"Old Li, aren't we just walking into a death trap going back like this?" I stopped after taking two steps. "We don't have any means to fight back."

Old Li didn't speak at first, instead meticulously patting his clothes up and down, searching for something. After a moment, he finally said, "Technician Luo, you’re muddled. Didn't that sutra help us kill one zombie at the start? Now that we have our hands free, we can simply repeat the method."

The sutra? The memory flashed back immediately. But, but… "Old Li, I left the sutra in my backpack…" I muttered, cursing myself for not keeping such a vital item on my person. Now, going back to retrieve the backpack—how could that be easy!

"Here." Old Li ignored my complaint and handed me a small bundle of dried grass. "This is the Cangxiang grass that Section Chief Wang told you to toss into the bonfire when he first started acting up."

I reached out to take it as instructed, but uncertain of Old Li’s intentions, I looked at him questioningly.

"I’ve been thinking. This Cangxiang might actually work on the zombies. If it has even a slight effect, you charge over, take out the sutra, and light it. That should solve the problem… If all else fails, call me. Try the ringtone…" As he spoke, his expression darkened, and he sighed. "I forgot your phone was waterlogged."

Honestly, I didn't believe a phone ringtone would affect a zombie. Currently, the most reassuring thing was the sutra. Just as Old Li said, if we could just ignite the sutra, we wouldn't have to fear any zombie.

Following Old Li's plan, we each took a burning bundle of Cangxiang and approached the zombies. By the time we reached them, the zombies had begun to stir, slowly rotating their bodies in a mechanical fashion. Old Li instantly snatched the Cangxiang from my hand and threw both bundles at the zombie's feet. The dried grass slowly emitted white smoke, and the zombie’s movements visibly slowed down.

It worked! Before Old Li could prompt me, I rushed forward, dug out the sutra from the backpack, and handed it to Old Li to light.

The sutra disintegrated into pulp. When lit, it produced no open flame, only a vast amount of thick, non-choking smoke that actually felt soothing to breathe in. Looking over, the two zombies had indeed ceased movement, just as expected. They swayed slightly, then tumbled to the ground, utterly still.

Seeing the zombies fall, I instantly relaxed. Slapping Old Li on the shoulder, I said, "If I'd known it was this simple, I would have lit the sutra earlier. We wouldn't have had to suffer so much, almost losing our lives!"

Old Li also laughed with relief. "We were so scared at first, how could we even remember that?"

The sutra was still emitting white smoke. Since the zombies seemed dead, there was no point wasting it. I swaggered over, picked it up, stamped out the ember, blew off the ashes, and carefully tucked the remaining portion onto my person.

"Making me suffer this much!" I kicked the zombie several times hard and spat on its body to vent some of my frustration.

Old Li joined in, kicking it a few times himself. With one kick, the fabric of the zombie’s trouser leg tore near the calf, revealing flesh ripped open. I was startled by Old Li’s unexpected vigor. Just as I was about to praise him, I suddenly realized something was wrong. No matter how strong he was, he shouldn't be able to kick a zombie—which should have flesh as resilient and elastic as a living person's—to such a state.

Old Li must have noticed it too, as he squatted down almost simultaneously with me to examine the zombie’s lower leg. The outer skin was scorched black and foul-smelling, cracked into small segments. The exposed flesh underneath was an alarming, bright red. The trouser leg and the otherwise well-preserved outer robe were somewhat singed, as if burned. Furthermore, these burn marks looked very fresh, as if they had only just occurred.

Old Li and I exchanged bewildered glances, then moved to examine the other zombie. This one had no burn marks, but there were three extremely distinct bullet holes in its chest—three pistol entry wounds. One was near the left ventricle, one below the right ribs, and the last one nearly hit the armpit. Their scattered placement clearly indicated the shooter had been firing in haste and panic.

Section Chief Wang and Officer Liu didn't have guns. Even if they did, in their half-crazed state, they wouldn't know how to use one. Zhuomayangjin was unarmed. That left only those damn Japanese devils. Assuming no second party had entered this cavern unexpectedly, I was almost certain these zombies had already clashed head-on with the Japanese, and judging by the scene, they hadn't gained the upper hand. When I voiced this to Old Li, he nodded in agreement, but he seemed afraid it wasn't the Japanese work—if that were the case, the situation was even more complicated.

"These zombies are done for. It's better that they’re dead, so let's not worry about how they died," Old Li said with a hint of anxiety. "Regardless, we need to figure out how to find that group of Japanese first. If we delay any longer, it might be too late."

The three zombies that had been chained and seen were now down. Although the cavern remained dark and silent, at least a major threat was removed, and I no longer felt the overwhelming dread I had before. I could even exchange a few risqué jokes with Old Li.

Old Li also seemed much more relaxed, joining in with some nonsensical banter.

We walked a short distance further. Seeing nothing unusual besides a few thick iron chains anchored to the cavern walls, I suddenly felt a childish impulse. I deliberately stopped, feigning deep confusion, and said, "Old Li, something seems to be happening behind us."

Old Li didn't turn his head. "What's happening?"

For some reason, seeing him not fall for it only fueled my mischievousness. I darted ahead of him, widening my eyes in fake terror. "The zombies are back!"

Old Li scoffed dismissively, looking at me with disdain, clearly not believing my nonsense. "Don't believe me? Look, look behind you, the zombies really are coming." As I spoke, I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to look backward. To make my act convincing, I kept my head buried low, pretending I didn't dare to look even once, though I was actually peeking to steal a laugh.

After a moment, I heard no reply from Old Li. Through his shoulder, I could still sense his sudden tension and fear. I assumed he had fallen for it and couldn't help but burst out laughing. At the same time, I quickly tried to pull his head back toward me. But the moment I looked up, my laughter died in my throat: behind us, there were indeed living, breathing zombies! Three of them, slowly walking toward us. The heavy scraping sound of their chains dragged through the air. "Is it someone pretending? Why aren't the zombies dead?" That was my first thought.

"Run! The zombies aren't dead!" After a second's pause to process things, I yelled, turning tail and fleeing.

Old Li closely followed behind me. In my panic, I ran blindly, crashing forward without regard for direction. But everywhere I looked, there were chains, meaning no matter how we ran, we were still within the zombies' sphere of influence. No, no, we'd be caught sooner or later if this continued. Frantically, I scanned the surroundings for any side tunnels. Finding none, the ground became increasingly uneven the further we ran.

"Technician Luo, the ledge! Climb up, quickly!" As he spoke, Old Li had already passed me. With a whoosh, he leaped onto a small, dark platform near the cavern wall. "Hurry, give me your hand!" he urged anxiously. I quickly reached out; he pulled hard, hauling me up beside him.

With no time to catch my breath, Old Li dragged me along the narrow platform. "Where are we going?" I asked in alarm.

"I don't know!"

We had both become completely frantic, having no idea where this small ledge led, nor did we question how this section of platform had appeared on the cave wall.

The three zombies were closing in, step by agonizing step. What to do, what to do! Even if there were a cliff ahead, I would jump without hesitation just to get away from the zombies. This terrifying creature had utterly destroyed my courage, leaving me almost entirely irrational.

"Climb, climb up, Technician Luo!" Old Li suddenly grabbed me as I was about to collapse, pointing toward an almost ninety-degree sheer cliff face beside us, urgently pressing me to climb.

I froze, looking at Old Li in bewilderment, unable to fathom how we could scale such a precipice. There was no time for questions. The zombies seemed to move incredibly slowly, but in that moment of hesitation, they had reached the base of the small ledge. A mere stretch of their arms would be enough to grab our feet! Old Li stopped shouting encouragement and began scrambling up the sheer face with quick swish-swish sounds. My mind went blank. I watched the zombies approach, completely paralyzed by terror.

"There are holes! Your feet can fit, Technician Luo! Quick!" Old Li called down as he climbed. The cliff wasn't entirely rock; there were patches of soft earth. Old Li grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it wildly at my face. The sting jolted me back to my senses. Indeed, there were small indentations on the cliff face barely large enough for the tip of my boot. I immediately used both hands and feet to follow him up. The zombies below, seeing us flee upward, inexplicably began mimicking us, attempting to climb as well.

My hands and feet betrayed me, trembling incessantly. I would spot a small hole clearly, but my foot would slip off the moment I tried to step on it. This made me more anxious, and in my panic, I couldn't help but look down to see if the zombies were near my feet. Seeing them sent a jolt through me, and my hand slipped, nearly sending me plunging down: the three zombies were climbing upward, stiff and mechanical. That wasn't the worst part. The terrifying thing was how one of them reached out, lightly inserted a hand into the cliff face, used that leverage to propel its body upward with a lurch, and then inserted the other hand higher up, moving with a motion that was both agile and clumsy.

I couldn't hold back any longer. I shrieked in terror, "Old Li! Old Li!" Just as the words left my mouth, a hand gripped my right hand tightly. "Technician Luo, don't be afraid, I'll pull you up." It was Old Li; he had already reached the top.

I quickly grasped Old Li's hand just as tightly, and he dragged and hauled me up to safety.

The three zombies below had now reached the small platform in a synchronized manner, and the sound of their dragging chains rattled loudly. I collapsed onto the ground. Seeing this, I desperately wanted to flee, wishing my hands could move like feet to escape, but my entire body was completely limp. I could only watch as they systematically inserted one hand into the sheer rock face, just as they had done before, and then...

I closed my eyes. If I was going to die, let it be quick. This prolonged torment was worse than simply being killed by them.

The sound of the chains below grew louder, as if they couldn't wait another second to tear Old Li and me apart.