Zombie Life Begins in Hongxi Village

Just then, a strange and mournful Cantonese opera aria drifted in without warning.

The voice was plaintive and melodious, as if it were seeping from a crack in the ground, making the already dim oil lamp in the ancestral hall appear even dimmer.

"He is in my heart, while I am heartbroken."

The moon knows my grievances; meeting is difficult, parting is easy.

All now regret it too late. Do they still remember the phoenixes that once shared joy and winged together, and the butterflies that betrayed their kindness? I know this all too well.

My dear, do you know that I have been suffering from tuberculosis for a long time...?

Here it comes again! All the survivors of Huangshan Village trembled with fear upon hearing this opera.

This is the third day now.

Since the day before yesterday, they have been hearing this strange, eerie tune every evening.

At first, some people started cursing and yelling, "What are you wailing about?"

Later they learned that it really was a wailing performance.

They were wailing about their own despair.

Just the night before last, Chu Renmei's husband, Bu Wantian, suddenly went mad.

He grabbed a wood-chopping axe, his eyes bloodshot, and charged into several homes, hacking and slashing wildly, killing twenty-one people in a row.

When the villagers mustered up their courage and surrounded him, he suddenly knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the air, repeatedly muttering things like "I was wrong," "Don't kill me," and "She forced me to do it."

When he kowtowed for the thirty-seventh time, he suddenly stopped, as if he had heard some command. He slowly turned his head to look at the villagers watching, grinned, and then suddenly raised his axe and chopped it into his own head.

The scene was extremely terrifying!

Then Xiaoqiang from the village said something that sent chills down everyone's spines:

"This is Aunt Mei's vengeful spirit. She's taking revenge on Bu Wantian, and on everyone who helped Bu Wantian harm her."

Xiaoqiang then revealed the truth, and everyone realized that Chu Renmei had been framed by Bu Wantian.

Everyone was terrified.

The next day, they quickly pooled their money to invite the most famous monks and Taoist priests from the surrounding area to perform rituals.

They even brought Chu Renmei's memorial tablet into the ancestral hall and placed it in the most conspicuous position, hoping to appease her resentment.

But none of this worked at all.

That evening, the eerie opera singing rang out again, clearer, more mournful, and closer than the previous two days.

This time, those who had insulted Chu Renmei at the denunciation meeting began to die one by one.

The woman who had been cursing the most was found to have drowned in her own water vat.

The eldest daughter-in-law of the Chen family who spat on Chu Renmei's face died after stabbing herself in the face more than a dozen times with scissors... and so on.

Overnight, a total of twenty-two people died in various bizarre ways.

Including the previous twenty-two, forty-four people died in just two days.

The remaining eighty-odd villagers were completely devastated. As soon as it was light, they packed their belongings and prepared to leave Huangshan Village.

But no matter which direction they went, they couldn't leave the territory of Huangshan Village.

They were as if trapped in a giant, invisible glass dome, never able to leave Huangshan Village.

After struggling for most of the day, everyone was in despair.

They stopped trying to escape, returned to their homes one by one, closed the doors and windows, stopped cooking, lay in bed, closed their eyes, and waited to die.

If nothing unexpected happens, another twenty-two people will die today.

The killings would only temporarily cease when Xiao Qiang, who had gone to the theater to deliver the news of the death, returned and put the silver bracelet that Chu Renmei had given him on her wrist.

This is why Lin Yi and his group saw the village so desolate.

However, people's joys and sorrows are not shared.

What the villagers found eerie and terrifying was so beautiful to Ma Dayong.

The plaintive and melodious tune seemed to have been scattering all the joys and sorrows of a lifetime into the melody, each note striking the softest spot in his heart.

"It sounds great!"

He leaned against the offering table in the ancestral hall, his fingers unconsciously curling up and tapping lightly on the memorial tablet in time with the rhythm of the opera, while humming the last line.

"My love is heartbroken..."

However, Ma Dayong's praise confused Chu Renmei, who was hiding in the shadows.

You must understand that she is currently seeking revenge; this is the low murmur of a vengeful ghost!

Which of those villagers wouldn't be terrified upon hearing that?

"Is...this really nice to listen to?"

Chu Renmei was dumbfounded. Her last shred of rationality turned into self-doubt, and even her opera singing became stammering.

"...Soon...I'll die heartbroken for you..."

As the music ended, Chu Renmei prepared to manipulate the resentment once again to unleash a massacre.

Ma Dayong suddenly spoke up. His voice wasn't loud, but his tone was exceptionally sincere: "Great melody, great lyrics, great singing."

I am Ma Dayong, and I am deeply honored to have heard this music today. Would you be so kind as to appear before me?

"Sir" is a respectful title for a famous opera performer, representing the highest level of respect for an actor.

Ma Dayong's words of praise startled the out-of-control Chu Renmei, who involuntarily came to stand in front of Ma Dayong.

Chu Renmei wore a gloomy blue opera robe, her hair was disheveled, and her pale face and black lips were enough to terrify ordinary people.

But in Ma Dayong's eyes, she was so charming that he even restrained his Yin God power, afraid of frightening her.

"Is your name Chu Renmei?" Ma Dayong's voice was a few decibels lower than usual.

Chu Renmei was stunned for a long time.

She looked down at her pale, ghostly hands, then looked up at Ma Dayong's expectant face. Her lips moved several times before she finally answered him in a very soft, delicate voice.

"I am Chu Renmei from the Linglong Opera Troupe..."

However, before she could finish speaking, the clarity in her eyes was instantly swallowed up by an overwhelming wave of resentment.

She suddenly raised her hands and grabbed at Ma Dayong's chest, letting out a bloodcurdling scream: "Ah—heartless men deserve to die!"

But the ghostly hand was firmly grasped by another hand in mid-air.

Looking at her bloodless, ghostly hand and her face twisted with resentment, Ma Dayong felt a deep pity.

He sighed softly, his tone filled with an indescribable regret: "Alas, what a wonderful woman, to be ruined like this."

Chu Renmei tried to break free, but the other person's hand was like an unshakeable iron clamp, and no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't budge.

She got angry, opened her big, dark mouth, and a thick stream of resentment rushed towards Ma Dayong's face.

However, this resentment, which could make ordinary people lose their minds and their souls waver, had no effect on Ma Dayong, who was a horse-faced demon.

This was also due to Chu Renmei's carelessness.

She's a demon on the same level as Sadako and Kayako—

She is a ghost realm of her own, corrupted by resentment, possessing resentment clones, enslaving ghosts, tracking by resentment, controlling with illusions, manipulating objects with her mind... and so on.

Possessing a multitude of skills, it is even more terrifying than an ordinary red-clad ghost.

If she is determined to escape, the entire Huangshan Village will be under the influence of her ghostly domain. She is omnipresent in the ghostly domain, and even if Ma Dayong has the divine power of Horse-Face, it will be difficult for him to catch her so easily.

But she was bewitched by Ma Dayong's sweet words and took the initiative to offer herself to him.

Ma Dayong knew he had to do something. He took a deep breath, and suddenly a layer of dark blue divine light shone around him.

His figure rapidly expanded and transformed into a demonic and divine form within the divine light.

"Hissing sound—"

A loud neighing of a horse rang out from his mouth, carrying the unique awe-inspiring power of a god of the underworld, awakening Chu Renmei, who was consumed by resentment and driven to madness.

The madness in Chu Renmei's eyes receded as quickly as the tide, and a human expression returned to her distorted face.

She stared blankly up at Ma Dayong's angular face, then looked down at his rough, large hand still holding hers, a faint blush appearing on her pale face.

"You are... Lord Horse-Face." Her voice was no longer harsh, but carried a hint of timid awe and embarrassment. "Lord Horse-Face, could you... let go of my hand?"

"Oh, oh, sorry." Ma Dayong reacted as if he had been burned, quickly letting go of his hand and taking a half step back.

He transformed back into human form, rubbed his fingers together, and a rare look of unease appeared on his face.

He coughed lightly:

"Um, Chu Renmei, what exactly is your grievance that makes you so resentful?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Renmei's eyes, which had just regained some clarity, were once again filled with resentment and venom.

She was filled with resentment, and her voice became hoarse and venomous as she recounted the whole story between her and Bu Wantian.

As Chu Renmei finished speaking, she suddenly raised her hand and grabbed at the void, pulling a semi-transparent ghostly figure out from the depths of the ghost realm.

That was Bu Wantian's ghost. When he saw Chu Renmei's pale face, his soul trembled violently, and he made incoherent pleas for mercy.

Chu Renmei opened her mouth and bit down on Bu Wantian's ghost's shoulder, tearing off a piece of his soul and slowly chewing it in her mouth.

Then came the arms, the chest, the legs… Bu Wantian’s screams echoed in the ancestral hall, each scream causing the oil lamp flame on the offering table to tremble violently.

Moments later, Bu Wantian's soul was completely devoured, leaving not a trace of his soul behind.

Chu Renmei swallowed the last piece of soul, a wisp of black resentment still lingering at the corner of her mouth.

The resentment in her eyes surged again, and her body was filled with pent-up anger, showing signs of losing control once more.

Seeing this, Ma Dayong had no choice but to wake her up again.

"You've had a tough life too."

Ma Dayong looked at her with pity.

He served in the army for ten years and was almost thirty years old, but he still hadn't gotten married. That beastly Bu Wantian had such a good wife but didn't know how to cherish her. He deserved to never be reincarnated.

"Waaaaah..."

Hearing Ma Dayong's heartfelt words, Chu Renmei completely broke down and covered her face, sobbing.

After a long while, Chu Renmei stopped crying. The resentment that had been churning in her eyes had largely dissipated at some point.

She stretched out her hands, palms up, her tone calm and submissive:

"Lord Horse-Faced, take me away. I have already taken my revenge."

"No need for a lock." Ma Dayong shook his head. "Let's go, come with me to see Hades."

"You are quite capable, and you had good reasons for doing so; you only killed those who deserved to die. His Majesty the King of the Underworld should show you leniency."

Ma Dayong led Chu Renmei out of the ancestral hall.

The two walked side by side on the bluestone path of Huangshan Village. Night had completely fallen, and it was pitch black all around.

Chu Renmei walked beside him, her steps light, her blue opera costume fluttering slightly in the night breeze.

She kept her head down, occasionally glancing sideways at Ma Dayong beside her, her pale face showing an indescribable unease.

……