As the sky brightened and the earth awoke from the darkness, Qiao’er had yet to fall asleep. She opened the door. The wooden hut was built on high ground and lacked windows; even though it faced south, there were always corners where the light could not reach.
When one thought about it, it made sense. After all, had anyone ever seen a zombie carve a window into their own burial mound?
Qiao’er couldn’t remember exactly how long it had been since she was captured by the green-eyed zombie, but by her reckoning, this was the first time she didn’t have to stay by its side during the day.
The previous night, when it had taken her to the shore, it had already shown her where it was going. Qiao’er stepped out of the hut and walked down to the beach. She wandered along the water’s edge, drawing circles in the sand and wondering which part of the sea it was currently submerged in.
The winter sun rose later than in summer. Its soft rays spilled across the surface of the ocean, turning the green waves into shimmering gold, vast and magnificent.
Qiao’er sat on the sand with her knees pulled to her chest, staring blankly for a while. Eventually, she carried a ceramic jar of water back to the hut and began clearing out the wood shavings, mud, and other debris left over from the construction. She then gave the interior and exterior of the house a thorough scrubbing.
In another water vat outside, there were fish and shrimp the green-eyed zombie had caught for her. She picked out a few fat fish and carried them toward the fishing village’s market. Without the green-eyed zombie to carry her, the distance she had once thought short took her a full two hours to walk.
She spent a long time wandering the market. She sold two fish for eighteen coins each and used the money to buy flint, fire-strikers, and an oil lamp. She then traded the remaining three fish for a pot, a spatula, and other kitchen utensils.
Realizing the green-eyed zombie only had two sets of clothes to change between, she went to a fabric shop to buy some needles, thread, and cotton cloth, thinking she could sew a new set of robes for it in her spare time.
Trivial matters added up, and by the time she finished her shopping, it was nearly noon. She followed the small path back to the hut. A two-hour walk was indeed a long way, but fortunately, she was used to hard labor and possessed good stamina, so she did not find it too taxing.
Back at the hut, she used three green stones to build a simple hearth by the door. She scrubbed the pot clean and began to cook.
The day passed slowly, but night eventually arrived. It was time for the green-eyed zombie to go to work, and it climbed out of the deep sea.
Having spent its first night on the seabed, it wasn't quite used to the environment. In particular, since it couldn't swim, sinking was easy, but climbing back up took considerable effort.
When it finally reached the shore, it was draped in green seaweed and vines. As it slowly emerged from the water, it looked exactly like a water ghoul crawling out of the ocean.
It gave Qiao’er a fright when it entered the hut, but once she saw it clearly, she doubled over with laughter. The zombie looked utterly innocent as it struggled to pull the green aquatic plants off its body.
Qiao’er helped it out of its clothes and used a bath sponge made of dried loofah to scrub it down. She used quite a bit of force, but since it couldn't feel pain, it didn't mind.
The seaweed was soon scrubbed away, and Qiao’er changed it into clean clothes. It then busied itself getting ready for work at the pier. Before leaving, it gave Qiao’er a seashell. Its pearly luster and delicate shape delighted her. Seeing her happy, the zombie felt immensely satisfied; it patted her head and prepared to head out.
In the previous days, it had always taken Qiao’er to work, but now, perhaps believing she had adapted to the environment, it no longer brought her along. Qiao’er didn't cling to it either; she simply wrote on its chest, instructing it: *Don't forget to bring back a jar of soy sauce.*
She had forgotten to buy seasonings that afternoon.
...
The green-eyed zombie didn't quite understand what soy sauce was. Only after Qiao’er spent a long time gesturing and miming did it vaguely grasp that it was a type of liquid mixed into food when eating.
It found the idea rather nonsensical. After all, a zombie never added soy sauce when breathing in the essence of the moon or drinking blood. Nevertheless, it decided to commit the task to memory. Its "toy" needed to eat, and whether the zombie itself ate it or not was irrelevant.
The pier at night was as busy as ever. There were merchants whose ships had been delayed, as well as outlaws with illicit cargo that could only be loaded or unloaded under the cover of darkness.
The green-eyed zombie continued to take on jobs amidst the cold glares of its coworkers. As usual, it planned to leave after loading only six ships. After all, there were still many things in Qiao’er’s hut that needed improvement, and it hadn't played with its toy all day.
As it finished its shift, it remembered the soy sauce Qiao’er had mentioned and began searching for the general store she had described. However, it was far too late. It wandered the streets for a long time carrying the jar Qiao’er had given it, but not a single shop was open.
It realized the night was deep and the shops were all closed.
Having spent many days among humans, it had naturally learned a bit of flexibility. It decided then and there to find a soy sauce shop and... quietly help itself to some.
After searching for two more streets, just as it was about to slip into a shop that likely sold soy sauce, it encountered two Taoists at the end of the street who were brutally beating a zombie. It was a beating in the truest sense; the victim had no strength left to resist.
The green-eyed zombie, clutching its soy sauce jar, landed right in front of the two men and the one corpse. The two Taoists didn't stand on ceremony when they saw it. *Good heavens, it has an accomplice!*
The green-eyed zombie felt very misunderstood when a peach-wood sword sliced off a lock of its hair. It didn't know how to explain to these two defenders of the Way that... actually... it was just there to get some soy sauce...
The two Taoists attacked with increasing ferocity. Fortunately, the green-eyed zombie did not fear them; it simply used its claws to scratch at them until they were driven away. Only after they fled did it realize that the one being beaten was the red-eyed zombie previously kept by the old priest, Chong Ling.
The two zombies had never gotten along, so the red-eyed zombie was somewhat confused by the intervention. The green-eyed zombie had no desire to pay it any mind. It went straight into the adjacent general store, stealthily filled its jar with something it suspected was soy sauce, and left.
Ever since the Taoists from Cuiwei Mountain had destroyed Priest Chong Ling’s temple, the red-eyed zombie had become a masterless, wandering corpse. Fortunately, it had no desire to drink blood. For a zombie, there was a vast difference between absorbing spiritual energy and drinking blood.
A blood-drinking zombie’s power grows rapidly in the early stages, but as time passes, the resentment of the living beings it consumes accumulates. Eventually, they often fall into depravity and become demons, rarely reaching a high state of cultivation.
In contrast, a zombie that grows by absorbing spiritual energy takes much longer and its power increases slowly. However, because its foundation is stable, its later growth is much easier than that of a blood-drinker.
Any Taoist with a bit of cultivation can distinguish a zombie by its aura of resentment. Generally, spiritual-energy-absorbing zombies are not exorcised by defenders of the Way, and they are less likely to trigger Heavenly Tribulations in the later stages. Thus, most zombies actually want to live off spiritual energy at the start of their cultivation; it’s just that not every zombie can endure the endless, day-after-day loneliness. In the end, more and more of them take the shortcut.
The red-eyed zombie was still refraining from drinking blood, but its intelligence was low and its willpower was practically non-existent. It really wasn't a very motivated zombie. It spent its days idling about, huddling away to sleep during the day and wandering aimlessly at night.
Whenever it was cornered by Taoists, it would regret not working harder on its cultivation, lamenting that its power was too low to withstand strong enemies. But as soon as the pursuers were gone, it went right back to its old ways.
It was a classic case of forgetting the pain once the wound had healed.
This was the difference between an animal released from a zoo and one that fended for itself in the forest. Although the green-eyed zombie had also been "kept" for a time, its cultivation was already very high by then, and even its persistence had become a habit.
After wandering outside for many days, the red-eyed zombie felt that the world was far too dangerous. Seeing the green-eyed zombie now, it wanted to follow along to leech some safety.
The green-eyed zombie knew it was being followed and was clearly annoyed. But whenever it tried to drive the other away, the red-eyed one would run, only to start following again as soon as the green-eyed one moved on.
Unable to do anything about such shameless behavior, the green-eyed zombie had no choice but to let it be.
And so, the red-eyed zombie followed it all the way to the little wooden hut. Qiao’er only discovered it because of its glowing red eyes. Perhaps because it had saved her once before, she didn't feel as much repulsion toward it as she used to. She simply chose to ignore its presence.
The red-eyed zombie was very excited to see Qiao’er and kept trying to get close to her, only to be driven away by the green-eyed zombie every time.
The green-eyed zombie didn't rest upon returning to the hut. It immediately carried Qiao’er to the shore to catch some fish and shrimp for her food the next day. Then came the fresh water.
It traveled a hundred miles to the deep mountains and brought back a large vat of water. The red-eyed zombie kept loitering nearby; even after the green-eyed zombie bared its teeth and chased it off several times, it thick-skinnedly refused to leave.
The night passed in a standoff between the two zombies. Qiao’er leaned against the green-eyed zombie’s chest, writing about the interesting things that had happened during the day. It occasionally replied to her, but most of the time, it was busy roaring at the red-eyed zombie.
Qiao’er couldn't understand the zombie language, but it was likely some form of personal attack regarding "shamelessness"—assuming, of course, that zombies generally cared about their reputation.
As dawn approached, the red-eyed zombie couldn't hold out any longer; it needed to find a place to hide from the sun. The green-eyed zombie was clearly waiting for it to leave first, so it had no choice but to slink away.
The green-eyed zombie stayed with Qiao’er for a while longer. Once it was certain the sky was brightening and it wouldn't be able to come out again until nightfall, it set Qiao’er down and prepared to return to the seabed to continue its cultivation.
Qiao’er watched from the beach as it walked into the deep sea. The green-eyed zombie gradually submerged into the azure water. She piled a large stone at the spot where it entered the sea, as if that could keep it closer to her. On second thought, it was a bit like the old parable of the man who marked the side of his boat to find a sword he’d dropped in the river.
But as she prepared to return to the hut, she nearly died of laughter. She had stepped right on the red-eyed zombie, which was buried in the sand.
As it turned out, this zombie was truly lazy. It couldn't even be bothered to find a cave; it had simply used what was available and tried to bury itself in the sand to hide from the coming daylight.
Perhaps because she had been with the green-eyed zombie for so long, her fear of its kind had diminished. Qiao’er covered her mouth and mischievously dug it out of the sand.
It panicked, frantically trying to bury itself again. Qiao’er pointed toward the ocean, signaling that it could go into the sea just like the green-eyed zombie.
It hesitated for a moment, but seeing the east beginning to turn white, it finally turned and leaped into the sea.
It was instantly swallowed by the waves. Qiao’er returned to the hut. Without the green-eyed zombie, life during the day was a bit dull. She caught up on some sleep, then took out her needles and thread, planning to make a set of clothes for the green-eyed zombie.
The red-eyed zombie finally entered the seabed—that sacred land of cultivation where spiritual energy never dissipated. Regrettably, as soon as this lazy and playful zombie entered the depths, it was captivated by the beautiful flora and fauna. It didn't have the slightest intention of cultivating.
It was like a child who refuses to pay attention in class; even if you strap him to his seat and hire a master teacher for one-on-one tutoring, you still can't stop him from playing on his phone.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 酱油 | Soy sauce | Used literally and as a pun on the slang "just passing by." |
| 打酱油 | To get soy sauce / Just passing by | A pun on the literal act and the modern slang for being a bystander. |
| 陶罐 | Ceramic jar | |
| 水瓮 | Water vat / Water urn | |
| 打火石 | Flint | |
| 火折子 | Fire-striker / Fire-lighter | A traditional Chinese tool for starting fires. |
| 丝瓜 | Loofah | Specifically the dried interior used as a sponge. |
| 桃木剑 | Peach-wood sword | A traditional Taoist tool for exorcising spirits/zombies. |
| 冲灵老道 | Priest Chong Ling | An old Taoist priest mentioned in previous context. |
| 翠微山 | Cuiwei Mountain | A location or sect of Taoists. |
| 天雷之劫 | Heavenly Tribulation | A trial by lightning that cultivators/beings face. |
| 刻舟求剑 | Marking the boat to find the sword | A Chinese idiom (chengyu) about foolishly sticking to old ways in a changing situation. |
