The Strange Village

"Idiot, don't go!!" Wang Tong shouted after Zhang Xiaohou.

But the words had barely left his mouth when Zhang Xiaohou skidded to a halt, reversed course, and sprinted back to save the female officer named Jia Xi.

Jia Xi was barely holding on. Her Ice Lock shattered into fragments under a powerful blow from the Blade-Axe Corpse General, and while ice shards were still flying through the air, the Corpse General surged forward like an armored vehicle, crashing straight toward her.

Jia Xi cried out in desperation. When she saw Zhang Xiaohou turn back for her, the ghost of an expression crossed her face. But the moment she stretched out her hand for him to pull her up, the massive Corpse General's tongue shot out and coiled around her, yanking her brutally into the air — straight toward its gaping maw.

**Crack!!!!**

The Blade-Axe Corpse General bit down with ravenous greed, as if sinking its teeth into a perfectly ripe fruit. Crimson "juice" splattered in every direction.

A few drops of blood landed on Zhang Xiaohou's cheek. He stood frozen, eyes wide, all color drained from his face.

"Move, you idiot!!"

Wang Tong's voice cut through the haze. Zhang Xiaohou came back to himself just enough to realize the Corpse General's blood-red pupils had locked onto him.

"I'm... I'm sorry," he murmured softly. Wind surged beneath his feet, carrying him forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, and he shot away at blinding speed.

Zhang Xiaohou was fast — the Blade-Axe Corpse General couldn't keep pace, and the encircling Rotting Corpses had no hope of tracking his nimble movements. Just as the horde sealed off the last gap in their encirclement, he burst through on a rush of wild wind and rejoined the rest of the team.

"Here, wipe your face." Shi Shaoju produced a silk handkerchief and held it out to Zhang Xiaohou.

He didn't take it. He simply dragged his sleeve across his face, wiping away the blood of the woman called Jia Xi — someone he'd never exchanged a single word with.

"I thought that with your impressive abilities, you'd have long since grown accustomed to life and death — that you'd have learned to do what the rest of us do and abandon those who can't be saved." Qin Hu walked over and stood towering above Zhang Xiaohou where he sat resting on the ground. "Going back could have cost you your life. This team operates differently from others. Those who fall get left behind. Look back, and the whole unit dies."

Zhang Xiaohou said nothing. He really was the newcomer here — transferred from the south, then the central region, and now this Ancient Capital...

"Don't do something that stupid again. And don't defy orders." Qin Hu left it at that and walked away.

Zhang Xiaohou still said nothing. He sat with his regret, haunted by the thought — *if I'd been just a little faster, I could have reached her before the Corpse General pulled her away.*

"No Undead around here. Yangyang Village is just ahead — I can see their wooden stake fence." Wang Tong announced.

"Good. Get to the village as fast as possible."

Yangyang Village was only a few kilometers from where the Qin Mountains curved down toward the plains, nestled entirely at the mountain's base.

It was a small village, built along a mountain stream, every building constructed entirely of wood. Stepping into it felt like stepping back into ancient times. There was no sign of any magical technology from after the twentieth century — no electric lights, no power lines, and almost certainly no mobile phone signal either.

"Demon-Beasts have an extremely sharp sensitivity to our modern equipment. This village uses none of it, which is probably one of the main reasons they avoid drawing Demon-Beasts and Undead." Shi Shaoju, ever observant, shared her assessment the moment they entered.

Night had settled over the land. The village was unnervingly quiet — not a single light burning anywhere, only the hazy yellow moon hanging cold and distant overhead.

The sound of the mountain stream was the only thing clearly audible. Looking out across the village, it was completely still — nothing like a place where people actually lived.

"Before you come inside — leave behind anything you shouldn't be carrying. That includes blood."

The voice was measured and slightly aged, and came without warning from a wooden watchtower at the village entrance. The tower resembled a guardpost; someone clearly kept watch there through the night against unexpected trouble.

"Elder, we're with the Lintong Military District. We were attacked by a massive horde of corpse creatures on the way here — people have died, and others are wounded. Please let us in so we can tend to our injured."

Shi Shaoju addressed the night watchman urgently.

"Which is precisely why I said — leave behind anything you shouldn't be carrying. Those things bring misfortune and calamity upon us."

The watchman held firm. The group exchanged uncertain glances, and in the end they had no choice but to follow the local customs.

"That as well."

"That's our only communication link to headquarters. It's been specially treated — it won't attract Demon-Beast attention."

"Doesn't matter. Either leave it, or don't come in."

"Listen to him," Shi Shaoju said. "They've survived in the Land of the Undead for this many years — they clearly have their reasons and their rules."

One by one, the group surrendered everything that connected them to the outside world. The night watchman promptly set the lot of it ablaze, which left everyone looking deeply unhappy. Without any communication equipment at all, if they all died out here, no one would ever know.

*Come to think of it, that survey team must have passed through this village too. Their equipment would've been destroyed just the same — small wonder they went missing.*

"All right, come in. You look like you've been through hell — go clean up at the stream first... Oh, don't use the water upstream. That's our drinking water."

The old man led all eight of them through the village to the far end.

The village was tiny — probably smaller than a wealthy family's private estate. From entrance to far end took barely ten minutes on foot.

It was quiet the whole way. They passed not a single living soul aside from the night watchman himself, and a creeping unease settled over everyone.

"There's Undead all around us, the village is completely cut off, and we've walked the whole thing without spotting one breathing person," Wang Tong muttered to Zhang Xiaohou, keeping his voice low. "What if this is a ghost village? Undead don't attack other Undead, you know."

"Stop talking nonsense. Everyone's probably asleep. No television, no phones, no internet — what else is there to do in the middle of the night?"

"Yeah, fair point. Though speaking of which, my brand-new Kidney Six just got torched. If I'd known, I would've sent my girl a message before we entered — otherwise she'll think I'm dead out here. That stings."

Zhang Xiaohou rolled his eyes and tuned Wang Tong out, turning his attention to the village itself.

Yangyang Village might as well have been a primitive settlement, but Zhang Xiaohou noticed a curious local custom: every single household had a stalk of dog-claw grass planted by their door.

Dog-claw grass was the common name for it. The proper name was gray plum.

Zhang Xiaohou had only learned about gray plum after arriving in the Ancient Capital of Xi'an. And for some reason he couldn't quite place, the feeling nagged at him — *I've seen this plant somewhere before.*