A Time-Traveling Zombie Romance (GL) - Chapter 7
Finally, the most tense day in everyone’s mind had arrived.
That morning, Master set up numerous rituals in a clearing.
It was undoubtedly like the zombie movies I had seen on TV in my past life. In the center was a large table covered with yellow cloth. On it were two long candles, many yellow talismans, a peach-wood sword, a judgment brush, a small bowl of cinnabar, a large plate of raw glutinous rice, and more. Around the table, long yellow flags were planted in all directions. On each flag were talismans drawn in cinnabar, arranged according to the Tai Chi Bagua formation.
Today, I wore a gray coarse robe, with a half-up hairstyle tied with a hairband. Though my outfit was plain, it had a scholarly charm. Sister Yunxi wore a pink dress, her hairband flowing in the air like a fairy from the heavens. But neither of us smiled, for today weighed heavily on our hearts.
Hand in hand, we approached the ritual site, faces grave. I frowned slightly. “Why did Master choose this place?”
“I don’t know either,” Sister Yunxi replied, a trace of doubt in her voice.
“Sister, do you feel confident this time?” I asked, turning to her.
“Not at all,” she said, looking at me. I paused for a moment, then heard her add, “But I will use my life to protect you, Junior Brother.”
A shiver ran through me. “Sister, I don’t want you to risk yourself. If it comes to it, I’d rather become a zombie than let you get hurt.” Though I still couldn’t forget Shan, over these ten years, Sister Yunxi had become indispensable to me, and I did not want her harmed.
“Silly Junior Brother, once we get through this, you can protect me every day,” she teased, poking my nose. I grasped her hand and stared at her. Why was she always so good to me? Perhaps my gaze lingered too long, for her face flushed.
Just then, Master appeared, breaking our quiet moment.
“Ahem.”
“Uh… Master,” I jumped in surprise at his sudden appearance beside me.
Sister Yunxi’s embarrassment deepened; she wished she could disappear into the ground.
After this brief exchange, the initial tension seemed somewhat eased.
“Alright, noon is near. Prepare yourselves,” Master said sternly.
“Yes, Master,” Sister Yunxi and I bowed in unison.
I sat in the spot Master had designated, cross-legged. Master took a bamboo tube from his bag and handed it to Sister Yunxi. “Pour the contents in a circle around Qi’er.”
Following orders, she opened it. Inside was a pool of blackened dog’s bl00d, its stench making her wrinkle her nose. She walked to within half a meter of me, pouring it in a circle on the ground. I pinched my nose. “This black dog bl00d stinks!”
Sister Yunxi let out a small laugh. I was more embarrassed—having a touch of cleanliness since childhood, the smell nearly overwhelmed me. I endured it silently.
Next, she poured a large plate of raw glutinous rice in a circle a meter from me. At one and a half meters out, another circle of small yellow triangular flags, each marked with talismans, was placed.
I was completely surrounded.
Master now donned the legendary Taoist yellow robe, a Tai Chi hat on his head, yellow shoes, all adorned with Tai Chi symbols, looking like an immortal scholar.
Suddenly, Master shouted, “Noon has arrived! The yang energy is at its peak, weakening the power of the Zombie King. Yunxi, guard him for me!”
Sister Yunxi raised her peach-wood sword and stood beside me.
“Qi’er, recite the incantation,” Master commanded. I formed a strange hand gesture and chanted the unintelligible spell Master had taught me two days ago.
Master’s face darkened. He swung the peach-wood sword in the air, pressed its tip against a yellow talisman, and lit it on a candle. Tossing the sword skyward, he mimicked my hand gesture, shouting, “Heaven and Earth, for the removal of corpse poison, lend divine power, and save all beings!”
Suddenly, something strange happened. Yunxi saw a beam of blue light descend from the sky into the peach-wood sword, turning it bright blue.
Master caught the sword, his face lighting up. “It worked! The Heavens lend me their divine power! Haha!”
He tapped the sword on several points of my back. I winced, and black qi appeared on my forehead.
“Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, Supreme Lord, haste decree!” Master shook a corpse-soul bell, then handed the peach-wood sword to Sister Yunxi. He sat cross-legged two meters behind me, using internal energy to purge the poison.
After nearly ten minutes, a chilling energy appeared around my body. Sister Yunxi tensed, gripping the peach-wood sword, ready for any attack.
A fierce wind rose, chilling to the bone, and quickening our hearts.
Suddenly, a black figure leapt down from a bookshelf, facing away, clad in a black cloak concealing its face.
Sister Yunxi’s hands trembled slightly as she gripped her sword. Cold sweat dripped from her forehead. It had finally arrived…
The figure slowly turned—it was the Zombie King from ten years ago. Bl00d-red eyes glared fiercely, fangs dripping with bl00d.
It advanced toward me, and Sister Yunxi trembled slightly in fear.
“Guard,” Master commanded sternly.
“Yes,” she replied, tightening her grip on the sword, determined to protect her junior brother at all costs.
The Zombie King moved forward. Sister Yunxi blocked it with her peach-wood sword. The King growled, striking her with a fist. She flipped aside, delivering a kick to his face, forcing him back a few steps. Realizing that stopping Master meant first defeating Sister Yunxi, the King roared and accelerated, swinging fists toward her.
Her sword intercepted them. The contact sizzled as if burned, and the King recoiled.
“Roar!” The Zombie King bellowed in anger. Swarms of black-cloaked zombies rushed from all directions, attacking Sister Yunxi. Despite her sword, she couldn’t hold them all. Her weapon was knocked away.
At that critical moment, a mysterious man appeared.
Tall and handsome, around forty, long black beard, no gray hairs. Swiftly, he stripped the cloaks from the zombies, and sunlight touched them—they burned to ash in moments. Sister Yunxi, however, was heavily injured, spitting bl00d as she sat on the ground.
The Zombie King charged Master, striking him in the back. Master spat bl00d as the ritual continued. I felt a powerful force consuming my soul, my consciousness fading.
“Ah!” I shouted. My eyes turned red, fangs lengthened, fingers blackened, digging deep into the earth. The Zombie King tried to take me, but at a distance of one and a half meters, the eight small yellow flags transformed into eight little generals in yellow armor, blocking him.
After a fierce battle, the eight generals reverted to flags. As the King stepped onto the earth near me, explosions erupted around him, forcing him back. Yet even this could not contain him. When he approached within half a meter, a red halo formed around me, preventing him from entering. He paced around me. Meanwhile, the mysterious man had killed nearly all surrounding zombies and now targeted the Zombie King.
“Hmph, wretched beast. I have searched for you over ten years. Today, I will reduce you to ashes.”
“Roar!” The King, enraged by this interference, exuded black qi. Dark clouds rolled in, wind howled.
He clashed with the mysterious man. After over a hundred exchanges, the man coughed bl00d, sustaining internal injuries. The Zombie King was incredibly strong, impervious to weapons, his strength seemingly infinite, rising after every fall.
“Everyone, attack together!” Master commanded. Sister Yunxi and the mysterious man nodded, charging the King. After over six hundred exchanges, an unusual event occurred.
“Roar~~~” My body emitted a brilliant white light. When it faded, two versions of me appeared—one shrouded in black smoke like the Zombie King (“Zombie Me”), the other in golden armor holding a divine spear, with a golden dragon mark on my forehead (“Divine General Me”). The two versions immediately began fighting each other.
Zombie Me roared, multiplying into thousands of undead, while Divine General Me slammed the spear into the ground, summoning divine soldiers. The two forces clashed…