Chapter 49

Listening to the surroundings, there was no air movement, but Zhao Zhu felt a cool breeze constantly hitting his body. This chill penetrated his skin and froze deep into his bones. The scholar who had been sitting in front of him now slowly stood up, his body appearing very stiff, yet there was a terrifying rhythm to it, a very peculiar sensation. Clearly a zombie, he still retained the demeanor of a refined scholar. At this moment, Zhao Zhu increasingly believed that this person in front of him was indeed Nalan Xingde. It seemed that only the famous first literary talent of the Qing Dynasty could still exude such elegance and charm even after becoming a zombie. Unfortunately, a zombie is still a zombie. The young maidens and songstresses of that era would likely have no desire to offer themselves to him in such a state.

Nalan Xingde stood up, his icy eyes staring into Zhao Zhu's. The wind around them seemed to blow more urgently, making Zhao Zhu feel uneasy, his courage gradually being blown away. He found that he could hardly maintain eye contact with those eyes. The resentment emanating from Nalan Xingde was so heavy that it could suppress the emotions of everyone nearby, causing them to lose their composure and even collapse under the overwhelming grudge.

Nalan Xingde raised one arm and reached toward Zhao Zhu. His speed was not fast; he moved step by step, slowly. Indeed, his way of moving was different from the zombies Zhao Zhu had seen before. He did not hop around but could walk like a normal person, albeit with a more rigid appearance.

Thankfully, just as that hand was about to grab Zhao Zhu's neck, Zhao Zhu's mind snapped back to reality. He leaned back and quickly retreated with his feet. Realizing that this grab would not succeed, Nalan Xingde's hand turned into a fist and struck Zhao Zhu's chest directly. Zhao Zhu was thrown back, crashing into the wall and then falling to the ground.

"Spit... Spit..."

Sitting on the ground, Zhao Zhu spat out two mouthfuls of blood, but he did not feel much pain. Instead, he felt a sense of relief. The blood he spat out was black and thick, indicating it was stagnant blood. It seemed that Nalan Xingde had inadvertently helped him by promoting blood circulation and resolving the stagnant blood from his previous injuries.

However, Zhao Zhu was also aware that whether the next encounter would be as beneficial was uncertain. He was facing a zombie, not a therapist. Nalan Xingde approached Zhao Zhu again, moving slowly but still exerting a pressure that was soul-crushing. Zhao Zhu gritted his teeth, stood up, and grabbed a knife from a nearby guard. Although he did not believe that this knife could pose any real threat to the zombie, at least having a weapon in hand made him feel more secure.

"Buzz!"

Hearing the sound of fabric moving, Zhao Zhu instinctively crouched down.

"Slap!"

Nalan Xingde's hand struck the wall behind Zhao Zhu, leaving a white handprint on the hard wall, showing the immense force of the blow. Even a bull would have been killed by such a strike.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhu immediately held the knife horizontally, pressing the handle into Nalan Xingde's armpit. He then kicked Nalan Xingde's abdomen with all his might. The kick, combined with the knife in Nalan Xingde's armpit, which had disrupted his balance, caused him to fall. As Nalan Xingde tried to get up, Zhao Zhu straddled him and continued to press down on the knife handle.

Nalan Xingde tried several times to rise, but each time he was halfway up, Zhao Zhu forcefully pushed him back down. Zhao Zhu's face was tense, his teeth clenched, looking more ferocious than Nalan Xingde. He did not know why his strength had suddenly increased, but he knew he had to keep this thing pinned down and not let it have its way.

Nalan Xingde's physical strength was definitely greater than Zhao Zhu's, but his body was too stiff, and Zhao Zhu had found a way to leverage his strength. As a result, Nalan Xingde was now at a disadvantage, completely overpowered by Zhao Zhu.

"Charms... Charms..."

Zhao Zhu shouted, but then he realized that he had lost his backpack, and the remaining charms and equipment were likely at the bottom of the water. He had no means to deal with this zombie at the moment.

At this moment, Zhao Zhu was truly frustrated. He couldn't keep fighting the zombie indefinitely. If it were the living Nalan Xingde, they could have enjoyed a cup of tea and some idle chat, but this was a zombie. Who would want to engage in such frivolous activities with a zombie?

"Wait, why can you still become a zombie after being injected with mercury, while the other guards died stiffly and I didn't react at all when I passed by them? They were also injected with mercury!"

Zhao Zhu noticed the difference in the zombie beneath him. The color of his skin and the stiffness of his body indicated that he had a large amount of mercury in his body.

"Oh... I see. They were all treated with mercury after death to preserve their bodies, but you were injected with mercury while you were still alive. Damn, what a cruel method. No wonder even the first literary talent of the Qing Dynasty had to rise as a zombie. Anyone would die with regret."

Zhao Zhu was able to quickly grasp the key issue because he had heard some stories from Xiong Zhiqi. Xiong Zhiqi had experienced a mission world related to a tomb, which was in the ancient kingdom of Loulan. The mystery of that tomb was no less than the Qing Dynasty's dragon vein where Zhao Zhu was now.

Xiong Zhiqi also encountered zombies. After his team spent great effort to deal with those zombies, they saw a mural depicting the process of how these zombies were "piously baptized." This involved peeling back the scalp of a living person and injecting mercury into their body, while using various herbs and life-prolonging substances to keep them alive until the mercury injection was complete. After the mercury was fully injected, the body was further processed, and a Daoist or Buddhist master performed a soul-sealing ceremony to ensure the soul was permanently trapped in the body. Only then could they be allowed to die.

Injecting mercury into one's body was a form of punishment more painful than being flayed alive. It was a true living hell, and one had to endure this pain before their soul was forever sealed in the body that had suffered such immense pain.

The first literary talent of the Qing Dynasty, Nalan Xingde, never imagined he would meet such a fate. Was it because the emperor wanted to show off the progress of Manchu culture to his ancestors in the mausoleum, not only making Nalan Xingde a sacrificial offering but also transforming him into this state, so that he could continue to "live" and accompany the emperor and his ancestors in composing poetry and writing?

Zhao Zhu had no sympathy for Nalan Xingde's fate. He remembered that Xiong Zhiqi had mentioned that the key to these mercury zombies was in their scalp. Finding the first incision where the mercury was injected and cutting it with a knife would release the resentment inside, effectively dealing with the zombie. If not, the zombie would be nearly invincible, and ordinary charms would not be able to subdue it.

"Scalp, scalp, scalp!"

Zhao Zhu continued to press down on Nalan Xingde with one hand while leaning forward with his upper body. He needed to use his other hand to find the key point on Nalan Xingde's scalp. However, losing one hand to press down allowed Nalan Xingde to gradually regain the upper hand, as if he could rise at any moment.

At this moment, Zhao Zhu's face was less than half a meter away from Nalan Xingde's. Nalan Xingde's teeth had turned silver, likely due to the mercury in his body, and he had no bad breath. However, he kept trying to bite Zhao Zhu, and any slight mistake could result in a chunk of flesh being torn from Zhao Zhu's face.

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PS: Nalan Xingde, with the courtesy name Rongruo, can be called Nalan Xingde or Nalan Rongruo.