The corpse poison in Master Zheb's body had been forced by me to his wrist. I watched as the blackness receded back around the wound.
My fingers traced down his shoulder, and I was about to drive out the poison in one go when suddenly someone rammed into me from behind. Then, two icy hands grabbed my neck.
From the moment I decided to save Master Zheb to forcing the corpse poison back to his wrist, it had only been a few short breaths. Many people didn't know what was happening. Standing behind me was Officer Xue's wife, who had been pulled up from the ground by Officer Zhao. Without the talisman to block the evil, her pupils had turned as dead as a fish's. Her rigid fingers clawed at the back of my neck like a bird's talons, and she opened her mouth to bite at my neck.
"Ah!"
Everyone let out a scream. If I let go of Master Zheb at this moment, all my previous efforts would be in vain. That was my last green talisman! Without it, I wasn't confident I could suppress the corpse poison in the master's body!
Anyway, I wasn't afraid of getting infected. At worst, I'd have a scar on my neck!
Thinking this, I just leaned forward a bit. My fingers still didn't leave Master Zheb's wrist. The stinking teeth behind my head instantly pressed against my skin.
The expected excruciating pain didn't come. Officer Xue's wife let out a scream and was suddenly yanked away from my back.
Si Jiangchen was like a ghost. Somehow, he had appeared beside us. He grabbed Officer Xue's wife by the back of her collar and threw her into the midst of the police officers.
The woman had lost her mind. Like a hungry wolf charging into a flock of sheep, she pounced on the nearest police officer and bit at his neck.
The police officers were all battle - hardened. When they saw someone attacking, they immediately grabbed the woman's shoulders and pinned her to the ground.
"Be careful. This is Officer Xue's wife!"
Officer Zhao held Xue Shuo in his arms and shouted, "Don't hurt her!"
The police officers couldn't hurt the woman, but they also couldn't let themselves get injured. For a moment, it was chaos.
Taking this opportunity, I forced the black qi out from the wound on Master Zheb's palm. With a "puff," it spurted out of his wound. I quickly pulled out the green talisman from Master Zheb's mouth, wrapped the black qi in it, folded the talisman paper into a sealed envelope in a flash, and stuffed it back into my pocket.
"Thank you..."
Master Zheb had just escaped death. His face was deathly pale. Big drops of sweat rolled down his bald forehead, but he still managed to thank me.
On the other side, Officer Xue's wife had been firmly subdued by the brave police officers. A muzzle was even stuffed into her mouth to prevent self - harm.
"Take them all back to the police station for processing!"
The leading Officer Zhao obviously let out a sigh of relief. Pointing at the few of us who could still move, he said, "Don't touch anything at this crime scene. Wait for the forensic doctor to come and examine it!"
The corpses lying in pools of blood were shocking to look at.
Not only me, but Master Zheb and his young apprentice were probably also involved.
A few police officers had already come over and grabbed Si Jiangchen's arms. These battle - tested men had a sharper intuition about danger than anyone else.
"Are you..." One of the police officers recognized Si Jiangchen. He looked surprised but immediately shut his mouth.
"This person is the big boss of Lengshan!!!"
Xue Shuo, whose eyes had been blocked by Officer Zhao, suddenly grabbed Officer Zhao's hand and naively asked, "He's also someone who can turn others into zombies. Uncle Zhao, isn't he amazing?!"
This was the second time Officer Zhao had heard Xue Shuo mention zombies... The situation in front of him was clearly a murder scene beyond human control.
"Two of you, use handcuffs to restrain them!"
As suspects in the murder, the police officers had the right to restrain us and deprive us of our mobility.
But... that was Si Jiangchen! He originally wanted to kill everyone in the secret room to cover up the evidence! Now this dead kid had actually revealed Si Jiangchen's identity in front of so many people...
I quickly turned to look at Si Jiangchen.
I saw him expressionlessly raise his hand and gently wipe the wound on his face made by the vajra pestle with his fingertip. As the faint bloodstain was wiped away, his face was completely intact. There wasn't even a red mark!
Before his hand could move away from his face, the four mangled corpses lying on the ground suddenly sprang up. Whether it was Lin Ruhu, who had lost his head, or Danba, whose skull had been caved in, they all leaped straight up like they had springs on their feet and grabbed at all the living people!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The police officers had seen dead people, but they had never seen a headless corpse reach out chicken - claw - like fingers to attack the police!
The police officers fired their guns!
The gunshots were deafening in the narrow secret room. Even though the bullets hit the zombies, they seemed oblivious and continued to pounce on the police officers.
Everything was in chaos... The two police officers who had been beside me were also running around, dodging the attacks of the iron - rod lamas. I took the opportunity to run in front of Si Jiangchen.
"Y - you... You're not really going to..."
Grabbing Si Jiangchen's sleeve, I looked up at him.
Si Jiangchen stood against the light. The dim light cast a sinister shadow on his deeply contoured face.
"Y - you're not going to let them all die, are you?!"
I couldn't see his expression clearly, but I could tell what he was thinking from his slightly tightened jaw.
He didn't intend to let anyone in this secret room out...
"No, don't do this! They're all good people!"
I wasn't a soft - hearted person, but I couldn't just watch a dozen living people in this room be bitten to death by zombies!
I tightened my grip on Si Jiangchen's arm. "The police officers, and Master Zheb and the others don't deserve this fate."
But Si Jiangchen seemed not to hear my words. He reached out and pulled me into his arms, then calmly walked towards the tunnel we had come from amidst the chaos.
"Don't... I'm begging you!"
Si Jiangchen's silence made me a little scared.
"What are you begging me for?" Si Jiangchen finally spoke. "If we hadn't saved the Xue mother and son just now, so many people wouldn't have died!"
There was a coldness in his voice. I knew that for someone who had gone through decades of turmoil, there was no longer any mercy in his heart. As long as someone or something was a threat to him, he would surely make them disappear from this world without hesitation!
I couldn't help but think of the first time I saw him... In that resplendent lounge, didn't he also want me to die?
I also remembered crossing the River of Forgetfulness in the Underworld. At that time, he had no heart. He had left his heart on the ferry as payment. But I had clearly snatched his heart back and returned it to him. Why was he still so cold - hearted, treating the lives of others like ants?