Qiao’er took advantage of the chaos to climb out. While the red-eyed zombie pinned Xiao Si down, she scrambled up the opposite side of the pit. Snow had already begun to accumulate in the forest, soaking her dress and leaving her in a wretched state as she fled back to the cave.
The green-eyed zombie had not yet returned. Fearing pursuit from Priest Chong Ling or the Taoist named Xiao Si, she hurriedly gathered her clothes, intending to flee. However, the snowy mountain paths were slick and treacherous. She struggled through the drifts, making little progress; Priest Chong Ling did not catch up to her, but she was intercepted by the green-eyed zombie instead.
He bared his fangs and roared at her, looking absolutely livid. Seeing him, however, only made Qiao’er feel more aggrieved. Ignoring his anger, she threw her arms around his neck, her tears falling in a steady stream.
He started by roaring at her, but eventually, he grew confused. He wrote in her palm to ask what was wrong. Qiao’er couldn’t give a full explanation; sobbing, she simply wrote the word "Taoist." He didn't quite understand, but he stopped trying to scare her. Retracting his fangs, he hoisted her onto his shoulders as usual and carried her back to the cave.
She had been truly shaken. On previous nights like this, she would have preferred to hide in the coffin and sleep rather than go out. That night, however, she stayed glued to his side. He assumed the red-eyed zombie had frightened her again, so he mimicked the motion of throwing an egg, signaling for her to pelt the other creature.
Qiao’er said nothing more, following him like a shadow.
As for the young Taoist Xiao Si, his situation was rather more miserable. The red-eyed zombie had buried him in the pit with only his head exposed. On such a snowy, windy night, his cries for help couldn't possibly reach the temple. Had Priest Chong Ling not come looking for him, fearing something had gone wrong when he failed to return, the boy likely would have frozen to death in that hole.
The red-eyed zombie was like a whimsical, mindless beast; having finished burying the Taoist, it had circled its "masterpiece" with great interest for a while, but soon grew bored and wandered off.
With only his head above ground, Xiao Si was unable to struggle. Terrified of mountain predators or ghosts, he was nearly scared out of his wits.
By the time Priest Chong Ling dug him out and brought him back to the temple, the old man’s beard was practically quivering with rage.
For a time after that, Qiao’er was unhappy, living in constant fear and refusing to leave the green-eyed zombie’s side. Because of this, the green-eyed zombie fought several bouts with the red-eyed one. He beat the other creature so thoroughly that the red-eyed zombie began to avoid Qiao’er from a distance, never daring to scare her again.
One night, the green-eyed zombie carried Qiao’er out as usual. It happened to be the middle of the night during a heavy downpour. Knowing his "toy" was fragile and couldn't handle the rain, he sought shelter in a nearby mortuary.
The mortuary looked ancient, dilapidated from the inside out. Qiao’er felt only a sense of eerie dread, unable to discern anything specific. The zombie held her tightly. The eaves and mud walls emitted a decaying stench, much like a corpse left out too long. The rain grew heavier, punctuated by flashes of lightning. Even wrapped in three padded jackets, Qiao’er felt the chill.
The eaves couldn't keep out a storm like this, so he was forced to carry Qiao’er inside the mortuary. Dozens of coffins were lined up in the hall. It was Qiao’er’s first time in such a place, but she knew these were travelers who had died far from home, waiting for a corpse-driver to return them to their ancestral lands.
Only then did she feel afraid, but on second thought, she realized there was no need—wasn't the being right beside her a zombie himself?
As the two of them sheltered in the hall, a sudden crack of thunder shook the entire building, accompanied by a brilliant flash of light.
The green-eyed zombie held Qiao’er firmly, remaining silent and still. Suddenly, a faint light flickered from the adjacent room. Someone approached with a wind lantern, and a voice could be heard: "Master, I’ll go. You should get some sleep."
The green-eyed zombie stared intently at the approaching light. Qiao’er panicked. Another flash of lightning revealed several walking corpses standing upright against the walls, each with a yellow talisman pasted on its forehead. These were the charges of a corpse-driver resting here mid-journey. They likely had stopped early because of the rain.
Seeing the person approaching, the zombie suddenly stood bolt upright in a corner, shielding Qiao’er behind his back. He stood perfectly straight, imitating the other walking corpses.
His frame was tall and broad, easily concealing Qiao’er. Just as her heart began to settle, he looked left and right and realized something was wrong—he had no talisman on his forehead.
The person was getting closer; the sound of the door opening was audible. In that split second, he reached out, snatched the talisman from the forehead of a nearby corpse, slapped it onto his own brow with a *thwack*, and instantly resumed a solemn, rigid posture.
The paper was a corpse-suppressing talisman meant to prevent reanimation; naturally, it had no effect on a creature as powerful as him. Qiao’er was speechless.
In truth, if anyone looked closely, it would be hard to hide. He was dressed in rags, while the other corpses had been properly prepared in burial shrouds. Where would a corpse in "beggar’s clothes" come from?
Fortunately, the young Taoist only glanced through the doorway from a distance. Seeing nothing unusual, he closed the door and went back to sleep.
On a stormy night, corpse-drivers were extremely vigilant. If a corpse transformed and couldn't be delivered safely, the compensation demanded by the family would be exorbitant.
The green-eyed zombie seemed very wary of the Taoists in the next room, holding Qiao’er with extreme care to avoid making any noise.
The rain lashed down wildly, and the atmosphere was suffocatingly eerie. Qiao’er was terrified and pressed herself close to him. He wrote reassuringly in her palm, telling her they would leave as soon as the rain stopped.
By the latter half of the night, the rain finally tapered off. He carried Qiao’er out of the mortuary and back into the mountains. Qiao’er had no idea how much risk he had taken just to keep her dry. As they left, a low voice whispered in the adjacent room.
"Master, why didn't you capture it?"
"Because zombies don't seek shelter from the rain," a voice answered calmly in the darkness, clear and showing no signs of sleepiness.
In the days that followed, Qiao’er clung to the green-eyed zombie so tightly that Priest Chong Ling found no opportunity to strike.
When the snow in the mountains grew a foot deep, trouble finally found Priest Chong Ling.
As the saying goes, if you walk the night long enough, you’re bound to meet a ghost. Word had finally spread that the Taoist temple was raising zombies to cause trouble.
Usually, when such things happened, the people of Cuiwei Mountain would intervene. This time, the one who came was Fan Shaojing, the head disciple of Cuiwei Mountain.
It was past midnight when they returned to the mountain cave. Qiao’er went to the bowl by the coffin to drink some water. The green-eyed zombie stood beside her, watching for a long time. She ate some porridge as well; it was cold, and had the cave not been naturally insulated, it likely would have frozen. But Qiao’er couldn't worry about that. She couldn't start a fire, and if she didn't eat enough, she would only feel colder.
Only then did the green-eyed zombie seem to relax his guard, climbing into the coffin to sit. Once Qiao’er finished her porridge and climbed in, he pulled her down to lie with him. He reached out to touch her lips, his emerald eyes shimmering with a thoughtful, calculating light.
Qiao’er didn't know why, but perhaps supernatural creatures had sharper instincts than humans; they always sensed when danger was drawing near.
Lately, he had begun forbidding Qiao’er from eating the food Priest Chong Ling brought up. At first, Qiao’er was confused. After a few arguments, she even began to suspect the food was poisoned. Recalling the young Taoist’s attempt to bury her alive, she realized it was highly probable and stopped touching the water and meals provided by the priest.
The green-eyed zombie began going out even more frequently at night. Having observed human eating habits somewhere, the food he brought back became increasingly varied. Once, he even stole a whole steamer tray of fresh meat buns.
After a few days of this, fearing Priest Chong Ling would become suspicious, Qiao’er would dump the temple’s food outside the cave. This attracted birds to scavenge. The birds were clever; finding food there, they came every day, and none of them seemed to suffer any ill effects from the food.
It took a long time for her to realize—was he trying to raise her entirely on his own?
***
Properly "raising" a human was no simple task. Fortunately, the green-eyed zombie knew that many creatures like her lived in the village at the foot of the mountain. After causing his usual mischief, he would hide in the shadows to observe the humans' daily habits.
He learned that the humans in the village didn't live in natural caves. they built protruding "caves" on flat ground. After building them, they didn't sleep on the floor; they used wood to make coffins—which they called "beds." After making a bed, they laid down many cushions, a habit Qiao’er shared, as she had lined his coffin with many layers.
Their sustenance wasn't moonlight, but rather various plants and animals, and many items required heating with something they called "fire." This was very different from zombie habits—zombies detested fire.
Even more troublesome was that they categorized everything they needed. When they wanted something, they had to exchange it, usually for a specific item they called "money." Taking someone else's things without permission resulted in a beating.
Once he understood this, he stopped stealing items randomly. He discovered that when humans had a lot of money, they kept it in a place called a "money house." He began stealing money directly, then went to "exchange" it for Qiao’er’s food with an air of great solemnity.
His cultivation was high enough that he no longer feared lamplight, though he still dreaded the sun. Thus, he would wait until night to go to the streets and trade for buns, mantou, or wontons. He couldn't speak, but he knew how to point. The vendors would usually give him some change, but he never counted it—nor did he know how.
After several days of observation, he discovered many other interesting things. For instance, most humans lived as a pair, one male and one female. He noticed that many males would sleep on top of the woman they lived with before they went to sleep. He also saw that while the blacksmith at the edge of the village lived with a woman, on many nights he would go to the west side of the village to sleep on top of a woman who lived with another man.
When he returned to the cave that night, he purposefully tried sleeping on top of Qiao’er. Aside from it being warm and soft, he found no other benefit. He privately concluded that human beds must not be warm or soft enough; otherwise, why would they always want to sleep on top of women?
Finally, he noticed that some women’s bellies would slowly swell up. Upon returning, he carefully felt Qiao’er’s stomach. Finding that it hadn't grown larger, he finally felt at ease.
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