Chapter 58 Sorrow

  In the white mist, the figure of Laozu Gong finally appeared. That slender body was enough to make every woman jealous, yet it was also slender enough to evoke pity.

  Although I have always had some inexplicable good feelings towards Lao Zu Gong, seeing a zombie still makes me afraid. Yu Mei and San Sao had already shrunk behind Liu Wei Min's back, and I also wanted to run over, but he pushed me back. He threatened: "Go and get rid of Nalan Yuan, otherwise you will never see Wen Jing in this lifetime."

  "What are you talking nonsense about? I have the ability to catch zombies. Can you still bully me until now?"

  Liu Weimin said, "Cats have their own way, mice have their own way. Your skill, Wang Zhen, is just for dealing with the old tribal leader."

  Liu Weimin had an unusual strength that didn't belong to his age. The old clan elder's coffin made of dark, sour wood was so heavy that I couldn't lift the lid even with all my might. But Liu Weimin just hummed a few times and lifted it up with both hands. What's more, he single-handedly carried the coffin containing Xu Shulin from the ancestral hall to the courtyard.

  At this time, I insisted on not going forward. Liu Weimin grabbed my collar and threw me over, shouting to the old patriarch: "Nalan Yuancheng, didn't you want this kid? Take delivery!"

  With a flourish, he drew a parabola in the air, and the old man's figure grew larger in my eyes. The hand hanging at his side rose, and the five fingers, each with long, black nails, seemed to be either reaching out to catch me or preparing to stab me to death.

  Finally, I strained to dodge his hand and fell heavily to the ground. When I looked up, I saw a scene that made me feel nauseous.

  It's Lao Zu Gong's wound.

  After Huang Jinbai split into two pieces, the wound was gushing with black **. He looked like a water-filled balloon, and although those insects made my scalp crawl, I didn't feel nauseous. But Lao Zu Gong was different - the fragments of internal organs, the broken bones, the scabbed black blood, several carrion-eating insects feasting at the wound, and the overwhelming stench that hit me like a wave, making my stomach churn with waves of nausea, until I couldn't help but vomit all over the ground.

  While vomiting, he frantically crawled towards Liu Weimin, but his ankle was caught by a pair of icy and hard claws.

  That chill ran through my whole body, my hands and feet were numb, I was too afraid to cry out for mercy as I lay on the ground, fearing that it would displease him. The old patriarch picked me up, pinched my shoulder, and turned me around to face him.

  A withered half-face, muscles almost dry and shriveled, lips curled up to reveal a nearly bald brown gum with a single sharp tooth protruding, a sight that should send shivers down one's spine, yet when meeting his gaze, it evokes sorrow instead.

  Deep in the sunken eye sockets, a dull pupil was embedded, and the gaze that couldn't be told whether it was gloomy or cold always carried endless sorrow. From the first time I saw Old Tribe Lord, I felt he was crying, but I couldn't figure out why a zombie would cry.

  Just now I wanted to hide behind Liu Weimin, but he pushed me forward to deal with the zombies. However, Lao Zu Gong, as usual, didn't bite me and instead grabbed my sleeve and pulled me behind him, taking a step forward on one leg and blocking me from Liu Weimin.

  So he wants to protect me?!

  Before, he was already hunched over and very short, now only half of his body is left, thin to the point where a gust of wind could make him sway, yet he stands firmly in front of me. I am a head taller than him and more than half again as thick, at this moment it looks like a small white rabbit protecting an injured gorilla.

  From start to finish, I didn't know why Lao Zu Gong treated me like that, but the affection he conveyed was so sincere.

  Liu Weimin suddenly shouted: "Wang Zhen, are you going to take away Wenjing's life?"

  "I asked him in a low voice: 'What can I do?'"

  Liu Weimin said: "Use the dagger in your hand to stab through his chest!"

  It wasn't until then that I discovered a small, arm-length dagger had appeared in my hand. It was ancient and dull, but what was even more bizarre was that the dagger was clearly very heavy, yet I only noticed it after I saw it.

  His heart tightened, the dagger fell to the ground, and Liu Weimin suddenly shouted: "Pick it up and kill Nalan Yuqing, otherwise you will never see Wenjing again."

  Liu Weimin's face no longer had the tranquility of the past, replaced by a cruel and ferocious expression. Although he had long been aware that Liu was not harboring good intentions, at this moment he was no longer pretending, completely tearing off his disguise.

  I picked up the dagger, but didn't listen to his words. Instead, I asked Old Tribe Lord across from me, "No way, you first tell me clearly, what is the relationship between me and Old Tribe Lord?"

  "No matter what relationship it is, he is now a corpse that shouldn't exist. As for Wenjing, she's still a lively young woman. How to choose, you decide for yourself!"

  Admittedly, Laozu Gong is a zombie, but even if he's a zombie, I couldn't bring myself to harm a zombie that has always wanted to protect me, let alone the fact that this zombie might still have some connection with me!

  But I also can't give up Wenjing.

  It was a difficult choice, and the old man stood with his back to me, motionless. I raised my hand several times, wanting to use the inexplicably appearing dagger to stab into his body, but withdrew it just as the blade was about to make contact.

  Liu Weimin waited patiently, while Lao Zu Gong stood quietly, and I was tormented every minute and every second. The mountain slope was silent until You Wu shouted out a sentence: "Wang Zhen, what's the use of hesitating any longer? This isn't a choice between Lao Zu Gong and Wen Jing, you've also seen the old man's methods, he's inhumane, don't forget that there's still Kang Jiuxiang at the foot of the mountain, and a whole family back home."

  Liu Wei Min grunted and patted You Wu's head: "Are you advising him or mocking me?" He turned to me and said: "You Wu is right, the lives of a family versus a lifeless corpse, which one do you choose?"

  This remark was the last straw that crushed the camel, and I, who had been in a dilemma, finally made up my mind.

  I raised my hand, placing the dagger against his back, trembling, yet still applying force bit by bit. The zombie that should have been as hard as iron under this dagger, however, turned into tofu and was easily pierced through its official robes and dry muscles.

  The old man remained unmoved and seemed to be unconscious, allowing me to stab him in the back.

  The dagger slowly moved forward, and finally came to rest on something. In that instant, I felt the tremble of the dagger being transmitted back to me, while the old tribal leader let out a cry like the mournful wail of an owl at night, almost piercing my eardrums. His body didn't move, but his head turned backwards, and his neck made a cracking "crack" sound.

  At the same moment, Liu Weimin's fierce punch made me hastily add force. With a "ding" sound, the thing inside Lao Zu Gong's body shattered. The dagger protruded from his chest and he crashed to the ground. I seemed to have used up all my strength, watching as Lao Zu Gong tried to get up with one hand but instead fell to the other side in a pitiful state. Tears gushed out of my eyes.

  I couldn't care less about the filth on him, I wanted to help the old man up, but hadn't expected his small body to feel as heavy as a thousand catties, and could only manage to prop him against me, letting him kneel half on the ground.

  His body gradually softened, the old patriarch touched the dagger in front of his chest, looked at the bloodstains on his hand, and gazed at me with that turbid single eye, full of confusion and perplexity. A surge of overwhelming sorrow welled up inside me, feeling as if I had committed a grave mistake, hurting the person closest to me, yet all I could do was cry out in apology.

  I wept with a broken heart, but he smiled foolishly, his stiff body relaxed, though his shrunken skin would never plump up again. He used his withered old hand to gently stroke my hair, over and over, like the silly brother who was pushed into the pond by his younger brother, nearly drowned, yet still tried to comfort his crying sibling.

  At this time, Liu Weimin walked to my side and let out a long sigh. I raised my head and roared in anger: "What have you done? Who is he?"

  Liu Weimin shook his head, walked to the side of the road and picked a wildflower, returned and knelt down on one knee in front of Lao Zu Gong, inserted the wildflower into Lao Zu Gong's sparse and withered yellow hair, then he hugged Lao Zu Gong's neck and rested his head on his shoulder, making a sobbing sound, as if crying.

  I was stunned, feeling that Liu Weimin's heartache and sadness were a million times more intense than mine, yet he asked me to kill the old patriarch, who was clearly him.

  The old man didn't take the hint, Liu Weimin's neck was right next to his mouth, he suddenly opened his mouth and bit down, but that sharp tooth broke off cleanly at the root.

  Feeling the movement of Lao Zu Gong, Liu Wei Min cried even louder, and Lao Zu Gong's face turned pale, looking even more haggard.

  He weakly raised his hand to push away Liu Weimin, but instead pointed to the wound on his own chest, slowly extending a blood-stained finger towards my lips. I was startled and hastily retreated, only to see a look of urgency and concern in his turbid yet seemingly clear single eye, so I steeled myself and brought my mouth closer.

  Frosty fingertips pried open my lips, scraping off the bloodstains from my teeth. The old man's half-face broke into a smile, sending shivers down my spine, yet also tugging at my heartstrings. I didn't know why, but his smile was incredibly warm and joyful, that one eye gradually brightening until it shone so brightly I dared not meet his gaze, only to suddenly dim.

  The old man fell to the ground again, but this time he didn't get up. Liu Weimin dragged me two or three meters away, and I kept staring at the half-corpse lying on the ground, watching the white wildflower on his head wither in an instant.

  Liu Weimin knelt down and kowtowed to the elderly tribesman, I was beside him, and heard his faint muttering. Liu Weimin said: "Sorry, you know I didn't want to do this, but as time went by, I couldn't turn back."

  Another hypocritical apology, Liu Weimin always says he doesn't want to, yet he has successively caused the deaths of Huang Jinbai and Lao Zonggong.

  I don't know why, but the sorrowful and heavy mood I had just now suddenly cleared up. I patted the dirt off my body, got up, and asked Liu Weimin emotionlessly: "The old patriarch was also killed by me, where's Wenjing?"

  "He said calmly: 'She's fine now, you can see her when you get home.'"

  "Alright, thanks for lending a hand, if there's nothing else I'll be off!"

  Liu Weimin slightly turned his head and looked at me with the corner of his eye: "Leave? Who will help me open the coffin if you leave?"

  After finishing speaking, Liu Weimin strode up the mountain, not caring whether I was following or not. I didn't know what he was hiding in his sleeve, and neither dared nor wanted to follow him, so I stood still on the spot. Meanwhile, after walking out for over ten meters, Liu Weimin suddenly took out a small bell from his pocket and shook it rhythmically.

  And my body seemed to be out of control, like a zombie in the movies, suddenly raising its arms and jumping up and down behind him. Except for my eyes and mouth, every part of me was disobedient. I was sweating profusely as Liu Weimin rushed over to hug me around the waist. But instead, I felt rooted to the ground, and ended up carrying him on my shoulders, moving in time with the ringing of the bell, step by step behind Liu Weimin.

  This looks just like the most common "hurry up corpse" technique in Lam Ching-ying's zombie movies.