Facing Zombies

Zhou Yan remained vigilant, scanning his surroundings while intentionally slowing his pace.

He needed to maintain his stamina and control to avoid being carried away by momentum, ensuring he could react instantly if danger arose.

He remained on high alert, especially in sparsely populated areas.

Some places were bustling with activity during the day, posing no issues at all.

But once night fell, every household bolted their doors, and the lack of people turned these areas into breeding grounds for dark, sinister deeds.

"Hmm, what is that over there..."

Seeing the area ahead brightly lit, Zhou Yan instinctively came to a halt.

A brief search of his memory immediately identified the place as the Li Family's ancestral home.

The Li Family was a prominent clan that had been established in Shen City for nearly a century, owning vast tracts of land outside the city and over a dozen shops within its walls.

Logically, given their status, the Li Family should have moved to a more prosperous district.

However, because their family line was thin and their ancestral home was located here, they had never relocated.

Even so, they employed a significant number of guards—at least fifty or sixty—all of whom were armed with guns.

Ordinary gangs and even bandits dared not provoke them lightly.

Zhou Yan was still several hundred paces from the Li Family estate when he heard faint, chaotic noises and what sounded like fighting, prompting an instinctive urge to steer clear.

But before he could react, a roar like that of a wild beast erupted, and a figure came hurtling toward him, causing Zhou Yan's expression to shift.

He moved rapidly, his cart following suit, nimbly dodging the incoming figure.

Though Zhou Yan and his cart had avoided the collision, his expression turned grim the moment he looked ahead.

The creature had a green face and fangs, wore tattered clothes, and held its hands aloft, its long, black fingernails shimmering with a sinister luster.

Furthermore, it moved by hopping, yet its speed was anything but slow.

"A zombie!"

Zhou Yan glanced at the figure on the ground; it was indeed dressed as a Taoist priest, but it no longer showed any signs of life.

With no time to ponder, he instinctively let go of the cart handles and quickly grabbed the three bamboo tubes hanging from the frame.

Ever since he realized this was a world plagued by evil spirits and horrors, Zhou Yan had been preparing.

These three bamboo tubes contained raw glutinous rice, the urine of a young boy, and rooster blood—all potent weapons against the supernatural.

Except for the glutinous rice, the boy's urine and rooster blood were replaced every three to five days.

The rooster blood, in particular, had to be changed almost every two days during the summer.

All of this added up to a not-insignificant extra expense.

Yet, Zhou Yan dared not cut corners; he replaced them regularly, never imagining he would actually have to use them today.

Of course, this was knowledge Zhou Yan had gleaned from movies in his previous world, and he wasn't entirely certain if it would be effective.

But beyond this, he had no other means to deal with evil entities.

A single warding talisman from a famous temple cost five silver dollars, and there was no guarantee it would even work.

By comparison, these folk remedies were much cheaper.

"Sniff, sniff..."

The zombie seemed to catch the scent of a living person; its head slowly turned toward Zhou Yan, and it began to hop over excitedly.

Watching the zombie, Zhou Yan fought to steady his racing heart, gripping the bamboo tubes tightly.

Just as the zombie closed to within ten meters, Zhou Yan violently splashed the boy's urine toward it.

"Sizzle..."

The zombie was hit squarely, and its entire body immediately began to emit a sizzling sound, as if it were being corroded by sulfuric acid.

Not only that, but a significant amount had splashed onto the zombie's head, drawing a shrill, piercing shriek from the creature.

"Roar..."

The people inside the Li Family courtyard huddled together, trembling, many looking toward the gate with terror in their eyes.

While the zombie was outside, the head of the Li Family, Li Deyou, had managed to organize the panicked servants and guards. The old, weak, women, and children were kept to the rear, while the young and able-bodied stood in front with knives, spears, and clubs; the front line was held by the guards armed with guns.

Because Li Deyou usually treated his servants well and balanced kindness with authority, no one fled, and they all listened obediently to his commands.

Just as Li Deyou and the others were trembling with fear, they suddenly heard the zombie's pained howl from outside.

In that instant, a glimmer of hope sparked in Li Deyou's heart.

"Could it be that the Taoist priest is unharmed and has instead slain the zombie..."

Li Deyou glanced at another zombie lying prone in the courtyard, gritted his teeth, and led a few guards as they slowly stepped outside.

As they crossed the threshold, they happened to see a young man locked in a struggle with the zombie...

Seeing the boy's urine take effect, Zhou Yan couldn't suppress the grin that spread across his face.

He had been trembling with fear earlier, not having much confidence in his plan at all.

After all, he had only ever seen these things on television.

Yet what he was facing now was a real, living corpse in the flesh!

In that instant, a flicker of regret crossed Zhou Yan's mind.

If he had known, he would have prepared ten or eight cans; that would have made things much safer now.

Though, in that case, his car would likely have become a "stink-mobile."

The zombie let out a shrill, mournful roar, but instead of being afraid, Zhou Yan stepped forward and flung the raw sticky rice in his hand.

"Crackling..."

The zombie stumbled back repeatedly as the raw sticky rice struck it, causing a massive amount of yin energy and corpse aura to leak from its body, forming almost tangible black wisps.

If the boy's urine had caused the zombie pain, the raw sticky rice was inflicting genuine damage.

After a full tube of sticky rice, the zombie's momentum dissipated significantly, and its form became even more wretched.

From head to toe, it was pitted and scarred, making it look even more hideous than before.

By this time, Zhou Yan had already reached the side of the Taoist priest's corpse.

With a swift movement of his foot, he hooked the priest's peach-wood sword and snatched it into his hand.

The next moment, Zhou Yan pried the lid off the bamboo tube containing the rooster's blood and poured it all over the peach-wood sword.

The zombie seemed to sense the danger, letting out a low, whimpering cry as it retreated instead of advancing.

How could Zhou Yan let the zombie escape? Not to mention how many people might be harmed if it got away.

If this zombie held a grudge and came back for revenge once it recovered its strength, Zhou Yan had no confidence he could handle it.

The only reason things had gone so smoothly this time, aside from the element of surprise, was that the zombie had already fought the priest for a long time and was far from its peak state.

Strike while the iron is hot!

Gripping the rooster-blood-soaked peach-wood sword, Zhou Yan gave chase, thrusting the blade fiercely into the zombie's heart.

Though he was splattered head-to-toe in rooster blood, he paid it no mind, his expression twisted into a savage mask as he stabbed at the zombie again and again, his spirit seemingly descending into a frenzy.

One strike, two strikes, three strikes...