However, the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt still looked calm and natural. He sat to the side and carefully stroked a paper crane.

I recognized it; it was the crane that he’d given to Jing Jing yesterday. However, I didn’t know what else there was to see in that paper crane that the man had been admiring it for hours.

I sat next to the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt, asking him, “When do you think those two zombies will come?”

He answered with a question of his own, “When do you expect them to come?”

I forced a smile. “The sooner the better. We can be reborn sooner if we die sooner.”

My careless words irritated Li Mazi a lot, causing him to scold me.

The man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt handed me the paper crane he was toying with. “Easy. Just drip a blood drop of yours on it.”

I was bewildered as I looked at the man in the Kumamon t-shirt. “Just a drop of blood? It can attract the zombies here?”

The man nodded.

I was skeptical, but I still pricked my middle finger and squeezed a drop of blood on the crane. Then, the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt brought the paper crane to the windowsill and blew it out the window.

Until now, I wasn’t so sure if what I’d seen was a real occurrence or was just a hallucination of my mind. Or, perhaps the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt had showed me some of his magic tricks.

That paper crane flapped its wings and flew upward as if it had just been brought to life.

The two red eyes glowed. In midair, it soared and bobbed, finally disappearing from our vision…

Li Mazi’s jaw dropped for quite a long time. He was so stunned that he couldn’t say a word. Eventually, he grabbed the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt and begged him to teach him this magic trick.

However, the man in the Kumamon t-shirt just twitched his ears as if he was focusing on listening to something.

A moment later, I clearly saw the man’s countenance darken.

I immediately asked him, “So, are the zombies coming?”

The man shook his head. “No, not yet.”

However, his expression caused me to doubt his words. Then, I also stuck my ear to the door to listen. A moment later, I was panic-stricken!

Entering my ear was the rumbling noise of many footsteps from a distance. It was like an army was marching toward us.

So, we weren’t going to encounter just two zombies, but a whole army?

Li Mazi also shot up and tried to listen. He was immediately dumbfounded, his teeth clattering. “A wave of zombies is coming! Oh f*ck, isn’t it like we’re playing Plants vs Zombies?”

Then, a horrible stench permeated the Honorarium Hall, making me nauseous. I had to retch, but nothing came out of my mouth.

I was scared now. I asked the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt what should we do.

The man said, “Don’t panic. Let me think a little bit. I’m sure that something’s wrong here.”

After thinking for one minute, he abruptly said, “That year, Meng Liang came to steal the bodies of the Yang Generals under the Liaos’ watch. Do you think that he’d go alone?”

I suddenly understood his idea. What if the Song soldiers Meng Liang had brought with him had all turned into zombies? It was already a serious headache dealing with one or two zombies. If there was a wave of zombies, I’m sure that we’d all be doomed.

This coffin home definitely wouldn’t stop them.

What to do now? What to do now? I paced back and forth worriedly, feeling so upset and angry.

However, what made my nervousness worse was that the footsteps didn’t continue to approach. It seemed like they were waiting for something, but I didn’t know what that was.

In this moment, the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt suddenly poked two of his fingers out of the window.

When he retracted his hand, there was a paper crane between his fingers.

It was the one that he’d just ‘released.’ I couldn’t believe that it would fly back here. The crane’s red eyes were now black, which made it look fiercer and more terrifying than before.

The man didn’t say anything, but he used a lighter to burn the paper crane. Then, he fished out a bundle of paper cranes from within a pocket on his chest, handing them to me.

They were the cranes that he had folded while we were waiting.

With a serious face, he looked at me. “This time, we only have a ten percent chance of escaping alive. We’re not going to encounter a mere one or two zombies! When they arrive at the cottage, you two will rush out of the village. If you feel like someone is watching you, burn a paper crane and wait until the feeling of being watched disappears. Then, you should hurry to get out of this village. Remember, use them wisely. If you don’t make it out of the village before you’ve burned all of the paper cranes, you’ll have to stay here forever…”

I gulped, but I didn’t know what he meant by burning the paper cranes. However, the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt must have his reasons for asking us to do so.

My hands shakily received the paper cranes, and I carefully shoved them into my pocket.

I hadn’t realized it, but the wind had begun to howl outside. The screaming of the wind sounded like someone crying and bellowing angrily. The noise came from a distance, and the chilling gusts swept into the room from the slits on the windows, making me feel cold.

With this weather, I felt that it might rain soon!

And, when you were afraid of something, that thing would happen. As soon as I had the thought in my head, rumbling thunder filled the area with a strike of lightning, illuminating the entire sky in a blinding flash.

Crazy lightning strikes and booming thunder. Would rain be far away? Shortly after, bean-sized rain drops began to fall, noisily hitting the ground and the hall.

If the paper cranes became wet, how would we ignite them? I was so distressed, hoping that the Honorarium Hall wouldn’t be destroyed. Because, to me, it was our last chance.

“Little Brother Zhang, come here. Listen, do you recognize that sound?” While my mind was flustered, Li Mazi suddenly waved his finger at me.

I immediately walked forward, adhering my ear to the wall. A rubbing sound came from the distance. It seemed like something was being dragged on the ground.

I checked Li Mazi’s expression. He grimaced as he said, “Are we going to encounter some sort of crippled zombie that can only crawl on the ground?”

The man in the Kumamon t-shirt didn’t say anything, but he silently withdrew the eight-sided Han sword on his back.

His sword sparkled, reflecting dazzling light at the tip.

He finally wanted to take action!

The rubbing sounds came closer. Eventually, it seemed to stop and hesitate in front of our door. I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel the grass and trees around us shaking strangely and furiously.

I understood that in the shadows of the trees, there were things that we didn’t want to see. I stared and didn’t dare to blink. Although I was scared, I had a wisp of curiosity. Anyway, I’d never seen a real zombie before.

My nerves were tense as I was really worried that those things would suddenly jump out of the bushes or the darkness.

However, it seemed as if they didn’t want to leave. We’d been waiting for quite a long time already, but we hadn’t seen any zombie yet. Out of the blue, irregular thumping noises started, like something was hitting the door.

Instantly, I shook in fright. Since when had the zombies reached our cottage? I didn’t say anything but walked to the door and stood there, using my body to block the door.

Along with the thumping noises, there was another strange sound, which was like someone chewing on a cucumber. Li Mazi cried in fear, asking the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt if the zombies were eating someone outside.

The man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt stayed silent. However, his eyes glared at the door as if he could see through the wood to watch the situation outside.

The banging sounds gradually became louder and louder. From the slit in the window, I couldn’t see any zombie. However, the rubbing noise and the shaking trees never ceased!

It was extremely horrible. I felt my fighting spirit been worn down, bit by bit.

Clang!

 But, in this moment, the clanging of metal arose from inside the cottage. It scared me breathless. I hurriedly searched the room with my eyes, and saw the rusty Hongyang Blade hovering as it released a green halo. Such a green hue terrified me further and made me even more anxious. 

And, as the Hongyang Blade hovered, the pounding on the door abruptly increased!

It seemed like people were trying to break the door down. The thumping was unceasing, and the entire hall was shaking.

Eventually, the noises grew thicker and heavier. The wooden doors and windows, which weren’t tough at all, couldn’t bear it any further…

Chilling winds crept through the slits, leeching away the heat from the room. I felt like I was about to freeze to death.

Seeing that the wooden doors couldn’t hold it anymore, we called for the man in the Kumamon t-shirt to help. The man then said in a low voice, “It’s too late. Remember what I told you? Burn a paper crane then leave. No need to care about me.”

What did he mean?

I had a strong feeling that he’d decided to die with those zombies. My heart ached and I asked him to go with us.

The man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt shook his head again.

How could a man be pushed to death by fear alone? Since there was no way back, we would rather fight till the last moment!

Immediately, I took out all the paper cranes and gave them to Li Mazi. I told the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt, “I consider you my brother, so I won’t just leave you here alone…”

The man in the Kumamon t-shirt was surprised and stared at me. Inside his icy-cold eyes, there was a spark of emotion, as if he was touched.

However, in the end, he still resisted my offer. “No, you’re of no help here. I’ll be distracted and will try to protect you if you stay. It’s no good for either of us. So, you leave, I’ll stay. Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”

Then, the man signaled for Li Mazi to stop blocking the door.

Li Mazi sighed.

The moment Li Mazi moved away from the door, there was a tremendous gust of wind, and the door collapsed noisily!

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