Before everything goes out

In front of the dilapidated hut.

Two figures, one tall and one short, stood there.

"How did the questioning go?"

"Brother, this kid's really stubborn. He'd rather die than tell you."

"Hehe, come on, I'll teach you how to deal with this kind of tough guy. If fists don't work, we'll use awls and scissors."

"No need, bro."

"Um?"

"I've already killed him."

"Killed him?"

"Ah, this morning he said he would never tell, no matter what, but how could I let him get away with it? I immediately took a shovel and tried it out a couple of times... If you ask me, this kid is just stubborn, he's not very strong."

"You fucking bastard!"

...

...

Dry mouth and throat, and a splitting headache.

Li Fei lay on the bed, trying to get up, but his body felt as heavy as lead.

With difficulty, I opened my eyes and glanced around. All I saw were wooden tables, earthen stoves, and thatched roofs.

A simple farmhouse.

He thought he would be able to make a name for himself after transmigrating here, but he ended up lying here for three days.

I was in a daze for the past two days, and I was in a state of intermittent drowsiness.

Fortunately, it seems he can move today?

Take a breath, try moving your fingers first, and then try to move your arm.

Splash...

A metallic sound rang out.

Only then did Li Fei realize that he was bound by two large iron chains.

"So, those two were kidnappers, and after the original owner was accidentally killed, I possessed their body?"

Li Fei closed his eyes again.

This isn't a very optimistic start.

Weak, high fever, and severe dehydration.

A throbbing pain shot through the back of my head, as if someone had cracked my skull open.

At this point, he couldn't even lift his arm, let alone anything else.

Close your eyes, and the pain is continuous.

Like ocean waves, one after another, he finally fell asleep again during the brief interval between the two waves.

I don't know how much time passed.

He wasn't sure if it would be a few hours, or a day or two.

When he woke up again, he heard people talking outside the door, but it wasn't the two men from before, but two women.

A young woman, a little girl.

"Let's go, Xiao Wu. There's no point in you staying here."

"No, only he can find Mom..."

"This person is dead; the dead cannot speak."

"It's alright, Teacher Lin, you go ahead. I'll wait here, just in case..."

"Sigh, okay, I'll wait with you then. As we agreed before, I can only stay for two hours."

"Uh-huh!"

Listening to the conversation outside, Li Fei roughly understood what was going on.

The original owner possessed some important intelligence.

The information mentioned a couple who wanted something, and it also concerned the little girl's mother.

That's not a problem, the problem is...

Perhaps he had no memory of what happened after he transmigrated, or perhaps he was hit on the head; in any case, he now suffers from complete amnesia and can't remember anything, including this vital information that is crucial to his life.

"I need to let them know I'm not dead..."

Li Fei knew very well that if he continued to lie there, not to mention the complications caused by the high fever, he would die of thirst.

Once he realized this, he gritted his teeth, moved his arm, and dragged the iron chains around his body.

Splash...

The metallic sound wasn't loud, but fortunately the surroundings were quiet enough that even the slightest noise elicited a reaction from outside the door.

"Xiao Wu, did you hear that?"

"It seems to be... inside the house..."

The two men's voices faltered and trembled slightly.

Li Fei then realized that, in the other party's eyes, he should be a dead man.

It can be quite frightening when a dead body makes a sound.

"We need to clear up the misunderstanding quickly..."

That's what he thought.

He opened his mouth wide, wanting to speak, but his throat felt like it was being cut by a knife, and he could only make strange "uh uh uh" sounds.

Now, the two people outside the door became even more nervous.

"Oh no, this guy has turned into a zombie!"

Through the door, Li Fei heard the woman's voice suddenly rise in pitch, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The two had been suspicious of what was happening inside, but now they were completely certain.

"I'll stay here and keep watch. Xiao Wu, go and call Brother Niu and the others!"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Fei heard the door lock.

The little girl walked away quickly with lighter footsteps, while the woman walked a few steps further away and then returned, probably to find a weapon.

"It's over..."

Li Fei knew something was wrong.

Recalling the original owner's miserable death, he has probably fallen into the same predicament.

Although it's unclear what exactly the "zombie transformation" the other party is referring to is, it's obvious that it's definitely not a good thing.

The little girl had already gone to fetch reinforcements. Imagine if that brute who killed the original owner had rushed in and swung his hoe at him without saying a word; he would have died again on the spot.

The problem is...

He can no longer make a sound, nor can he get up. He has even exhausted all his strength to drag the chains.

No.

It's not just physical weakness, but also mental exhaustion.

The familiar dizziness returned.

Everything in his field of vision began to spin, and after a few breaths, he could no longer stay conscious and passed out.

...

...

When Li Fei woke up again, it was already late at night.

It was still that dilapidated house, only much darker than before.

The only light source in the room was an oil lamp on the central table.

The light inside the glass dome was dim, and the flame flickered gently, as if it might go out at any moment.

There was no more sound outside, only the howling wind blowing past the beams and roof, outlining a dilapidated house in the middle of nowhere.

"I'm not dead?"

Li Fei sat up in bed. Although it was still difficult, it was much better than before.

How many days have passed?

Two or three days, or maybe a week.

Lying here for so long, his perception of time had become somewhat blurred.

However, his health has genuinely improved. His high fever has subsided to a low-grade fever, and although he still experiences pain throughout his body, he can now move around with some difficulty...

At least I can open my eyes and sit up.

Looking down at his feet, he saw that his chafed ankles were still locked with a shackle, the other end of which was tied to the foot of the bed with an iron chain.

Try getting out of bed and walking barefoot around the edge of the bed for a couple of steps.

He wasn't stepping on the floor, but on compacted raw earth. The rough, granular texture under his feet told him that he was feeling better.

It went from being "almost a corpse" to "half a living person".

"So the previous misunderstanding is cleared up? They know I haven't turned into a zombie?"

Using the dim light, Li Fei looked around.

Looking down, I found a bowl of water and a bowl of rice at my feet.

This was probably the food the kidnappers left for him.

But what is that?

Looking further into the room, above the earthen stove in one corner, hangs a large rooster.

The chicken's feet were tied with hemp rope, and the whole chicken was hung upside down with its head facing him, revealing two dull and lifeless eyeballs.

The rooster didn't crow because it was already dead.

If you look closely, starting from the chicken's neck, the chicken feathers are covered in blood and have a sticky texture.

Looking down, there was also a pool of dark red on the ground.

"They slit the chicken's throat, then hung it here facing me, letting it bleed to death?"

Through simple deduction, Li Fei reconstructed the crime scene.

Rooster, bled, hung upside down.

His intuition told him that this was probably some kind of exorcism ritual.

Although he wasn't buying it, seeing it in the middle of the night was indeed a bit creepy.

"Wait, why are they both exorcising evil spirits and giving me food?"

Li Fei frowned and quickly noticed something suspicious.

If those people think he's a zombie or an evil spirit, they shouldn't give him food; conversely, if they think he's a living person, they shouldn't be using a rooster to cause trouble here.

What does it mean to use a two-pronged approach?

He wasn't sure.

Just as he was pondering the possibilities and searching for more clues inside the house, a cold female voice rang out.

[Level 1 Alert.]

[The current light intensity has been detected to be below 100 lumens.]

For your physical and mental well-being, please leave the dark area immediately.