Inside the car, Yang Haoran wore a face of frustration. He never dreamed that his blind date today would turn out to be Xu Meijing.
If it weren't for Xu Meijing, he might have mustered up the courage to give it a try. But facing Xu Meijing, he had no intention of going on the blind date with her.
Of course, he believed that Xu Meijing probably felt the same way, so he decisively left without hesitation.
"Leaving was straightforward enough, but how do I explain this to my parents when I get back?"
Yang Haoran thought to himself, the frustration on his face intensifying.
After some consideration, he decided to tell the truth and explain that he and Xu Meijing had known each other for a while, but they didn't get along, so the blind date ended in failure.
Although he knew that saying this would inevitably earn him a scolding from his mother, he couldn't think of a better way for now, so he had to do it this way.
Since he didn't need to buy any gifts in town anymore, he saved a lot of time on the way back. Soon, he arrived back at Yangjia Bay.
However, just at the entrance of Yangjia Bay, he noticed something was amiss. Several police cars were parked Haoran frowned. The fact that police cars were parked here meant that something must have happened in the village. He wanted to ask someone about the situation, but apart from the police cars, there was no one at the entrance.
With a sense of unease in his heart, Yang Haoran drove into Yangjia Bay and headed towards his own home.
Normally, Yangjia Bay was bustling, especially as the Lunar New Year approached and many migrant workers returned. Yangjia Bay should have been even livelier than usual, as he had noticed yesterday when he returned.
But now, it was strangely quiet. From the moment he entered Yangjia Bay, he didn't see a single person. It was completely contrary to normal.
There were no barking dogs, no crowing of roosters, no cheerful chatter of the villagers, not even the sound of drums and gongs from his Third Uncle's house.
At some point, the sun had disappeared from the sky, and the sky had turned gray, as if it were about to rain.
The atmosphere was eerie, shrouding the entire Yangjia Bay, giving off an extremely oppressive feeling.
For some reason, Yang Haoran suddenly had a bad feeling. He vaguely felt that something major must have happened in the village.
As his car stopped at the doorstep, Yang Haoran hurriedly got out, his expression somewhat panicked.
Seeing the tightly closed door and his parents not at home, he didn't hesitate and ran towards the direction of his Third Uncle's house, not daring to delay for a moment.
After a while, Yang Haoran appeared outside the courtyard of Third Uncle's house. The scene before him froze his expression, and he stood still in shock.
The makeshift funeral shed in the courtyard had collapsed, and the coffin containing his Second Uncle's body was scattered on the ground. Bodies lay scattered everywhere, displaying tragic expressions of horror and fear.
"What... what... what on earth happened?"
Yang Haoran rushed into the courtyard, reaching out to turn over one of the bodies in front of him. It was none other than his Third Uncle.
Third Uncle's entire body had a strange grayish-white color. His mouth was wide open, his face twisted in pain. There were bite marks all over his body, especially on his right hand, which besides some leftover flesh, had been completely gnawed clean.
Yang Haoran looked at the other bodies in the courtyard. Their conditions were similar to that of his Third Uncle, with a strange grayish-white color and numerous bite marks. Some even had their ears and noses chewed off, looking terrifying.
The most eerie thing was that these bodies had not a drop of blood left in them, as if intentionally drained of blood like dry corpses!
After inspecting them, Yang Haoran seemed to realize something, and his face suddenly changed color!
Judging from the horrific state and the strangeness of these bodies, he thought of a word: zombie!
He was no longer the ignorant boy he used to be. He had learned a lot from the books borrowed from Master Jiang, and zombie was one of them.
Humans have souls, which govern their spiritual thoughts, and spirits, which govern their physical activities. After death, the soul condenses into a spirit over a period of seven days, detaching from its host, whether it be a body, ashes, or something else. This is the process of spirit formation, also known as the formation of ghosts.
If the spirit undergoes a mutation during the process of condensing into a spirit due to various reasons, if the soul separates and leaves the body, while the spirit remains in the body and merges with it completely, it will become a mindless creature that only knows to devour flesh and blood - a zombie.
This type of zombie is referred to as a corpse fiend!
Zombie is just a general term; almost any product formed after a corpse undergoes changes can be summarized with this term, and a corpse fiend is just one type of zombie.
And there are two types of corpse fiends, one is naturally formed, involving burial grounds and some special experiences of the deceased.
One type of these creatures is naturally occurring, while the other is artificially crafted. Corpse Refiners seek out suitable targets and forcibly separate their spirits before they coalesce into spiritual forms. Subsequently, following the steps of Corpse Demon formation, they gradually refine the corpse of the deceased into a Corpse Demon. Once formed, these Corpse Demons are entirely under the control of the Corpse Refiner.
Corpse Demons lack cognition, knowing only to gnaw on flesh and blood. As they consume more and more flesh, their strength grows. When their power exceeds the limits of a Corpse Demon, they ascend to become even more formidable Corpse Kings.
Corpse Demons possess potent corpse poison. Whether bitten or scratched by them, victims become infected. As the poison spreads throughout the body, victims lose their souls and become controlled by the Corpse Demons, turning into Corpse Ghosts.
Corpse Ghosts are essentially puppets of the Corpse Demons. They are the lowest tier of zombies, with no room for advancement, merely puppets manipulated by Corpse Demons. However, their strength is not to be underestimated. Due to their lack of cognition and pain sensation, dealing with them is quite challenging.
The scene before Yang Haoran reminded him of zombies, corpse fiends, and corpse puppets!
The bodies displayed a strange grayish-white color, with multiple bite marks all over them, and even drained of blood. All these characteristics proved that the killers were zombies.
Though Yang Haoran couldn't be a hundred percent certain that his guess was correct, he was at least ninety percent sure it wasn't wrong.
Suddenly, Yang Haoran thought of a more important question: where were his parents?
Among the bodies in the courtyard, he hadn't found his parents, which made him extremely anxious. He searched every corner of the courtyard frantically, hoping to find any trace of his parents.
The most sensible thing to do now was to burn all the bodies scattered in the courtyard. If all this was caused by zombies, as the corpse poison spread throughout the body, they would all turn into mindless corpse puppets, only knowing to devour flesh and blood. Then his situation would become dangerous.
But compared to his own situation, what he cared about most now was his parents. He didn't even have the heart to deal with the bodies in the courtyard!
After a frantic search, Yang Haoran had combed through every corner of the courtyard, but still hadn't found any trace of his parents. This made him anxious, but also gave him a glimmer of hope.
Not finding the bodies of his parents meant that they might still be alive. For him, as long as his parents were alive, that was more important than anything else.
"If Master Zhou's body isn't found here, could it be that my parents were rescued by Master Zhou?"
At this moment, Yang Haoran thought of Master Zhou, the one who gave him the talisman and had some power.
Master Zhou gave him a good impression. Considering what happened at Third Uncle's house, Yang Haoran believed that Master Zhou wouldn't turn a blind eye. Perhaps his parents and other relatives were indeed saved by Master Zhou.
But if that was the case, where were they now?
Were they hiding in the house?
Thinking like this, Yang Haoran prepared to rush into the house to search. He had searched every corner of the courtyard, but hadn't searched inside the house yet.
Just as he was about to rush into the house, he heard a cold shout from behind!
"Don't move! Put your hands on your head and squat down! Otherwise, I'll shoot!"
The voice sounded somewhat familiar. Yang Haoran turned around and saw a familiar figure!
Chen Ying in police uniform, as well as several policemen holding pistols. They had serious expressions, all aiming their pistols at Yang Haoran.
Seeing Yang Haoran turning around, Chen Ying's expression changed instantly!
"Yang Haoran! It's you!"
Exclaiming in surprise, Chen Ying glanced at the bodies scattered all over the courtyard, her expression changing once again, looking quite ugly.
"Did you do all this? Have you gone mad?" Chen Ying roared.
Yang Haoran's expression was equally dark, looking extremely unpleasant. He retorted coldly, "They are all my family, my relatives. How could I possibly harm them? What nonsense are you spouting!"
With that said, Yang Haoran didn't look at Chen Ying's expression anymore, nor did he follow Chen Ying's command to squat down with hands on his head. He turned his gaze back to the house. At this moment, what he cared about most was his parents. As for Chen Ying, he didn't have the mood to care.
"Whether you did this or not, it's not up to you to decide. We have only found one survivor in the whole Yangjia Bay. Not only humans, but even livestock and poultry are all dead. Surrender now and come with us to the station to undergo our investigation!"
Chen Ying wouldn't let up. She didn't believe Yang Haoran's explanation, and neither did the other policemen. They held their guns and approached Yang Haoran step by step. From their posture, if Yang Haoran didn't cooperate, or made any sensitive movements, they would definitely shoot immediately!
However, Yang Haoran was startled by Chen Ying's words!
"What did you say? There's not a single survivor in the whole Yangjia Bay?"
As Yang Haoran's words fell, suddenly, one of the bodies beside him reached out its arm and grabbed his ankle fiercely!
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