Yang Zhi lowered his head and bitterly continued digging. Humiliated, he raised a hand to wipe the mud off his face, handed a stack of almanacs to Kong Xuyang, and asked, "Brother Kong, these are the ones I just dug out. Can you take a look?"
Kong Xuyang took the almanacs and quickly skimmed over them:
"…Gengzi year, Gengchen month, Guihai day, the 21st day of the third month. The healthy men of the family gathered to offer sacrifices to the ancestors. They vowed to gain fame through justice and defy the oncoming ghosts from every direction. Wives, daughters, and parents shed tears on the other side of the bridge, praying to the heavens and gods to protect our Yinshan Village men and to let them come home in one piece…"
"Gengzi year, Xinsi month, Xinchou day, the first day of the fifth month. News of the conflict came from the capital. Cannons rumbled, gunshots were fired. Even a hundred li [1] away, family and relatives heard and were filled with worry, praying inside the ancestral shrine day and night…"
"Xinsi month, Yisi day, the first day of the fifth month, Dragon Boat Festival. There were no women wrapping zongzi [2], no elders wearing joyful expressions, and no children happily playing. All of them sat at the village entrance in grief, keeping watch for those who would return home covered with a white cloth."
"This person's name was Wang Wu [3], thirty-eight years old. He had a son and two daughters. He was an honest and sincere person, helping his family and neighbors cut wheat during harvest season. His wife wept before his corpse. She was left speechless, both her hands trembling. She uncovered the white cloth to see his mutilated corpse, missing his right hand and right leg, which had been said to have been blown up by evil spirits and were unable to be retrieved."
"Wang Wu's son and two daughters shook his corpse, shouting helplessly. Wang Wu didn't respond."
"…The first day of the fifth month, a load of corpses returned, their faces covered with white cloth, and they were laid upon wooden frames at the village gate. Everyone in the village stood before the corpses in silence, not speaking a word. No one stepped forward to remove the cloth to identify the bodies. All of them buried their heads in their hands and wept. Several shichen [4] later, Village Elder Zhang stepped forward and took off the cloth with trembling hands. Wailing loudly, he repeatedly called out childhood names, tears streaming down his face as he nearly collapsed in front of the corpses…"
......
"The 21st day of the fifth month. All of Yinshan Village's young men returned—not a single one alive."
"The 27th day of the fifth month. An auspicious day for breaking ground, traveling, and burials. The majority of the young men of Yinshan Village returned home as mutilated corpses. According to custom, they would not enter the ancestral tomb; instead, they would be buried at the foot of the mountain opposite. The widowed women held memorial tablets in their hands, the children wept before the burial, and the parents supported the coffins from both sides. A vigil was held for forty-nine days. Although the burial did not take place in the ancestral tomb, it was performed with full rites and great honor."
......
"The 20th day of the seventh month. All the righteous have died. Foreign aggressors ran rampant, heading to the capital without stop, burning, killing, looting, committing every atrocity imaginable. The smoke and flames from the great fire could be faintly seen from Yinshan Village."
"The imperial court did not act, allowing the aggressors to prey upon the people. In less than three days, it surrendered."
"The first day of the ninth month. There is a rumor in the capital. The imperial court negotiated with the foreign devils [5]. To show its sincerity, it handed over the families of those who were involved and their villages to the evil aggressors, allowing them to slaughter, violate, kill, loot, and occupy at will. It tacitly agreed to let them advance further inward, ceded territory, and punished the rioters to demonstrate sincerity."
"Only the women, children, elderly, and weak remained in Yinshan Village, leaving them with no power to resist. Overwhelmed with grief, they chose death over submission. To avoid being disgraced, the robust young widows jumped from the bridge for their husbands, carrying umbrellas to their deaths, their eyes open with unresolved grievances."
"Choosing to become vengeful ghosts beneath the bridge rather than becoming disgraced women in the household."
......
"What kind of ridiculous nonsense is this?!" The more Kong Xuyang read, the angrier he became. "It doesn't have a damn connection with that zombie Daoist at all! Are there any more?"
Yang Zhi swept a quick glance at the increasing number of ghosts outside the zombies and couldn't help but shiver, his complexion deathly pale. He shook his head at Kong Xuyang but barely dared to move, clearly afraid of angering him. "N-none."
"If there are none, hurry up and dig!" Kong Xuyang kicked Yang Zhi in the head, his face flushed red with anger.
Mu Sicheng, who witnessed this from the side, couldn't help but sneer and let out a mocking laugh. "Only dumbasses vent their anger on a teammate."
Kong Xuyang's temples pulsed. He walked over and raised his hand, about to stab Mu Sicheng, but halfway through, he saw the fangs at the corners of Mu Sicheng's mouth and stopped.
Mu Sicheng was currently afflicted with corpse poison and was turning into a zombie. If Kong Xuyang approached and Mu Sicheng attempted to bite him at the risk of his life, the one who would suffer would certainly be him.
His current vitality was almost drained, so he could no longer precisely control the zombies guarding Mu Sicheng from biting him to death. All he could do was have them keep watch over him…
Moreover, if the zombies bit Mu Sicheng again and he didn't die, his mental value would drop below 20. Although he wouldn't die, it would create a problematic situation.
More important matters took priority; there was no need to waste energy. First, they had to find the almanacs!
Kong Xuyang's raised hand paused for a moment. He took a deep breath and forced it down, then turned around, tucked the almanacs at his waist, knelt down, and continued digging graves with Yang Zhi.
Mu Sicheng stared at the almanacs at Kong Xuyang's waist, the monkey paw pinned behind him by the zombie, twitching slightly. He slowly took a long breath.
He had just tried to provoke Kong Xuyang into approaching so he could steal the almanacs from his waist, but who would have thought that this time, this idiot Kong Xuyang would stay clear-headed and ignore him no matter how much he shouted?
Mu Sicheng lowered his gaze and glanced at the Copper Wall Iron Fortress formed by the zombies. Although it trembled slightly under the pressure of the surrounding ghosts, it seemed unbreakable for now.
What Kong Xuyang said wasn't wrong. His hidden trump card would last until he finished searching all the almanacs.
If the almanacs contained a key point in the game, as Bai Liu had said, wouldn't Kong Xuyang win, just as he claimed?
Furthermore, Bai Liu and those ghosts were outside the wall, and he didn't know how long Bai Liu could hold on…
The fangs at the sides of Mu Sicheng's mouth grew longer. His face turned nearly bluish-green like a corpse, and his breathing quickened. He estimated the distance between himself and Kong Xuyang.
At that distance, he could cover it in a quick sprint—launch a surprise attack, snatch the almanacs from Kong Xuyang's waist, and throw them outside the wall of zombies.
But if he forced his way forward, the zombie behind him would definitely attack again, and Kong Xuyang would become furious and kill him. Under the combined assault of Kong Xuyang and the zombies, Mu Sicheng felt he wouldn't last long before collapsing.
…He just didn't know if Bai Liu could decipher the contents in time after getting them, uncover the secret of the Daoist zombie, and then come save him.
With so many steps involved, it was obvious there was no way to coordinate everything perfectly in time. If he forced it, he would most likely end up dead.
Mu Sicheng took a deep breath—
Despite not knowing why, he believed that the person outside, Bai Liu, could accomplish it, no matter how inconceivable the tactic seemed—
—I'll take the gamble!
Mu Sicheng fixed his gaze on the almanacs at Kong Xuyang's waist, taking a deep breath. He lowered his body, then suddenly swiped his right claw forward in a quick burst, fiercely slashing toward Kong Xuyang's waist. At the same time, the zombie behind him followed closely, its body swaying and leaving an afterimage as it lunged with its mouth open, aiming to viciously bite Mu Sicheng's back.
Kong Xuyang reacted extremely quickly. Before anger could even surface in his eyes, he flicked his dagger backward at his waist, swinging it outward to deflect the claw Mu Sicheng was reaching with.
But Kong Xuyang didn't expect Mu Sicheng not to turn around and block the zombie behind him—instead, he ignored it completely. He grabbed Kong Xuyang's dagger with his right claw and pulled it forward, dragging Kong Xuyang right in front of him.
In Kong Xuyang's stunned and unprepared gaze, Mu Sicheng stiffly endured a fierce bite to his back from the zombie, then used his left hand to hook the almanacs from Kong Xuyang's waist. He also grabbed the almanac that Yang Zhi, who still hadn't reacted, had just thrown from the grave, crumpled them together into a ball, and hurled them outside, shouting sharply, "Bai Liu, almanacs coming out!"
The zombie behind Mu Sicheng had bitten down firmly, not letting go, causing him to choke out a mouthful of black blood.
From the spot where the zombie had bitten him, corpse poison was continuously injected into Mu Sicheng's body. His complexion quickly withered.
Mu Sicheng supported himself with both hands on the ground, gasping for breath, each inhale carrying a putrid smell. His eyes darkened, his fangs grew to the point that they nearly pressed against his lower jaw, and a bloodthirsty roar erupted from his throat.
Kong Xuyang watched helplessly as the almanacs he had painstakingly collected were thrown outside by Mu Sicheng. Rage contorted his face, every muscle trembling uncontrollably. This time, he couldn't stay calm. He raised his dagger and fiercely drove it toward Mu Sicheng's heart. "MU SICHENG—!!"
The tip of the dagger struck Mu Sicheng's back, but it seemed to hit some tough animal hide, unable to penetrate further. The blade even curled backward.
Kong Xuyang's movement suddenly halted, and his expression changed.
Shit!
After being bitten twice, Mu Sicheng's mental value had dropped below 20!
[System Warning: Player Mu Sicheng's mental value has dropped to 17, entering rage state panel!]
Mu Sicheng slowly raised his red eyes, tilting his head crookedly. He rolled his shoulders a few times and rubbed his fists. With the zombie still biting into his back, he stood up, shook his increasingly long monkey claws, and looked down at the retreating Kong Xuyang and Yang Zhi, raising an eyebrow.
"No wonder Bai Liu ditched me here and wasn't worried about saving me."
"Turns out this game also has a rage setting." Mu Sicheng stuck out his tongue and licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, a red glow flickering in his eyes as he parted his lips in a sinister smile. "Very interesting—I like it."
Kong Xuyang's sharp, ear-piercing voice rang out as he extended his hand, palm up. "Zombies, come over! Protect me!"
The surrounding zombies forming the outer wall quickly retreated inward and circled around Kong Xuyang and Yang Zhi.
The zombie wall shrank as it was struck by Mu Sicheng, barely closing halfway, its size nowhere near what it had been before. Kong Xuyang's complexion turned deathly pale, completely drained of blood. Struggling, he used talismans to control the zombies and hold them back, coughing up two mouthfuls of blood as he weakly urged Yang Zhi, "Q-quickly dig!"
Yang Zhi forced himself not to look outside, focusing entirely on digging the grave. His eyes were bloodshot, his breathing rapid, and his movements forceful. Driven by the will to survive, he dug frantically.
Doing anything else now was meaningless; he could only dig graves and quickly end the game!
Yang Zhi steadied his mind and swung his arms fiercely, digging two graves at once. But halfway through, he sensed that something was wrong.
The burial objects in this grave included various damaged yet exquisite ancient gold, silver, jewels, and Chinese-style porcelain. Right in the center lay a finely crafted small sheepskin diary—not an almanac—and its entries weren't written in calligraphy but in English letters.
Filled with suspicion, Yang Zhi dug a few more times and uncovered a Western-style hexagonal coffin. He lifted the lid, looked inside, screamed in shock, and fell back onto the ground. He kicked backward several steps, trembling as he pointed at the coffin. "B-Brother Kong, look at the person inside…"
Kong Xuyang followed Yang Zhi's finger and looked into the coffin, then froze.
Shockingly, inside were two corpses dressed in Western-style clothing. Beneath their outer garments, they wore Daoist robes. They appeared neither fully yin nor fully yang, neither Eastern nor Western. This strange attire was unsettling enough—but what was even more disturbing were their faces.
The two corpses had faces identical to those of Yang Zhi and Kong Xuyang.
Yang Zhi kept retreating in terror, his voice trembling as he cried, "Brother Kong, what's going on?! How can these corpses look exactly like us?!"
Kong Xuyang stared at the corpses as if trapped in a nightmare, unable to move. His face remained pale for a long moment before he muttered to himself:
"Grave robbers who stole from Yinshan Village a hundred years ago… and fake foreign devils who plundered Yinshan Village a hundred years before that…"
"If the Daoist practicing Maoshan sorcery is in Yinshan Village, then the righteous practitioner should be…"
In a flash, everything connected in Kong Xuyang's mind. He suddenly flipped open the Maoshan Daoist techniques he had stolen from behind the temple and skimmed through it from start to finish, but found no notes. Then, as if recalling something, he folded the book, stood it upright, and looked at it from the side.
Written along the edges of the pages in English:
[Year 1901, April 17th, specially invited two masters to assist us in using righteous techniques to break through Yinshan Village, and they will be bestowed with great gratitude after.]
—————————————————
[1] about 500 meters or 0.311 miles
[2] Zongzi are a traditional Chinese dish made with glutinous rice during the Dragon Boat Festival
[3] Wang Wu is a name for an unnamed person
[4] Chinese time unit, which is equivalent to 2 hours in modern times
[5] Derogatory term for Western foreigners