I stared blankly at Si Jiangchen's back.
Suddenly, he turned around and pinched my cheek.
"You're still so unskilled. Your master must be mad at you!"
Shaking his head, Si Jiangchen said, "Lu Dayong has been dead for over forty years, and he's still a white zombie. How incompetent he must be!"
"Ouch!"
It hurt when he pinched me, but I couldn't help retorting, "But apart from eating some chickens and ducks for a while, he didn't harm anyone in Lu Village!"
"Well, Xiao He's right," Si Jiangchen continued, pulling my hand as he walked ahead. "He didn't harm the villagers in Lu Village... but the villagers in Lu Village have been feeding him!"
"Feeding him? Feeding Lu Dayong?! The villagers have been keeping a zombie?!"
I was extremely shocked and couldn't help but stop, but I was still involuntarily pulled forward by Si Jiangchen.
"Well, if I'm not wrong!"
Si Jiangchen's fingers were dry and warm. He let me hold his palm. "His hiding place is above this old cave."
As he spoke, we had arrived at a slightly open flat ground.
There was a small shrine about half a person's height built with blue bricks. Inside it was a roughly - made statue, which turned out to be a god of plague with a red face and green hair.
The injured pheasant was perched on top of the shrine. One of its wings was drooping, and drops of fresh blood were still falling.
"Want to have a try?"
Si Jiangchen handed me the shotgun.
"I can't!"
Before I could wave my hand to refuse, Si Jiangchen had already wrapped his arms around me from behind. He held my arms and helped me level the gun.
"It's so close. If you miss, I'll punish you."
Si Jiangchen's voice was ambiguous. He reached out a hand and pinched my blushing earlobe.
I shrank into a ball again. I naturally knew what he meant by "punish".
This damned man! Is he addicted to teasing me?!!
I turned my head forcefully to shake off his hand. I held my breath and aimed at the fat pheasant.
"Bang!"
The shotgun fired scattered iron sand. Once it left the barrel, it immediately spread out like a puff, almost all hitting the pheasant.
The pheasant let out a shrill cry and fell onto the small offering table in front of the shrine. I was hit by the recoil of the shotgun on my shoulder and fell back into Si Jiangchen's arms.
Si Jiangchen was not at all polite about my involuntary approach. He hugged me tightly and then walked towards the blood - dripping pheasant.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the shrine and grabbed the pheasant, which was still flapping its wings in its last struggle, and quickly pulled it into the small blue - brick building.
"Ah!!"
My eyesight was good. I saw at a glance that the greenish - black nails on that finger were more than two inches long.
There really is a zombie?!
In an instant, I understood Si Jiangchen's cunning.
The injured pheasant wandering around the mountains was a fresh and active bait that could attract the attention of the zombie.
It was broad daylight. Although white zombies, black zombies, and hopping zombies would all hide in dark corners away from sunlight all year round, blood - thirst was their nature. As long as the smell of blood spread within a half - mile radius of them, they would do everything possible to get that fresh blood food!!
I bit my lower lip, broke free from Si Jiangchen's embrace, and rushed over.
Zombies were an existence that defied the laws of nature. Lu Village was so remote that if the zombie caused a ruckus, it might take a while for rescue to arrive.
Whether this thing was Lu Dayong or not, I couldn't just stand by.
With this thought in mind, I kicked the side pillar of the shrine.
The shrine was built with blue bricks. To save money and effort, no mortar was used.
I kicked with great force and knocked the roof of the shrine to the ground.
The flat ground where the shrine was located had few trees. At this moment, the setting sun shone directly into the roofless shrine.
Inside, apart from the ugly clay - made god of plague, there was not even a chicken feather.
If I hadn't shot down the pheasant myself and seen it being dragged into the shrine with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed what I was seeing.
"That's my chicken! Give it back to me!"
I got angry and kicked the clay - made statue flying with another kick. As the statue fell to one side, a hole about a foot in diameter was revealed under the shrine, emitting a cold, black air.
"Xiao He is really amazing!"
Si Jiangchen let out a soft laugh and hugged me from behind again.
"Let go of me!"
I hissed and broke free from his arms. I lit a Tai Shang Exorcism Talisman with a "poof" sound, then shook it and threw it into the cold - air - emitting hole.
"Squeak! Squeak!!"
Miserable cries immediately came from the hole.
The Tai Shang Exorcism Talisman borrowed the power of the sun and could suppress evil. I threw it down as a guide, preparing to enter the hole.
"Are you going to follow me down?"
I turned to look at Si Jiangchen. He was wearing a very expensive business suit. The beige suit pants accentuated his tall and slender figure. However, this kind of clothes was obviously for important meetings. It would be a waste to wear it to crawl into a hole!
"Does Xiao He want me to go with you for courage?"
Si Jiangchen leaned on the shotgun and stood lazily behind me, looking at me playfully.
"Mr. Si, could you do me a favor..."
I thought he was in a good mood, so I carefully said what had been on my mind for a long time.
"We're just in a client - service relationship. Please call me 'Du Xinghe' or 'Miss Du'. 'Xiao He' can only be called by my closest relatives. It makes me quite bothered when you call me that."
Si Jiangchen raised his long eyebrows slightly, but there was no sign of being irritated.
"Okay, got it... Xiao~He!"
This scoundrel!!
He even pronounced "Xiao He" in a more lingering way. His deep voice made my heart pound involuntarily.
Si Jiangchen completely ignored my will.
I knew he was a being without human emotions, yet I still foolishly tried to persuade him. I was really humiliating myself!
I was angry and annoyed but didn't dare to really anger him. I made up my mind to ignore this scoundrel. I took out a small porcelain bottle I carried with me, poured out a small pill, and stuffed it into my mouth. Then I turned on the flashlight on my phone's rear camera and crawled into the very narrow hole.
The pill was for expelling zombie poison. It was given to me by my master from the Maoshan School.
I originally thought I would never need such a thing in my life, so I didn't learn how to make it.
I was more interested in feng shui and fortune - telling. I liked making money just by talking.
I had little interest in the strenuous and life - threatening jobs like catching zombies and ghosts!
However, the repairman I was looking for might be a zombie, which forced me to take the risk and enter this dark and gloomy hole to find out!