Chapter 11

"Clang!"

The cat-faced old woman jumped onto the dining table, staring at the zombie in front with disbelief.

Li Zhuiyuan took this opportunity to hurriedly spit out the dried fruit in his mouth, his hands unable to help but press against his forehead. The dried fruit in his mouth just now felt like his mouth was stuffed with star anise while chewing.

And now, he had discovered that he couldn't figure out the situation.

The cat-faced old woman was holding a birthday banquet here; he could understand that, and he had even tried to use the rules here to muddle through.

But what was going on with this inexplicably appearing zombie?

This was a special environment that was like a dream but not a dream. Shouldn't it be her home field?

Li Zhuiyuan didn't believe that this old woman was holding a birthday banquet and felt it was too cold, thinking that inviting a Child Opera troupe wasn't enough, so she invited a zombie out to help liven things up.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan felt he was very stupid, like a failing student at the bottom of the class.

The teacher was just explaining a problem, and he was still confused, but then the teacher said, "Let's look at another problem, it's a variation of this one, let's talk about them together."

Li Zhuiyuan felt even more bewildered.

However, what Li Zhuiyuan didn't know was that the cat-faced old woman standing on the table with a grave expression was even more bewildered... or even terrified.

Because even if the opponent just stood there without moving, the evil energy radiating from its body was enough to make her heart jump.

White gas kept pouring out from the zombie's mouth and nose. It seemed to be curiously looking at this place, and finally, it landed its gaze on the cat-demon old woman.

Sensing that she was being stared at by this giant fierce thing, the old woman's body shook, her arms shrank slightly, her fingers curled downward, and her whole body crouched slightly, as if to show submission.

She had only become a Corpse Demon not long ago, and suddenly facing this kind of existence hated by heaven and earth, she naturally felt fear, and couldn't even muster much courage to resist.

"Why are you here at my place? Where did I offend you?"

"Eh?"

Li Sanjiang, who was leading zombies in jumping exercises in the Forbidden City, scratched his head in confusion. He had just led the team to turn a corner. Originally, the team had three rows, three zombies per row, but this last row, why were there only two now?

"How can a zombie be missing? Do zombies get tired and go slack?"

"Roar!"

The zombie stretched its arms forward and jumped up, lunging straight at the old woman.

How could it care about the show of weakness and flattery the old woman had displayed? Joke, it didn't even know why it appeared here!

Seeing this, the old woman had no choice but to bite the bullet and jump up too, waving her claws.

The two sides had a tangle above the table, and finally landed on the table at the same time. In an instant, the table collapsed and flew apart.

Fortunately, Li Zhuiyuan had already left the table in advance to avoid the risk. He immediately ran to Qin Liu. Seeing that Qin Liu was still watching the fight, he immediately grabbed her hand:

"Still watching? Hurry and hide!"

He pulled Qin Liu to the corner of the wall. There happened to be table boards piled up here, which could provide some sense of security.

After drilling in and squatting down, Li Zhuiyuan observed the battle situation there through the cracks.

He saw the old woman turn sideways, relying on her cat-like agility to avoid the penetration of the zombie's ten fingers, and then she clawed at the zombie's right arm.

"Clatter!"

The zombie's clothes were torn open, and five finger marks appeared on the black, pitted flesh inside, with pus flowing out along the wounds.

But soon, the zombie swept its arms horizontally like a heavy whip, hitting the old woman.

"Bang!"

The old woman was knocked flying, hitting the wall heavily. After sliding down to the ground, she stared blankly at her fingers, then looked up at the wounds on the zombie's body.

"How come it's not as scary as I felt?"

In the second-floor bedroom, Li Sanjiang, lying on the bed, had a scratch on his right arm, and blood flowed out.

"Hiss! So painful!"

Li Sanjiang, who was leading zombies in jumping exercises in his dream, was so painful that he couldn't maintain his balance and fell directly to the left, and all the zombies behind him collectively fell to the left, neatly.

Li Sanjiang turned his head in confusion to look at the three zombies in the first row behind him:

"Which one of you is ambushing me?"

These three zombies didn't answer but also turned their heads to look behind. All the zombies behind followed by turning their heads to look behind.

"Damn it, is it this painful to get injured in a dream?"

Li Sanjiang couldn't care about bandaging or dealing with the wound, and immediately climbed up to continue jumping.

He knew that he couldn't give this group of zombies time to think clearly. Even if they rested for a while longer, this group of zombies might swarm over and tear him to pieces.

"Come, keep jumping!"

"Roar!"

In the banquet hall, the zombie jumped toward the old woman again.

This time, the old woman didn't go up herself, but her gaze swept around. The green ghostly light in her eyes flickered, and all the paper figures that had been standing woodenly rushed toward that zombie.

Some hugged the zombie's legs, some pulled its arms, and some even jumped onto the zombie's head.

The zombie began to wave its arms constantly, opening its mouth to bite, and every time it could tear several paper figures into paper scraps, but it really couldn't withstand the fact that the Great-Grandfather's house was a paper-cutting factory.

Taking advantage of the paper figures blocking the zombie, the old woman began to move around, and finally, after spotting an opportunity, she lunged forward to the zombie's back and clawed down with both hands.

"Clatter!"

This time, most of the zombie's official robe on its back was torn into cloth strips, and pus flowed out from the wounds made by the ten claw marks.

In the second-floor bedroom, Li Sanjiang's body straightened, and then blood gradually seeped out from the straw mat beneath him.

"Damn it, it hurts!"

In his dream, Li Sanjiang had just started to jump when he let out a scream, and his whole body fell face-down to the ground.

Behind him, all the zombies collectively jumped, and then neatly lay on the ground like frogs landing.

"Ah..."

Li Sanjiang only felt that his back was so painful that he could hardly speak, but he couldn't see it, so he subconsciously reached his right hand to touch his back.

All the zombies behind him supported their bodies with their left arms and raised their right arms to the side.

Li Sanjiang stretched his hand back and saw a hand full of blood, his eyes wide open.

This shouldn't be!

Yesterday, the dream was so dangerous, and he could jump around to avoid the pursuit of this group of zombies and remain unscathed. How come today, after he thought of a good method, he became even more miserable?

After he fell asleep and discovered he had entered the dream, and it was still the Forbidden City environment from last night, he immediately threw off the orange cat on his legs and ran quickly to the door hole in the center.

After the heavy door-opening sound ended and the "bang! bang! bang!" sounds came from inside, he forced himself to calm down and mustered the courage to be the first to jump after the team approached.

Just like that, he successfully became the leader.

Such a clever plan, why didn't it bring a good result?

At this time, Li Sanjiang discovered that the zombies lying behind him vaguely had the action of wanting to jump up, and the team began to be chaotic.

He gritted his teeth. His back was so painful that he really couldn't climb up, so he could only tiptoe, stretch his arms forward, and begin to crawl on the ground.

The zombie in the first row behind saw the leader move, so it followed, and the ones behind learned from the front. Soon, the team that had been loose and chaotic became neat and uniform again.

In the Forbidden City, a group of zombies wearing Qing Dynasty official robes were crawling like turtles, following the guy wearing holey white shorts at the very front.

Li Sanjiang was cursing while crawling. His heart was filled with frustration. This crawling was much more tiring than running. If he had known, he might as well have played hide-and-seek like yesterday?

He was old, and in reality, he lived a comfortable life with small wine and meat. Anyway, he had reached his age, and he was too lazy to think about taking care of his body. When his life span was up, he would be buried. Now it was good, he came to the dream to exercise!

But now he really couldn't stand up. With the injuries on his arms and back, if he dared to stand up and play hide-and-seek again, he wouldn't be able to play against that group of guys behind.

"Little Zhuiyuan, when will your luck turn? Your Great-Grandfather really can't hold on anymore... ah!"

Li Sanjiang let out another scream, turned his head to look, and discovered that his right arm, which was already injured, had five more holes, and blood was flowing out quickly from the holes.

Now he couldn't even crawl. He could only stick his left side to the ground, let his right arm hang on his body, and keep pulling forward on the ground with his left arm, along with the strength of his legs.

All the zombies behind him also changed their actions and began to crawl tactically...

In the hall, the zombie was angry because the old woman's five fingers had just pierced into its right arm, leaving deep blood holes.

It was originally a proud existence, but it had been repeatedly frustrated in such a place. How could it not be extremely angry?

The old woman retreated again, opening the distance, and at the same time ordered the paper cats and dogs to pounce up to fill the position, continuing to entangle the zombie.

She herself looked down at her nails again. After several successful sneak attacks, the natural fear she had felt in her heart had disappeared by seven or eight tenths.

No matter how scary something was, as long as it could be injured, as long as it would bleed and could be killed, it didn't have such great natural awe.

Li Zhuiyuan, hiding in the corner, frowned slightly. Looking at it this way, this inexplicably appearing zombie didn't seem to be the old woman's opponent either.

What should he do next?

Turning his head to look at Qin Liu beside him, she was actually half-lowering her head, seeming to have no interest in what was happening outside, and was still staring blankly.

For a moment, Li Zhuiyuan felt a little envy in his heart.

He squeezed Qin Liu's hand, and Qin Liu raised her head to look at him.

"Wait until the group of retainers outside also come in, then we'll find an opportunity to rush out. Run as far as you can, don't stop, understand?"

When the banquet started, Li Zhuiyuan wanted to run out from the main entrance, but a group of retainers stood outside, setting off firecrackers and blocking the road, so they couldn't get out.

But according to the current situation, the old woman was clearly using paper figures to delay and consume the zombie. Once the paper figures inside were mostly consumed, the batch outside would definitely be summoned in.

At that time, just run. He didn't believe that this dream had no boundaries.

As for the choice of running to the second floor, it was directly rejected by Li Zhuiyuan. Although the stairs had appeared again, what could he do if he ran to the second floor? Jump off the building?

Qin Liu looked at Li Zhuiyuan and didn't speak.

"Did you understand?"

Qin Liu lowered her head.

Fine, just treat it as if she understood.

Just as Li Zhuiyuan turned his head back, intending to continue observing the situation in front, he happened to meet the gaze of the cat-faced old woman looking here.

Li Zhuiyuan was shocked, and the cat-faced old woman smiled at him.

"Roar!"

The zombie let out another roar, attracting the cat-faced old woman's gaze back from Li Zhuiyuan.

"Hehe... it's useless for you to shout again. I really thought you were some amazing thing. It turns out you only have these two tricks... hmm?"

The old woman's eyes widened. She saw rich black energy emerging from the zombie's wounds. That was evil energy.

After the paper figures around it were contaminated by this evil energy, they all exuded blackness, lost their human appearance one by one, and collectively turned back into paper scraps and wood chips.

The group of retainers outside also rushed in at this time. The zombie turned around, opened its mouth, and sprayed out a large amount of black mist. The paper figures around and further away all fell to the ground before they could rush forward.

For a time, the entire banquet hall became much emptier.

The zombie raised its arms again and flew toward the old woman. At this time, its corpse energy was boiling and evil energy was swirling.

The old woman, who had no help from paper figures, could only meet it.

Li Zhuiyuan grabbed Qin Liu's hand: "This is the time, run!"

He and Qin Liu drilled out from the corner and rushed toward the entrance.

"Ahhh!!!"

Beside his ear came the old woman's scream, and then he saw the zombie pinching the old woman's neck and smashing down in front, blocking the direction of the main entrance.

The evil energy on the zombie's body lingered on the old woman, actually producing a feeling of being burned by fire. The old woman had been able to sneak attack at close range before, but now it was tormenting and painful to get close.

Li Zhuiyuan had to stop, and Qin Liu beside him also stopped.

The zombie, which had already pressed the old woman under its body, turned its head to look at the two children.

In its turbid eyes, a look of greed was revealed. It could perceive that these two were not paper figures, emitting an alluring scent of blood food.

It instinctively opened its mouth, and black mist sprayed out, surging over.

Li Zhuiyuan immediately pulled Qin Liu and ran backward, but this black mist came so fast and fiercely that it soon forced them both into the corner of the wall.

Qin Liu began to tremble. Li Zhuiyuan sensed it and squeezed her hand hard.

At this time, all he could give was this pale and useless comfort.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, the zombie let out a cry, and the black mist that had almost reached Li Zhuiyuan's face began to flow backward and be recovered quickly.

The line of sight in front also suddenly became clear. It turned out that the old woman's ten fingers had already pierced into the zombie's neck.

"Hahahahaha! Kill you, kill you, kill you!"

The old woman's fierce appearance was fully revealed. The fur on her body had already withered, and her skin was even charred black, but her whole person exuded a kind of madness.

The zombie roared wildly, its arms stabbing downward constantly, stabbing the old woman one after another, but the old woman just stuck her fingers into its neck and wouldn't let go.

"Damn it... he..."

Li Sanjiang covered his neck in pain. So painful.

Compared to the pain, what was more painful was that he couldn't breathe. He could find a way to endure the pain and bleeding, but if this feeling of suffocation continued, he felt he would definitely stop breathing.

Behind him, all the zombies were pinching their own necks.

But after this posture lasted for a long time, one zombie let go of its hand, followed by the second, the third...

Gradually, zombies began to stand up, their gazes turning from bewildered to fierce, looking at Li Sanjiang.

Li Sanjiang was still pinching his own neck, his face gradually turning blue. He was now a bit wishing that this group of zombies would pounce on him and tear him to pieces, because that would at least give him a quick end, saving him from suffering in suffocation until death.

In the banquet hall, the angry zombie raised its arms high again and smashed down on the old woman's head.

The old woman, who had just been fighting to the death with the zombie, let go at this moment, and her whole body kicked upward against the zombie's abdomen, sliding out smoothly toward the bottom.

"Bang!"

The zombie's nails pierced into the ground, and for a time, it actually got stuck, turning into a straight posture like doing push-ups.

The cat-faced old woman stood up. Her body was swaying, her whole body was charred black, and even the whiskers on her face were burned away, showing how bad her current state was.

However, she could actually be distracted at this moment, turning her head to look at Li Zhuiyuan and Qin Liu standing against the wall.

"Little one, hehe, Grandma can't beat it."

Her call carried a chilling coldness, and her eyes were full of resentment.

Just like the first time Li Zhuiyuan saw her in his dream at Cui Cui's house, she was also lying on Niu Fu's back, looking at him with such eyes.

"Roar!"

The zombie finally pulled its fingers out of the ground, turned half a circle in place, and stood up straight again.

Although it was very embarrassed, with tattered clothes and pus overflowing, this fierce energy was still there, not something the cat-demon old woman could compare to now.

The zombie pounced on the old woman again.

The old woman, however, turned sideways at this moment, didn't meet the zombie, but slid toward Li Zhuiyuan's direction instead.

Seeing this, the zombie immediately turned around and continued to pounce on the old woman.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't understand why the old woman would rather put her whole back to the zombie than come to get him first.

Could it be that before dying, she wanted to drag two more people to be cushions?

"Little one..."

The old woman stopped in front of Li Zhuiyuan, the eerie smile on her face becoming more and more intense.

He saw her completely ignore the zombie that was about to approach her, and instead reached out her claws, which were already curled and cracked, toward Li Zhuiyuan, with a faint eerie luster lingering on the claws.

Li Zhuiyuan only felt his body begin to float, because he was holding Qin Liu's hand tightly, and Qin Liu was also pulled to float along.

This feeling was not unfamiliar to Li Zhuiyuan. He had also had dreams before; this was the prelude to waking up from the dream, and it was about to be freed!

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan felt his vision begin to blur, and even the old woman's appearance in front of him became no longer so real, but he could still hear the old woman's last voice in his ear:

"Little one... Grandma will send you away first."

(End of chapter)