zombie but to glide toward Li Zhuiyuan's direction.
Seeing this, the zombie immediately followed, its focus shifting toward her.
Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t fathom why the old woman would rather leave her back exposed to the zombie to target him first.
Did she wish to take a couple of sacrifices with her?
"Little ones..."
The old woman halted in front of Li Zhuiyuan, her smile creeping him out even more.
She totally ignored the approaching zombie, extending her clawed, gnarled hands toward him, shimmering with a faint, eerie glow.
Li Zhuiyuan felt his body begin to float. Gripping Qin Li's hand tightly, she began to lift as well.
This sensation was not unfamiliar to him; he had experienced this before in dreams. It was the prelude to waking up, a release from captivity!
At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan noticed his vision blurring, even the appearance of the old woman before him becoming less clear. But he could still hear her final words echoing in his ears:
"Little one… grandma will send you off first."
(End of Chapter)