The gluttonous little boy is four and a half years old, and even the wealthy family kneels down and

She was small in stature but fast in running. She slipped under Qiu An's arm and kicked the first zombie in the leg.

The zombie looked to weigh at least a hundred pounds. Her kick sent it flying, crashing into the wall with a thud, and plaster began to fall off the wall.

Another zombie roared and pounced. Xiao Jin ducked to the side, nimbly circled behind it, grabbed its collar by the back, slammed it to the ground, then jumped up and swung her little fists, giving the thing a good whack on the back of the head.

Qiu An's situation wasn't easy either.

The remaining zombie was taller and more troublesome than the other two.

It wasn't fast, but it was incredibly strong. With a swing of its arm, it swept a half-hanging door panel in the corridor away, sending it hurtling towards Qiu An with a whooshing sound.

Qiu An leaned back to dodge, and one of the fox tails lashed out, striking the zombie in the chest and knocking it back half a step.

He clicked his tongue and said, "That's tough skin."

The zombie let out a low, guttural roar, as if squeezed from its cavity, and lunged at Qiu An.

Qiu An nimbly leaped backward, bracing himself with his hands on the ground, and his entire body rose into the air, his eight tails spreading out behind him like a net.

He stopped dodging, wrapped one tail around the zombie's ankle and the other around its neck, lifted it up, and slammed it hard into the ground.

The cement floor cracked, and the zombie struggled to get up, but Qiu An stepped on its chest. The red fox's vertical pupils gleamed coldly in the darkness.

Xiao Jin had already subdued the two zombies and was riding on the back of one of them, taking something out of a cloth bag.

She pulled out a red rope and deftly tied the hands and feet of the two zombies together behind their backs, then stuck a yellow talisman on each of their foreheads.

The two zombies were pressed down by the talisman and became completely still.

"An'an, you need to tie that up too." Xiao Jin jumped down and patted the dust off her hands.

Qiu An stepped on the zombie's chest, looked down at its already decaying face, and didn't move.

Yun Ziang was still hanging in mid-air by the tail, swaying precariously, when he cautiously poked his head out: "Um... could you put me down first? I... I feel a little nauseous."

Qiu An loosened his tail, and Yun Ziang fell to the ground with a "thud," clutching his waist and groaning.

He got up from the ground and saw Xiao Jin squatting in front of three zombies that were tightly bound, as if counting chicks.

Looking up again, moonlight streamed in through the broken window, falling on Qiu An's face, half of which was shrouded in shadow.

The fox ears have been retracted, and the tail has been hidden again.

"You... are you just going to end it like this?" Yun Zi'ang stammered.

Xiao Jin tilted her little face up and said earnestly, "Not yet, great-nephew."

"That's not what we're looking for."

Qiu An's face darkened. "These three are just small fry."

As soon as he finished speaking, a very soft sound, like someone trying to suppress a laugh, came from the far end of the corridor.

"What's going on here? Why is there a little kid here?"

The three of them looked at the end of the corridor at the same time, and saw a blurry figure standing there.

"You guys are being rather rude, aren't you? How can you just barge into someone else's house like that?"

While trying to find the flashlight that had fallen to the ground, Yun Ziang replied, "Is this your house?"

"Are you kidding me?"

The figure slowly walked over, accompanied by a strange clinking sound, like coins colliding.

The man's voice turned colder. "Can't you understand human language? This is my territory."

"Are you here to die?"

Qiu An stared at the figure, his eyes narrowing slightly. Suddenly noticing something amiss, he whispered, "Two footsteps."

Xiao Jin slowly stood up, looked at the person, tilted her head, and muttered, "Such a heavy aura of malevolence."

She suddenly raised her voice and asked in a clear, crisp tone, "Is that your baby?"

The figure paused, then let out a few disjointed laughs, "Yeah."

"She is my baby."

Unable to find a flashlight, Yun Zi'ang had no choice but to give up. He moved closer to Qiu An, and by the moonlight, looking at the figure, he hesitated and said:

"Why does he look bald?"

"Could it be some monk who escaped?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jin turned to look at Yun Zi'ang and replied, "Grand-nephew, no, no."

"It's not only monks who can shave their heads."

"Master said that some people have very little hair and still choose to shave their heads; others just like being bald, so they shave their heads."

Listening to their conversation, Qiu An's lips twitched. "Is this the time to talk about bald guys?"

Its instincts told it that what was behind that figure was far more powerful than the three henchmen from before.

Xiao Jin pouted and replied dryly, "Oh... then Xiao Jin won't ask that brother why he shaved his head."

She looked dejected and disappointed.

"Provoking me?" The figure had already stopped in his tracks, speaking through gritted teeth.

Qiu An, however, was somewhat displeased, frowning as she replied, "Why are you arguing with a child?"

The figure stopped, tilted its neck, and made a "crack" sound from its neck bone. "And what are you anyway?"

He wore a work jacket so dirty its original color was unrecognizable, his bald head appeared bluish-white in the moonlight, half his body was hidden in shadow, and his voice was hoarse:

"Who exactly are you people?"

"I gave you a chance to escape, but you didn't. Now you're all going to leave your lives here."

Qiu An didn't move.

He had his hands in his pockets, chin slightly raised, his tone languid, but his eyes were cold: "You're squatting in a place like this with a few zombies, and you're asking us who we are?"

"You're the one who should run away."

Xiao Jin tilted her head up and added seriously, "You're the one who'll get caught today."

The man chuckled softly, as if he had heard something extremely funny, his shoulders twitching, the sound squeezed out from deep in his throat:

"A little brat, a charlatan, and a useless cripple who can't even stand up straight. What makes you think you can catch me?"

Yun Ziang, who was listening from behind, turned green with rage, but his legs were indeed weak, extremely weak.

He gripped the peach wood sword in one hand and leaned against the wall with the other, frantically praying that he, an innocent bystander, wouldn't be caught in the crossfire when the three of them started fighting.

The man laughed a few times, then suddenly stopped.

He took half a step back, as if trying to blend into the darkness behind him.

Just then, moonlight poured down from behind the clouds, illuminating the entire corridor.

Yun Ziang finally saw the person's face clearly.

To be precise, it's half a face.

His left profile still retained a human form, with thick, dark eyebrows and high cheekbones.

But the right side of his face, from his temple to his chin, looked like it had been burned or torn off by something, with the skin twisted into an uneven scar. His eyelids were rolled up, his nostrils were missing, and even his scalp had large patches of old, festering wounds.

The moonlight shone on it, and the pitted scars gleamed with a cold light.

Yun Ziang only glanced at it, and extreme fear began to make him physically uncomfortable, as if his stomach had been twisted hard.

He abruptly turned his face away and gagged.

"Holy crap... is this guy even human...?" he whispered, his hands trembling so much he could barely hold the peach wood sword.

Qiu An didn't say anything, but simply pulled Yun Zi'ang behind him again.

The disfigured man sneered, raised his hand, and gave a light clapping.

Applause spread through the empty corridor, as if waking something up.

From the darkness behind him, a figure slowly emerged.

First, one foot, toes touching the ground, heel suspended in the air, landing silently. Then the whole body.

Her long hair was loose and disheveled, reaching down to her waist.

That was a woman.

No, I should say, that used to be a woman.

Her skin was grayish-black, like tree bark that had been dried for years, clinging tightly to her bones.

She wore a loose robe of indeterminate color, with a loose collar, revealing a red thread tied around her neck, from which hung a string of copper coins.

The copper coins hung from his throat to his chest, each one polished to a shine.

A veil made of copper coins covered most of her face, revealing only a pair of half-open eyes with completely black pupils, devoid of any life.

Her hands hung at her sides, her ten fingernails long and black, like ten rusty blades.

Yun Zi'ang was completely speechless.

His mind was blank, with only one thought flashing through his mind: Why did I come? Why did I come at all!

Xiao Jin looked at the female zombie and the disfigured man, blinked, and frowned, as if she was seriously thinking about something.

A few seconds later, she nodded, as if she had made a decision, and turned to walk towards Yun Ziang, taking things out of her small cloth bag as she walked.

Yellow talisman paper, red thread, and mugwort and willow leaves.

She stuffed all these things into Yun Ziang's hands, piling them up so much that he could barely hold onto his peach wood sword.

"Great-nephew, listen carefully." Xiao Jin looked up, her expression more serious than ever before. "These talismans are for protection. Stick them on your body and don't tear them off. Also, put these mugwort leaves inside your collar. If that older sister comes towards you, throw these talismans at her."

She paused, then said, word by word, "You absolutely mustn't let her bite you, and you absolutely mustn't let her scratch you. You'll get corpse poison, and if it gets too deep, you'll die."

Yun Ziang's face went blank after hearing this.

He looked down at the large wad of yellow paper in his arms, then looked up at the female zombie staring at him with her completely black eyes, his voice sounding like it was being squeezed out of his throat:

"Little Miss...is it too late for me to run away now?"

"It's too late." Xiao Jin shook her head, her tone matter-of-fact. "She's already seen you."

Hearing this from the side, the disfigured man, Yuan Wei, suddenly laughed: "The little kid is right, Huihui loves chasing living people. The faster someone runs, the more excited she gets. You'd better run fast later, don't disappoint her."

Yun Zi'ang was so frightened by his words that his legs went weak and he almost knelt down.

He reached out and grabbed something that looked like either a water pipe or a railing, barely managing to keep himself upright. His voice was trembling with tears: "I want to run, I really want to run, but my legs are weak... I can't stand up..."

Qiu An's face darkened, and she turned to look at Yuan Wei, her eyes so cold they could freeze: "If you want to fight, then fight. Why are you trying to scare him? Don't you have anything else to say?"

Yuan Wei shrugged, his healthy half grinning wildly, while the scarred half remained perfectly still, as if two different people were looking at him at the same time: "I'm just helping him get used to it beforehand. Once Huihui starts moving, he'll know what real fear is."

Xiao Jin ignored them.

She stood in front of Yun Ziang, her back to Yuan Wei, and patted Yun Ziang's hand like a little adult: "Don't be afraid. Xiao Jin will fight in front, and An'an will protect you too. Just hide well and don't let her touch you, okay?"

Yun Ziang sniffed and nodded vigorously, nodding like a chick pecking at rice.

Xiao Jin turned around again, looked at Yuan Wei, and said in a crisp voice:

"After we've finished beating you, Xiaojin has some questions for you. You have to answer Xiaojin honestly, okay?"

Yuan Wei scoffed at what seemed like an absurd request, neither agreeing nor refusing.