Lover's Tears: The End of Time | Chapter 2 | The Apple-Stealing Zombie | Novela.app

A few days passed in this manner. On the mountain opposite theirs, another Daoist temple was established. Priest Chongling was well-versed in the ways of the world. That afternoon, he came to Qiao’er’s side and affixed a yellow talisman inscribed with cinnabar characters onto the zombie. When the zombie rose that evening, Qiao’er didn’t know if it truly understood the strange script on the paper, but it stood still for a moment before preparing to head out. Before leaving, as if worried about its "toy," it circled the coffin twice. Ultimately, it snatched Qiao’er up, tucked her back into the coffin, and shut the lid tight before hurrying away. After several days together, Qiao’er had roughly figured out its temperament—as long as she didn’t try to escape, it didn’t often try to scare her. But how could she not run? She couldn't spend her entire life with a zombie. Thus, she continued to push desperately against the coffin lid. However, once the lid was properly aligned, it was incredibly difficult to move. After struggling for a long while, she could only stop to catch her breath. The zombie stayed out for quite some time on this trip, not returning until the end of the Hour of the Ox. When it opened the coffin, it had actually brought two apples. It insisted on thrusting them toward Qiao’er. It took her a long moment to realize it was trying to feed her. "Where... where did you get these?" She took the apples cautiously, seeking confirmation once more. "Are they for me?" Seeing her accept them, the zombie appeared quite pleased. It had gone to the rival temple on the opposite mountain to cause trouble, and on its way back, it had spotted some children stealing apples. Thinking that they looked similar to her, it figured she should eat them too. So, it had hopped out to scare the children away and stolen two for itself. ... When it went out again to inhale the lunar essence, Qiao’er climbed out of the coffin, washed the apples with spring water, and began to munch on them. The next day, the villages at the foot of the mountain were in an uproar. It was said that a zombie had broken into the newly opened Daoist temple, smashing the place to bits and even breaking the temple head’s back. The villagers were furious—how dare you open a temple when you can’t even handle a zombie riding over your head! In their indignation, they chased the three Daoists out of the temple. Priest Chongling took a few disciples over and performed a grand ritual with great flourish. He gave the villagers a highly embellished account of the "monsters" he had supposedly captured. The ignorant masses were utterly awestruck. Chongling’s prestige in the area rose by several notches. When Chongling returned the following day, he checked on the zombie in the coffin as usual and replaced Qiao’er’s water and food. Qiao’er spoke up hesitantly. "Could you... could you give it two sets of clothes?" Before Chongling could speak, the young Daoist named Xiao Si chuckled. "Oh? What’s this? Have you actually developed feelings for a zombie after sleeping together?" Qiao’er was still being pinned down by the zombie, and her face turned bright red. Its clothes were torn into mere rags; having their skin touch like this was deeply embarrassing for her. Chongling didn't say much. He simply ordered Xiao Si to fetch two sets of clothes and leave them there. "I can give you the clothes. As for how you get him to wear them, that depends on your own skill." After the two left, Qiao’er felt she understood the zombie's nature a bit better. It wouldn't move during the day. The more she struggled to get up, the less likely it was to let go. "You... how about I help you put these on?" she whispered into its ear. It squinted its eyes, lying motionless atop her. Qiao’er gently mimicked the motions of dressing. "Wear... do you understand?" She tugged at her own clothes to demonstrate. The zombie saw her clothes and, out of curiosity, reached out to pull at them. Then, it discovered that beneath that layer of fabric, there was actually another layer of skin! It reached out to pull further, and Qiao’er panicked. "Don't... don't move!" Its claws had retracted. Its hand fumbled with the toggles on the front of her chest for a while before sliding under the hem of her garment, discovering that the skin beneath the clothes was remarkably soft. The sensation of hand against skin was naturally much better than touching fabric. It began to feel around with great curiosity. Qiao’er was both anxious and flustered, yet she didn't dare move too violently—it could easily tear her clothes. With its eyes squinted, it lazily stroked her flat belly and then curiously moved upward. Qiao’er caught its hand, her eyes turning red with shame as tears welled up. "Let go! You shameless... lecher!" Fortunately, its energy was low during the day. After playing for a short while, it closed its eyes and fell back asleep. From then on, Qiao’er never dared to mention the matter of clothes again. That evening, a thunderstorm broke out. The zombie sat in the coffin, trying its best not to move. Lightning illuminated the cave entrance, followed by the rumbling of thunder. It held Qiao’er in a death grip. Being circled so tightly made her uncomfortable, and she struggled with all her might. It lowered its head to her ear. Its lips didn't move, yet she could hear a low, murmuring whisper, as if it were actually saying something. Qiao’er naturally couldn't understand it, but the voice held no anger, so she gradually quieted down and let it hold her. The rain grew heavier until the world was filled with nothing but the sound of the downpour. The cave entrance was on high ground, so the water didn't flood inside. Outside, the curtain of rain was thick; lightning acted like an axe, splitting the viscous night before it was instantly swallowed by darkness again. It held Qiao’er tightly, motionless. In the neighboring cave, a zombie was startled by the thunder. It leaped out of its cave and ran frantically through the mountains. Qiao’er saw that stiff silhouette darting past the cave entrance with incredible speed. Her heart went cold, and she huddled close to her zombie, not daring to make another sound. One final crack of thunder shook the very earth. Priest Chongling hurried over, coming first to Qiao’er’s cave to check. Seeing that the green-eyed zombie was fine, he breathed a sigh of relief. But when he went to check on the two neighboring zombies, he immediately began to wail in dismay. Those two zombies had been blasted apart by lightning. They now looked like nothing more than chunks of charred coal. By the latter half of the night, the thunder ceased and the rain stopped. Summer weather was inherently fickle; in the blink of an eye, a bright moon hung in the sky. While the zombie absorbed the moonlight at the cave entrance, Qiao’er climbed out of the coffin and led it to the spring to wash her clothes. When she finished, she felt that its body was also quite dirty, so she used her wet clothes to wipe it down. Water naturally gathered yin energy, so the zombie didn't reject it, allowing her to wipe it clean. Qiao’er wiped it down carefully, but she felt a bit embarrassed when she reached its legs. This was the corpse of an adult man; though his entire body was stiff, he wasn't missing any of the organs he was supposed to have. Her face flushed as she gave his legs a cursory wipe. Afterward, she loosened her own clothes slightly to wash herself in the spring water. It turned its head and saw that jade-white body in the spring. Immediately, it leaned over and began to feel around. Qiao’er swatted at its hands, but it didn't get angry, continuing to press here and there on her back. Unable to bear the pestering, Qiao’er hurriedly dried herself and pulled her clothes on. Just as she was dressing, it suddenly turned its head and let out a roar toward the depths of the forest. That sound was entirely different from the way it usually roared at Qiao’er; it was filled with murderous intent. Qiao’er was frightened and tried to move away from it. It quickly stepped forward a few paces. Only then did Qiao’er see another zombie emerge from the woods. It was also barely clothed, but its pupils were red, glowing with a cold, eerie light amidst the sparse shadows of the mountain. Qiao’er hid in the shadows of the trees by the spring. The two zombies confronted each other in the forest, growling low like beasts fighting over territory. She could only distinguish which one was "hers" by the color of the pupils. Though the moonlight was bright, their strikes were incredibly fast; she couldn't tell who had the upper hand. In the midst of her terror, Priest Chongling also heard the commotion and hurried over with three disciples. "Set the formation! Pull them apart first!" He remained calm. The three Daoists stretched ink-soaked threads between the fighting zombies, hoping to separate them. But by then, the green-eyed zombie clearly had the advantage. Its stiff left arm sliced down, and the red-eyed zombie’s right arm was severed at the elbow. The sound was faint, like cutting through rotten wood. Before the ink threads could entwine it, the red-eyed zombie let out a low howl and fled in a hurry. The green-eyed zombie quickly rushed back to the spring, tucked Qiao’er under its arm, and ran back to the cave. Chongling couldn't worry about them. He picked up the severed arm from the ground and hurried off to check on the red-eyed zombie. That zombie’s cultivation wasn't low; it would be a pity if it were truly ruined. Qiao’er was a bit afraid of her zombie. Its fangs were bared and savage, and the aura of violence hadn't yet dissipated. When it pressed her down to lie together, her entire body trembled. It seemed to sense this. It reached out to touch her face, but Qiao’er squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away. After a long moment, it seemed to think of something. It got up on its own, closed the coffin, and left the cave. In the latter half of the night, just as Qiao’er was about to fall asleep, it finally returned—carrying six apples! The sky wasn't yet bright, and its spirits were high. It sat in the coffin, and Qiao’er allowed it to circle her tightly while she silently munched on an apple. The next day, a farmer went to the Daoist temple to plead tearfully, "Priest Chongling, you must help us! Last night, a zombie came to the apple tree in our yard to steal apples. My wife was so scared when she got up to use the latrine that she wet herself..." Priest Chongling was speechless. At noon, Priest Chongling found six apple cores in the green-eyed zombie’s cave, neatly lined up, not a single one missing. ***