Skeleton Man

I instantly went on alert. That buzzing of moth wings could only come from the Demon Moths Chen Junfeng carried. I pulled a torch from the fire and shouted, "Chen Junfeng, you bastard, have you taken a fancy to this young master's precious bugs?"

Sure enough, two Demon Moths stopped three meters away, wings beating. The mountain wind blew with a whoosh, but there was no sign of Chen Junfeng. Just then, the two Demon Moths suddenly sped up and charged straight at the bonfire.

The powder on the Demon Moths was bad for the human body, so I instinctively jumped aside to dodge. Like moths flying into flame, their bodies dropped into the bonfire, and with two bangs, the Demon Moths exploded in the fire.

A plume of white smoke burst up, and an exotic fragrance shot from the fire straight into the nine heavens. My heart cried, Not good. While the smoke had yet to spread, I swept up the jar and the Earth Egg sitting on the stone and carried them in one hand.

The strange fragrance spread. I took several steps back, but still inhaled two mouthfuls. My head faintly began to swell. I immediately gritted my teeth and leaped upward, avoiding the white smoke as it drifted toward me.

"Motherfucker. Chen Junfeng, you bastard!" I cursed loudly. "You dare use this kind of dirty trick against me?"

If I had been sleeping in the cave and smelled that strange fragrance, there was no telling—I might have slept like a dead pig. Once I was fast asleep, Chen Junfeng could make his move and steal my Gu insects. He had failed to obtain the Seven-Colored Gu, so he was definitely trying to make up for it from me.

Once I understood the reason behind it, I hated him so much my teeth itched.

I thought for a moment, then simply decided to beat him at his own game and pretend I had passed out. After the thick smoke and strange fragrance dispersed, I returned to the cave, hugged the jar, and pretended to fall asleep.

About half an hour passed. From the jar holding the Three-Corpse Snake Gu on my chest came a faint movement. I instantly grew alert and thought, Chen Junfeng has entered the cave to steal my bugs.

Soft footsteps approached, accompanied by faint click-click sounds, like the friction of human joints. A faint corpse stench drifted through the air, completely different from the corpse stench lingering in the cave. If there was corpse stench, then it was a zombie. I was secretly startled. Could it not be Chen Junfeng? But just now, those Demon Moths had clearly been released by him.

I could already sense the footsteps two or three meters behind me, and my heart hung in midair. Suddenly, a black hand reached toward me. I rolled inward and sprang up at once.

"Who are you?" I shouted.

The light inside the cave was dim, and I could not make out the newcomer's appearance. I only felt that he was tall, dressed in tattered gray clothes, with corpse stench continuously surging from his body. He was definitely a zombie.

When I suddenly jumped up, the zombie was also startled and retreated two steps, stammering twice as corpse stench rushed straight at me.

I suddenly realized that the corpse stench emanating from him was the same strange corpse stench I had sensed in that forest last night.

I shouted, "Who exactly are you, and why are you following me?"

This was Camellia Village, dozens of li of mountain paths away from the forest last night. For the same corpse stench to appear here could only mean one thing: this zombie had been following me all along.

The zombie howled twice and retreated another two steps, as though trying to dissolve my wariness and show that he did not intend to hurt me. His hands gestured anxiously.

Among the zombies I had seen, only Xiao Tianxing and Zhu Xian'er could speak. Most were unable to talk and could only gesture with their hands. This gray-clothed zombie before me also had no way to express what he meant.

I said, "Let's go outside to talk."

The cave was cramped and narrow. If the gray-clothed zombie went berserk, once I was out of the cave, at least I would have some room to run.

The gray-clothed zombie could understand me. He cheerfully walked out of the cave, his joints making click-click sounds.

I followed him out of the cave. Under the moonlight, the gray-clothed zombie's appearance was revealed. His gray clothes were in utter tatters, his hands were shriveled, and the flesh on his face had sunk deeply in, leaving almost only a thin layer of skin wrapped around a skeleton.

Strictly speaking, he did not look like a zombie, but a Skeleton Man. Even the eyeballs in his sockets seemed to have shriveled, no bigger than broad beans.

Only yesterday, I had heard Ma Huoxin explain the classifications of zombies, but Ma Huoxin had never mentioned there being a skeleton-like zombie. If I had not grown used to seeing walking corpses, the first time I clearly saw the Skeleton Man, I might have collapsed on the ground.

I asked curiously, "Who exactly are you? What do you want with me? Do you need my help?"

The gray-clothed Skeleton Man shook his head. Just as he waved his arm, his head suddenly jerked around with a click, and his body sprang away, charging more than ten meters off. There was a patch of weeds there, all drooping to the ground after the frost had come.

The gray-clothed Skeleton Man ran toward the grass, and a figure sprang up from within, fleeing forward in a panic without choosing a path. After that figure ran a few steps, I recognized him. It was Chen Junfeng.

As Chen Junfeng ran, he released Demon Moths from his black pouch, but the Skeleton Man was not afraid of the Demon Moths at all. In the blink of an eye, he caught up to Chen Junfeng, lifted one hand, and hoisted Chen Junfeng up.

Chen Junfeng wailed, "What are you doing? Don't drink my blood! I'm old. Drinking my blood is no use. Drink that kid's blood!"

The gray-clothed Skeleton Man carried Chen Junfeng and turned back, then reached out and threw Chen Junfeng away. Chen Junfeng fell flat on his face like a dog eating shit, his head scraping against the ground and leaving a bloody mark.

Chen Junfeng cried, "Brother Xiao, save me! I beg you, save me!"

The gray-skinned Skeleton Man's joints clicked and clacked as he kicked Chen Junfeng several times in a row, then pointed at me and then at Chen Junfeng. Judging by the Skeleton Man's meaning, he was handing Chen Junfeng over to me to deal with.

I smiled and said, "Chen Junfeng, Guo Ni and I can be counted as the same generation. Don't call me brother. This young master looks down on people like you, and don't even think of being my uncle. You released those Five-Colored Demon Moths because you wanted to steal my Gu insects and make off with my Earth Egg, didn't you?"

Chen Junfeng said in a tearful voice, "Brother Xiao... Big Brother Xiao, I didn't come to steal anything. It was just that the two Demon Moths ran out on their own, and I was too worried, so I chased after them. I never expected such a huge misunderstanding."

I inwardly cursed him for being shameless and said, "That mouth of yours really can talk. But no matter how well you talk, you can't turn black into white. I'll only ask one thing: is your life worth money or not?"

Chen Junfeng nodded like he was pounding garlic. "Worth..." Then he shook his head like a rattle-drum and said with a mournful face, "Not worth money, not worth money. It's just one cheap life."

I smiled and said, "If it's just one cheap life, then I'll have the skeleton zombie snap your neck and toss you into the mountains to feed the wild dogs."

Chen Junfeng hurriedly changed his tune and said, "It's worth money, very worth money."

"Good that it's worth money. Today, I'll spare your life," I said. "But you owe me a sum of money. When I need money, I'll naturally come find you for it. If you agree, then get lost. If you don't, just wait to feed the wild dogs."

Chen Junfeng gritted his teeth and said, "Big Brother Xiao, whatever you say goes. I, Chen Junfeng, thank you for raising your noble hand. I only hope this sum won't be too large. I..."

I said, "Don't worry. I'm not a greedy person! If you refuse to acknowledge it, I'll naturally have ways to deal with you."

The gray-clothed Skeleton Man raised Chen Junfeng with both hands. Chen Junfeng's body of over a hundred jin vaulted over the Skeleton Man's head. Immediately after, the Skeleton Man threw Chen Junfeng straight out.

Chen Junfeng's right hand struck the ground first, and he let out a scream. After rolling several meters, he quickly got to his feet, clutched his right hand, and ran toward Camellia Village like a dog that had lost its home.

"Zombie big brother... Skeleton big brother, senior..." I changed forms of address several times in a row. "Now there's no one else here. Can you tell me who exactly you are?"

The gray-clothed Skeleton Man shook his head, pointed at me, then at himself, and waved both hands rapidly.

I shook my head and said, "I really can't figure out what you're trying to express. I've only just come to the Miao Borderlands, and we've never met before. What exactly do you want? Have you mistaken me for someone else..."

As soon as I said those words, my entire body froze completely.

First it had been Xiao Tianxing, then Chen Junfeng, and then Guo Ni, who said from an old photograph that I looked familiar. Could it be that this gray-robed Skeleton Man also thought I looked familiar, and that was why he had followed me?

The gray-robed Skeleton Man pointed at me, then at himself, then moved with clacking steps, circling me several times. His small eyes stared at me, the corpse qi on his body drawn in, as if he were filled with anticipation.

He repeated this whole series of motions over and over several times, until the earth beside me had been trampled firm.

I frowned and thought for a long time, then tried asking, "Senior Skeleton, are you saying that from now on, you'll stay by my side and protect me? Is that what you mean?" I guessed that his circling around me was probably meant to mean protecting me.

The Skeleton Man jumped up, clapped his hands, and nodded nonstop, looking especially happy.

I had actually guessed right.

I scratched my head, feeling a little overwhelmed. What use was it to have a Skeleton Man following me around? It wasn't as if I was going into the mountains and forests to catch zombies, nor was I studying secret arts to drive corpses and suppress corpses. What use was there in bringing a Skeleton Man with me?

Besides, I might not be the person the Skeleton Man was looking for. If I kept him at my side and delayed his business, I wouldn't be able to bear it on my conscience either.

I said, "Senior Skeleton, I may only look a lot like someone else. If you stay by my side to protect me, it will waste your time. So, I still hope you'll go wherever you want to go. I, Xiao Kunlun, don't need your protection. My master left me a powerful gu insect!"

"Kun... lun... Kunlun... Kun..." The gray-robed Skeleton Man opened his mouth and let out an excited voice. The sound seemed to come from his abdomen, extremely deep, but apart from those two words, he could not say any other unnecessary words.

Did he know my name, or had he heard of my name? I sank into thought, pacing back and forth. Then I looked up at the gray-robed Skeleton Man and said, "Senior Skeleton, whether you go or stay is your freedom! You can stay by my side for now. The cave is big anyway; one more person doesn't make it crowded. In the future, if you want to leave, that's up to you too. If you want to go, go. I won't force you to stay."

The Skeleton Man suddenly ran forward and lifted me up in both hands. He was very strong, easily picking me up, the joints in his hands clacking as he effortlessly raised me into the air.

"Kun... lun, I... teach you... gu arts..." the Skeleton Man uttered a few scattered words.

Held aloft by the Skeleton Man, I looked down at him from high above, and a familiar feeling surged through my mind, as if when I had been very, very young, I had seen him before.