Chapter 4

"Ah!"

A low growl, like that of a wild beast, came from the roof beam, and then half of the beam shattered, turning into a series of rapidly falling wooden spikes.

Zhao Zhu's reaction was already quite quick, but he still couldn't dodge all of them in time. Two wooden spikes pierced his right arm, and blood immediately gushed out. The only thing to be grateful for was that he was only injured by the wooden spikes, not by the zombie, or he would have been at risk of contracting the zombie poison.

Chen Hong wasn't much better off than Zhao Zhu. Although she was unharmed, a wooden splinter had scratched her face, leaving a wound about seven to eight centimeters long, which was a significant disfigurement.

On the roof beam, a small zombie was standing. The small zombie was wearing black Qing dynasty official clothing, with a green face, fangs, and red eyes. It had none of the cuteness of a child, only ferocity and bloodlust. The resentment on its body was so dense that it seemed to be about to turn into droplets.

"We need to get it down, or I can't stick the talisman on it," Chen Hong said to Zhao Zhu.

Zhao Zhu looked at the rope beside him and immediately said, "Let's use the rope together to sweep it down."

Chen Hong nodded and grabbed one end of the rope, throwing the other end to Zhao Zhu. Zhao Zhu caught the rope, and the two of them started running. The rope was swung around the roof beam, and then Zhao Zhu and Chen Hong pulled it horizontally.

The small zombie, standing on the roof beam, was hit by the rope at its lower legs. With the combined strength of Zhao Zhu and Chen Hong, and the narrowness of the landing point, the small zombie was directly pulled off the beam.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Falling from the shade of the roof beam to the ground, the small zombie, now exposed to sunlight, let out a sharp, agonized scream, which sounded a bit like a wild beast and a bit like a child. White smoke began to rise from its body.

"If it gets melted by the sunlight and we take the powder back, would that still count as completing the task?"

Chen Hong glared at Zhao Zhu and said, "Of course it would be a failure."

Hearing this, Zhao Zhu didn't hesitate. He pulled down the dusty and dirty curtain from the statue of the Earth God, swung it, and covered the small zombie, blocking the sunlight. Chen Hong understood and moved forward with the talisman, sticking it to the small zombie's forehead before it was completely covered.

The small zombie stopped moving, and its body was shielded from the sunlight. Zhao Zhu and Chen Hong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhao Zhu gritted his teeth, enduring the pain as he pulled out the two wooden spikes from his arm. He then tore a large piece of cloth from his already tattered white coat and bandaged himself up.

"Not bad for a doctor, your wound dressing is indeed good."

"Do you want to stop the bleeding on your face first? If you do, the scar will be less noticeable in the future."

"No need. After the task is completed and we return to the real world, you will still be the original you, not even a hair will be missing, so I don't have to worry about scarring."

"Hmm... That's great. I'll go tear some more cloth to wrap the small zombie more tightly, then we'll put it on a wooden board and carry it back to the mortuary."

"Right, we can't delay until evening. If the sun sets and we start walking, we'll be carrying a zombie and might encounter other wandering zombies in the wild."

Chen Hong also started to act, and together with Zhao Zhu, they took the last bit of "modesty cloth" from the Earth God's statue and wrapped the small zombie in multiple layers.

They placed the small zombie on the wooden board, with Zhao Zhu in front and Chen Hong behind, and the two of them carried the board out of the temple.

Despite its small size, the zombie was quite heavy. By the time they reached the mortuary, Zhao Zhu and Chen Hong were both out of breath, and their arms felt as if they were filled with lead, possibly with some slight muscle strain.

However, when Zhao Zhu entered the mortuary, he stopped at the door because he saw someone inside. Since it was a person and not a zombie, as the person was walking in circles around a bag of rice in the middle, while zombies hop and have stiff limbs, they cannot walk in such a manner.

The person looked like an old man, wearing a colorful coat and cloud-bottomed cloth shoes. He appeared clean but had a very unhealthy look, as if he was severely malnourished.

Seeing this, Chen Hong said nothing and took out a pot and firewood from the mortuary, setting up a simple stove in the yard. Without a word to the old man, she brought over the bag of rice, boiled water in the pot, and poured half the bag of rice into it to cook.

The old man began to circle the pot again, his face showing greed, pain, excitement, and tears, giving a very eerie feeling. Zhao Zhu also noticed that the old man had no shadow.

When the rice was cooked, Chen Hong inserted two chopsticks into the pot and started to back away, pulling Zhao Zhu with her.

The old man stopped circling and squatted in front of the pot, drooling at the sight of the rice but not moving or eating.

"Go find some paper money or something," Chen Hong instructed Zhao Zhu. "I'll find some incense ash."

Paper money was easy to find in the mortuary, and Zhao Zhu quickly brought out several strings of it. Chen Hong held an incense burner.

Chen Hong took the paper money from Zhao Zhu, lit it with a lighter, and the paper money began to burn. A slight breeze picked up, causing the burning paper money to swirl.

Then, Chen Hong grabbed a handful of incense ash from the incense burner and sprinkled it directly on the old man, who was still drooling at the pot of rice.

After a moment, the old man stood up, his belly swollen, and let out a satisfied belch. He then ignored Zhao Zhu and Chen Hong and walked out of the mortuary.

"Is that a hungry ghost?" Zhao Zhu asked.

Chen Hong looked at Zhao Zhu with a bit of surprise and smiled. "Not bad, you have a good eye. Indeed, it is a hungry ghost. When you encounter such a ghost, if you have any food, cook some for it, burn some paper money, or sprinkle some incense ash, and it will leave. Hungry ghosts generally don't harm people, but if you neglect them, you might suffer some misfortune, such as illness or bad luck. The ghosts in the mortuary are the most dangerous and restless. If a hungry ghost comes to cause trouble, our situation will be even more precarious. Fortunately, it's gone now."

"How come so many evil things are coming to us?" Zhao Zhu stretched lazily, feeling a bit unwell. He hadn't rested well last night and had been through a lot today. As a doctor, he knew that if he continued like this, he would likely fall ill.

"First, this is a mortuary, a place where evil things love to come. Second, we are participants in the 'Terror Web Novel' world, equivalent to the main characters in a novel. Main characters, even if they don't seek trouble, trouble will come to them."

"Main characters in novels generally don't die easily," Zhao Zhu couldn't help but comment.

Hearing this, Chen Hong's face darkened. "I've seen many people die, many of those who used to do tasks with me are no longer around."

"If so many people have died, why hasn't there been any news in the outside world?"

"You still underestimate the 'Terror Web Novel' world. It brings you in, and if you die, your relatives, even your parents, spouse, and children, won't find it strange. They will accept your sudden death very calmly, and the police and society will also be very calm.

During a major task last time, over thirty people from the group participated, and all of them died inside, with none surviving. But the next day, no newspaper reported it. The world will be completely indifferent to your life and death. In fact, once you enter this 'Terror Web Novel' world, even if you survive the task and return to the real world, you are already cut off from the real world."

"Group? What group?"

"Every novel has its readers, and the group I'm talking about is the 'Terror Web Novel' group. The group name is 'Terror Web Novel,' and the group number is... " Chen Hong took out her phone, opened the QQ app, and entered the group information. Of course, there was no signal, and she couldn't receive any QQ messages, but she could still check the group number. "The group number is 262868467. Remember it, and when you return to the real world, you can join this group.

The group will announce tasks, select members to participate in the next 'Terror Web Novel' world, and you can also communicate with others in the group, both online and in the real world, because you might eventually die together."

"Who is the group leader? Or is there even a group leader?"

"There is a group leader, but it's not a person, it might even be a 'god.' In any case, it's better to focus on living well. After we complete this task, we'll meet in the group."

"Interesting," Zhao Zhu smiled and then looked at the pot of rice that hadn't been touched. "Should we throw this away?"

"Yes, eating it would make you sick. Some of the older doctors in your hospital should have a rule: even if they eat in the hospital, they finish quickly and don't leave any leftovers, because there are more ghosts in the hospital than in other places. If the leftovers are eaten by ghosts, it can have a negative impact on the living."

Zhao Zhu thought about it and indeed, some older doctors had this rule, unlike some young doctors and nurses who liked to play with their phones while eating, but rather ate quickly and washed their bowls.

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