Chapter 99 Zombies Appear
"Young man, what do you think this is?"
The old village chief, Yang Dashan, asked in broken Chinese.
Chen Cheng frowned: "Village chief, it's still unclear. It might be some kind of ferocious beast. Tonight, the two of us will stay in the village and see if we find anything!"
Tian Wenzhong instructed that they should try not to cause public panic. Although information was relatively outdated here, it was not isolated. Once the news got out, reporters would flock to the area, causing unnecessary trouble for society!
"Oh, is there anything we need to cooperate on?"
"Old village chief, no need, you all just go to sleep. Those beasts might not even show up tonight!"
The old man with white hair spoke up.
The two staff members who came with him from the county checked the time, their eyes showing a hint of anxiety. Chen Cheng stepped forward and said, "Comrades, thank you for your trouble. We have arrived at the destination. You should also hurry back. It's too late and the mountain road is difficult to travel!"
"Oh, I see. Okay, we can't be of much help here, so we'll head back first. Call us if you need any help!"
After the two staff members drove away, the old man with white hair whispered to Chen Cheng with a smile, "Those two chickened out!"
Chen Cheng chuckled: "You think everyone is as invulnerable as you? Even if they really are zombies, they can't bite through your neck!"
"Heh, I don't know if it can be bitten through, but bullets can't penetrate it!"
At Yang Dashan's warm invitation, the two arrived at his home. His wife must have already started preparing. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw a dozen dishes laid out on a stone table, mostly mountain delicacies.
During the meal, Chen Cheng learned that the people who came with him were all prominent figures in the village. They usually helped Yang Dashan manage the village and restrict some young people from secretly going up the mountain to hunt, since many animals are now national protected animals. Moreover, most of these people were related by marriage.
After dinner, Chen Cheng and Bai Tou Weng declined the village chief's offer to stay overnight and went to the east and south sides of the village separately. These were the two areas where the village's livestock had been most frequently attacked recently!
Before nine o'clock at night, the village was plunged into darkness. In the city, it would be brightly lit and bustling with traffic, but it was still before the nightlife began. Here, however, it was already dark. Looking at the outline of the endless mountains in the distance and listening to the chirping of unknown insects and the occasional barking of dogs, one felt lonely and depressed!
The two communicated with each other through a single-wire earpiece, each climbing a large tree and sitting on a branch to observe their surroundings. The old man wore night vision goggles, while Chen Cheng did not; in his eyes, doing things day or night was the same!
The autumn wind was bleak, and the chill was growing stronger. The deep mountains were especially desolate. The mountain wind blew in gusts at night, making the leaves sway wildly in the wind and make a "whoosh whoosh" sound, like the whisper of nature or the shout of the mountain wind. These sounds echoed in the silent night. Fortunately, the two of them were not ordinary people, otherwise, such a scene would have been terrifying!
Chen Cheng focused intently on everything around him, occasionally whispering to the old man with white hair. Looking at the time on his phone, he felt that the night was both long and boring!
As dawn broke, the two of them found nothing amiss, and their night's vigil was in vain!
After having breakfast at the village chief's house, they fell fast asleep on the bed that had been prepared for them. They decided to rest during the day and keep watch at night, hoping that zombies or monsters would appear soon so that the two of them could finish their work and go home!
For three nights in a row, the two of them spent their time in the big trees at opposite ends of the village, and Chen Cheng even developed dark circles under his eyes from staying up so late.
On the fourth day, a light drizzle began to fall in the afternoon. As the old saying goes, "One autumn rain brings one chill," and it's absolutely true, especially in the mountains where the temperature was only four or five degrees Celsius. It would probably get even colder at night!
After dinner, the two put on the raincoats that the village chief had prepared in advance and prepared to keep watch.
"Comrades, it's raining tonight, so you shouldn't go on watch. Just stay home and rest. Nothing's happened for the past few days, so nothing will happen tonight either. Maybe that beast has already left this area!"
Village chief Yang Dashan felt very guilty seeing the two young men keeping watch under the big tree at the entrance of the village every night.
"It's alright, old village chief. Even if we don't go out, we won't be able to sleep if we have something on our minds. Don't worry, we're both in good health!"
The old man with white hair handed a cigarette to the village chief and Chen Cheng and then said...
"Oh dear, seeing you two young men working so hard, I really... sigh, I offered to let someone else take your place, but you wouldn't let me. What a mess..."
"Old village chief, we appreciate your kindness, but the sooner this is resolved, the sooner we can go home!"
Chen Cheng exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Alright, it's going to be windy and rainy tonight, so please be careful!"
Don't worry!
Chen Cheng patted him on the shoulder and walked out with the old man with white hair.
Arriving at the tree, I quickly climbed up and sat on a familiar branch. I took out my phone. Even zombies appear at midnight because that's when the yin energy is strongest!
Chen Cheng shielded his phone with his raincoat. Although the signal was poor, he could still exchange messages with Zhang Qian intermittently. After midnight, he coaxed Zhang Qian to sleep, then opened Tomato Novels, lowered the screen brightness, and started reading "The Divine Eye: Seeing Through All Things" by "Protecting You with My Beloved" to pass the time. Occasionally, he would look up and glance around. After some time, just as he was getting into an exciting part, he was suddenly attracted by a series of "bang bang" sounds that came from afar. Although the wind and rain were quite loud, this sound was particularly peculiar, like someone hopping around.
"Brother Bai, I've made a discovery!"
"What discovery? Zombies?"
"Yes"!
Chen Cheng's eyes widened. He saw a figure leaping forward in the dark, rainy night in a bizarre manner. This figure wasn't dressed in Qing Dynasty official robes, wearing a hat with plumes and outstretched arms like in movies and TV dramas; instead, it wore tattered funeral clothes, its hands pressed tightly against its trouser legs, leaping and landing a meter or so off the ground. As it drew closer, Chen Cheng finally saw clearly that the figure was indeed a zombie!
This was the first time he had ever seen a zombie. The zombie before him was deathly pale, almost purple, devoid of any color. Its eyes were bloodshot and glowed red like burning flames. Its mouth was tightly shut, and it exuded a suffocating aura of death. Rain poured down its head, running from its eyes to its chin, yet it didn't even blink!
Chen Cheng stood up from the tree branch, took out a blue talisman from his cloth bag, and stared straight at the approaching zombie!
"evil creature"!
A talisman of fire shot out from the tree. Although it was raining, it had no effect on the Taoist karmic fire.
The zombie had gained sentience after drinking the blood. Faced with the karmic fire on its body, it collapsed to the ground, then stood up straight again, extinguishing the talisman fire.
Without saying a word, Chen Cheng jumped down from the tree, took out his peach wood sword, and attacked the zombie. The peach wood sword was an extremely yang object, which was very effective against evil zombies.
Who knew this zombie possessed immense strength? It stiffly extended its pale, slightly purplish hand, its dark fingernails at least five centimeters long, and caught the peach wood sword. Instantly, its palm was injured by the yang energy of the peach wood sword, but it still wouldn't let go. Its other hand, resembling a ghostly claw, reached for Chen Cheng's neck. Chen Cheng had no choice but to temporarily evade its attack. Unable to pull out the peach wood sword, he released its grip, rolled to its back, and unleashed a powerful Five Thunder Palm strike on its back. This strike sent the zombie flying, the peach wood sword flying from its hand!