C8 Animate Dead

"After you left yesterday, a Taoist priest came to treat me. I was actually fine, so I sent him away. But then... after that..."

Xiuxiu's face was stricken with terror, and she couldn't go on.

"What exactly happened?"

Xiuxiu had been heartbroken over Changshun's rejection, so she secluded herself in her room to weep.

Before long, an eerie wind began to howl outside.

Concerned for Changshun's safety, Xiuxiu rushed out to find him. But as she approached the door, she saw her father moving stiffly through the crack, looking more like a corpse than a living person.

Startled, Xiuxiu flung the door open and followed him, only to witness the village chief harming the livestock in his yard. The chickens and dogs had all been viciously bitten to death by him.

Later, Xiuxiu watched her father enter other homes; screams would follow his arrival, then a haunting silence.

Terrified, realizing her father might have killed someone, she hid inside the wooden chest where she kept her clothes, too scared to emerge.

Had it not been for Changshun, she might never have found the courage to come out.

"How could this have happened? Was it that Taoist priest?"

The memory of the strange wind in the cave made him suspect the priest's involvement.

"Xiuxiu, we can't stay here any longer. We need to get out of this village now."

"But..."

"No 'buts.' Liu Ning and the others are dead, and they've turned into creatures like your father. If we don't leave, we'll end up the same."

"What in the world... What is happening?"

Xiuxiu asked, her voice laden with sorrow.

Changshun wished he had the answers, but he was at a loss.

"Fool, if you want to get out, then we need to move quickly. If that Wraithwalker catches up to us, we won't stand a chance." A familiar voice echoed in Changshun's ear, causing him bewilderment.

"Is that you speaking? Why won't you show yourself?"

"I expended too much energy saving you earlier; I can't manifest now. Enough chatter, hurry and get the girl to safety."

Changshun, gripping Xiuxiu's hand, hurried outside, but once they were out, he became lost.

"Where... where should I go?"

"Idiot! Follow the sound of my bell."

The belle had a string of bells around her ankle. Although Changshun couldn't see her, he could hear the jingling. Without hesitation, he pulled Xiuxiu toward the sound.

Xiuxiu was terrified, her thoughts jumbled, so even when she noticed Changshun seemingly talking to thin air, she was too distraught to ponder it.

They stumbled along, and though Xiuxiu was a mountain girl, she eventually found herself too weary to continue.

To save time, Changshun decided to carry Xiuxiu on his back.

As she lay there, Xiuxiu's tears began to flow uncontrollably, and she wept silently.

Not adept at offering comfort, Changshun could only quicken his pace in silence, resolving to find a way to console Xiuxiu once they were safe.

Changshun was usually familiar with the mountain paths, but by following the bell, they found themselves on an unfamiliar trail.

Thankfully, dawn was breaking. Had they been navigating in the dark, Changshun wasn't sure he could have led Xiuxiu to safety without harm.

He carried her until he could no longer run.

"Why have you stopped?"

"I'm only human... I can't keep this up," Changshun panted.

"I'm sorry, Brother Changshun. It's all my fault."

Xiuxiu, unable to hear the belle's voice, mistakenly thought Changshun was voicing his frustration with her.

"Put me down. I've regained some strength; I can run by myself now."

Changshun, truly spent and seeing no sign of pursuit, set Xiuxiu down, and they both sat on a rock to rest.

"We can't go on. We need to rest. Otherwise, we might not be killed, but we'll certainly die of exhaustion."

"Idiot, you may understand fatigue, but those Animate Dead don't. If you keep resting here, you're choosing a certain death."

Changshun hastily gestured in dismissal.

"I can't take another step. No matter what you say, I need to rest."

"Brother Changshun, who are you talking to?"

Xiuxiu was now much more alert, and she began to notice Changshun's odd behavior.

"Can't you hear it?" Changshun was astonished; he had thought Xiuxiu could hear the voice too.

"Fool, she can't hear my voice."

Xiuxiu was quick-witted. After giving it some thought, she remembered the peculiar woman who had rescued her.

The village was only so large, and she had never seen such a woman there before. It had to be a mountain spirit or a fox demon in disguise.

"Brother Changshun, is it that weird woman? If she's invisible and can still speak, she's definitely not human. Don't let something like that harm you. Brother Changshun, we should find another way to escape. She might be trying to hurt us."

"Hmph! This girl really doesn't know who's helping her."

Changshun scratched his head, finding women difficult to handle. It seemed no one could be pleased.

"Let's not argue now. We need to figure out what to do."

"You're all too exhausted to move. There's no other choice; I'll have to help you one more time, but this might injure me. Remember this, fool. You'll need to gather some items for me to restore my weakened powers."

Changshun nodded earnestly.

"Just tell me. I'll remember everything."

Changshun pulled out a second-hand phone he had purchased and began to note down the items Belle listed.

"A taels worth of rhino horn powder, two millennia-old deep-sea pearls, ten stalks of century-old lingzhi mushrooms, and..."

Sweat beaded on Changshun's forehead as he took notes.

Finding these items was one thing, but even if he could, they were treasures far beyond what he could ever afford.

"Xiuxiu, we should keep running."

Rather than chase after those costly items, Changshun preferred to run until his legs gave out.

"Idiot, idiot, you can't even manage this simple task, and yet you dare to claim you'll marry no one but me. Were all your previous words just lies?"

Changshun's integrity was at stake, so he quickly defended himself.

"Of course not, I take this very seriously."

"Then make a note of these items for me."

Changshun couldn't shake the feeling that what had come his way wasn't a stroke of good fortune but rather a disaster.

The cost of any single item on the list was so exorbitant that even selling himself wouldn't cover it.

Once the belle had finished listing the items she wanted Changshun to purchase, she materialized out of thin air, though Xiuxiu still seemed unable to see her.

She extended her hand and, just as she had done in the cave, began to form mystical gestures and recite incantations. Soon, a multitude of vibrant lights appeared around her, spreading out to form a glowing sphere that enveloped both Changshun and Xiuxiu.

Xiuxiu, who had been quite alert, suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of drowsiness and collapsed into a deep sleep on the ground.

Changshun intended to check on her, but he too succumbed to the same overwhelming sleepiness.

Yet, in the moments before he drifted off, he caught a glimpse of a truly horrifying scene.