"Xiao He, have you ever heard of the 'Immortal Corpse'?"
Zhao Zifeng asked me on the phone.
"The 'Immortal Corpse'... What about it?"
I was taken aback for a moment.
As someone who had studied Taoism for many years, I naturally knew what the "Immortal Corpse" was.
The ancient people in China called the undead who remained unrotted and could move after death "zombies". Among zombies, there were, from the lowest to the highest level, black zombies, white zombies, green zombies, hairy zombies, flying zombies, wandering corpses, dormant corpses, and the "Immortal Corpse".
Of course, the most powerful among zombies were the legendary great demons. The most famous one, the Goddess Ba, was recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Once a person became such a terrifying monster, the land would turn barren and water sources would dry up wherever it passed.
I didn't know which level of zombie Si Jiangchen belonged to, but I knew that the "Immortal Corpse" was second only to the legendary great demons.
"Uncle Du was scared out of his wits when he heard it!"
Zhao Zifeng was still whispering to me on the phone, "His elder brother said that you're the 'Immortal Corpse' raised by the Du family, the key to the prosperity of the entire Du clan!"
"…Nonsense! Impossible!!"
Hearing Zhao Zifeng's words, I subconsciously raised my voice. "Impossible! I'm not a Du! There are plenty of people with the surname Du in Du Yang Town! My grandfather and I are just ordinary feng shui masters! I... I was infected by someone!"
"Ah?! Really?!"
Zhao Zifeng exclaimed as well. "There are zombies? And 'Immortal Corpses'?!"
"Uh!!"
In my haste just now, I almost exposed Si Jiangchen.
He was an extremely powerful public figure. If anything went wrong, it would probably cause quite a stir!
"Zifeng, don't ask anymore. Thank you for telling me all this. I really appreciate it."
I tried to calm myself down. It seemed that only my grandfather, Du Wenzhong, could know about all this... But, whether I was a human or a monster, I was still Du Xinghe, a little person struggling to survive in this world.
"Please send my stuff to..."
I thought for a moment and then gave her the address of our family store. The landlady, Aunt Xu, was in charge there. She would help me receive the express delivery.
I felt that nowhere was safe now. I definitely couldn't let the Du family know Si Jiangchen's address.
"Got it!"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Then Zhao Zifeng suddenly said to me firmly, "Xinghe, no matter what you are, you're my friend! I'll help you and stand by your side!"
"Yeah, thanks."
I felt a bit ashamed of Zhao Zifeng's trust.
We were just friends who had only met once. How could she trust me so much?
I packed up the cleaned lunch boxes and stared at my hands still dripping with water. I couldn't help but put my index finger into my mouth and take a hard bite.
"Ouch!"
It hurt so much!
I looked at the tooth mark on my finger with a bitter smile. Then I touched my heart...
I remembered that Si Jiangchen hardly had a heartbeat. When we were intimate, his chest was completely empty, without the slightest sound of a heartbeat.
My heart was full of vitality and was beating strongly now!
"Du Xinghe, what are you doing?"
A figure in a white coat passed by the door of the water room and then turned back to look at me. It was Dr. Lu.
It seemed that Dr. Lu had stayed up all night again. With two huge dark circles under his eyes and a pale face, he looked even more miserable than a ghost.
"Um... Nothing!"
I quickly took my hand away from my chest. "Dr. Lu, do you have a blood pressure monitor?"
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
After last night's incident, Dr. Lu no longer had his previous preaching aura when looking at me. He seemed a bit uncomfortable but also concerned.
"No, I just want to see if I'm a normal person..."
Actually, I wanted to go for a full X - ray examination even more to see if I was really the "zombie" that Zhao Zifeng had mentioned!
"How could you be abnormal?"
Dr. Lu looked at me and forced a smile. "Come on. There's an electronic blood pressure monitor in my office."
"Thanks..."
Actually, there were also such monitoring devices at the nurse's station in the inpatient department, but I didn't dare to go there.
What if I was really different from ordinary people? Would I be regarded as a monster? Or would I be taken away for various experiments?
I couldn't take this risk. I still had to support my grandfather!
Dr. Lu took me back to his office. The blood pressure monitor could even monitor the heartbeat.
I checked several times. Apart from the problem of low blood pressure, there was nothing abnormal.
"There's nothing wrong... Just remember to eat on time, or you'll have headaches when you get older!"
Dr. Lu put away the monitor.
"…Did you really see me when you were in school?"
I looked at Dr. Lu, whose face was haggard, and asked.
Actually, my memories were just fragments. I never had the intention of piecing them together.
None of those memories was a happy one. Every time I thought of those friends who had died because they were close to me, or the fear of being chased by the Du family and falling into a desperate situation... I thought I had deliberately forgotten the past.
Because I just wanted to live in the present and make the most of every sunrise.
"Du Li... I'm not sure! Actually, my impression is already very vague!"
Dr. Lu still had a bitter smile on his face. "But when I saw you for the first time, I was sure that you were Du Li!"
I sighed and rolled my eyes in my heart.
I knew that Dr. Lu was not an easy person to communicate with. He was a "mental patient"!
However, I didn't want to ask my grandfather, Du Wenzhong, either.
Since he had kept it from me for so many years, he must not have wanted me to know... So I'd just pretend not to know!
Thinking of the hardships that Du Wenzhong had endured with me over the years, I suddenly felt relieved.
So what if I was a zombie?
I had never caused any trouble to others in this world. On the contrary, I had helped many people!
Each of my Taoist masters was highly skilled. I didn't believe that they couldn't tell whether I was a human or a zombie. They had taught me all their skills, which meant they must have thought that I was a kind - hearted "good person"!
Maybe... Du Peiyun was just scaring people and deliberately trying to arouse the Taoist heart of Zhao Zifeng's boyfriend.
Was he trying to use his power to catch me, the "monster" fleeing everywhere in the world?
My mind was getting more and more confused. I simply shook my head to get all these messy thoughts out of my head.
For now, I should first solve the problem of the one - eyed Buddha Mother parasitizing in the hospital, and then worry about the future!
After saying goodbye to Dr. Lu, I returned to the ward.
"Xiao He, why did it take you so long to wash the dishes?"
My grandfather was lying on the bed casually, getting an intravenous drip. Standing beside him was a tall man in a half - sleeve T - shirt and jeans.
"Come on, let me introduce you. This is Mu Linzi, the junior disciple of your Master Zhao from the Qingwei School. You should call him Uncle."
"Hello, Uncle Mu."
I walked towards my grandfather's hospital bed with the lunch box in my hand. Hearing my voice, the tall and thin man turned his head and squinted with a smile. "Hello!"
The moment I saw his appearance clearly, I was so frightened that I took two steps back and almost rushed out of the door!