Chapter 11

Crash!

The Cat-faced Old Woman leaped onto the dining table, staring at the Zombie before her in disbelief.

Seizing the chance, Li Zhuiyuan hurriedly spat out the dried fruit in his mouth. He could not help pressing both hands to his forehead. With that fruit in his mouth earlier, it had felt as though he were chewing with his mouth stuffed full of star anise.

And now, he had realized that he could no longer make sense of the situation.

He could understand the Cat-faced Old Woman holding a birthday banquet here, and he had even tried to use the rules of this place to muddle through.

But what was with this Zombie that had appeared out of nowhere?

This was a special environment that resembled a dream without quite being one. Shouldn't this have been her domain?

Li Zhuiyuan refused to believe that the old woman had found her birthday banquet too quiet, decided that inviting a Child's Opera troupe was not enough, and summoned a Zombie to liven things up.

At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan felt terribly stupid, like a poor student ranked near the bottom of the class.

He was still struggling to understand one problem the teacher was explaining when the teacher suddenly said, "Now let's look at another problem. It's a variation of this one, so we'll go over them together."

Li Zhuiyuan felt even more lost.

What Li Zhuiyuan did not know was that the Cat-faced Old Woman standing gravely atop the table was even more bewildered than he was... and even frightened.

Even standing still, the other party's baleful aura alone made her heart pound with fear.

White vapor continuously poured from the Zombie's mouth and nose. It seemed to be curiously surveying the place as well, until its gaze finally settled on the cat demon old woman.

Sensing that this monstrous thing had fixed its eyes on her, the old woman's body shuddered. She drew in her arms slightly, curled her fingers downward, and hunched over a little, as though showing submission.

She had only recently become a Corpse Demon. Faced so suddenly with an existence hated by heaven and earth, she was naturally afraid, unable even to summon much courage to resist.

"Why are you here? How have I offended you?"

"Huh?"

Li Sanjiang, who was leading the Zombies through calisthenics in the Forbidden City, scratched his head in confusion. He had just led the group around a turn. There had originally been three columns, three Zombies in each row, but why were there only two left in the last row now?

"Why does it seem like one Zombie is missing? Do Zombies get tired too? Did it sneak off to slack?"

Roar!

The Zombie stretched both arms straight forward, leaped into the air, and pounced at the old woman.

Why would it care that the old woman had shown weakness and tried to ingratiate herself? What a joke—it did not even know why it had appeared here!

Seeing this, the old woman could only grit her teeth and leap up as well, swinging out both claws.

The two tangled in a fierce fight above the table before landing on it at the same time. In an instant, the table shattered and pieces flew everywhere.

Fortunately, Li Zhuiyuan had already stepped away from the table and avoided the danger. He immediately ran to Qin Li. Seeing that she was still watching the fight, he grabbed her hand.

"You're still watching? Hurry up and hide!"

He pulled Qin Li into a corner. A stack of table boards happened to be piled up in front of them, giving them a slight sense of security.

After crawling inside and squatting down, Li Zhuiyuan watched the battle through a gap.

The old woman twisted sideways, relying on feline agility to evade the Zombie's piercing ten fingers. Then she slashed one claw across the Zombie's right arm.

Rip!

The Zombie's clothes were torn apart. Five claw marks appeared on the dark, pitted flesh underneath, and pus continuously seeped from the wounds.

But soon, the Zombie swept both arms sideways like heavy whips, striking the old woman.

Bang!

The old woman was sent flying, smashing heavily into the wall. After sliding down and falling to the floor, she stared blankly at her fingers, then looked up at the wound on the Zombie's body.

"Why does it not seem as terrifying as it felt?"

On the bed in the second-floor bedroom, a claw mark appeared on Li Sanjiang's right arm, and blood began to flow.

"Hiss! That hurts!"

Li Sanjiang, who was leading the Zombies through calisthenics in his dream, lost his balance from the pain and fell directly to the left. Every Zombie behind him followed suit, lying down neatly to the left.

Li Sanjiang turned his head in confusion toward the three Zombies in the first row behind him.

"Which one of you is sneaking up on Laozi?"

The three Zombies did not answer. Instead, they turned their heads backward, and all the Zombies behind them followed suit.

"Damn it, do injuries hurt this much in dreams too?"

Li Sanjiang had no time to bandage the wound. He immediately scrambled up and resumed hopping.

He knew he could not give these Zombies time to think clearly. If he rested even a little longer, they might swarm him and tear him apart.

"Come on, keep dancing!"

Roar!

Inside the banquet hall, the Zombie leaped at the old woman again.

This time, the old woman did not go up against it herself. Her gaze swept across the room, green ghostly light flickering in her eyes. The Paper People that had been standing around dully all charged at the Zombie.

Some hugged its legs, some tugged its arms, and some even jumped onto its head.

The Zombie began wildly swinging its arms and opening its mouth to bite. Each time, it tore several Paper People into scraps, but Great Grandfather's Home ran a Paper Crafting factory after all.

Taking advantage of the Paper People slowing the Zombie down, the old woman began circling around it. Finally, spotting an opening, she lunged forward behind the Zombie and struck with both claws at its back.

Rip!

This time, most of the Zombie's official robe was shredded into strips. Beneath the ten claw wounds, pus gushed out in streams.

On the bed in the second-floor bedroom, Li Sanjiang's body jerked. Blood gradually soaked through the Sleeping Mat beneath him.

"Damn it, it hurts!"

In the dream, Li Sanjiang had just begun to jump when he let out a scream and fell face-first onto the ground.

Behind him, every Zombie jumped in unison, then landed flat on the ground like frogs, perfectly aligned.

"Ah..."

Li Sanjiang felt such intense pain in his back that he could barely speak. Yet he could not see it, so he instinctively stretched out his right hand to feel his back.

Every Zombie behind him supported itself with its left arm and raised its right arm diagonally to the side.

Li Sanjiang pulled back his hand, saw it covered in blood, and stared wide-eyed.

That was not right!

Yesterday's dream had been so dangerous, yet he had been able to jump and dodge the Zombies chasing him without suffering a scratch. Why was he in such a miserable state today after coming up with a good plan?

When he had fallen asleep today and discovered that he had entered a dream, and that it was once again the Forbidden City from last night, he had immediately flung the orange cat from his lap and raced toward the central doorway.

After the heavy sound of the door opening ended and bang! bang! bang! echoed from inside, he forcibly steadied himself, gathered his courage, and began dancing first when the group approached.

That was how he had successfully become the leader.

It had been such an ingenious plan, so why had it not brought him good results?

At that moment, Li Sanjiang noticed that the Zombies lying behind him were vaguely beginning to rise. The formation was starting to fall apart.

He gritted his teeth. His back hurt too badly now; he truly could not get up anymore. He could only stand on tiptoe, stretch both arms forward, and start crawling across the floor.

Seeing the leader move, the Zombies in the first row followed. The ones behind copied those ahead of them, and soon the formation that had begun to loosen and scatter became orderly again.

Inside the Forbidden City, a group of Zombies dressed in Qing official robes crawled like turtles behind the man in torn white boxer shorts at the front.

Li Sanjiang cursed as he crawled, feeling utterly aggrieved. Crawling was far more tiring than running. Had he known, he would have been better off playing hide-and-seek like yesterday.

At his age, he lived comfortably in reality too, enjoying wine and meat. Since he was already old, he had stopped bothering to take care of his body. When his time came, he would just be buried. Yet now, here he was, exercising in a dream!

But he truly had no choice but to crawl. With the injuries to his arm and back, if he dared get up and play hide-and-seek again, he would not be able to outrun those things behind him.

"Little Yuanhou, when will your luck finally turn around? Your Great Grandfather really can't hold on much longer... ah!"

Li Sanjiang screamed again. Turning his head, he saw that five holes had appeared in his already injured right arm, blood rapidly pouring from them.

Now he could not even crawl normally. He could only keep the left side of his body pressed to the ground, let his right arm hang against his body, and use his left arm to drag himself forward while pushing with both legs.

All the Zombies behind him changed their movements as well, beginning to crawl in a tactical low posture.

Inside the hall, the Zombie was enraged, because the old woman's five fingers had just pierced its right arm, leaving deep bloody holes.

It was naturally arrogant, yet it had suffered setback after setback in a place like this. How could it not be furious?

The old woman took another step back to widen the distance. At the same time, she ordered the paper cats and dogs to pounce in and fill the gap, continuing to entangle the Zombie.

She lowered her head again to look at her nails. After several successful sneak attacks, the instinctive fear she had felt earlier had mostly faded away.

No matter how frightening something was, so long as it could be hurt, so long as it could bleed and be killed, it no longer inspired such instinctive awe.

Li Zhuiyuan, hiding in the corner, frowned slightly. From the looks of it, this Zombie that had appeared out of nowhere did not seem to be a match for the old woman.

What should he do next?

He turned to Qin Li beside him. She actually had her head half lowered, seemingly uninterested in what was happening outside, still lost in a daze.

For a moment, Li Zhuiyuan even felt a little envious.

He squeezed Qin Li's hand. Qin Li raised her head and looked at him.

"Once the servants Outside the Door come in, we'll find a chance to rush out. Run as far as you can, and don't stop no matter what. Understand?"

When the banquet had begun, Li Zhuiyuan had wanted to run out through the Main Gate. But a group of servants outside had blocked the way while setting off firecrackers, so he could not get out.

But judging from the current situation, the old woman was clearly using the Paper People to delay and wear down the Zombie. Once the Paper People inside had been mostly used up, the group outside would surely be summoned in as well.

When that happened, they would run. He refused to believe this dream had no boundaries.

As for running upstairs, Li Zhuiyuan had immediately ruled that out. Though the Stairs had reappeared, what could they do after running to the second floor? Jump out the window?

Qin Li looked at Li Zhuiyuan without speaking.

"Did you understand?"

Qin Li lowered her head.

Fine. He would assume she understood.

Just as Li Zhuiyuan turned back to keep watching the situation ahead, he met the Cat-faced Old Woman's gaze.

Li Zhuiyuan shuddered. The Cat-faced Old Woman even smiled at him.

Roar!

The Zombie roared again, drawing the Cat-faced Old Woman's gaze back from Li Zhuiyuan.

"Hehe... screaming won't help you now. I really thought you were something extraordinary. Turns out you've only got these few tricks... hmm?"

The old woman's eyes widened. Dense black energy began to rise from the Zombie's wounds—it was baleful aura.

The Paper People entangled around it were stained by that baleful aura, all turning black. One by one, they lost their human forms and reverted into scraps of paper and wood chips.

The servants outside rushed in at that moment. The Zombie turned around, opened its mouth, and spewed out a great mass of black mist. The Paper People around it and farther away all collapsed before they could even charge forward.

In an instant, the banquet hall became much emptier.

The Zombie raised both arms again and leaped at the old woman. Corpse energy boiled around it now, wrapped in baleful aura.

Without the Paper People's help, the old woman could only meet its attack head-on.

Li Zhuiyuan grabbed Qin Li's hand. "Now! Run!"

He and Qin Li crawled out of the corner and rushed toward the door.

"Ahhh!!!"

The old woman's scream rang in his ears. Then he saw the Zombie gripping her by the throat and smashing her down directly ahead, blocking the way to the Main Gate.

The baleful aura around the Zombie's body wrapped around the old woman, creating a sensation of burning. She had been able to sneak close and attack before, but now even approaching it brought agony.

Li Zhuiyuan had no choice but to stop. Qin Li stopped beside him as well.

The Zombie, which had pinned the old woman beneath it, turned its head and looked at the two children.

Greed actually appeared in its cloudy eyes. It could sense that these two were not Paper People; they emitted the alluring scent of living flesh and blood.

Instinctively, it opened its mouth and spewed black mist toward them.

Li Zhuiyuan immediately pulled Qin Li back, but the black mist came too fast and too fiercely, quickly forcing them into the corner against the wall.

Qin Li began trembling. Li Zhuiyuan sensed it and squeezed her hand tightly.

At a time like this, that was the only pale and useless comfort he could offer.

Roar!

Suddenly, the Zombie cried out. The black mist that had almost reached Li Zhuiyuan rapidly flowed backward and withdrew.

The view ahead instantly became clear. The old woman's ten fingers had already pierced the Zombie's neck.

"Hahahahaha! Kill you, kill you, kill you!"

The old woman's ferocious appearance was fully revealed. The fur on her body had withered, and her skin had turned charred black, yet she radiated madness.

The Zombie howled wildly, driving both arms downward again and again, stabbing the old woman's body over and over. But the old woman kept her fingers sunk into its neck and refused to let go.

"Damn it... it..."

Li Sanjiang clutched his neck in agony. It hurt so badly.

More painful than the pain was the fact that he could no longer breathe. He could find ways to endure pain and bleeding, but if this suffocating feeling continued, he felt certain he would soon stop breathing altogether.

Every Zombie behind him was clutching its own neck.

But after holding that posture for a while, one Zombie lowered its hands. Then a second, a third...

Gradually, Zombies began rising to their feet. Their gazes changed from vacant to vicious as they looked at Li Sanjiang.

Li Sanjiang was still clutching his own neck, his face gradually turning blue. He almost wished the Zombies would rush forward and tear him apart now, because at least that would give him a quick death instead of letting him suffer until he suffocated.

Inside the banquet hall, the enraged Zombie raised both arms high again and smashed them down at the old woman's head.

The old woman, who had seemed ready to fight the Zombie to the death, abruptly let go. She kicked upward against the Zombie's abdomen and smoothly slid out beneath it.

Bang!

The Zombie's nails pierced the floor and got stuck, leaving it rigidly propped up in the position of doing push-ups.

The Cat-faced Old Woman stood up. Her body swayed, and she was charred black all over. Even the whiskers on her face had been burned away, showing just how poor her condition was.

Yet even now, she could spare attention to turn and look at Li Zhuiyuan and Qin Li, who stood pressed against the wall.

"Little Kid, hehe, Grandma can't beat it."

Her call carried a chilling coldness, while her eyes were filled with venomous resentment.

Just like the first time he had seen her in Cui Cui's dream with Li Zhuiyuan, she too was sprawled across Niu Fu's back, looking at him with those same eyes.

"Roar!"

The zombie finally pulled its fingers from the ground. After turning halfway around on the spot, it stood upright again, stiff as a board.

Though it looked utterly wretched, its clothes in tatters and pus oozing everywhere, its ferocity remained. The old cat demon was no match for it now.

The zombie lunged at the old woman again.

But at that moment, the old woman turned sideways. Instead of meeting the zombie head-on, she slid toward Li Zhuiyuan.

Seeing this, the zombie immediately changed direction and continued pouncing on the old woman.

Li Zhuiyuan could not understand why the old woman would rather expose her entire back to the zombie just to come after him first.

Did she intend to drag two more people down with her before she died?

"Little Kid..."

The old woman stopped before Li Zhuiyuan, the sinister smile on her face growing ever thicker.

She completely ignored the zombie closing in on her and instead stretched her already curled, cracked claws toward Li Zhuiyuan. A faint, eerie gleam swirled around them.

Li Zhuiyuan felt his body beginning to float. Because he was gripping Qin Li's hand tightly, she was pulled up with him.

Li Zhuiyuan was no stranger to this feeling. He had dreamed before; this was the prelude to waking from a dream. He was getting out!

At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan felt his vision begin to blur. Even the old woman's face before him became indistinct, yet he could still hear her final words by his ear:

"Little Kid... Grandma will send you away first."