Zombie Life Begins in Hongxi Village

Uncle Nine's voice came from the main hall, hoarse from being just awakened, but quickly became sharp: "Damn it! Go to the Ren residence immediately!"

As soon as Lin Yi pushed open the door and stepped into the courtyard, she saw that Uncle Jiu had already rushed out.

Wencai and Qiusheng followed closely behind him, and the three of them rushed towards the gate.

Lin Yi walked to the middle of the courtyard and glanced at the large black coffin.

The coffin lid was pushed open halfway, hanging diagonally on the edge of the coffin. The inside was empty, leaving only a faint smell of decay in the morning breeze.

"Could it have come back to life while I was away last night?"

Lin Yi slapped his forehead, only then realizing that he had been so busy dealing with Wang Teng and the chimpanzee last night that he had forgotten about Old Master Ren.

When he left, the coffin was still sealed. Unexpectedly, in the short time he was gone, this old zombie jumped out.

"I wonder if Ren Fa is alright." Lin Yi frowned.

According to the original plot, the first thing Old Master Ren did after being taken out of the coffin was to find the blood of his closest relatives.

Ren Fa is probably in grave danger.

It's strange, but the men in the Ren family seem to be particularly prone to turning into zombies.

Old Master Ren turned into a zombie, and Ren Fa, who was bitten in the original series, also immediately turned into a zombie, forcing Uncle Jiu to deal with him as well.

And Nintendo next door has become a music zombie that is immune to magic and superstition.

What kind of constitution does this person have? Is it inherited zombie blood?

Lin Yi stood in the courtyard for a while. The sky in the east was already turning a pale white, and the morning light shone obliquely from above the courtyard wall, falling on the coffin lid.

The rooster crowed for the first time, the dogs in the town barked a few times, and then everything fell silent again.

About half an hour later, footsteps came from the courtyard gate.

Wencai and Qiusheng walked in dejectedly, their faces long and thin, like two wilted eggplants.

Wencai's eyes were red, Qiusheng's lips were pressed into a line, and his fists were clenched tightly.

Lin Yi was sitting on the stone bench at the entrance of the main hall waiting for them. Seeing that only two people had returned, she asked, "Why are there only two of you? Where is Uncle Jiu?"

Wencai plopped down on the threshold, his face contorted with misery. "Master was arrested and thrown into jail by the security captain, Awei. That bastard said Master was the murderer of Master Ren, and he handcuffed Master on the spot."

"What?" Lin Yi stood up, her brows furrowed slightly. "Ren Fa is dead?"

"He's dead." Qiu Sheng said with lingering fear, "When we got there, Master Ren was already dead. There were five bloody holes on one side of his neck. Master said they were from fingernails."

There were two bloody puncture wounds on the other side of his neck, exactly like those from a zombie bite.

He slept at the mortuary last night because it was too late and didn't go back to his aunt's house. If Old Master Ren were to launch a sneak attack, he wouldn't be much better off than Old Master Ren.

Wen Cai said bitterly, "Awei arrived with the security team right after, insisting that my master killed Master Ren with his fingernails."

My master tried to explain to him, but he wouldn't listen at all and simply had my master taken away.

"Why is Ah Wei arresting people randomly?" Lin Yi's tone was fiery. "Uncle Jiu was at the mortuary all day yesterday; we can all testify to that."

Wen Cai raised his head, his face contorted in a grimace, and said, "Awei said we are his apprentices, so our testimony doesn't count."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi felt a surge of anger.

He used to watch this part of Mr. Zombie as a comedy.

Ah Wei, that good-for-nothing captain, doesn't look like a good person at all. He was arrogant when he was capturing Uncle Nine, but in the end, he was so scared by the zombies that he ran away with his tail between his legs. The contrast was huge, and it was hilarious.

But when he looked back at the plot later, he couldn't laugh anymore.

Ah Wei arrested Uncle Nine not because he suspected Uncle Nine of being the murderer.

His cousin-in-law, Ren Fa, died. Ren Fa had arranged for him to be the security captain. Now that his backer had fallen, he had to find someone to take the blame as quickly as possible so that he could finish his job and keep his position.

Whether this scapegoat is actually the murderer or not, he doesn't care.

He might even be eyeing the extinct Ren family line—

Ren Fa is dead, and Ren Tingting is the only girl left in the Ren family. With no one to represent the huge family fortune, if he, as her cousin, can "handle" the case properly, wouldn't Ren Tingting be extremely grateful to him?

In the countryside during that era, a security captain who disregarded human life was practically a local tyrant.

Uncle Nine has real skills; he can fight zombies and exorcise ghosts, so Ah Wai can't frame him.

But what if it were an ordinary person? An ordinary citizen with no background or ability, targeted by someone like Awei, arrested and tortured into confessing, has nowhere to seek justice.

People in modern society find it hard to imagine such things, but Lin Yi is standing here now, in this small town from the Republican era, and he suddenly realizes that these things are very close to him.

Awei must have done this kind of thing a lot in the past. Over the years, countless people have suffered from his bullying and exploitation.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi's face turned cold.

"Let's go," he said.

Wen Cai looked up: "Where to?"

"Security team. Go talk to Awei."

"But..." Qiu Sheng hesitated for a moment, "Master told us to come back and prepare our tools to deal with Master Ren's zombie transformation. He said that Master Ren was bitten by a zombie and may rise up tonight, so we must prepare in advance."

"What else are we preparing? Let's rescue Master first!" Wen Cai stood up abruptly. For some reason, with Lin Yi present, he suddenly felt much more confident.

Qiu Sheng glanced at Wen Cai, then at Lin Yi, and gritted his teeth: "Okay, let's go to the security team."

The three of them left the mortuary and walked along the stone-paved road toward the town center.

The security team's headquarters was located next to the town government office. It was a gray, two-story brick and wood building with a white wooden sign that read "Renjia Town Security Team" hanging at the entrance.

Lin Yi walked at the front, his pace neither fast nor slow, his leather shoes making a crisp sound on the stone pavement, with Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng following behind him on either side.

Two security guards stood at the entrance, one tall and thin like a bamboo pole, the other short and fat like a bucket.

The two men each held an old, worn-out flintlock pistol, its barrels rusted and looking like they couldn't possibly fire.

Bamboo Pole yawned, and Bucket was picking his nose; neither of them looked fully awake.

"Stop! What are you doing?" Bamboo Pole instinctively raised his gun when he saw the three men striding towards him.

"Looking for Awei." Lin Yi walked straight up to the two without stopping. "Get out of the way."

The bamboo pole and the bucket exchanged a glance, both intimidated by Lin Yi's imposing presence.

The young man in front of me was wearing a well-fitting suit, his leather shoes were polished to a shine, and he wore a gleaming silver watch on his wrist. He was clearly no ordinary person.

The two hesitated for a moment, then Zhu Gan lowered his gun, turned around, and shouted inside, "Captain! Someone's looking for you!"

"Who is it? What are you yelling about so early in the morning!"

An impatient voice came from inside, followed by a slightly overweight man wearing round glasses walking out of the door.

He was wearing a black security captain's uniform, his hat was askew, and there was a grain of rice stuck to the corner of his mouth, indicating that he had just finished eating breakfast.

Awei squinted his small eyes and scanned the room. When he saw Wencai and Qiusheng, he curled his lip and showed a disdainful expression.

But when he saw Lin Yi, his gaze paused for a moment.

He didn't recognize this person, but judging from his clothes and demeanor, he didn't seem like an ordinary person.

Although Awei was a simpleton, he had managed to develop some basic observation skills after living in town for so many years.

Some people are worth offending, and some are not. It's hard to say what will happen to this young man in front of us for now.

"What are you doing here?" Awei put his hands on his hips, trying to puff out his round belly and appear more authoritative.

"Captain Awei, you have quite the airs of an official." Lin Yi looked at him with disdain and said sarcastically.

"Who are you?" Awei's tone was more tentative.

"You have no right to know who I am." Lin Yi walked up to Awei and looked down at him.

Awei is not tall, while Lin Yi is half a head taller than him. When Lin Yi stands in front of him, Awei has to crane his neck to see his face.

Lin Yi reached out and patted Awei's round face, as if patting a nagging child. "Release Uncle Jiu right now, or I'll make sure you lose your job as security captain, you believe me?"

The way he looked at Awei was like he was looking at a corpse. This wasn't an act; it was his genuine feeling.

With his current strength, killing a security captain is no different than crushing an ant.

Let alone a little Wei, he drained the more than forty little brats from the military police station in less than a minute the night before last.

If Awei really doesn't know what's good for him, he wouldn't mind turning this security captain into a dried-up corpse as well.

Awei felt a chill run down his spine from his gaze.

Those eyes were so calm, so calm that they didn't seem to be threatening anyone, but rather stating a fact that had already happened.

A cold sweat broke out on Awei's back. He swallowed hard and forced himself to say, "Ninth... Ninth Uncle is a suspect—"

"Ha, I stayed at the mortuary last night. Do you think I don't know whether he's a suspect or not?"

Lin Yi sneered, pulled the Mauser pistol from his pocket with his right hand, and pressed the dark muzzle directly against Awei's forehead. "Will you let go or not? If you don't, I'll shoot you dead right now."

The cold gun barrel pressed against his forehead, and Awei's pupils suddenly contracted into two small black dots.

He could smell the gun's cleaning oil and feel the cool texture of the barrel. This was a real gun, not a toy to fool people.

He had no doubt that the man in front of him would actually dare to fire—there wasn't a trace of hesitation in his eyes.

When the two security guards next to him saw their captain being pointed at with a gun, they instinctively raised their old-fashioned flintlock pistols and aimed them at Lin Yi.

Lin Yi didn't even blink.

Awei was the first to be stunned. He glared at his two henchmen and roared in a shrill voice with a distorted tone:

"You two bastards! Put the gun down! You want to kill me and take my seat, don't you? I even treated you to Piaoxiangyuan yesterday! Put it down! Put it down right now!"

Bamboo Pole and Bucket were completely bewildered by the scolding and quickly put the gun down.

"Brother, sir, let's talk this out, be careful the gun doesn't go off accidentally."

Ah Wei turned to Lin Yi, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Since you're a witness, Uncle Jiu is definitely innocent. I'll release him right away, immediately! Please put your gun away; it wouldn't be good if it went off accidentally—"

Seeing his cowardly appearance, Lin Yi suddenly pulled the trigger.

Click.

The hollow sound of the firing pin being struck was particularly crisp in the morning air.

The color drained from Awei's face in an instant, and he collapsed to the ground as if his bones had been removed.

A dark stain quickly spread from his crotch, and a foul odor of urine wafted out.

He wet his pants.

"Hahaha—" Lin Yi put the gun away, gave Gu Ge's classic expression (he doesn't eat beef), and laughed arrogantly, "I was just kidding, Captain Awei is really a coward."

Awei sat on the ground, his face slowly regaining some color from its deathly pale state.

For a fleeting moment, a dark glint flashed in his eyes—to be so frightened in public that he wet his pants was an utter disgrace.

But that gloomy look vanished in an instant; he quickly put on a smile again, got up from the ground, dusted himself off, and said ingratiatingly:

"Yes, yes, I'm a scaredy-cat, please don't scare me next time, big brother."

Lin Yi's appearance was so intimidating, even more imposing than the Dragon General he had met in the county town before.

He's a real scoundrel. Saving face is important, but life is more important.

The young man in front of me dared to pull out a gun at the security team's entrance; he must be either crazy or have some real connections.

If he were a madman, he wouldn't bother to directly confront another madman.

If he really has a powerful background, then he can't afford to offend him even more—Ren Fa, his backer, has already fallen, and if he were to offend someone he can't afford to offend, his good days would truly be over.

In short, let's get through this hurdle first.

As for settling scores later—that's another matter. Once he's found out the kid's background, if he discovers he's just putting on an act, then don't blame him for being ruthless.

The moment Awei turned around, the smile on his face vanished, replaced by a gloomy expression.

He yelled at the skinny team member named A-Qiang, "A-Qiang! What are you standing there for? Open the door and let Uncle Jiu out!"

Ah Qiang quickly took the key off his waist and hurriedly ran into the building.

A short while later, Uncle Nine came out. His hair was a little messy, and the buttons on his long robe were fastened crookedly, but he looked quite well, clearly having not suffered much inside.

Although Awei wanted to make him a scapegoat, Lin Yi interrupted him before he could even make a move.

"Master!" Wencai and Qiusheng rushed forward at the same time.

Uncle Nine nodded to them, then his gaze fell on Lin Yi.

He glanced again at Awei, who was slumped on the ground with his pants soaked, and roughly understood what had happened.

He walked up to Lin Yi and solemnly cupped his hands in thanks: "Yi, thank you."

"It was nothing, Uncle Jiu, you're too kind." Lin Yi waved his hand and put the gun back into his pocket. "You wouldn't have been in any trouble even if I hadn't intervened; it just saved me some trouble."

He wasn't just being polite. Even if he didn't intervene, according to the original plot, Uncle Nine wouldn't really be in any trouble—

Ren Fa and Old Master Ren are going to cause trouble again tonight, and Ah Wei will have to beg Uncle Jiu for help.

"No matter what, I'll remember this favor." Uncle Nine patted Lin Yi on the shoulder.

"Let's go back first, the matter with Old Master Ren isn't over yet," Lin Yi said.

Uncle Nine nodded and led his two apprentices back.

Lin Yi walked at the very back, glancing back at Awei before leaving.

Awei was leaning against the wall to stand up, his pants were soaked, and the two teammates wanted to laugh but dared not, their expressions were extremely ferocious.

Sensing Lin Yi's gaze, Awei quickly forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.

Lin Yi ignored him and turned to leave.

When the four returned to the mortuary, the sun was already high in the sky.

The empty coffin in the courtyard still sat in its original place, the lid leaning askew to one side, looking particularly glaring in the sunlight.

Uncle Nine walked to the coffin, squatted down, and carefully examined the edge of the coffin lid and the damaged ink line. His expression grew increasingly solemn.

"Someone is up to no good." He stood up and pointed to the broken edge. "Look, the ink line was wiped off from the outside. There are obvious signs of human intervention."

Someone entered the mortuary last night and deliberately damaged the restraints used to trap the bodies.

"Someone sabotaged this?" Wen Cai's eyes widened. "Who would do such a thing?"

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be the feng shui master who helped the Ren family with their feng shui back then," Uncle Nine said in a deep voice. "The Dragonfly Touching Water acupoint originally belonged to Old Master Ren, but it was taken by Master Ren, and he has always held a grudge against it."

I suspect he wanted to use Old Master Ren to take revenge on the Ren family.

Qiu Sheng asked, "Master, where is Old Master Ren now?"

"It has absorbed the blood of its closest relative, so its strength will definitely increase greatly, and it may even advance to the level of a black zombie. I think it must be hiding in some place with heavy yin energy."

Uncle Nine walked to the offering table, picked up the compass and looked at it. "Qiusheng, Wencai, refill the inkwell with rooster blood and cinnabar, and prepare some glutinous rice. Go to the Ren family; it will definitely go to Ren Tingting tonight. Ayi,"

He turned to Lin Yi, "I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you with tonight's matter. Once Old Master Ren evolves into a black zombie, I might not be able to handle it alone."

"Don't worry, Uncle Jiu, I've been wanting to see for myself," Lin Yi said with a smile.

The whole day was spent preparing. Uncle Nine was drawing talismans in the courtyard.

Wencai refilled the inkwell with rooster blood mixed with cinnabar, and also prepared several spare inkwells.

Qiu Sheng went outside to buy glutinous rice.

Lin Yi watched from the side, feeling as if she were watching a live broadcast.

……