Chapter 2

When s.h.i.+liu left the tomb, those two other grave robbers had long disappeared. Zhuning jumped out from behind him, wearing s.h.i.+liu’s filter outer robes as she stared up at the moon, then swept her eyes at the quiet woods nearby. She felt rather resentful. “Aiya, those two edibles escaped. Big Head, your companions are gone, catch some things with blood in them for me.”

“Those aren’t, companions,” s.h.i.+liu said expressionlessly, “Are, masters.”

“They’re really useless masters,” Zhuning hopped along[1] as she enjoined, “Although you’re not tasty, I already casted a spell when I bit you. If you dare to run off on your own, I’ll activate the spell and have you explode from the inside out.”

Only after Zhuning brought this up did s.h.i.+liu realize he could’ve ran away. As it turned out, he…wasn’t controlled by the grave robbers anymore. But he’d already fallen from one abyss into another…

—

When s.h.i.+liu brought back some hares, Zhuning was currently gnawing on a tree branch. He blinked and asked curiously, “What, you doing?”

Zhuning spotted the hares in his hands and cheerfully pounced, too lazy to even pluck the fur as she sank her fangs into its veins. Her voice came out garbled and unclear. “Teeth itched, grinding them down.” When s.h.i.+liu saw her sharp teeth, he suddenly had the urge to get a whetstone and help her grind down down. Zhuning sucked dry two hares in a row before sitting down to rub her stomach in satisfaction. s.h.i.+liu cleaned up the two rabbits and started roasting them over a fire.

The firelight flickered between the two figures before Zhuning suddenly spoke up. “Oh, then let’s do that.” s.h.i.+liu bit off a piece of rabbit meat as he looked blankly at Zhuning.

“Help me find my revenge.”

“What, revenge?”

Zhuning gave an irrelevant answer. “How long has it been since the Great Jin’s 8th Year of Yuanwu?”

“323 years, and, two months,” s.h.i.+liu blurted out.

“Over 300 years, ah,” Zhuning said. “My heart is full of indignation that didn’t fade even when I died. Naturally, I need to satisfy my complaints before I can reincarnate. Right now, I’m not familiar with this era, nor do I know where to find my enemy. So you have to stay with me. Otherwise, I’ll blow you up.”

s.h.i.+liu nodded. In any case, he had no idea where to go now that he’d left the grave robbers. Zhuning stood up. “I’m a jiangs.h.i.+[2], so I can’t be exposed to sunlight. We’ll travel at nighttime and rest in the day. Get up and get going.”

He usually spent his nights grave digging and resting during the daytime, so s.h.i.+liu nodded again. Grabbing a rabbit, he started eating and walking at the same time. Zhuning hopped in front before seeing how much faster s.h.i.+liu was walking with the use of both his legs. Unhappy, she gave a pout. “This won’t do, you walk faster. Carry me.”

In any case, he was strong and Zhuning didn’t look all that heavy. Nodding again, s.h.i.+liu obediently bent down so the jiangs.h.i.+ could clamber up his back and hold onto his neck. Seeing s.h.i.+liu’s neck, Zhuning had to swallow the drool in her mouth. But once she recalled the disgusting flavor that made her want to upend the contents of her stomach, her head hung. She pulled at his s.h.i.+rt as she hung off his shoulders, grinding her teeth in dissatisfaction. “Tomorrow, buy a shoulder pad for me to grind my teeth.”

Again, s.h.i.+liu nodded his head, allowing the jiangs.h.i.+ to grind and grind her teeth behind his back. After a while, Zhuning couldn’t bear her itchy teeth. “Give me one of the rabbit’s bones.”

s.h.i.+liu did as she said, but couldn’t help asking, “You a dog, or, a mouse?”

Zhuning slammed her head against his own. “Speak for yourself! Hurry up!”

-o-

[1] hopped along – in Chinese folklore, zombies can’t walk (because their legs won’t separate), but they can hop.

[2] jiangs.h.i.+ (殭屍) – a type of zombie found in Chinese mythology that drinks blood to survive.