Chapter 5

Before nightfall today, Zhao Zhu gave three incense sticks to nearly thirty coffins of varying ages in the mortuary and bowed in reverence. It seemed that due to Zhao Zhu's respectful attitude and the proper incense offerings, the night was unusually quiet. Zhao Zhu kept watch in the first half of the night, while Chen Hong took over in the second half. Nothing happened throughout the night. Additionally, Zhao Zhu had laid a layer of straw on the ground to sleep, which was much more comfortable than leaning against a coffin as he did the previous night.

The next morning, Zhao Zhu woke up feeling refreshed. When he walked into the courtyard, Chen Hong was already practicing her martial arts. The technique was rather peculiar, focusing more on legwork, with her hands only providing auxiliary support. Overall, it lacked观赏性 but was likely highly targeted. Through his imagination, Zhao Zhu understood that this was a specialized technique for dealing with zombies. After all, zombies were different from humans; they were incredibly strong but had stiff limbs, so one couldn't use techniques designed for humans to fight them, or they would surely die a miserable death.

After completing a set of movements, Chen Hong finished her practice. Seeing Zhao Zhu standing behind her, she flicked her slightly damp hair and said, "The porridge is in the pot; go add some firewood."

"Got it," Zhao Zhu replied, then asked, "Did you practice martial arts before?"

"Hehe, I used to just do nail art, a legitimate job of painting people's nails. This technique was exchanged for points. In any case, once you return alive, you'll understand."

"It seems points are really a good thing."

As Zhao Zhu walked towards the kitchen, a barefoot male villager, around thirty years old but looking much older due to years of hard labor in the fields, ran in with an extremely anxious expression on his face.

"Ah Hong, Ah Zhu, my daughter Huahua has disappeared near the abandoned graves. Please help me find her. I'll go to other villagers' houses to get more people."

【Side Quest: Find Huahua. Reward for completing the quest: 300 points.】

As the villager spoke, the side quest notification sounded in Zhao Zhu and Chen Hong's minds.

The villager quickly left, presumably to find other villagers to help search for Huahua.

"It seems we have more work to do?"

"Exactly. Trust me, earning a bit more points now will prevent regret later."

"Sure, sure, I'll follow your lead." Zhao Zhu was quite agreeable at this moment. "But I'm starting to feel like I'm playing a real-life online game, even helping to find a daughter. Tsk tsk."

"In online games, you can respawn after dying. Here, you can't." Chen Hong said expressionlessly.

...

The village had two graveyards. The older one, which often experienced strange occurrences such as women crying at night, children laughing during the day, and the deceased walking around, gradually became feared by the villagers. They eventually found a new graveyard, and the old one gradually turned into an abandoned grave. However, there were many peach trees near the abandoned graves, and some mischievous children would sometimes ignore their parents' repeated warnings and go there to pick peaches, Huahua apparently being one of them.

When Zhao Zhu and Chen Hong arrived at the abandoned graves, they found themselves alone.

"Is this for real? They said the whole village would come to search, but why are we the only two here? Where are the other villagers?" Zhao Zhu crossed his arms, feeling helpless.

"Shh, the other villagers are actually around us." Chen Hong suddenly said, then handed a small bottle to Zhao Zhu.

"What is this?"

"Ox tears, mixed with some talisman ash."

"Can it make you see ghosts?"

"You know quite a lot."

"They show it in Hong Kong movies."

Zhao Zhu unscrewed the bottle cap, dripped some ox tears onto his palm, and rubbed it on his eyes. His eyes felt slightly sore, but after adapting, he opened them again and gasped. He finally understood what Chen Hong meant by "many people." Surrounding them were over a hundred villagers.

These villagers were dressed in brightly colored clothes, which were actually "funeral clothes." Each person, regardless of age or gender, had rosy cheeks. Their feet were suspended, only touching the ground with their toes. A gentle breeze brought their faint laughter.

"Wow, really intense."

Zhao Zhu coughed to cover his unease. Honestly, even facing zombies wasn't as "intense" as facing hundreds of ghosts, especially when all of them were staring at him. Their smiles, their gazes, their expressions were indescribable but could make your skin crawl.

"That girl is there, see her?"

Following Chen Hong's gaze, Zhao Zhu saw a woman in a dark blue cotton coat holding a girl with a blank stare. The girl held some candies and kept licking them.

"What do we do next? Fight the ghosts for the girl? I doubt the ghosts here are as cold as people in the real world."

Zhao Zhu was a bit worried. If he accidentally provoked the ghosts while trying to save the girl, it could get ugly, and there would be no fun at all.

"I'll lure the ghosts away, and you put this talisman on the girl." Chen Hong handed a talisman to Zhao Zhu.

"What's the incantation? 'By the order of Laojun, hurry!'?"

"No need for an incantation, just stick it on."

"Is it that simple?"

"I'm going to lure the ghosts, get ready."

Chen Hong didn't want to waste more time. She took a mysterious step, the Yu step, a lost technique. Then, she used her fingernails to pierce her palm, and the blood flowed. She used it to draw simple talisman marks on her face.

Because of the ox tears, Zhao Zhu could see the changes in Chen Hong. She was glowing with a pale red light. All the ghosts around them stared at her with greedy and covetous expressions, which were both strange and terrifying on their faces.

Finally, an old woman ghost couldn't resist and lunged at Chen Hong, or rather, "floated" towards her. The other ghosts followed, all floating towards Chen Hong. At this moment, Chen Hong seemed like an irresistible temptation to them. If the ghosts were compared to drug addicts, Chen Hong was a large bag of "white powder."

After successfully luring all the ghosts, Chen Hong didn't stand there waiting to be surrounded. Instead, she ran in one direction, and the ghosts followed her, temporarily leaving the abandoned graves.

The female ghost holding Huahua seemed to want to chase Chen Hong but couldn't run fast because she was holding someone. In the end, she made a decision and chose to continue holding the girl, resisting the temptation.

With the ghosts lured away, it was Zhao Zhu's turn.

Holding the talisman, Zhao Zhu approached the female ghost.

The female ghost stared straight at Zhao Zhu as he walked closer.

However, Zhao Zhu's mental fortitude was much stronger than that of an ordinary person, and he wasn't scared. His steps remained steady, while the female ghost began to retreat. Zhao Zhu continued to advance, and the female ghost continued to retreat. Eventually, Zhao Zhu noticed a cluster of small earthen houses and small cement houses behind the female ghost. The earthen houses were older graves, while the cement houses were newer, more popular structures for the dead.

Zhao Zhu took a deep breath, knowing he couldn't keep this up like a frog in boiling water. If the woman took Huahua to her "home," it would be hard to find her among so many graves.

He then sprinted forward, the talisman in his hand, and stuck it on the female ghost's body.

The female ghost's eyes showed a hint of a victorious smile. She laughed in a ghostly and sinister way. One hand still held Huahua, while the other grabbed Zhao Zhu as he stuck the talisman on her. Zhao Zhu felt a dizzying sensation and a nauseating feeling. When he felt better and stood up, he found himself in a small town with houses of various heights, a mix of cement and earthen structures.

On the balcony of a two-story house, Zhao Zhu saw the female ghost standing there with Huahua.

"This era is clearly from the Republic of China or even earlier. How could there be such cement houses in the graves? This world is really unreliable."

At this moment, Zhao Zhu was thinking about such things. He was quite relaxed, even though he had somehow shrunk and "lived" in the ghost's world. He wasn't particularly afraid, as he had seen too many strange things in the past few days, building up his immunity.

Zhao Zhu walked into the two-story house. The door was unlocked, and he pushed it open. Inside, it was empty, truly "bare walls." It made sense; most people would only build a small cement house for their deceased loved ones, not bothering to add miniature furniture.

Zhao Zhu went up the stairs to the second floor and saw the female ghost on the balcony.

For some reason, at this moment, the female ghost looked more like a real person, no longer the "ghostly" appearance. In fact, she was quite pretty.

"Are you here for her?" The female ghost pointed to Huahua, her voice hoarse.

"Yes, I want to take her back. Her parents are looking for her and are very worried."

"I can let her go, but I'm very lonely here. Can you stay and keep me company? You can exchange yourself for her..."

Before the female ghost could finish, Zhao Zhu turned around and waved his hand.

"Never mind, see you later. Let her stay with you. I'm leaving."

He walked away confidently and firmly.

...