Chapter 10: The Righteousness Left by a Corpse, the Maze of an Old Identity

Chen Yusheng drove to yesterday's battlefield, where the corpses of Sangshi and humans lay scattered in disarray.

Many of the bodies bore marks of being gnawed on by wild beasts; a few animals the size of calves scurried into the dense grass in a panic upon seeing someone approach.

His gaze swept over the scene, and he spotted the corpse of Dali at a single glance.

That three-meter-tall body was riddled with bloody holes from armor-piercing bullets, the head was densely packed with bullet holes, and the skull had been split wide open by someone, the Crystal Core inside long since vanished.

"Sigh!"

Chen Yusheng let out a soft sigh; having finally refined such a powerful helper, only to lose it just like that, he couldn't help but feel a sense of regret.

Putting his emotions aside, he began to search for the corpse of the little girl's father according to her description, and before long, he found it beside a broken wall.

This was the very same youth of thirty-five or thirty-six who had been carrying a rocket launcher before Chen Yusheng chopped his neck through with an axe.

"Brother, don't blame me. In this apocalypse, if you want to kill me, I can only protect myself."

After whispering this, Chen Yusheng hoisted the corpse into the bed of the pickup truck and drove back to the residential building where he had been hiding before.

He carried the corpse to a room on the third floor, laid it on a bed that was still relatively intact, poured out half a bottle of mineral water, and carefully wiped the youth's face clean, fulfilling his final gesture of goodwill.

Only then did he take out the satellite phone and record a video to send to the little girl.

The video call was answered almost instantly, and a little girl of twelve or thirteen appeared on the screen.

She was dressed in plain white clothes with a white cloth wrapped around her head, her eye sockets severely red and swollen, clearly having cried for a long time.

"Where is my father?" the little girl asked urgently, her voice thick with heavy sobbing.

Chen Yusheng pointed the camera at the corpse on the bed, and shrill, heart-wrenching cries immediately came through the earpiece.

After crying for a long time, the little girl finally managed to stop her sorrow, a bit more determination appearing in her eyes as she looked up and said, "What do you want to know?"

"I have amnesia and want to know everything about myself," Chen Yusheng said bluntly.

"I don't know much either; I only heard that your name is Chen Hai and you are wanted by the Base," the little girl sniffled. "I heard you sold yourself to the He Family, took the money, and then ran away, which is why the He Family issued a warrant with a five-million bounty to catch you."

"I sold myself to the He Family?" Chen Yusheng frowned slightly. "Is there anything else?"

"Also, the reason you were able to escape is that Miss Li Ruixi of the Li Family helped you. The He Family took their anger out on the Li Family because of this, forcing them to marry the Li Family's young lady to the He Family Third Young Master. The Li Family has already agreed, and the wedding will take place in a month."

The little girl paused and added, "I also heard that the He Family Third Young Master is very ugly and has a severe congenital heart disease. Even a Healing Ability User cannot cure him; he is just barely clinging to life and might not live for many more years."

After hearing this, Chen Yusheng felt no ripples in his heart; these were all the past events of the original owner, Chen Hai, and had nothing to do with him, a Mao Shan Heavenly Master.

"Do you know what kind of relationship that Li Ruixi and I had?"

This was the point he cared about most; to risk her life to help the original owner escape, their relationship must have been extraordinary.

"I don't know," the little girl shook her head.

Chen Yusheng asked several more questions about the Base and the He Family, but the little girl either said she didn't know or was vague.

She was still young and only an ordinary child in the Base; it was already not easy for her to know even this much.

"Where is the Base? What is its name? How big is it?" Chen Yusheng asked again.

"I don't know. I've been in the Base since I was six and have never been outside. Everyone in the Base just calls it 'the Base'; no one has ever mentioned any other name."

The continuous "I don't know" responses left Chen Yusheng with no desire to continue questioning.

He looked up and caught a glimpse of the battery icon in the top right corner of the phone screen; only one percent remained, and it could shut down at any moment.

"I have placed your father's remains on the third floor of this building. That Uncle Qiu of yours should know this place. Just tell him it's the building where I was hiding. When you grow up, you can come to collect the body."

Chen Yusheng said in a deep voice, "Also, if you want to seek revenge on me when you grow up, I will be ready at any time."

The little girl on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment before saying softly, "I know. Killing to protect oneself in the apocalypse is perfectly normal; Uncle Qiu has told me that too."

"But he is my father after all, and I cannot forget that. If I can awaken an ability when I grow up, I will definitely seek revenge on you. If I am just an ordinary person, then I will accept my fate."

"Fine, suit yourself. If you come to seek revenge, I won't hold back either."

Chen Yusheng said no more, and at that moment, the phone completely exhausted its battery, the screen turning black as it shut down.

The room returned to silence, and Chen Yusheng looked at the corpse on the bed, hesitated for a moment, and walked forward slowly.

He placed the satellite phone beside the corpse, then pressed his right hand onto the youth's skin, a strand of pure True Qi slowly flowing into the body.

As the True Qi circulated, all the bacteria and viruses within the corpse were completely wiped out.

Without bacteria to cause decay, the corpse would not rot rapidly from the inside, and with this room being dry, perhaps it might even turn into a mummified corpse in the end.

Furthermore, with the corpse inside the room, it would not be completely devoured by wild animals.

After some thought, he bit his fingertip, using blood as ink and True Qi as a guide, and quickly drew a Warding Off Evil Talisman on the youth's chest.

Finally, he condensed his True Qi and wiped his hand across it, causing the talisman markings to fade into the body, hidden and dormant.

This talisman could provide protection for half a month and would only be triggered when a Sangshi approached to bite.

He was not a soft-hearted person by nature; killing the youth was purely for self-preservation, and he had no regrets.

But the little girl's filial affection for her father reminded him of his own daughter back on Earth.

Before he transmigrated, his daughter had been exactly that age.

This was the reason he was willing to do these things for the little girl.

After Chen Yusheng went downstairs, he began to clean up the battlefield, splitting open the heads of the Sangshi one by one to collect the Crystal Cores.

After a few hours, the bag was filled with over four hundred and thirty glistening white crystals, hanging heavy and weighing it down.

After collecting the Crystal Cores, he condensed a True Qi Air Blade and neatly cut off pieces of Sangshi skin—this material was an excellent carrier for Talismans. By preparing more, he would have more confidence to deal with things if he encountered another siege by a Zombie Group.

Using blood as a guide and True Qi as ink, he engraved Soul-Suppressing Talismans onto the Sangshi skin; they remained dormant and could be maintained for a long time, and could be triggered instantly when needed—this was the advantage of Talismans.

It was just that the capacity of the Sangshi skin was limited; each Talisman could only contain a little over half a strand of True Qi, making their power slightly weaker than drawing a Talisman directly into the void.

After two hours of work, Chen Yusheng had only finished drawing thirty Talismans.

Once the Talismans were made, he sat in meditation to fully recover his depleted True Qi before setting off to leave.

He did not drive the pickup truck, choosing instead to walk on the streets, searching for supplies as he went.

In a small shop, he found a sturdy backpack and stuffed the Crystal Cores, the mineral water he had scavenged, and the vacuum-packed food into it all at once, finding it quite light to carry on his shoulders.

When passing by a clothing store, he picked out a few sets of clean clothes to change into, finally shedding the disheveled, blood-stained state he had been in before.

After walking two streets, Chen Yusheng also saw a small river; the river water was still quite clear, so Chen Yusheng simply went into the river to take a bath, scrubbing away the stench of rot and filth from his entire body, and he felt much more refreshed.

Walking along the way, he also attracted several hundred ordinary Sangshi to follow behind him, but because he had the Warding Off Evil Talisman, these Sangshi never dared to approach him.

Chen Yusheng did not make a move to clear out these Sangshi, because keeping these Sangshi could instead protect him.

For instance, if he were to encounter the pursuit of those Scavengers again, these tag-along Sangshi could become a barrier for him.

To want to kill him, one would have to clear away these Sangshi first.