Zombie Life Begins in Hongxi Village

boom!

The door was violently smashed open.

The two three-inch-thick elm wood doors, along with the broken binding wires on the door frames, crashed into the courtyard with a thunderous bang.

The appearance of Old Master Ren is the same as in the movie, except that he damages his own door.

Grandpa Ren jumped in, and the moment he landed, his paws left two shallow dents on the door.

The moonlight shone on it, coating its thick, black, needle-like fur with a cold, eerie silver sheen.

Its body was noticeably thinner than last night, looking extremely frail, but its two arms were as thick as the roots of a century-old tree.

The fingernails on his ten fingers were curved like iron hooks, gleaming darkly in the moonlight, with blackish-red bloodstains still clinging to the tips.

There was absolutely no trace of Ren Weiyong's life left on its face—

His cheekbones were high and sharp, his eye sockets were deep and sunken like dry wells, and the two fangs that protruded from his mouth were three inches long, with a strand of sticky saliva hanging from them.

Uncle Nine abruptly stood up, his peach wood sword pointing diagonally forward, and shouted, "Qiu Sheng, Wen Cai, quickly bring the ink line!"

Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai rushed out of the main hall at the same time.

With an inkwell in his left hand and a stack of corpse-suppressing talismans in his right, Qiu Sheng moved with the agility of a raccoon, landing in the left corner of the courtyard in a single flip.

Wencai followed closely behind, his legs still trembling, but he had already pulled out the ink line and placed it across the front with Qiusheng.

But Old Master Ren completely ignored them.

From the moment it stepped into the courtyard, its attention was fixed on Ren Tingting deep in the main hall, and it let out a low growl, like a wild dog that hadn't eaten for three days seeing meat.

The next second, it pushed off with both legs, the door panel beneath its feet shattered, and its entire body transformed into a black shadow, actually crossing the ink line, carrying a foul-smelling gust of cold wind, and rushing straight towards the entrance of the main hall.

Then it sensed a deadly danger suddenly appearing before it.

……

Lin Yi had climbed down from the wall at some point and was standing in front of the stone steps at the entrance of the main hall, blocking Old Master Ren's way.

Old Master Ren instinctively wanted to escape, but then a crisp "snap" was heard.

Grandpa Ren received a solid slap to his left cheek, his face twisted to the right, and his neck cracked with a sharp sound.

Its forward momentum was abruptly interrupted by the slap, and its body swung sideways in mid-air, spinning and flying six or seven meters away before crashing into the flower stand on the east side of the yard with a loud bang.

The wisteria on the trellis collapsed with a crash, the wooden frame shattered into seven or eight pieces, and flowerpots were smashed to pieces all over the ground.

The peach wood sword that Uncle Nine was about to swing froze in mid-air.

Qiu Sheng's hand trembled, and the vermilion line he had just pulled from the inkwell almost snapped.

"Holy crap!" Wen Cai's mouth gaped open into a perfect circle.

Lin Yi dusted off her hands, spat out the foxtail grass from her mouth, and slowly walked towards Old Master Ren.

Grandpa Ren sprang up from the ruins of the flower stand.

It turned its head and let out a low roar, a sound that was both sharp and hoarse, making the tiles on the courtyard wall tremble.

Its roar was loud, but it was tinged with fear, like a defeated dog with its tail between its legs.

It had developed some intelligence and could sense the deadly threat emanating from the creature in front of it, and that the creature had its eyes firmly locked onto it.

It had already sent out signals begging for mercy, but the other party seemed unwilling to let it go and was still closing in step by step.

With nowhere to retreat, it could only fight to the death, its two claws simultaneously grabbing at Lin Yi's throat and heart.

Lin Yi sidestepped the claw aimed at his throat, and with a swift movement of his right hand, he grabbed Old Master Ren's left wrist, which was reaching for his chest.

His five fingers clenched together with just the right amount of force, like an ordinary person holding a sugarcane.

The old man's wrist, as hard as steel, made a cracking sound in his hand, his black iron nails bending and stretching wildly, yet they couldn't even scratch Lin Yi's skin.

"He's not very strong."

Lin Yi made a comment.

This force is barely enough to fill a ton, considering his normal strength is almost ten tons. If he transforms into a zombie, this strength will be multiplied.

This old man is much weaker than he imagined!

"Get out of here!"

Lin Yi grabbed Old Master Ren's wrist and swung him around like a sack of potatoes—

No, the entire corpse—was swung around, making a large circle in mid-air, before crashing onto the bluestone ground with a loud bang.

The bluestone ground was smashed, leaving a spiderweb-like crack, and shards of stone flew everywhere.

Old Master Ren landed on his back, his black fur all over his body was knocked flat, and he spewed out a mouthful of black, corpse-like stench, like a dead fish that had been drying in the sun for three days.

It struggled to get up, but Lin Yi grabbed its wrist and swung it up again, changing direction and slamming it to the ground once more.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

In Lin Yi's hands, Old Master Ren was like a tattered rag, being turned over and over and thrown to the ground.

Each slam was accompanied by a tremor in the ground and flying pebbles, and soon cracks and dents appeared on the bluestone ground of the courtyard.

Large clumps of black hair fell off Old Master Ren's body, revealing his grayish-blue skin underneath. Black corpse energy hissed out of his mouth like a leaky tire.

Uncle Nine stood at the entrance of the main hall, his peach wood sword unconsciously drooping.

He had cultivated Taoism for decades and had seen at least eighty or a hundred zombies, and had fought against black zombies many times.

In his understanding, black zombies are incredibly strong, impervious to blades and spears, have no sense of pain, and are tireless. Even if he and his junior brother Four Eyes joined forces, it would take them a lot of effort to defeat them.

But Lin Yi didn't use any magical artifacts or invoke the spirit of his ancestor. He was simply throwing it around—like throwing a puppet, tossing the ferocious black zombie back and forth on the ground.

And judging from his expression, this was like a warm-up exercise for him.

Qiu Sheng swallowed hard, unconsciously tightening his grip on the ink line in his hand.

He turned to look at Wencai and found that Wencai's expression had become numb.

"Qiusheng," Wencai said softly, his voice carrying a complex emotion that was hard to describe, "Why do I feel a little sorry for Old Master Ren?"

Qiu Sheng opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.

Because he actually thought Wen Cai's words made sense. At this moment, Old Master Ren was indeed powerless against Lin Yi; he couldn't even stand up, let alone bite anyone.

Every time it struggled to get halfway up, Lin Yi would kick it in the chest and stomp it back to the ground, then grab its arm or leg and continue to swing it to the ground.

It emitted low growls, which gradually changed from a powerful roar to a sobbing sound like a wronged wife whimpering in a corner.

The moment the glutinous rice on the ground touched its body, it sizzled like meat being seared by red-hot iron sand, emitting thick wisps of blue smoke.

Old Master Ren endured double the pain, letting out hoarse screams.

Old Master Ren does look rather pitiful now.

Most of its black hair had fallen out, revealing grayish-blue skin covered with wounds and scorch marks.

Two small pieces of his fangs had been chipped off during a fall earlier, and they protruded from his lips, one long and one short, looking particularly comical.

Uncle Nine couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he picked up a talisman to suppress the corpse and stuck it on.

Inside the main hall, Ren Tingting heard the noise outside subside. Unable to contain her curiosity, she cautiously walked to the entrance of the main hall and peeked halfway out into the courtyard.

She saw a monster, its body mostly bald of black fur, lying twitching slightly on the broken bluestone ground, and Uncle Nine was squatting in front of it.

"Uncle Jiu," Ren Tingting said gratefully, "the zombies are gone? Uncle Jiu truly lives up to his reputation as a highly accomplished master!"

"It's solved." Uncle Jiu straightened up, turned to look at Ren Tingting, coughed lightly, and looked somewhat embarrassed.

"But I didn't solve it. I'm ashamed to say that it was all thanks to A-Yi from beginning to end. I just put a talisman on it at the end to stop it from moving."

Ren Tingting was stunned.

She thought that the one who could deal with the zombie monster must be the Taoist priest, Uncle Nine, but she didn't expect Uncle Nine to say that it was all thanks to Lin Yi.

She turned her head and her gaze fell on Lin Yi—

"I didn't know Mr. Lin was so capable." Ren Tingting's voice unconsciously rose a few decibels, and her eyes lit up. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Lin."

"Miss Ren, you're too kind. It was nothing at all," Lin Yi said, waving her hand dismissively.

Indeed, a tiny black zombie wasn't even worthy of being his warm-up.

He only came to see real zombies, not specifically to help.

Ren Tingting paused, her cheeks slightly flushed, but her gaze didn't waver as she asked frankly, "Calling you Mr. Lin is too formal. May I call you A-Yi?"

Lin Yi looked at her, a slight smile curving her lips.

His ears weren't those of an ordinary person. When Ren Tingting said those words, he clearly heard her heartbeat quicken several times, and her blood flow accelerate.

That change wasn't fear—the heartbeat of fear and the heartbeat of excitement have a subtle difference in frequency; the former is erratic, while the latter is rapid but rhythmic.

He could even smell the stronger scent of the blood beneath her skin as her heart rate increased.

This young lady seems to be interested in him.

Lin Yi didn't feel any aversion. He was just an ordinary person, not a kind-hearted old man like Kuang Guohua who was full of bitterness and hatred, nor a saint who was celibate.

With a beautiful woman throwing herself at him, he had no reason to turn her away. He nodded to Ren Tingting, his smile deepening, "Okay."

Ren Tingting's face turned even redder, but she quickly turned to Uncle Jiu to cover it up: "Thank you for your help, Uncle Jiu and everyone else. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have escaped this disaster tonight."

She glanced again at the monster on the ground, which was suppressed by the talisman. There was no trace of affection in her eyes, only coldness and disgust.

She wasn't even born when Old Master Ren died; to her, he was just a dead man she'd never met. And this dead man crawled out of his coffin and bit her father to death.

Uncle Nine glanced at the sky; the moon was already beginning to shift eastward.

"Miss Ren, now that Mr. Ren has been subdued, we'll take our leave. We still have one security guard to deal with."

He frowned again as he thought of Ren Fa, who had turned into a zombie in the prison cell.

Ren Fagang had only recently turned into a zombie; at most, he was just a purple zombie, much weaker than a black zombie, but he couldn't be left unattended.

Ren Tingting nodded, then glanced hesitantly at the zombie on the ground, which was suppressed by the talisman: "Then my grandfather... I mean, this thing, will it move again?"

"It's alright. Seventy or eighty percent of its corpse energy has dissipated, and it's been suppressed by a corpse-suppressing talisman. As long as the talisman isn't torn off, there won't be any problems."

"Have someone burn it with lychee wood first thing tomorrow morning. Lychee wood has the strongest yang energy, so it will burn completely," Uncle Nine said.

Upon hearing this, Ren Tingting bit her lip, looking somewhat conflicted.

Although Uncle Nine spoke with certainty, she still felt a little uneasy.

What if something goes wrong again?

With Uncle Jiu away and the servants sent home, she, a frail woman, wouldn't be able to handle any trouble if something went wrong.

She turned to look at Lin Yi, her eyes filled with expectation and pleading: "Why don't you stay here for the night, Yi? Just in case anything happens, you'll have someone to look after you."

Lin Yi glanced at Uncle Jiu, who nodded at him. Lin Yi then said, "Then I'll stay. Uncle Jiu, I won't go to the security team's area."

Uncle Nine sheathed his peach wood sword and slung his Qiankun bag over his shoulder: "Alright. Master Ren is at most a purple zombie, easy to deal with. Qiu Sheng, Wen Cai, and I will be enough."

"It's better if you stay here. In case that feng shui master causes trouble again, I'll feel at ease with you here."

After saying that, he waved to Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai, "Let's go."

Wen Cai stood motionless in the middle of the courtyard with a bitter face.

His gaze remained fixed on the direction Ren Tingting was looking at Lin Yi, his expression blank, as if he were processing some information that was hard for him to accept.

He seems to have broken up with his girlfriend...

If it were Awei, he would still have the courage to compete, but if it were Lin Yi... His gaze unconsciously turned to the pitiful Old Master Ren, and he swallowed hard.

"Wencai!" Uncle Jiu walked to the courtyard gate, noticed that someone was missing, and shouted back.

"Oh, here it comes!" Wen Cai snapped out of his daze and followed with heavy steps.

His back looked particularly desolate, and he even tripped on the threshold as he walked out of the courtyard, almost falling.

Qiu Sheng quickly helped him up, patted him on the shoulder, and sighed in a tone of someone who had been through it all, "Please accept my condolences!"

Wen Cai rolled his eyes at him, "What right do you, a single dog, have to talk to me like that?"

"Tch, let's make a bet and see who can find a girlfriend first."

"Let's make a bet."

"..."

The two of them playfully bickered as they left the house.