227 Vixen Above, Mensao Below (41)
Eighty kilometers away from the city was the Wuyuan County, a collection of rural villages that was noted for their old architecture.
Ye Minzhe's mother loved pottery and ceramics, so the Ye estate was located in Jingdezhen City, the porcelain capital of the country.
To dotingly indulge his wife, Papa Ye built the main mansion in Jingdezhen, previously known as Xinping and Changnan in the old times.
Jingdezhen and Wuyuan were located in the same Jiangxi province.
Considered one of China's most scenic spots, Wuyuan was also known for its azaleas and several fields of vibrantly green tea plants.
Most people there feed themselves by working in rice paddies, and using cormorants to fish for their next meal. A Wuyuan villager's life was both predictable and simple.
However, on that day, something strange began to happen.
An old farmer paused his work and lifted his head to look up at the sky. He frowned.
The sky was growing dark with birds, many of them small black dots against the glow of the rising sun. Flocks of them were rapidly flying away, their caws breaking the peaceful silence over the whole village.
"Eh? What's causing them to migrate so early?"
The old farmer noticed that his pet dog was also behaving strangely, barking at somewhere in the distance.
"Nao Nao, what is it?" The old farmer patted its head. "Are you hungry? We'll be going home soon, just wait for a little bit more."
The Labrador shook its head and ran in front of its master, the bark in its throat transforming into a low and threatening growl.
The old farmer gripped his sickle. He knew his own dog. When Nao Nao begins to growl, it was because he sensed something dangerous far ahead.
Underneath his boots, the ground began to shake and tremble. The vibrations grew stronger until it became a rumbling sound. The old farmer looked up, and saw a horde of people bearing down on him.
He had never seen such a sight before, hundreds of people, all of them seemingly small from far away, raising clouds of dust as they charged towards his direction. They were fast, their bodies moving strangely as if their bones were disjointed.
His dog was still growling at them. His hackles were visibly raised and his ears were back. His shoulders were tensed, ready to spring or run.
The old farmer frowned. "So many people? Where did they come from?"
As they steadily approached, the old farmer realized that the leading figure in front was somebody he knew. It was their Party Secretary.
His usually neat hair was a mess, and blood crusted on his forehead. His clothes hung on his body like torn bandages, flapping in the air as he ran. His mouth was open as if he was screaming, showing teeth coated with dried blood. His eyes were filmy gray, like that of a dead fish.
"Party Secretary Wang?"
The old farmer's dog growled again, and he suddenly ran towards the Party Secretary, pouncing on him.
"Nao Nao!" The old farmer shouted. "Don't bite..."
But the old farmer couldn't finish his words. Because Party Secretary Wang, as if his whole body was filled with immense strength, easily kicked the dog away. Then he growled and tackled the old farmer to the ground, biting deep into his jugular.
Blood sprayed in the air.
...
"Ahh!"
"Help me, somebody help me!"
"My daughter? Did anybody see my daughter?"
In less than five hours, the whole Wuyuan County had turned upside down. Numerous people fled on the streets, being chased by zombies. A few people had hid inside their houses, hoping that their doors could withstand the forceful hammering of the zombies outside their house.
Shuu—-
The bullet whizzed in the air, burying deep into the middle of the zombie's forehead. Ye Minzhe silently raised his rifle to his shoulder again, taking aim. Because the gun was equipped with a silencer, it didn't betray his position.
The gangster lying on his stomach beside him sweated nervously. "Young master, let's go back to the boss' side. The two of us separating from the group like this, the boss would endlessly worry..."
Ye Minzhe closed one eye, carefully choosing another target. His finger closed against the trigger, his breathing regular and slow.
"Did I ask you to follow after me?" He asked. After taking down another couple of zombies, he spared the gangster a glance. "If you don't want to scram, then shut up."
The gangster knew that the young master was a spoiled young prince. Once he sets his mind on something, even six horses wouldn't be able to pull him back.
"I'll obey young master's orders." The gangster pulled out his own gun with new determination. "I'll make sure young master lives until he's eighty, with white hair and a dozen children."
"Only eighty?" Ye Minzhe frowned. "I'll live until I'm two-hundred, eighty years is too short. But a dozen children is good."
Living eighty years with Jia, Ye Minzhe still felt that it wasn't long enough. They should grow old until they were two hundred, if they can reach three hundred, that would be good.
The gangster became silent. Humans could only live for a hundred years at most, but young master wanted to live until he was two-hundred. He felt that the young master was truly an amazing person, even common sense didn't apply to him.
More zombies poured into the streets of the village, joined by the newly infected. Gunshots filled the air, and somewhere in the distance, Ye Minzhe could hear his father directing orders.
"Young master, what do we do? They're going to soon overwhelm us, there are too many of them!"
Ye Minzhe tossed away his gun and jumped down from the makeshift barrack that they were hiding in. It didn't take long for zombies to spot him, stumbling and running towards him. Another two zombies that were feeding wrenched their necks with a snap, glaring at Ye Minzhe.
"Young master!"
Ye Minzhe drew out a jian sword [1], which glinted under the sun. As expected, hacking off heads with a blade was still better than shooting a gun.
The blade neatly sliced through an attacking zombie's neck. Its head soared for a moment before smashing with a loud crunch against the brick wall of a house. Blood splattered, dyeing the bricks red.
The corners of Ye Minzhe's lips curled upwards. He wasn't aware of it, but for a brief moment, his eyes turned scarlet-red.
Even though the zombies wasn't supposed to feel fear, they suddenly paused in their attack. It was a primitive kind of instinct, something all preys had when confronting a predator. The eyes staring at them made them feel as if they were insignificantly small, dancing like puppets being controlled in his hand.
Ye Minzhe slowly approached, his blade dripping with blood.
Ye Minzhe lowered his eyelashes, which casted shadows across his face. He looked at the blood and carnage around him.
"Blood..."
He really didn't like the smell of blood.
As the scarlet color from Ye Minzhe's eyes faded, the zombies' courage returned. They attacked by batches, their eyes rabid with insatiable hunger.
Ye Minzhe wiped away the blood on his cheek with his left hand. He suddenly remembered that he forgot to pack Jia some vitamins too. What if she got sick from a weak immune system?
"I need to go back to Jia soon..."
The scarlet color in his eyes returned. Too late, the zombies were already in the middle of attacking him.
A brief gust of wind tousled the ganster's hair from where he hid behind the barrack,bringing down snowflakes that landed down on his pale cheeks. An ajar door from a nearby house slammed shut, the wind chime above it tinkling, going tink-a-ling-ling-ling.
The wind also brought with it a strong smell of decay and blood, as decapitated heads littered the streets. Everywhere the gangster looked, there were blood and corpses in heaps and piles, like a scene coming straight out of a nightmare.
He let out a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding.
The gangster didn't know much, but he was completely sure of one thing.
He was glad he wasn't a zombie.
[1] Jian - a Ch. double-edged sword that dates back to the time of the Shang Dynasty, over 4,000 years ago. It is known as the "gentleman of a hundred soldiers." It combines both elegance and lethal power.
