Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

Chapter 59 Zombie Qiqi

With no one coming and going, the mountain road gradually fell into disrepair, and naturally, the suspension bridge was left unmaintained.

Moreover, building roads in the mountains is difficult, time-consuming, and labor-intensive, and few people use them. Even the General Affairs Department is reluctant to allocate funds to this area.

However unwillingly they may be, the funds still need to be allocated.

If the General Affairs Department hadn't sent people to maintain it, the mountain roads would have been completely covered by weeds long ago, and there wouldn't be any roads left.

"Don't worry! It won't collapse!" Hu Tao patted her chest and took the lead on the suspension bridge.

Although it looks dangerous, it is still very sturdy.

"Luckily I'm brave, otherwise I wouldn't dare to walk on this bridge..." Jiang Bai muttered, walked onto the suspension bridge, and precisely stepped between each wooden plank.

It wasn't that I was afraid the plank would break, but rather that I might accidentally step into the gap, which was at least the width of a fist, and get one of my legs stuck.

That walnut should laugh at him for a whole year.

“There are many suspension bridges like this in the mountains, especially in Huaguang Forest, where almost everything is connected by suspension bridges. If you were a scaredy-cat, I wouldn’t have brought you here…”

Hu Tao walked across the suspension bridge with ease, as if it were flat ground. He was almost ready to jump off the bridge a few times to scare Jiang Bai.

Jiang Bai rolled his eyes. Was he scared?

He was simply worried about the quality of the project!

After crossing the suspension bridge and reaching the other side of the mountainside, the path became much easier to walk on.

Perhaps because so many people came here seeking immortality and enlightenment, these steps leading up the mountain were built. Even after the weathering of time, these wide steps still serve their purpose, providing convenience for travelers.

Jiang Bai saw many stone toad statues placed in the mountains, and occasionally saw wooden talismans strung together with red ropes hanging under trees or on cliffs. However, judging from the faded color and the characters, these things were quite old.

"The summit of this mountain is called Qingyun Peak, and the Heavenly Trial that Wu Cong spoke of takes place there," Hu Tao pointed to the summit.

"Master, shall we climb to the top of the mountain and take a look?" Jiang Bai was eager to try; he really wanted to see what the trial that day was like.

"Business is important, let's come again next time," Hu Tao declined his suggestion.

Climbing mountains is tiring enough, and if this continues, he doesn't know when his plan to return to his roots will be able to officially begin.

"Alright..." Jiang Bai wasn't in a hurry, though his expectations were dashed.

On his way here, he found several more teleportation points, which he can then teleport directly to.

He has plenty of time to explore.

The two of them slowly made their way up the mountain, stepping on the stone steps.

You might have energy when you first walk up these steps, but if you walk too many, your legs will feel sore and weak. Even people with good physiques like Jiang Bai and Hu Tao need to rest after walking a short distance.

While resting on the stone steps, Jiang Bai was gulping down water from his water pouch.

As he was filling the container with water, he suddenly noticed a beautiful purple flower growing on the towering cliff in front of him.

This plant grows in the crevices of the cliff, surviving on the meager amount of soil in the crevices, constantly facing the onslaught of the mountain winds, yet even so, it has already produced beautiful flowers.

Jiang Bai, who only had one Mora coin in his pocket that couldn't buy anything, smelled the scent of money.

These flowers that grow on cliffs must be very valuable!

"Master, wait a moment, I'm going to pick a flower." He rubbed his hands together, ready to find a good place to climb up and pick the flower.

As he rounded a bend in the rock wall, he saw a little girl carrying a medicine basket, stuck on a large rock above her head, unable to jump over it no matter how she tried, yet still constantly trying to climb up.

The little girl was dressed quite strangely, wearing an oddly shaped hat, with talismans of various sizes pasted on her body, and a basket on her back containing some herbs she had picked.

She tried tirelessly to climb, but the large rock above her head held her firmly in place, and no matter how hard she tried, she remained stuck in the same spot.

Jiang Bai didn't know what was going on, so he had to call Hu Tao over.

"Master, there seems to be a little girl stuck on the mountain."

"A little girl?" Hu Tao, who was resting on the stone steps, looked puzzled when she heard Jiang Bai's words.

How could there be a little girl in such a remote mountain area?

There are monsters in the mountains!

Thanks to Xiao's continuous efforts, most of the dangerous monsters in Liyue have been eliminated, but monsters like Hilichurls, Abyss Mages, and Dragon Lizards are still very dangerous to ordinary people!

First of all, how could the adults feel at ease letting a little girl come to the mountains? Secondly, the mountain path is so difficult to walk. It took the two of them a long time to get here. When did this little girl arrive?

With a sense of doubt, she walked over and immediately recognized the little girl stuck on the cliff.

"Seven seven!"

She knew this little girl very well; whenever the hour of Yin was approaching, this little girl would always be the one she was looking for.

Calling her a little girl isn't quite right; she's actually a zombie that's been dead for a long time.

Time simply stopped at the moment of her death, so she has remained in the form of a little girl ever since.

The zombie named Qiqi heard the call, woke up from her chaotic state, and looked down to see the face she particularly hated.

"No...no...death...run away..."

She panicked and climbed even faster, but no matter how she climbed, the large rock blocking her head was like a mountain, firmly trapping her in place.

She was a zombie, a zombie whose soul remained in her body after an accidental death. Her face remained unchanged at the age she was at the time of her death, and her body was cold and stiff.

Normally, zombies cannot move on their own and need orders to move freely. But she was not just a zombie. In the moment before she died, an immortal sealed a wisp of immortal power into her body, and she became an immortal in a certain sense.

Therefore, as a zombie immortal, she is currently in a state of giving herself orders.

She has a poor memory; she forgets many things within three days. Therefore, she writes down things she needs to remember in a small notebook she carries with her to reinforce her memory.

But the person in front of her was clearly beyond the scope of what she had forgotten.

Whenever she sees her, she is reminded of her fear of death.

She wanted to run, but the order was not lifted, and her body continued to climb upwards. In fact, out of fear, she climbed faster and faster, but the large rock firmly stuck her in place, so no matter how she climbed, she remained in the same spot.

Panic, fear, tension, disgust, and dread swept over her, even bringing tears to her eyes as a zombie.

Jiang Bai looked up in bewilderment at the little girl who kept crawling in the same spot as if she were trapped in a maze.

"Master, what's going on?"

Hu Tao clearly noticed something was wrong. She rested her chin on her hand and, after a moment's thought, figured out the reason.

Chapter 60 Qiqi's Tears

The zombies acted according to orders. Qiqi's current state should be that she gave herself an order to go to the cliff to collect herbs, but she got stuck on the rocks.

If a normal person were in this situation, they would choose to climb up from the left or right or to another place, but zombies are different. Zombies cannot change their way, so she kept climbing upwards.

Looking at Qiqi like this, Hu Tao sighed inwardly.

Living like this is too painful. Why not just go to the afterlife?

"Qiqi, how long have you been trapped here?"

I don't know when she arrived or how long she's been trapped here. If Jiang Bai hadn't glanced over here, wouldn't she have been trapped like this forever?

And judging from this, it shouldn't be the first time he's encountered this kind of predicament.

How did she overcome these difficulties in the past?

Thinking about all these things, Hu Tao's resolve to send her to the afterlife grew stronger.

Qiqi did not answer Hu Tao's question. Large tears rolled down her cheeks as she continued to climb, muttering "death, run, run" over and over again.

"Master, what's going on?" Jiang Bai asked again, looking completely bewildered.

Hu Tao briefly explained what she knew to Jiang Bai.

Jiang Bai understood, but at the same time, a strange anger surged into his heart.

"Who on earth had the heart to let such a young girl come to the mountains alone to collect herbs?!"

If she hadn't met them, wouldn't she have been stuck climbing like this forever?

Even if zombies don't get tired, you can't treat them like this!

This was the first time he had felt anger since waking up, but while he was angry at the little girl's fate, he was also deeply grateful that he had encountered Hu Tao upon waking up; otherwise, his own fate as a person who had been brought back from the dead would probably not have been much better...

"Who else could it be but Mr. Bai Shu?" Hu Tao's opinion of Bai Shu plummeted to rock bottom.

She knew that Bai Shu had ulterior motives for taking in Qi Qi, but at least she should treat Qi Qi better, right?

If Bai Shu had always been there to rescue Qi Qi from such situations in the past, how long did she wait before Bai Shu came to her rescue?

One day? Two days? Three days? Or a week later?

Being imprisoned in the world is already an extremely painful thing, but now this suffering has been amplified many times over.

"Don't panic, don't panic, I'm not here to send you to your death today!" Hu Tao tried to calm the flustered Qi Qi, but it was clear that she had no credibility with Qi Qi, and her words were of no use.

"Wouldn't it be better to just put her down?" Jiang Bai suggested.

"Give it a try!" Hu Tao didn't know either.

This was the first time she had met Qiqi in the wild, and she realized how bad her situation was.

If she had known this would happen, she should have sent her to the afterlife sooner to spare her the suffering of this mortal world.

A rock pillar rose beneath Jiang Bai's feet, dragging his body to the height where Qi Qi was.

He grabbed Qiqi under her armpits and picked her up.

"Don't be afraid, I'll help you."

The zombie's body was stiff and cold; Jiang Bai felt as if he were hugging an ice cube.

A gentle voice reached Qiqi's ears, and the climbing motion slowly stopped. Qiqi turned his head blankly to look at the man who had picked him up.

It's simple to lift her order: just hug her from behind and say things like, "I love you the most." The more sincere you are, the better the effect.

This was something she had set up; having no relatives or friends left in this world, she desperately needed the recognition and affection of others.

Even if those words weren't sincere, she still wanted to hear them.

Jiang Bai didn't say things like "I like you the most," but he genuinely wanted to help her, and he easily overcame the urge to do so.

Qi Qi's expression grew increasingly bewildered.

Even for Mr. Bai Shu, the effect of lifting the order was very poor, so why would someone she had never met before genuinely want to help her?

Looking at the little zombie's bewildered expression and tears on its face, Jiang Bai sighed inwardly.

Life is full of suffering; we are half-dead and half-alive, and our circumstances are even more difficult.

"It's alright now."

He reached out and wiped away her tears, which were still icy cold.

The rock pillar slowly descended, and Jiang Bai put her down.

As soon as she was put down, Qiqi hid behind Jiang Bai, looking at Hu Tao in fear.

"Qiqi...don't...die..." She clutched Jiang Bai's clothes tightly, tears still wet on her face. Jiang Bai, the one who rescued her, had become her only support.

Looking at the little zombie girl hiding behind him, and then at Hu Tao, Jiang Bai's expression was indescribable. "Master, what did you do to her that made her so afraid of you?"

Although he had guessed that the leader must have done something to that zombie named Qi Qi when he was in Bubu Lu, it now seems that he must have done more than that, otherwise why would he have such a deep fear?

“What can I do for her? I just can’t bear to see her living such a miserable life and I want to send her to the afterlife,” Hu Tao sighed.

As the maintainer of the balance between Yin and Yang, Qi Qi's existence disrupts this balance, which is something she must deal with.

Besides, why live such a hard life?

These pains will cease after death.

“But she clearly doesn’t want to die…” Jiang Bai gently patted Qi Qi’s head to soothe her increasingly tense emotions, and looked helplessly at the still young Hu Tao in front of him.

Although she took over the Rebirth Hall at a young age and became its head, she lacked experience in many things, and was somewhat inflexible and unsympathetic in handling matters.

"Did the sect leader not ask for her opinion before making this plan?"

"I think this kind of thing should be based on the person's wishes. If you unilaterally send someone to their death under the guise of doing what's best for them, what's the difference between that and murder?"

Jiang Bai had no idea whether his tear ducts would continue to function after his body became a zombie.