Chapter 53

"Now you're talking about loyalty and righteousness? How many of the people you killed were someone's husbands or children?"

"You call yourself the village head? Do you even deserve that title?"

An Jing retorted disdainfully, "What makes you think I'm unworthy? Without me, this village would still be starving. It's me who led the village to prosperity!"

"What do you know, you outsider? How dare you question my worth?!"

An Jing felt an extreme sense of responsibility towards her role as village chief. She was determined to fulfill her husband's last wish and make the village prosperous, no matter what.

So she sought out the evil art of keeping a coffin alive with human flesh.

Eliminate dissidents and work with the villagers to implement the "Coffin Keeper" plan.

Unable to suppress her longing for her husband, she secretly used her own blood and the first batch of locust wood to turn his corpse into a zombie.

The villagers were unaware of the existence of zombies.

Su Cheng looked at the enraged An Jing and silently uttered two words: "Make your move."

The change happened the instant she finished speaking; Mu Ling's Bizarre Threads bound the zombie's legs and pulled it.

The moment An Jing's eyes widened in surprise, Su Cheng leaped up and kicked her in the chest, sending her flying a meter away.

The rope binding the zombie fell into Su Cheng's hands.

The zombie saw its coveted prey right before it, its fangs bared, but the ropes binding it prevented it from biting her.

The situation has turned around.

An Jing lay on the ground, vomiting blood. The dull pain in her chest made her gasp for breath, and she couldn't stand up for a moment.

She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her sneer continuing, "You've raised a ghost?"

"You're one to criticize me, but aren't you raising ghosts yourself... How ridiculous..."

She glared at Su Cheng, looking rather embarrassed and exasperated, and muttered to herself, "How could I not have known you were raising a ghost too!"

"You're the one who sneaked into my room! You're also the one who went into Xu Rong's ghost-keeping storage room at night!"

Su Cheng had no interest in paying attention to her; she had only talked to her so much to distract her.

The question now is how to deal with the zombies.

Unlike virus-driven zombies, these zombies are impervious to blades and bullets; they can survive even if a knife pierces their eye socket and penetrates their brain.

Do you know how to kill zombies?

Su Cheng asked Mu Ling.

"Have no idea..."

Mu Ling shook her head, touching her still-full stomach. With the zombies still unresolved, she couldn't possibly go back to sleep without worrying about the bracelet.

Su Cheng looked at An Jing on the ground, holding a dagger and threatening, "Tell me how to get rid of the zombie, or you'll have another hole in your neck."

An Jing grinned maliciously, her blood-stained lips moving, "I won't kill my husband, you can kill me then, I'll haunt you even as a ghost!"

Seeing that there was no longer any chance to fight Su Cheng, An Jing simply went all out and was no longer afraid of anything.

Just as Su Cheng was at her wit's end, An Jing suddenly stirred the blood in his mouth and Niannian as he drew on the ground...

"Whoosh!"

The rope broke!

Su Cheng instinctively bent back to dodge the attacking claws, and the cotton-padded coat on her arm was torn with a "rip," exploding out the cotton.

Mu Ling reacted quickly, her tough, Bizarre Threads tightly binding the zombie and delaying its second attack.

As Su Cheng retreated to create distance, she threw a dart with a hidden bullet, which struck An Jing squarely in the thigh.

Just a few seconds later, An Jing appeared dazed, sitting on the ground waving her hands and muttering...

The zombie didn't eat An Jing, who was standing nearby, and started a new round of chase with Su Cheng.

It had its eyes fixed on Su Cheng, showing no sign of giving up until it had her.

As Su Cheng approached the village entrance, panting, she bumped into an old man and a child.

They were not villagers.

The old woman saw the zombie behind Su Cheng, her expression grave. She pulled out a peach wood sword from the girl's bag beside her and went to meet it.

Su Cheng could tell from her demeanor that she was an expert.

A guess immediately formed in his mind: could the old woman be the Third Aunt Zhou Yang had mentioned?

A note from the author:

none

Chapter 53

"You weren't bitten by a zombie, were you?" The girl, who looked to be only about twenty years old, took out a box of glutinous rice and carefully examined Su Cheng.

"No." Su Cheng took a breath and touched herself before realizing that her cotton-padded coat had several tears.

Several times she thought she had dodged, but the zombie's fingernail tip still touched her.

Fortunately, the down jacket was sturdy enough that she didn't have any wounds.

The girl nodded, took out her camera, and snapped several pictures of the zombie. "Let your ghost come back, lest it get accidentally hurt by Third Aunt."

Su Cheng's eyelids twitched slightly; it seemed this girl was quite the "expert."

She immediately told Mu Ling to return to the bracelet.

The Third Aunt fought the zombie with a peach wood sword, displaying a powerful aura and agile movements, looking nothing like a sixty-year-old grandmother.

With a serious expression, the girl took out a net rope strung with copper coins from her bag, stepped forward, and seized the opportunity to put it around the zombie.

Su Cheng wanted to help, but didn't know how to start.

She only realized how strong the zombie was when she saw the girl struggling to pull the net rope around it. She had witnessed the zombie's strength before, so she rushed over to help.

Third Aunt bit her fingertip, her blood staining the peach wood sword red. She Niannian incantations and swung the sword towards the zombie's vital point!

"Hehehe!"

The zombie struggled even more fiercely, and the corpse's aura spread, almost causing Su Cheng and the girl to lose their grip on the net ropes.

Third Aunt suddenly looked at Su Cheng, "Miss, may I borrow the jade pendant around your neck?"

Without hesitation, Su Cheng tore it off and threw it to her.

After taking the jade pendant, the Third Aunt used her fingertip blood to draw a talisman on it.

The jade pendant shimmered with golden light and soared into the air!

As the Third Aunt chanted an incantation, a stream of turbid energy emerged from the zombie's body, which was then completely absorbed and purified by the jade pendant.

The struggling and screaming zombies, along with the turbid air leaving their bodies, slowly became sluggish and dull... until they lost all their strength and suddenly collapsed.

"Get out of my way!"

Su Cheng and the girl immediately stepped back.

Third Aunt changed her gesture, and with a "whoosh!" the zombie was engulfed in blue flames.

The blue flame has no temperature, and its core is white, like a blue lotus swaying in bloom.

The zombies turned to dust in the firelight.

[Ding~]

[The "Evil" quest is complete, earning 1000 points. The points will be tallied upon exiting the instance.]

That's amazing!

Su Cheng paid no attention to the system's announcement; her eyes flickered as she watched intently.

From the moment Third Aunt appeared until the zombies were defeated, it only took about twenty minutes!

The jade pendant gradually lost its luster and fell back into the hands of the Third Aunt. The Third Aunt picked up the peach wood sword, which stood unharmed amidst the blue flames, and handed it to the girl for safekeeping.

"Thank you for the jade pendant; it saved me a lot of trouble."

"I should be thanking you for helping me get rid of this zombie!"

Su Cheng took the jade pendant and looked down. Her smiling eyes were filled with surprise. The two red carp on the jade pendant were about to grow claws!

Is this... a transformation into a dragon?

She quickly put it in her pocket.

The information update of the Twin Fish Jade Pendant within the Smart Bag.

[Twin Fish Jade Pendant): Paranormal Weapon Class. Weight: 0.04kg. Effects:]

1. Wearing it for a long time can nourish the body and has a deterrent effect on Vengeful Ghost and those below that level.

2. Can neutralize mental attacks from Vengeful Ghost and below.

3. Can withstand one fatal attack at the level of Ghost King. Cooldown: 48 hours.

4. Dragon's Roar (To be activated): Effect unknown.

Great stuff!

Su Cheng happily put the jade pendant back on her neck, looked at her Third Aunt who was wiping her sweat, and sincerely thanked her, "Thank you, Third Aunt!"

She remembered that the jade pendant was stained with her Third Aunt's blood, and that her Third Aunt had chanted the incantation when she was controlling the jade pendant... She guessed that it was because of these things that the evolution occurred.

Third Aunt shook her head. "No need to thank me. You call me Third Aunt?"

Su Cheng: "Zhou Yang Zhou Yang mentioned you. He's not doing well right now; he won't wake up..."

Third Aunt San waved her hand without changing her expression, having already anticipated Zhou Yang's situation. "Zhou Yang's matter isn't urgent."

She straightened her expression and looked at Su Cheng seriously. "I observe that you have a special physique. Are you interested in becoming my apprentice?"

"..."

Su Cheng was stunned.

Su Cheng was overjoyed.

Has it finally been her turn to take on a master apprentice?

"I am willing to pay my respects to my master!"

"Greetings, Senior Sister!"

"Ahem, we haven't even had the formal apprenticeship tea yet, no need to be in such a hurry."

*

Thanks to the efforts of the villagers, the fire was extinguished on the back mountain, leaving behind dry, charred wood.

Police cars, like a long dragon, poured into the village, their sirens blaring.

Su Cheng and her Third Aunt found Su Xiaoxiao and her three companions, who were still in shock, in the haystack.

The Third Aunt burned a talisman in water and fed it to Zhou Yang, saying, "Once his soul returns to his body, everything will be alright. This boy has passed his life-or-death ordeal and will not face any more great calamities in the future."

Overjoyed, Su Xiaoxiao nodded repeatedly, tears streaming down her face, and together with Su Zhou, helped Zhou Yang into the ambulance.

The ambulance also contained the rescued pregnant woman, who was indeed a tourist who had come to the village earlier. They had come to Lin Family Village together, but now she was the only one alive.

Police cars blocked the village's entrances and exits, and police officers successively escorted villagers who had violated the law into the police cars.

"Actually, the police had been keeping an eye on Lin Family Village for a long time, but they could never find any concrete evidence."

Holding special identification, the Third Aunt exchanged a few pleasantries with the police before accompanying Su Cheng to give her statement.

Su Cheng naturally confessed everything that An Jing and the villagers had done, including the locust tree, the Coffin Keeper, the zombie, and the ghost child.

She only needs to clearly explain what she saw and heard; the subsequent judgment will be the responsibility of the police.

An Jing had regained most of her senses by the time she was escorted away. Her expression was surprisingly calm, and she simply looked at Su Cheng and said:

Do you think I'm the only one doing these things?

An Jing got into the police car, her indifferent gaze showing that she felt no remorse for her actions.

Su Cheng was not angered or upset by her words, and followed behind her Third Aunt and senior sister Song Qingya.