Facing Si Jiangchen's sleeping face, I felt extremely ashamed.
I didn't even have the time to consider whether a zombie needed to sleep!
Just as I was wriggling towards the bedside like a worm, a big hand grabbed my waist and dragged me back onto the pillow.
"Want to run?!"
I looked straight into a pair of slightly squinted peach blossom eyes. Si Jiangchen's lazy expression combined with his slightly messy black hair made him look completely different from his well - behaved elite look during the day.
"Sorry..."
Hearing that his tone was not good, I immediately covered my head and admitted my mistake. I didn't want to endure that intense pain again.
"Sorry for what?"
Si Jiangchen's big hand clasped my waist neither too tightly nor too lightly. His slightly calloused fingertips rubbed the soft flesh on my waist.
"..."
How would I know what I was sorry for?!
It seemed that I was the one who had suffered a great loss, so why was I apologizing with a guilty conscience?!
"Hehe, think slowly. There's no rush."
Si Jiangchen's voice was slightly hoarse, with a hint of post - lust sensuality. He reached out and picked up the watch on the bedside table to check the time. "Lu Dayong should be waiting downstairs by now. Go wash up first and meet him?"
I pursed my lips, hiding the uneasiness in my heart.
Since I met Si Jiangchen, it seemed that he had taken control of everything in my life.
This feeling was really bad!
The feeling of being spied on and having everything arranged by others made me suffocate. I didn't know why I had such a feeling!
A familiar disgust deep in my heart!!
I must get out of Si Jiangchen's sphere of influence...
I silently washed up in the bathroom. During this time, there was a soft knock on the door. It was Si Jiangchen's assistant who brought two sets of clothes.
I finished washing up faster than Si Jiangchen. While he was still tidying up his shirt, I had already quickly put on my dress. To avoid facing him again, I endured the discomfort all over my body and forced myself to go downstairs.
Right now, I didn't want to meet Lu Dayong or repair the compass. I just wanted to leave this place quickly, go back to the hospital, and take my grandpa and flee!
Then I thought that now I could let Du Wenzhong lie in the hospital safely for nursing care!
There was nearly one million yuan in cash in my card. I could completely pre - deposit the fees for him, leave enough money, and then leave my phone number with the hospital. As long as the money ran out, they would call me. Even if I was thousands of miles away, I could immediately top up the money.
"Miss Du."
I was lost in thought when a man's voice interrupted my escape plan. When I looked up, it was the worried face of Village Head Lu Erzhong.
"Lu Dayong, I've brought him here. If there's anything you need him to do, just give the order."
As he said that, he pointed to a large cage like a box covered with a black cloth in the courtyard pavilion. Since zombies were unable to move during the day and Si Jiangchen wouldn't let me go to that dirty cellar again, he asked the village head to carry Lu Dayong here.
"What did you bring him for? His hands are disabled. He can't repair things!"
I remembered Lu Dayong's broken - boned and tendon - snapped hands and immediately shook my head. "Take him back."
Lu Erzhong had probably deceived many people to feed Lu Dayong in order to turn him into a live - jumping zombie.
I didn't want to meddle in other people's business. Those who were deceived were all greedy and had crooked minds.
Coveting the treasures of the dead in the ancient tombs, they deserved to die!
As for Lu Dayong... Heaven would surely punish him for his evil deeds. I believed that I wasn't the one to act on behalf of heaven.
"Miss Du... I have something to say!"
Suddenly, Lu Dayong's voice came from under the black cloth in the pavilion. "Please come here. I... I beg you for something."
I was slightly stunned.
I didn't have any friendship with him, and we didn't know each other well. What could he be begging me for?!
Hesitating, I still walked over.
Under the black cloth, Lu Dayong had a pale face, and his grayish eyes stared straight at me.
"Miss Du... Are you from the Du family in northern Henan?" Lu Dayong's voice was extremely deep.
"No." I shook my head firmly.
"No wonder those Du family members are hunting you down." Lu Dayong seemed to suddenly understand. "Do you also have something they want?!"
His use of the word "also" was really ingenious. With just one word, he dragged me into his camp.
"Yes! Someone wants my life."
I smiled self - deprecatingly. Suddenly, a strange feeling welled up in my heart.
My grandpa Du Wenzhong said that the Du family was chasing us because he had stolen an important treasure from the Du family. But last night, Du Peiyun, the patriarch of the Du family, said that he had taken a fancy to my fate and wanted to change the fate of a certain star against the heavens!
Which one of them was lying?!!
"Miss Du, do you know why I've become this half - human, half - ghost state?"
Lu Dayong lowered his head, bit his already mangled finger hard with his mouth, and tore it off. The lump of rotten flesh fell to the ground away from his palm bone.
"Ugh..."
I felt nauseous.
"They wanted these hands decades ago." There was a hint of pride on Lu Dayong's face. "My name as the 'Skillful Lu Ban' was already very famous decades ago! It's a pity that I didn't take the right path and hung out with those Du family members who dug other people's ancestral tombs. Unexpectedly, seeing that I was good at my craft, they had evil thoughts."
"Why would they have evil thoughts just because you were good at your craft? Shouldn't they have flattered you more?"
I couldn't quite understand the strange thinking of the Du family.
"They poisoned me with zombie poison."
As Lu Dayong spoke, his pupils covered with a white film turned towards me. His tone was so gloomy that it made my back shiver. "They thought that by turning me into a zombie, they could control me forever and they wouldn't have to share the treasures they found underground with me... Hehe... What shameless people!!"
"So, you killed them?"
Now, I finally understood what Lu Erzhong and the others had said.
The Du family had done evil first. It was only natural for Lu Dayong to scheme and let them all die in the tomb to accompany the tomb owner.
"Yes! I knew I couldn't live much longer, but I didn't want to become a mindless zombie either!"
Lu Dayong gritted his teeth.
"Since the Du family knows the art of controlling zombies, even if those who harmed me were dead, as long as my brain was invaded by the zombie poison, I would still be controlled by the Du family. So, I couldn't die!! I couldn't let my consciousness leave! I made a deal with the then village head of Lu Village. They would raise me and provide me with living food, and I would bring out the antiques from the tombs for them to exchange for money... But unexpectedly, I was still exposed. After hiding for decades, the Du family still found my lair!"
Lu Dayong sighed. "As soon as they came, I knew something was wrong, so I directly bit my hands to pieces!"
I shivered... They said that tomb robbers were cruel, but this Lu Dayong was not only cruel to others but also to himself!
"Miss Du, you're a master. I beg you to give me an end! I've been neither human nor ghost for so many years. I'm tired and don't want to hide underground like a rat anymore..."
"That's not a problem."
I thought for a moment and then nodded. "It's not difficult to let your soul return to the underworld. But the evil you've done may be punished in the underworld. You can't be reborn until the punishment from the underworld is over!"