Only now did everyone realize that Lưu Viện had tossed her mouse aside. Their faces all changed. “Get out of here! If it finds all of us, we’re dead!”
“That’s right! Or go pick up your mouse!”
“Get out! Don’t drag us into this!”
Lưu Viện hadn’t expected everyone’s attitude to change so quickly.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed my sleeve and even dropped to her knees, sobbing. “Bạch Chu Chu, I was wrong to suspect you earlier. Please save me!”
I shrugged and sighed wearily. “There’s nothing I can do. I’ve used up all the animal carcasses in my bag.”
I couldn’t exactly cut off a piece of myself to save her. I wasn’t some self-sacrificing saint.
Lưu Viện broke into a sweat and clutched my hand even tighter, sobbing louder. “Please save me, Bạch Chu Chu! I really don’t want to die!”
Her scream made the jiangshi whip its head around, and it crawled even faster.
“Think of something, Miss Bạch!”
“Make her shut up! That thing’s getting closer!”
Grimacing, I clamped one hand over Lưu Viện’s mouth. With the other, I pulled out my knife, split open the dead mouse in my bag, and scooped out its rotting guts and organs, smearing them right across her face.
With my hand over her mouth, she stared wide-eyed and trembled with terror, not daring to move.
The director stared at the strange stuff on her face. Combined with the stench growing stronger in the air, it was too much for him, and he started gagging.
Lưu Viện trembled all over. The moment I let go, she turned and started retching violently. But as she spun around, her face ended up right next to the corpse’s in the coffin.
This time, she finally got a clear look: the corpse wore a vivid red outfit, its neck all white bones and decaying flesh, and its face covered in countless tiny insects. The insects were the same color as its flesh, clustered together to form a hazy face—part human, part monstrous.
7
Lưu Viện was so terrified she even forgot to scream, her body trembling uncontrollably. A stream of liquid ran down between her legs, adding another foul smell to the stifling air.
The corpse bent down and sniffed around on the ground, then slowly brought its face closer to the camera, so everyone could see it clearly:
[Seriously? The special effects look this real?!]
[Has nobody called the police? This could be life-threatening!]
[Who is Bạch Chu Chu, anyway? How could an ordinary actress know all this stuff?]
[I sent the location to the police! I hope the production crew is okay!]
The director clasped his hands and prayed without stopping, his face flushed red.
I yanked the necklace off my neck and hurled it against the opposite wall. It struck with a sharp crack, and the corpse immediately charged toward it.
Terrified, Lưu Viện ran toward me, grabbed my pant leg, and wailed, “You know so much! Hurry and figure out how to get us out of here!”
I shushed her and watched the necklace roll down from the corner of the wall, finally coming to a stop by the entrance we’d used to get in. That was when I realized something was wrong.
This tomb was slanted!
And judging by how fast the necklace rolled, the slope was steeper than I’d thought. On closer inspection, the entire interior was designed in the opposite direction, creating an optical illusion that made us think we were walking on level ground.
If that was the case, there had to be another hidden space beneath the far end of the tomb!
Looking ahead, the spot closest to the wall was the red coffin and the well beneath it. “Hurry and push the coffin aside! The exit is under the well!”
While the corpse was at the corner of the wall, the director and several others rushed over to push the coffin. Sure enough, a light flashed beneath the well, revealing a new space.
“Jump down, quickly!” the director turned and shouted. But the corpse had heard the commotion and was charging toward us.
With it just one step away, I suddenly dropped to one knee, drew the silver knife from inside my shirt, and drove it hard into the corpse’s forehead.
The knife had been smeared with black-dog blood. The corpse’s body instantly stiffened, frozen in place.
Lưu Viện collapsed at the mouth of the well, paralyzed with fear. I kicked her down and shouted, “That won’t hold it for long! Get moving!”
While I had the chance, I slipped around the corner and retrieved my necklace. It was the grave-opening talisman passed down to me by my grandfather. If I lost it in this nameless tomb, my ancestors would probably be so furious they’d claw their way out of their graves.
When I turned back, the corpse suddenly moved. Its arm twitched, the knife still stuck in its head, and its blood-filled mouth lunged straight at me.
I hurried to the mouth of the well, but when I looked down, I saw Lưu Viện dragging a thick, heavy steel plate and using it to seal off the passage below.
Behind me, the corpse heard the iron door slam shut. It threw back its head with a dreadful shriek, then charged straight at me.
To be honest, I’d encountered this kind of corpse when I was little. But there had been too many people around just now, so I couldn’t deal with it properly.
Now it was just me and it. I sneered. “You’re so ugly. Otherwise, I might’ve kept you as a pet.”
Of course, it didn’t understand me. It tossed its head, sending the insects on its face swarming toward me, then quickly circled around behind me, trying to attack from the rear.
I pulled a pouch of white phosphorus from my pocket and tossed it into the air. With my other hand, I grabbed the camera off the ground, spun around, and smashed it straight into the corpse’s face.
My grandfather had trained me rigorously from childhood. The abs and toned figure everyone praised online were the result of all that sweat and hard work.
I hurled the corpse so hard it slammed headfirst into the wall, and its rotting bones shattered instantly. “Can’t take a hit, can you!”
8
I walked over, took some black-dog blood from my pocket, sprinkled it over the corpse, then poured on some liquor. I lit it with a lighter, and the corpse immediately began to stink.
Once I’d finished dealing with it, I turned around and only then realized how serious the situation was. The camera I’d accidentally smashed was lying quietly on the ground, its green light still on.
The camera… was still on?!
Could it be… that everything that had just happened was being livestreamed?!
My heart lurched. I hurriedly pulled out my phone and opened the livestream. The comments had exploded:
[No way, was that special effects just now?]
[Bạch Chu Chu took down a zombie in one move?! Who on earth is this woman???]
[Was that really human-level fighting just now? Is she a special forces soldier?]
[Wait! The necklace Bạch Chu Chu is wearing looks a lot like a Gold-Seeking Talisman?!]
That comment immediately turned the tide of public opinion. The keyword “Bạch Chu Chu – Gold-Seeking Talisman” even shot to the top of the livestream platform’s trending searches.
My actions just now and an enlarged image of the pendant were captured and spread around, too.
Comments poured in beneath the post:
[That’s definitely an authentic Gold-Seeking Talisman. My grandfather once showed me a picture of one!]
[People who own a Gold-Seeking Talisman are incredibly rare. You have to be descended from a tomb-raiding family to get one!]
[So Bạch Chu Chu is descended from a Mô Kim Hiệu Úy, and that delicate, weak little white-lotus image was just a façade!]
[Who said my Sister Bạch couldn’t act! She played the delicate white lotus to perfection. Who would’ve guessed she could take down a zombie with one punch?!]
As I watched the comments keep popping up, I secretly tucked the pendant under my clothes and slowly stood up.
If I said that had all just been special effects, would anyone believe me…
As soon as I stood, I heard a noise from the well entrance.
The director cautiously climbed up the steps, his face awkward. He waved. “Miss Bạch, are you all right?”
He wore an ingratiating expression. He must have just watched the livestream from below and only dared open the door after confirming I was safe.
I picked up the camera and walked over coldly, pointing the lens straight at everyone at the bottom of the well. “Who closed the door just now?”