Chapter 42: The Missing One

A shriek burst beside his ear—Granny’s. The next instant, the corpse had seized her by the throat and smashed her to the ground right in front of the main door, blocking it entirely.

The corpse’s yin aura coiled around the old woman, igniting a burning sensation on her skin. She’d managed to sneak up earlier, but now the mere proximity brought her unbearable agony.

Li Zhuiyuan had to stop in his tracks. Beside him, Qin Li halted as well.

The corpse, now pinning the old woman under its weight, twisted its head to look at the two children.

A greedy glint flashed in its murky eyes—it could tell these weren’t paper effigies. They radiated the mouthwatering scent of living blood.

It instinctively opened its mouth, expelling a plume of black mist that surged toward them.

Li Zhuiyuan grabbed Qin Li and ran, but the mist was too fast, too aggressive. It cornered them quickly against a wall.

Qin Li started to tremble. Li Zhuiyuan felt it and gripped her hand tighter.

That was all he could offer her now—this pale, futile comfort.

“Roar!”

Suddenly, the corpse let out a furious cry. The mist right in front of Li Zhuiyuan reversed course, flowing back rapidly.

Their vision cleared. Ahead, the old woman’s ten fingers had plunged into the corpse’s neck.

“Hahahahaha! Die! Die! Just die already!”

Her ferocity bared, the granny looked deranged. The fur that had once bristled from her body now drooped. Her skin had charred black, yet madness lit her up from within.

The corpse roared in pain, stabbing downward with both arms over and over again, its claws repeatedly raking her flesh. But the old woman refused to let go, her fingers lodged deep in its neck.

…

“Damn it… he…”

Li Sanjiang clutched his own throat in anguish. It hurt—bad.

But worse than the pain was the suffocation. Bleeding and injuries he could withstand, but this slow strangulation felt like death inching closer with every second.

Behind him, all the corpses were strangling themselves.

But as time passed, one corpse lowered its hands. Then a second. A third…

Gradually, they began rising to their feet, their vacant stares turning vicious, now locked onto Li Sanjiang.

Still gripping his own throat, his face turning blue, Li Sanjiang almost wished the zombies would just tear him apart. At least it would be quick—better than choking to death by degrees.

…

Inside the main hall, the enraged corpse raised both arms high again and slammed them down toward the granny’s head.

But just as it struck, the old woman abruptly let go. Instead of resisting, she kicked upward into the corpse’s belly, letting herself glide smoothly out from underneath.

Thud!

The corpse’s claws embedded into the ground and stuck there. It ended up in a bizarre push-up position.

The cat-faced granny staggered to her feet. Her whole body was scorched black; even the whiskers on her face had burned off. She was in terrible shape.

Yet even now, she could spare a glance toward Li Zhuiyuan and Qin Li, who stood pressed against the wall.

“Little brat… heh… Granny can’t beat it.”

Her voice slithered with chilling malice. Her eyes brimmed with venom.

Just like in the dream at Cuicui’s house—she had perched on Niu Fu’s back, staring at him with that same look.

“Roar!”

The corpse finally yanked its claws free, twisted around, and stood back up.

Though tattered and leaking pus, its malevolent aura remained intact. The cat-demon granny could no longer compare.

It lunged again at the old woman.

But this time, she dodged, not to fight, but to slide toward Li Zhuiyuan.

The corpse immediately changed course, still locked onto her.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t understand. Why would the granny expose her back to a corpse just to come after him?

Did she really want to take two more down with her before she died?

“Little brat…”

She stopped right in front of Li Zhuiyuan, her eerie smile widening.

She completely ignored the corpse closing in, and instead stretched out her gnarled, cracked claws toward him. A faint, eerie glow shimmered from her fingertips.

Li Zhuiyuan felt his body lift off the ground. Since he was clutching Qin Li tightly, she floated up with him.

The sensation wasn’t unfamiliar. He’d felt it in dreams before—this was the prelude to waking up, to breaking free!

His vision blurred. Even the old woman’s face began to lose its definition. Yet through the haze, he still heard her final whisper:

“Little brat… Granny will send you off first.”

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