I roughly pieced together the situation, and a surge of anger welled up within me. What kind of person could be so cruel and heartless?
However, even if I had sympathy, I was now dealing with vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts. If I angered them, they wouldn't care whether I was a good person or a bad one.
As I made my way up from the lower floors, I had encountered many similar ghosts and spirits, and many of them were not inherently evil. It seemed that they were all under some form of control, and some had even been summoned from outside the building.
It wasn't surprising, given that the entity on the 20th floor was a powerful ghost king, and all nearby spirits were bound to follow its lead. If this situation wasn't resolved soon, this building could very well turn into a hell on Earth.
Though I had pieced together the general timeline, I still didn't know who was behind it or their purpose.
Now, I had encountered a rare talking ghost, but it was an old woman with dementia. Clearly, whoever was behind this had left nothing to chance.
Outside the door, the sound of Tang Quan's shouting was getting closer, as he was being chased around by the four old zombies. He was lucky—this place was spacious enough that if it had been narrower, he would have been doomed by now.
While I couldn't hear the footsteps of the zombies anymore, I took a few deep breaths and asked Huang Jiu if he had noticed anything unusual.
Huang Jiu replied, "From the current situation, it seems like a cult's work. But those people often act on a whim, so I can't tell what their goal is. To figure it out, we'll probably have to go up there."
"But regardless of their goal, you'd better hope that the big-breasted woman catches the mastermind. Otherwise, if you offend them, you'll never find peace again."
Huang Jiu's warning was a wake-up call. These people were not like Liu Changxuan. Even if I fled to the ends of the earth, they would follow me like a curse.
Given the situation, their ruthlessness was beyond anything the Luban Gate could compare to. And the "Five Deficiencies, Three Shortcomings" that were widely known in the Yin-Yang profession were not just a matter of fate.
That kind of thing would never happen to me.
As Tang Quan's shouting grew louder, I didn't hesitate anymore. I threw open the door and rushed out.
Zombies are sensitive to the presence of living people. As soon as I stepped into the corridor, I heard thudding footsteps rapidly approaching.
But Tang Quan was a bit faster than the zombies. He ran toward me, panting heavily, his Taoist robe torn in several places, but it didn't seem like he had any serious injuries.
Before he could speak, I quickly apologized, "Master Tang, I'm terribly sorry, I had a sudden stomach issue earlier. I couldn't hold it in!"
It didn't matter what excuse I gave him, as long as it was an excuse—anything would work, even if it were something ridiculous like laundry powder.
I awkwardly added, "Old saying goes, 'holding urine can travel a thousand miles, but holding in waste makes it impossible to move.' I hope Master Tang isn't laughing at me."
Tang Quan understood what I meant. He waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about that. We'll deal with the zombies first."
Having circled the zombies for a while, Tang Quan knew their movements well and had prepared the necessary items. He handed me a box containing a string of chalk, then stretched it across the corridor.
The zombies quickly hopped into view. I immediately held my breath. Huang Jiu was also good at holding his breath, otherwise, I would've been caught by the zombies even if I tried to suffocate myself.
Seconds later, the first zombie appeared in the corridor.
Unlike the zombies in the movies, dressed in Qing Dynasty official clothes with phoenix crowns, these four zombies were ragged and looked like beggars.
It made sense, considering no one would bother changing the clothes of a zombie. After being buried underground for decades, their garments had long decayed.
The stench from the zombies was awful, akin to rotting ham infested with maggots, but not overpoweringly pungent.
Because they had drunk human blood, their skin had regained some luster, with a dull purple hue. Two sharp, white fangs protruded from their upper lips, stretching down to their chins.
To be honest, seeing the zombies so clearly in front of me wasn't as terrifying as the movies made it out to be—likely because there was no ominous music adding to the fear. Plus, this was a physical entity. If it lay on the ground, it would just be a pile of rotten flesh.
But since these zombies were standing, and had consumed human blood, their presence was filled with an overwhelming, evil energy. Their eyes turned blood-red as they hissed and charged toward us.
Tang Quan and I held our breath, pulling the chalk string. As the first zombie got closer, we exchanged a glance and let go of the string.
The string snapped against the zombie's body, sparking with a burst of fire. The zombie staggered back a few steps, leaving a burn mark on its chest and abdomen.
The old methods left by our ancestors were no joke.
But before I could feel any sense of triumph, the remaining three zombies charged at us from both sides.
Tang Quan and I weren't fast enough. Our attempts to use the chalk string missed twice in a row, and the zombies were almost upon us. I was already prepared to flee.
However, just then, Huang Jiu leaped off my shoulder. With precision, it landed on the string, using it like a trampoline to leap back to my shoulder.
The chalk string snapped back three times, each time hitting the closest zombie. By the third strike, the zombie was launched backward, tumbling four or five meters away and unable to get up for a while.
Huang Jiu grinned and repeated the process, helping us control the zombies.
Tang Quan and I worked quickly to move the string, and with Huang Jiu's help, we managed to push all four zombies into a small office. We then released one of the zombies and used the chalk string to knock it down.
Before the zombie could get up, Tang Quan rushed forward and punched its stomach, forcing the zombie's evil energy into its throat.
Then, he made a hand seal, pressing his thumb on the zombie's throat. A stream of black, ghostly energy shot out from the zombie's mouth.
Once the evil energy dissipated, the zombie's strength was gone, and it became a lifeless, twitching corpse.
Tang Quan and I repeated the process, taking down two more zombies.
Just as we were preparing to finish off the last one, a shrill scream came from behind me.
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and without hesitation, I tossed the chalk string to Tang Quan and drew my peach wood sword, swinging it around.