【 Please remember our domain name: 𝗍 𝗐 𝗄 𝖺 𝗇 . 𝖼 𝗈 𝗆 】
This is the thirty-eighth day.
Dead, all dead.
Even through several doors, Chen Zheng could smell that stench.
His eyes stared out the window, filled with longing for the sunlight. It was something he once took for granted, a treasure he never appreciated.
But now, he couldn't approach the sun, couldn't get close to that warmth. For him now, it wasn't light, it was poison, a poison that could kill him.
Chen Zheng huddled in the corner, avoiding the patches of light that spilled in. The memory of the laser-like burning pain was deeply imprinted in his mind.
“……” He hugged his legs, curling into a ball. His eyes were somewhat dull, and the expression on his face was slightly stiff. His cheekbones protruded, and his skin was a sickly pale.
“Why? Why is this happening?” Chen Zheng lowered his head blankly. He didn't know what terrible mistake he had made to become like this, neither human nor ghost. He originally had a bright future, but it was all ruined in one night.
Chen Zheng's lips curled into a smile, his skin as stiff as rubber, showing slight cracks.
“Serves me right, serves me right, serves me right!” He repeated this sentence, but no one knew who he was saying deserved it.
“Ka—”
The door of the room was pushed open, and along with the cool summer breeze came a nauseating stench of corpses.
He could hear the chaotic noises in the corridor, many people talking.
“Dad, I'm back…” The voice was very soft and light. In the dim room, her figure was reflected, a small, thin girl.
She wasn't tall, but her eyes were bright and moving. Her cheeks were visibly thin, her cheekbones protruding like Chen Zheng's.
Her dry hair was braided, and she slowly walked towards Chen Zheng. She handed the bamboo basket on her wrist to his side and said in a gentle and cheerful voice.
“Dad, there's meat today, just right for nourishing your body.”
“I won't eat it, I won't eat it!” Chen Zheng buried his head in his knees, his voice as sharp as torn cloth. He pushed the bamboo basket away with force. Even though he was thin and weak at the moment, an adult male's strength was not something a little girl could withstand.
The girl fell to the ground, silently rubbing her bottom.
“I'm sorry…” Chen Zheng realized his recklessness, and he apologized to the little girl in a soft voice.
The little girl said with joy in her voice.
“Is that so…” Chen Zheng glanced at her with his dull eyes, then lowered his head. The room fell silent.
He looked at his hands, dry, wrinkled, like pickled chicken feet, without any fleshiness.
What was the point of living now?
Staying in this dark place, never being able to see the light. Constantly worrying about being discovered and then captured for execution. He couldn't eat, and he could only maintain his body with water. Living like this was no different from dying. Although there was a desire to suck blood, it had been suppressed by him.
Moreover, he couldn't die.
A bitter smile appeared on his zombie-like face. If he could, he wouldn't want to face the little girl in front of him with his worst temper.
His spirit had been stretched to the extreme, and emotions were something he couldn't control himself.
“Dad, do you know? Uncle Wang next door's family was murdered,” the little girl said. “Only a few-year-old child is left, and he was taken to an orphanage.”
She said the word 'orphanage,' her voice trembling slightly. She seemed to feel fear in her heart for places like orphanages.
“Is that so, I know.” Chen Zheng replied silently.
The couple was very honest. The man had dark skin, and you could tell he was from the countryside. When they first moved in, they enthusiastically came to visit and brought some vegetables and fruits they grew themselves.
Usually, their voices were gentle and kind, and even Chen Zheng found it hard to imagine that they would offend anyone.
But he had already reminded them, even telling the couple three days in advance to pay attention to safety recently.
It was a pity that they didn't seem to heed his advice. Perhaps they thought he was joking. After all, a person who stayed indoors all day and was mysterious was unlikely to have anyone listen to what he said.
“Will he die if he goes to an orphanage at such a young age?” the little girl murmured.
“……” Chen Zheng didn't speak. He had nothing to say. He knew very little about the outside world after so many days.
His condition made it difficult for him to come into contact with outside information, and his current emaciated appearance made him afraid to step out of his house easily.
Humans are creatures who fear the existence of heterogeneities. The first time Chen Zheng saw himself in the mirror, he was also terrified. If you were to describe how thin he was, it would be that only the skin was left clinging to the bones.
“Dad, I don't want to go to an orphanage…” The little girl's voice was pleading. “Don't let me go, okay? I will work hard to earn money to support you.”
As she spoke, she reached out and hugged Chen Zheng's neck, burying her face on his shoulder.
“Dad, can you not leave Xiaomei again?”
“……” Chen Zheng opened his mouth, feeling like something was blocking his throat, and he couldn't say anything.
Just then, there was a knock on the door outside. Chen Zheng looked at the little girl and tightened the clothes he was wearing.
The little girl quickly got up to open the door, and the dim room welcomed the light again.
“Chen Zheng, open the door. It's me, Third Uncle. I heard you haven't been out for more than a month. Third Uncle is here to see you.” The voice was loud and clear, sounding like a person full of energy.
Chen Zheng glanced out of the corner of his eye, and the other person's tall figure was like a bear, making people feel awe.
The little girl seemed to be intimidated by him, and her voice stuttered.
“Th-Third Uncle. Why are you here?”
“Are you alone?”
“My dad is also home, but he's sick.”
“Tell him to come out, I have something to ask him. Don't be afraid, I'm just here to see your dad.” A middle-aged man with a gentle temperament next to the strong man said with a smile, his tone a little softer.
“Okay…” The little girl hesitated for a moment, then turned her head and called to Chen Zheng in the corner. “Dad, Third Uncle is here.”
Chen Zheng supported himself on the ground to stand up, his whole body swaying as if only a skeleton was left as he walked towards the door.
“What's the matter?” A dry voice sounded, and Chen Zheng asked in a muffled voice with his head lowered. His gaze turned to the young man next to the middle-aged man at the door. In that instant, his originally dull pupils suddenly contracted.
What's going on? This young man, this young man wearing a Taoist robe. Why do I feel a nameless fear when I see him? Who is he? And where did Third Uncle find him?
“You are Chen Zheng? It seems that you have been poisoned by corpse energy quite severely. This humble Taoist is Jiang Wen, greetings.” The young man smiled at him happily.
