Antonio's expression told us there was something horrifying behind us. At that moment, an oozing coolness rose from the ground beneath our feet, and most terrifying of all, I heard laughter coming from behind.
It wasn't just me - Dreaming Nun and Stein heard it too. Antonio suddenly shouted, "Run!"
Hearing this, Dreaming Nun immediately pushed us aside before turning around and slashing backward with her palm.
Stein and I tumbled across the ground and scrambled to our feet just in time to see Dreaming Nun fail to gain the upper hand. Instead, she was being held aloft by a bloodied corpse gripping her throat.
The creature had no skin at all - just exposed muscle tissue dripping with blood. One eyeball had fallen from its socket, dangling grotesquely by the optic nerve.
A blood-covered zombie! The malignant energy radiating from it was overwhelming.
This was my first encounter with a blood-covered zombie. The terror it inspired was no less than any ghost I'd faced. My grandfather had warned me these creatures were far more dangerous than jiangshi - if you see one, run.
"Haa..." The zombie exhaled a wave of corpse-breath, its gaping maw reeking worse than an open sewer.
Dreaming Nun was no match for the blood-covered zombie. She couldn't even fight back, being choked helplessly like a child.
"Go! Leave me!" Dreaming Nun used her last ounce of strength to shout at us. She continued struggling desperately, but it was futile.
At that moment, I shot a tattoo needle that embedded itself in the zombie's forehead.
The blood-covered zombie staggered back with a strange shriek, swaying drunkenly as a geyser of blood erupted from its brow.
Antonio seized the opportunity, charging forward with incredible speed to sever the zombie's arm.
Dreaming Nun collapsed as Stein rushed to drag her to safety.
The maimed zombie roared with such force the entire mountainside seemed to tremble. It swung its remaining arm - Antonio had no chance to dodge. The blow sent him flying over a meter high before he crashed down, blood trickling from his mouth.
"Mr. Roger, run! This thing is too powerful!" Antonio had no time to lament his injuries. Wiping blood from his lips, he scrambled up and pulled me downhill.
The four of us stood no chance against the blood-covered zombie. We fled back the way we came, racing down the mountain path. Yet I kept sensing an eerie wind pursuing us, the malignant energy in the darkness pressing against our backs like knife points.
"No good...we can't outrun it," I said, coming to a stop.
The blood-covered zombie moved with terrifying speed, its footsteps light as wind - it might as well have been flying. That explained how it had emerged from the coffin so suddenly earlier.
At this speed, we simply couldn't outrun it. This blood-covered zombie seemed to have intelligence—though it could easily catch up to us, it wasn't in a hurry to strike. It was waiting for us to exhaust ourselves before finishing us off in one swift move.
"What… what do we do? We can't run, and we can't fight," Stein said, his voice trembling with fear.
"There's no way to fight her. Life and death are decreed by fate; wealth and honor depend on Heaven," I replied.
Antonio tightened his grip on his knife, ready to attack. If this were a human opponent, he wouldn't have hesitated—but this was a blood-covered zombie. Even he couldn't help but tense up.
"Watch out—she's coming," the injured Dreaming Nun warned.
The moment we stopped, the blood-covered zombie stopped hiding as well. A few eerie gusts of wind rushed past our faces before a bloody figure appeared behind us.
Antonio reacted the fastest, immediately thrusting his knife at the zombie's neck. But the creature swatted his hand away, sending the knife flying and knocking Antonio back a full meter.
"Haa…" The blood-covered zombie opened its gory maw, revealing two sharp fangs. I hadn't expected a blood-covered zombie to have fangs like a jiangshi—but these were even longer and far more terrifying.
Baring its teeth, the zombie lunged straight for Antonio, aiming to sink its fangs into his neck.
Antonio's combat instincts kicked in. He bent his legs and clamped them around the zombie's head, locking it in place and preventing it from biting down.
As soon as the zombie struggled, Antonio rolled across the ground with it still trapped between his legs.
"Mr. Roger—the knife! The one I have is your grandfather's enchanted blade for killing zombies!" Antonio shouted with difficulty.
I immediately understood. No wonder Antonio had been able to slice through the zombie's arm so easily—his knife was no ordinary weapon.
Given the blood-covered zombie's resilience, it should have been nearly invulnerable to blades. A normal weapon wouldn't even scratch it—yet Antonio's small knife had cut through it like nothing.
I sprinted to grab the knife. All I had to do now was sever its head, and this would be over.
But the moment I picked up the blade, I heard Antonio let out a pained grunt before his body hurtled toward me.
The blood-covered zombie had thrown him—straight into me. At over six feet tall and heavily built, Antonio was impossible to catch. We crashed to the ground together, tangled and writhing, unable to even stand back up.
Fuck, credit where credit is due—if Antonio had restrained it for just a few more seconds, I would have absolutely sliced its head off.
At that moment, Dreaming Nun, seeing we were in danger, rushed forward and removed the Buddha beads from his neck, striking the blood-covered zombie with them.
A crackling sound erupted as the beads sparked against the zombie's flesh. The creature wailed in agony, its malignant energy rising in bursts of white smoke until it finally collapsed to the ground as if being barbecued, emitting a revolting burnt stench.
"Is it over?" Antonio and I both turned our gaze toward the fallen zombie.
But just then, I saw the blood-covered zombie twitch slightly. Dreaming Nun's string of Buddha beads had long since scattered across the ground, reduced to charred ash.
"Run! She's not dead!" I shouted urgently.
It was already too late. The zombie stood up faster than the wind—whoosh—not only rising to its feet but also appearing instantly in front of Dreaming Nun.
Dreaming Nun staggered back, hastily reciting Buddhist scriptures, but it was useless. The blood-covered zombie bared its gory maw and lunged for her. A tactic that might frighten ghosts had no effect on zombies.
Dreaming Nun sucked in a sharp breath, unable to dodge, and instinctively raised her arms in defense.
At that critical moment, Stein turned heroic. Instead of fleeing, he grabbed a rock and smashed it down hard on the zombie's foot.
The stone didn't even stagger the creature—instead, it shattered into rubble—but the impact successfully drew the zombie's attention.
The blood-covered zombie slowly turned its head toward Stein, its dangling eyeball practically glaring at him with fury.
"Uh… hi there?" Stein forced an awkward, bitter laugh and gave a nervous wave.
"Grrrr—"
The zombie snarled, then hoisted Stein up and sank its fangs into his neck.
The moment the creature's elongated teeth pierced flesh, a stream of blood immediately gushed down Stein's throat.