Professional Team

How many people died in Yong'an City every day? Even the Public Security Bureau probably did not know.

In these chaotic times, aside from wealthy people who cared enough to choose respectable burial plots for their friends and relatives,

most corpses that had met tragic ends were tossed into a mass graveyard in the west of the city.

The place had once been called Lion Mountain Park, where lions were kept for tourists to admire.

Unfortunately, the lions later died, and the park went out of business. Its distinctive name attracted plenty of body dumpers, and gradually, it became Corpse Mountain Park.

"But recently, the corpses in Corpse Mountain Park have started reviving for no apparent reason. Whenever the night grew quiet, ghostly figures wandered through the woods, their weeping faintly audible."

Ying Xiaoxiao wore a sinister expression, and her deliberately lowered voice sounded rather eerie.

You were trying to...

"Create a scary atmosphere?" Xu Jiang asked with a laugh.

"Huh? Don't you find it scary? Those are zombies! Very few people are willing to mess with those things."

"It was all right. Maybe I would have been scared three months ago." As Xu Jiang spoke, he glanced at Xiao Zhen again.

Their team had a professional occult-type practitioner. Someone who held ghosts like dolls had long gotten used to it, so what was there left to fear?

Ying Xiaoxiao patted his shoulder approvingly and praised, "Not bad, not bad. You're getting into the trade quickly. As long as you overcome your fear, tonight's mission will be easy."

Tonight's mission was to wrap zombies, some underworld slang Ying Xiaoxiao had learned from who knew where.

Aside from the food people put into their mouths, "zongzi" was also used by some people doing shady jobs to describe corpse-transformed zombies.

"But why call it wrapping zongzi?"

"The wrapping kind of wrap!"

"Packaging?"

"That's right. Tonight's main task is to package three zongzi and bring them back. The client said they had to be able to move."

Package three zongzi...

That sounded awfully casual. Should I thank the organization for preparing such a wonderful celebration party for me?

Who knew where Ying Xiaoxiao had picked up this commission? There were always certain enthusiasts with strange requests, and the pay was not low. Was this because they could not get them while they were fresh, so moving ones would do?

"The second task is to investigate the cause of the mutation in Corpse Mountain Park."

"Wait, we have more than one mission tonight?"

"Of course. Since we're already in this mass graveyard, wouldn't it be nice to collect a few more rewards?"

Ying Xiaoxiao was a practical person. She first accepted a high-paying job, then found a few smaller tasks she could do along the way to supplement the household income. Diligent and thrifty—she was truly capable.

"The final task is to find an herb called Corpse Companion Flower."

Corpse Mountain Park was dim and gloomy late at night.

After entering the park and wandering around for a while, they found crooked tombstones and earthen mounds lining both sides of the road. Some remains were even exposed above the ground.

Faint sobbing drifted through the woods, and a subtle scent of blood hung in the wind.

Honestly, it would have been impossible not to find a place like this creepy. Fortunately, they were all practitioners. If people came, they would chop people; if ghosts came, they would chop ghosts.

Reports of corpse transformations had begun trickling out three days ago. Some vagrants had seen dead bodies come back to life, while others had witnessed more than a hundred humanoid monsters going berserk at once.

Xiao Hei's voice came through their earpieces.

As Team 17's only logistics officer, Xiao Hei was responsible for staying at the base and providing them with informational support.

"Didn't the Public Security Bureau come investigate?" Xu Jiang was cautious and wanted to learn more.

"They came, but they found nothing. They said passersby had imagined it, burned a few corpses, and left."

"Could it be humans affected by Mad Calamity?"

"Probably not. Strange things only happen at night. Even when people come here to barbecue during the day, no one has ever been attacked."

Mad Calamity could affect people's minds, driving them insane and beyond control. Since no one was hurt during the day, Mad Calamity could be ruled out for the moment.

Could some powerful occult-type practitioner be controlling corpses to cause trouble?

But controlling more than a hundred zongzi at once would definitely require a powerhouse. Why would someone come out in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?

"Let's go. We'll take a look around the woods. Today's main task is packaging zongzi. It would be best if we can finish the rest, but we won't force it if we can't."

Gentle and sweet away from battle, she was utterly fearless once she carried her long spear.

Ying Xiaoxiao took the lead, lightning flickering around her body. Everyone she looked at seemed like a zongzi, and she nearly tied up several passing scavengers.

"Captain, you need to stay calm! Tonight's mission may not be that simple." Xiao Hei's warning came through the earpiece again.

Sha Tu frowned slightly. "What is it, Xiao Hei? Did you discover something?"

"I just received word that other teams have also taken this mission."

"What? It isn't exclusive to us?"

"No. As far as I know, four teams have already set out. Everyone, be careful."

This news undoubtedly made the mission more complicated.

Perhaps having four teams proceed at once could make the task easier and improve the chances of success.

But they could not forget that the employer would also have to pay four separate fees. That was no small sum. This operation was probably not as simple as it looked.

"Forget it. Keep moving. I want to see what they're up to."

Ying Xiaoxiao's words sounded a little cocky, but they also showed her confidence.

Their team was exceptionally well-rounded. In this eerie place, everyone else's abilities would probably be restricted, but they had Xiao Zhen!

As though releasing a balloon, she sent Little You from her arms into the sky. Little You circled the area once, and for some reason, a whole group of blue shadows began following her.

Xiao Zhen listened for a while, then pointed south. "They told me there's a group of bad people over there who always bully them."

She still lacked any facial expression, and her voice remained extremely cold, but her words were full of childish innocence.

The "they" Xiao Zhen mentioned should have been the resentful spirits around them.

She was only fourteen, yet she had already become friends with wandering ghosts. Kids these days really played wild.

Relying on Xiao Zhen's advantage, the group quickly spotted their first zongzi.

It was a male corpse wearing a set of women's sleepwear. It seemed to have retained some memories from before death, and was currently ramming itself into a large tree at high frequency.

Zongzi these days were far too uncivilized. Wasn't this setting a bad example for children? Xu Jiang had just wanted to cover Xiao Zhen's eyes when the three beside him made their move.

Sha Tu fired a grappling claw from his hand, yanked himself off a tree trunk for leverage, rapidly changed direction, flew behind the zongzi, and kicked it to the ground.

Ying Xiaoxiao followed close behind. Her long spear slashed down on its shoulder, purple lightning flashed, and the zongzi was instantly electrocuted numb, its limbs twitching as its body stiffened rigidly.

Baozi quickly stepped forward, pulled a body bag over the zongzi's entire body, then took out several ropes and cinched them tight. Just like that, a meat zongzi was packaged.

"True experts!" Xu Jiang could not help exclaiming.

What skilled coordination! What professional techniques! There was no doubt these people had taken plenty of side jobs packaging things before.

Watching the zongzi at his feet regain its mobility and struggle desperately, Xu Jiang could not help asking, "So what now? It'll keep struggling like this. Won't it be inconvenient to take it with us?"

"It's fine. Just bury it." Ying Xiaoxiao had countless solutions and was extremely professional when it came to burying corpses.

She propped her long spear beside her, switched to a shovel, and took the lead in digging a pit.

"Zongzi won't suffocate anyway. We'll bury it first, then dig it up and take it away after we finish the mission. Come on, everyone! Let's wrap this up quickly and go back for a late-night snack."

They truly were a professional team. Killing, looting, packaging, burying corpses... they did not hesitate in the slightest.

Just then, an explosion suddenly sounded in the distance, and flames shot into the sky.