Chapter 40: The Missing One

“Clang!”

The cat-faced old woman leapt onto the dining table, staring in disbelief at the zombie before her.

Li Zhuiyuan took the chance to spit out the dried fruit in his mouth and pressed his hands against his forehead. That single piece of dried fruit had tasted like chewing a mouthful of star anise.

And now, he realized he couldn’t make sense of the situation anymore.

He could understand the cat-faced old woman throwing herself a birthday banquet, and he had even tried to bluff his way through by following her rules.

But where had this zombie come from?

This place felt like a dream—yet not exactly. Shouldn’t this be her domain?

Li Zhuiyuan refused to believe she’d felt her birthday was too quiet, decided that hiring a Child Spirit Opera troupe wasn’t festive enough, and then brought out a zombie to liven things up.

At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan felt utterly stupid, like a failing student in class.

The teacher was explaining a problem that already made no sense, and then added, “Let’s look at another problem, a variation of this one.”

He felt even more lost.

What he didn’t know was that the cat-faced old woman on the table was even more confused—and terrified.

Even though the zombie just stood there, the murderous aura pouring off him was enough to make her heart pound with dread.

White vapor coiled from the zombie’s nose and mouth. He seemed to be curiously observing the surroundings, but finally, his gaze locked onto the old cat demon.

Sensing that this monstrous force had set its sights on her, the old woman trembled. Her arms drew in close, fingers curled downward, and her posture dipped in submission.

She’d only recently become a corpse demon. Faced with something so abominable that even heaven and earth seemed to loathe it, she was naturally filled with fear and had no real will to resist.

“Why are you here? Have I offended you somehow?”

…

“Huh?”

In the Forbidden City, Li Sanjiang scratched his head in confusion. He had just led his squad around a corner—three rows, three zombies in each.

But the last row was now down to two.

“Is one missing? Can zombies get tired and sneak off?”

…

“Roar!”

The zombie lunged, arms extended straight out, leaping directly at the old woman.

It didn’t care that she had shown submission. What a joke. It didn’t even know how it got here.

The old woman had no choice but to jump up as well, swinging her claws.

The two clashed above the table, grappling fiercely before both crashed down. The table exploded into splinters.

Thankfully, Li Zhuiyuan had stepped away in time and avoided the chaos. He rushed over to Qin Li, who was still staring at the brawl, and grabbed her hand.

“Stop watching and get down!”

He dragged her into a corner, where some table boards were stacked—enough to offer some shelter.

Once crouched inside, Li Zhuiyuan peered through the cracks to watch the fight.

The old woman twisted sideways, using her catlike agility to dodge the zombie’s ten deadly fingers. Then she slashed its right arm with her claws.

“Rip!”

The zombie’s clothes tore open. Underneath, the dark, pitted flesh showed five deep claw marks, oozing pus.

But almost immediately, the zombie’s arms swung out like heavy whips and struck the old woman hard.

“Bang!”

She flew through the air and slammed against the wall. As she slid to the ground, she stared at her own fingers, then looked up at the zombie’s wound.

“It’s… not as terrifying as I thought?”

…

Upstairs, lying in bed, Li Sanjiang suddenly had a claw mark appear on his right arm, blood gushing out.

“Shit! That hurts!”

In his dream, where he was leading zombies in aerobics, the pain threw off his balance, and he tumbled to the left. Every zombie behind him toppled the same way, falling neatly to the ground.

Li Sanjiang looked back at the first row of three zombies in confusion.

“Which one of you little bastards sneak-attacked me?”

The three zombies didn’t answer but turned their heads to look behind. The entire horde followed suit.

“Damn it. Dreams aren’t supposed to hurt this much!”

Ignoring the bleeding wound, Li Sanjiang scrambled back to his feet and resumed jumping.

He knew he couldn’t give the zombies even a second to think. If they got a moment’s clarity, they’d tear him to pieces.

“Come on! Keep jumping!”

…

“Roar!”

In the banquet hall, the zombie lunged again.

But this time, the old woman didn’t take the blow herself. Instead, her eyes swept the room, green light flashing.

The paper effigies that had been standing around like puppets suddenly came to life and charged the zombie.

Some clung to its legs, others grabbed its arms, and a few even leapt onto its head.

The zombie flailed and snapped its jaws, tearing multiple paper effigies to shreds with each strike. But it couldn’t keep up—after all, her great-grandfather ran a paper effigy factory.

Using the distraction, the old woman darted around the edges. She waited for the perfect opening, then pounced behind the zombie, both claws extended.

“Rip!”

This time, most of the zombie’s official robe shredded into strips, and ten deep claw marks opened up on its back, leaking pus in streams.

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