“Ah… ah…” I tried making a couple of sounds. Although it didn’t sound exactly like my own voice, you could still tell it was human.

I looked up at the zombie and said, “My name is Li Po, and I am the Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren's successor!”

The killing intent on the zombie suddenly erupted. I was caught off guard and blasted back a meter by the aura that flared up from her. Before I could even get up, the zombie was already in front of me, grabbing my neck and lifting me into the air. “You don’t call him Shifu?”

I struggled to speak. “Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren said that’s just a title and has no meaning. He only told me to call him Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren.”

After a moment of silence, the zombie asked, “How do you make zombie meat? How many times have you eaten it?”

“Zombie meat is…” After I recited the recipe for zombie meat, I answered, “Including this time at the Wang family, I’ve only eaten it twice. Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren told me that remembering the taste is enough. Someday in the future…”

“I’m sorry!” The zombie slowly released her grip and gently placed me on the ground. “He’s still the same. He seems cold, but actually, he keeps the good that others do for him, and the good he does for others, all in his heart.”

The zombie said sadly, “A Heng… Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren, is he doing well?”

“He might be gone!” I didn’t want to lie to her, and I didn’t want to give her a lie that couldn’t be taken back.

The zombie’s aura erupted again. “A Heng, what happened?”

I told her about learning my skills on the mountain and how Shifu and the Nine Ghosts sent me down the mountain to ward off disaster. “I haven’t seen Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren since then.”

The zombie smiled bitterly. “He probably left and hid again. A Heng didn’t want to say goodbye, so he didn’t return to the mountain. Otherwise, you should be able to sense whether he’s alive or dead.”

“A Heng might leave without saying goodbye, but he wouldn’t fail to tell you whether he’s alive or dead.”

I hesitated and said, “Senior, I think… shouldn’t we solve the Wang family’s problem first?”

I wouldn’t mind hearing about Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren’s past, but now wasn’t the time for idle chat. Wang the Butcher’s soul hadn’t been found, the Wang family’s crisis hadn’t been resolved, and I couldn’t just sit here and chat with her, right?

The zombie waved her hand. “You don’t need to worry. Du Du is opening the secret burial mechanism. Once the mechanism is activated, the Wang family will be as solid as a rock. We have plenty of time to talk.”

“Alright!” Since the zombie didn’t want to move, I could only keep her company.

The zombie didn’t seem to be talking to me, but rather reminiscing about her past with Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren. “Do you believe that a person can fall in love with a zombie?”

I said absentmindedly, “That… I guess it’s possible!”

The zombie said, “A Heng and I were an example of a person falling in love with a zombie. I wanted to follow A Heng to the ends of the earth at all costs, even to find an ancient tomb to live in seclusion. But he retreated.”

“I really can’t understand it. The infamous Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren would actually retreat?”

“He gave me a bunch of reasons, but I couldn’t listen to a single one. I was determined to go with him, even when he pointed to his heart and said that there was no human heart there, only a rotten corpse heart. I still clung to him and refused to leave him no matter what.”

“I didn’t expect that the dignified Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren would actually lie to me.”

“A man of his word, who never broke a promise, could lie without even blinking an eye.”

The zombie’s smile carried a hint of bitterness. “Actually, at that time, I also suspected that he was lying to me. I asked him, what if you’re lying to me?”

“He said: Aren’t you good at cooking? I’ll teach you how to make zombies. If I lie to you, you can turn me into a dish to go with your wine.”

“I said to him: If you don’t come back when the time comes, turn into a little dog to pick me up. A Heng agreed.”

“When A Heng was teaching me how to make zombies, I saw him shedding tears. The tears fell on the cut-open zombie heart. So, the taste of that zombie heart was bitter.”

“I couldn’t make zombie heart well before. By the time I could make zombie heart well, A Heng wouldn’t come anymore.”

The zombie’s tears finally fell. “Li Po, tell me, can I ever see A Heng again?”

How should I answer?

I had suspected long ago that there must be some compelling reason why the Nine Ghosts followed my Shifu, especially Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren.

Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren could occupy a zombie and be reborn, but he would rather be a ghost than look for a body. There must be a secret he didn’t want anyone to know.

Not even his successor was allowed to know!

Was I going to extinguish her last hope with my own hands?

She had refined herself into a zombie for Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren's sake.

She knew that a human and a zombie could not stay together forever, so she refined herself into a zombie.

Zombies have no souls and no memories. In order not to forget Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren, she had taken action while she was still alive. It was hard to imagine the excruciating pain of a living person enduring the pain of becoming a zombie.

Just as I didn’t know how to answer, the sound of a mechanism turning came from behind me – the well opening had been opened.

The zombie said calmly, “You don’t need to answer me. Go find your friends!”

“Although the Wang family’s talents are dwindling, they won’t let anyone bully them. Go find your friends, do your things. I’ll take care of the Wang family.”