Zhou Huan and Shi Bingyuan stood at the edge of the square, watching the writhing things in the plaza. The atmosphere felt utterly lifeless, and the stench from the corpses was indeed powerful enough to kill by smell alone.

“Master, be careful! Zombies!”

“Move, and be quick!” Zhou Huan had barely finished speaking when he launched himself into the air, covering the distance in two strides. Shi Bingyuan was already preparing his talismans and paste right where he stood.

But before the two of them could fully prepare, nearly a thousand zombies suddenly stood up across the square. These zombies were in all shapes and conditions: some clutched another person’s hand, some had a piece of foul-smelling meat dangling from their mouths, and others tucked a severed leg under an armpit—a leg that also looked suspiciously like it belonged to someone else.

What caught Zhou Huan’s attention the most, leading the charge, was the Dean himself. Trailing just behind the Dean was the doctor famously known as Newton. Both men sported unnaturally long fingernails, and black-purple blood streamed from their eyes, revealing long fangs that emitted a fetid odor as they charged directly toward Zhou Huan and his companion.

Zhou Huan felt deeply uneasy. This was a massive infestation. If he wiped them all out, it would instantly become headline news worldwide: an entire psychiatric hospital, every single breathing person turned into a zombie. Even the black cat he’d seen near the square entrance earlier was now a zombie cat, though that one had been dispatched easily by Zhou Huan.

“Roar! Roar!” The zombies approaching Zhou Huan hissed foul air, closing in step by agonizing step, emitting a low, muffled sound that made Zhou Huan extremely uncomfortable.

“Master, should we attack now, or wait?” Shi Bingyuan sensed Zhou Huan’s hesitation. Once they engaged, not a single one of these zombies would survive. If all the living inhabitants of the asylum were now corpses, even if the incident ended well, explaining the situation to the outside world would be incredibly difficult, as these were tangible lives lost.

Zhou Huan’s brow furrowed, his lips moving silently. “Draw a circle, completely isolating us, then we figure out the next step!”

Shi Bingyuan reached into his bag to feel his tools, then reported to Zhou Huan, “Master, we don’t have enough material. We’ve already used quite a bit, and if any special situation arises, what we have left might put us at a disadvantage!”

“It’s fine. Make the circle as large as possible. Give me some time to think of a solution!”

As the two spoke, the zombies drew closer. When they were only three or five meters away, Shi Bingyuan flung out his concoction of dog’s blood and garlic paste, scattering a ring around their position. They both sat down inside the boundary. The zombies outside roared; the moment they touched the circle, wisps of black smoke curled up from their bodies, rising slowly and releasing a thick, foul odor. The Dean, leading the horde, stared fixedly at Zhou Huan, as if ready to devour him, his hands clawing the air, yet he dared not touch the isolation circle Shi Bingyuan had created.

Just as the pair were deliberating, Zhou Huan felt a cool draft pass behind him. Hearing the sound of dragging footsteps, he spun around abruptly. A large crowd of zombies had surged out from the dispensary building they had just passed.

“Bingyuan, quick! Expand the circle behind us, or this group will break through!” Zhou Huan pulled out two stacks of talismans from his pocket, tapped them once, and mixed the resulting ash into Shi Bingyuan’s paste. He then enlarged their existing circle. When they finally settled down securely, they noticed several zombies positioned on the rooftop.

This was the seven or eight-story residential building, not the experimental block where those “scientists” had jumped earlier. As they looked up, more than a dozen zombies began leaping down from above.

“Master, this is bad! These zombies look like a suicide squad; they are jumping directly toward our circle!” Shi Bingyuan readied himself for the fight.

Zhou Huan sighed. “We can’t worry about that now. Even if these zombies could be saved, jumping from that height means they’d be corpses regardless.” He then took out his talismans. The two fought them off one by one as they landed. Soon, the sky seemed to rain dumplings, with a continuous stream of zombies dropping down. Some zombies shattered upon impact with the ground, while others landed with only their upper halves intact, yet they still crawled slowly toward Zhou Huan.

“Master, this isn't working! We are far too passive. If we kill all these zombies, we won’t have any explanation!”

“There’s no choice; we have to fight and kill. You handle the immediate threats, and I’ll focus on those wandering souls. We’ll perform the ‘Two Dragons Confronting Ghosts’ maneuver!” After speaking, Zhou Huan sat cross-legged, forming a spirit-summoning mudra with his hands, raising a small lotus in the air, and chanting aloud: “All you lonely, wandering spirits! I offer you a chance at rebirth. If you can regain control over the consciousness of these zombies, you will earn a chance to live again. If you fail, you may return to the Underworld for proper reincarnation.”

Zhou Huan chanted the incantation dozens of times. Before long, he felt as if a colossal iceberg had formed outside the psychiatric hospital, layers of lost souls completely surrounding the compound. Those with Ghost Eyes could clearly see various specters squeezing through the main gate, attacking any zombie they saw, latching on, and attempting to seize control of their minds. Indeed, Zhou Huan’s plan proved remarkably effective. Shi Bingyuan only had to eliminate the zombies that managed to jump inside the circle; all the rest were possessed, though the conflict was visible: the lost souls struggled to control the zombies’ bodies, while the zombies fought to throw the spirits out.

At that moment, from the deepest part of the square, a small squad of about a dozen zombies emerged, shuffling forward. The leader was the Driver.

This Driver now sported fangs long enough to reach his chest, his eyes glowed green, and his fingernails were nearly half a meter long and sharply pointed. He exhaled black, angry mist as he advanced toward Zhou Huan.

Finally, a look of long-absent relief spread across Zhou Huan’s face. “He’s finally here. He was the one I suspected all along. He is indeed here to command the rear guard; the last one to emerge is always the key.”

“Master, are you talking about the Driver?” Shi Bingyuan asked, needing confirmation.

Before either of them could say more, the Driver spoke first. “Zhou Huan, you certainly have methods. Your progress is quite fast. To be able to completely crush my zombie legion, I must admit I admire you. However, there is one thing: I still have my trump card squad, ha ha ha! Your methods are only fit for the dying.”

“Friend, I’m not so sure. Between you and me, I just never understood why you’d choose to become a zombie instead of moving on to reincarnation. Why cling to that rotten corpse?” Zhou Huan had studied the diaries of the zombie Ling Zi, gaining a profound understanding of zombie origins, which allowed him to confidently assert that this man’s attachment stemmed from his reliance on his own body.

“Hmph, Zhou Huan, you know nothing! I gain eternal life by keeping my body. As long as I eat humans and human blood, I can live on indefinitely. What good is reincarnation to you people? What happens when you return? You’re still just a flesh-and-blood body that needs to breathe and eat.” The Driver’s words sounded rational, yet they flew in the face of all worldly norms.

Zhou Huan’s brow knitted in anger. He exploded in a furious tirade. “You ignorant, wicked spirit! Your soul has already separated; why are you clinging to being a zombie? Aren’t you just making trouble for yourself? Don’t you know you’ll be held accountable for your death? So many people have died because of your selfish desires—don't you feel any sorrow?”

“Hahahaha! They were all useless anyway. But last night, their eyelids twitched. How about yours?” The Driver asked smugly. Zhou Huan offered no reply, his eyes locked fiercely on the Driver’s group of zombies.

These zombies, however, stood dazed and simpleminded, only conscious of the fresh blood scent emanating from Zhou Huan, constantly longing to drink the blood of Zhou Huan and Shi Bingyuan.