The Origin of Zombies

Li Hongfang couldn't help but touch the spot on her back where the palm print was. There was no pain, no itching, and no unusual sensation, yet it sent shivers down Li Hongfang spine.

Did some kind of creature absorb life force and blood essence?

Li Hongfang, however, found no solace. While she always felt that being in crowded places, in broad daylight, would make her feel better if she were being targeted by an unknown creature, what could she do?

The unknown is what's most frightening, not to mention the idea of absorbing life force and blood essence, which sounds rather mystical.

"Have you ever heard of Jorogumo?" Liu Chang'an asked.

"A kind of spider." Li Hongfang didn't know why Liu Chang'an mentioned spiders. Could it be that she had only been bitten by a spider?

"In reality, the Jorogumo spider is brightly colored and beautiful, with yellow highlights on its thorax and a bright red tail. It is small in stature but highly venomous. The legendary Jorogumo, however, is an extremely beautiful woman, with alluring eyes and captivating charm. Few can resist her allure, and she can drain the life force of people." Liu Chang'an sighed softly. Dangerous and seductive, this is the kind of thing men love.

"Is this the legendary creature that's staring at me?" Li Hongfang asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It may not be the Jorogumo, but it should be a similar type of creature." Liu Chang'an nodded.

"Isn't this just a ghost story?" Li Hongfang hesitated for a moment. "This doesn't make sense."

"There may be scientific explanations behind ghost stories. For example, the legend of Jorogumo in Japan originated in the Kamakura period. A lord's wife was very beautiful and flirtatious, but she seduced a young man into committing illicit acts. When the affair was exposed, the lord threw her into a jar filled with venomous spiders, where she was bitten to death. Filled with resentment, she transformed into Jorogumo."

"In fact, that's not the case. The lord received a distinguished guest from the Central Plains. At that time, what did the lord of Fusang have that would interest the distinguished guest from the Central Plains? The lord's wife was very beautiful, so he had his wife serve the distinguished guest in bed... The distinguished guest had a special constitution, which could cause various abnormalities in the bodies of women who had intimate relations with him... This was a very rare event, and it wasn't even noticed at the time, as the distinguished guest had already returned to the Central Plains."

Liu Chang'an frowned slightly, then stopped talking. "This is the science behind ghost stories."

"The thing that's eyeing me is some kind of animal that had a relationship with that distinguished guest from the Central Plains?" Li Hongfang realized.

"No... I was just giving an example to illustrate the hidden stories behind various seemingly incomprehensible ghost and supernatural events." Liu Chang'an realized that Li Hongfang really didn't know how to talk, but he was too lazy to argue with her.

"Now can you tell me, is there any hope for me?" Compared to her curiosity and desire to explore the unknown, Li Hongfang was more anxious about her own life.

Liu Chang'an washed his hands again and glanced at Li Hongfang.

"I'll do anything you ask if you can save me!" Li Hongfang said frantically.

"Okay." Liu Chang'an liked this kind of deal; there was no need for haggling or deliberation, she just agreed to everything.

"Can you save me now?" Li Hongfang knew what it meant to agree to anything a man said; for her, this was an absolute gamble... This man was someone Su Nanxiu had her eye on, but she was about to lose her life, so why should she worry about Su Nanxiu being jealous?

"Not now, it's not convenient here. Anyway, you won't die in the next couple of days. I'll come find you when I'm ready." Liu Chang'an said and walked out.

"Okay." Li Hongfang quickly replied, finally feeling relieved. Liu Chang'an had given her a blueprint, and she was willing to go treasure hunting without any other supporting materials. However, she knew that this man was extremely powerful, and women tend to have more trust in men with exceptional abilities... no matter what kind of ability a man has.

Liu Chang'an returned to the banquet to eat.

After the banquet, Gao Cunyi offered to drive Liu Chang'an home, but Liu Chang'an declined. It was a time when every house was brightly lit, and it would be perfect to drive home and enjoy the scenery.

"Hold me tight! Hold me tight!" After only a few steps, Zhou Dongdong would take one step and then hug Liu Chang'an's leg, making the strong request as she climbed up.

Liu Chang'an then tucked her under his armpit.

Zhou Dongdong remained contentedly in the position with her hands and feet hanging down.

When children encounter something funny or interesting, they will laugh out loud from time to time. Shangguan Dandan listened to Zhou Dongdong laughing and couldn't help but ask, "What's so fun about that?"

Zhou Dongdong couldn't explain what was so fun about it, but she still laughed every now and then.

"Zhou Dongdong, you keep grinning like an idiot," Shangguan Dandan said, annoyed.

"Would you like to give it a try?" Liu Chang'an said to Shangguan Dandan.

Shangguan Dandan hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. Although her eyes gleamed with a restless light, she looked like a pig that had been delivered to the market that morning.

Sometimes Shangguan Dandan would get up early and wander to the vegetable market to watch other people set up stalls. On the back rack of the pork vendor's motorcycle, there was a pig lying horizontally, head down and limbs down.

"Dan Dan, do you think if you had just stayed buried underground and someone had come to dig you up, and you suddenly popped out, would that be how the story of zombies started?" Liu Chang'an asked.

"You're the zombie." Shangguan Dandan recently started going upstairs to watch TV because a TV station was showing a preview of a zombie movie series.

Shangguan Dandan quite enjoyed watching it because the zombies all had coffins, and some of the coffins looked quite imposing, which made Shangguan Dandan feel somewhat immersed in the story.

The zombies were just too ugly, and they were mostly dressed in the clothes of Qing Dynasty officials, which hindered Shangguan Dandan's immersion in the story. Besides, even the most powerful zombies could be defeated by humans.

Shangguan Dandan clearly felt that no one could defeat her... if she were a zombie.

"Thinking about it now, the earliest zombie should have been a woman, a woman who once lived with me. Although she died, because she received my essence in life, her body was difficult to decompose after death, and thus she became a zombie," Liu Chang'an said to himself.

Liu Chang'an had initially suspected that the mysterious creature Li Hongfang encountered at the treasure site was a zombie like this... but judging from Li Hongfang's description, this mysterious creature might possess intelligence similar to that of a normal human.

Zombies are basically all mentally damaged, or rather, mentally challenged; otherwise, what kind of zombie would they be... they would just be another Shangguan Dandan.

Could it be that one of the earliest female disciples of the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect, when I was Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Swordsman of the Nine Provinces, hid in the treasure trove and, after so many years, has become mentally unstable, which is why she did such a thing?

This possibility cannot be ruled out.

There could be other reasons as well; let's speculate boldly, but verify carefully.