Paper Butterfly touched the medicinal herbs on her body. She had only found them with great difficulty in the woods beside the village. Though she did not know whether they would help the person she loved, they were still a sliver of hope.
Holding the shrine bell in her hand, she stared at the monster before her. She had no patience left to wait and immediately began running to the side.
Seeing its prey flee, the monster no longer feared the thing on her body and leaped straight at her.
The zombie leaped far faster than Paper Butterfly could run. In just a few jumps, it reached her side, its long black nails clawing toward her.
"Get away from me!"
Seeing the zombie draw near, Paper Butterfly raised the shrine bell in her hand to block it.
Just as the zombie's nails were about to strike the shrine bell, it hurriedly withdrew its claws. Paper Butterfly took the chance to kick it in the thigh, but it felt as though she had kicked a rock. Instead, she hurt her own foot.
Unable to do anything to it, Paper Butterfly quickly turned and continued running. As long as she reached the shrine, she would be safe. This monster seemed to fear the shrine.
Although she had never seen her family's deity manifest, there were times when she felt as though the deity truly existed.
Before she had run more than a few steps, the zombie caught up again. Paper Butterfly once more blocked it with the shrine bell, then continued running. But this time, she failed to notice the stone beneath her foot. She tripped over it and fell to the ground, accidentally flinging the shrine bell from her hand.
"Oh no!"
The instant she fell, Paper Butterfly's heart went cold.