Sueños Florales en la Ciudad

Capítulo 91

As she pulled away and stepped back, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by a cold, steel-like hand, and she was then swung high into the air and slammed hard to the ground.

Although she was lying on a bed of fallen leaves, Zhu Huihui still felt as if every bone in her body was broken. She couldn't even groan, and lay on the ground for a long time, only exhaling and not inhaling.

The man who threw her did not finish her off; he pushed off the tree trunk with both feet and disappeared into the forest ahead.

The wind whistled overhead, and a dark shadow darted out from the treetops, chasing after it like a flying ape.

Zhu Huihui was already dizzy from the fall, and the dark figure disappeared in a flash, almost unnoticed. After lying on the ground for a long time without any further movement, she shakily sat up, clutching her back. "Damn it! If this keeps happening, I'll either be killed or kicked in the gut!"

"Neigh—neigh—neigh—"

A piercing howl shattered the silence of the forest, sounding even more heart-wrenching in the darkness.

Upon hearing the pig-like sound, Zhu Huihui immediately jumped up and stumbled towards the source of the sound.

It's Hua Hua crying out! Her cries are so pitiful, she must be in danger!

Knowing full well that many enemies must be hiding in this eerily dark and deathly silent forest, and that such a pitiful sound must have alerted them, she had no choice but to go, no matter what lay ahead.

The forest was dark, and she had already lost her way, but the pig-like screams actually guided her. After running for two or three miles, she reached the edge of the forest. In the distance, she saw Hua Hua howling and struggling in the clearing ahead. Something was clinging to its large body, its arms tightly wrapped around it, seemingly biting it hard.

Zhu Huihui was shocked. The light outside the woods was better, and upon closer inspection, she saw that the thing holding Huahua, with its disheveled fur and tattered clothes, was the very corpse it had dug out of the ground earlier.

Zhu Huihui's eyes widened. This thing is...a zombie? Hua Hua dug up a zombie?

Seeing the situation, Zhu Huihui was no longer in a hurry. With her Hua Hua's thick skin and fat, it would be strange if this zombie could even bite through her!

When the zombie heard someone approaching, it loosened its grip, and Hua Hua immediately struggled free and ran to Zhu Huihui's side, desperately rubbing her body against Zhu Huihui's legs, as if she was terrified.

Zhu Huihui gently patted its head to soothe it, then squatted down to examine it. Sure enough, Hua Hua's skin and flesh were completely unharmed. Although she was still frightened, she couldn't help but feel a little happy. This zombie looked freshly dead, with low magical power, and its teeth hadn't even grown in yet.

The zombie lay on the ground, struggling to crawl a couple of times: "Help...help...me..."

Zhu Huihui squatted down and looked at it. A zombie that can talk? How novel! How did this guy die? It was covered in blood, like a blood gourd. So pitiful.

In her mind, ghosts and zombies, though powerful, were nothing compared to the man in black—the difference was like comparing a small fry to a big fish. However, while men in black were common, zombies were rare. At this moment, her curiosity about the zombie temporarily overcame her fear of the man in black. Glancing around and finding nothing amiss, she suppressed her impatience and asked the useless zombie, puzzled, "How can I help?"

"So...it's a...little e here..." It breathed heavily, its throat hissing, its voice almost inaudible.

"Pah!" Do you think I'm stupid? You tricked me into coming over, wanting to bite me? My skin isn't as thick as Hua Hua's!

Although she thought so, Zhu Huihui wasn't angry. She still wanted to see what a zombie was. If she could capture one alive, that would be great. With a living zombie in front and Zhu Huahua behind, it would probably be even more impressive than Grandpa Yue's Zhang Bao in front of his horse...

With a quick glance, he saw the chicken he had dropped earlier still in the grass ahead, so he ran to pick it up and tossed it at the zombie: "Hey! Are you hungry? I have a chicken, you can have it first, but don't bite me!"

The zombie lay on the ground, its disheveled hair soaked in blood and stuck to its cheeks, unable to move its entire body: "Little... sister... don't... be afraid... I'm not dead yet..." Its voice was extremely weak.

"Oh!" That's a lie—even a ghost wouldn't believe it! Humph!

"There is...there is something...that is of great importance...you...you must...send it..."

"What's up?"

"Someone...is trying to...harm Generals Yu and Qi...to send their families...to...Japan..."

Upon hearing the names of Generals Yu and Qi, Zhu Huihui felt a chill run down her spine. She immediately recalled that Feng Xuese had always suspected that the victims of the tragedy she witnessed on the riverbank were the families of the two generals.

She leaned forward: "What did you say? The families of the two generals?"

"A...caravan...heading to beyond the borders...traders...the parents, wives, and children of two generals...are hidden...in the caravan..." The zombie was severely wounded, seemingly on the verge of death, but the transmission of intelligence was of paramount importance, so it fought desperately to continue, "We...we absolutely cannot let them be...taken to Japan...we must rescue them..."

Although Zhu Huihui was usually muddle-headed and ignorant, he knew that the two generals had led the troops to resist the Japanese pirates and supported half of China's land—was there any need to ask? If the Japanese pirates wanted to capture his family, they were obviously after the beautiful land of China!

She was utterly shocked. Thinking of the man in black in the woods, although she knew his words were mostly true, there were still many things she didn't understand, so she dared not believe him easily and asked, "Who are you?"

"See...blood...building...twelve...zodiac signs..."

"Thump!" Zhu Huihui sat down on the ground again.

No way?! It's an old acquaintance!

Although she knew that the Twelve Zodiac Envoys of the Blood Pavilion were no easier to deal with than the men in black, in her mind they weren't that scary—of course, the reason for this conclusion was that she hadn't suffered any major losses at their hands.

As I sat down, something poked my buttock. I reached down and touched it—it was a flat, round bead about the size of a child's fist, heavy, with a hole in the middle. It was an abacus! Oh no! This thing wasn't something a ghost would play with! It was…it was something the twelve zodiac animals used!

I remember back then, when the Twelve Zodiac Envoys assassinated me and the hero at the Listening Wind Inn on the mountain, the one who impersonated the innkeeper, I don't know what kind of envoy it was, was carrying a large abacus!

Remembering the innkeeper, it suddenly dawned on me: no wonder the gray rope hanging from the black-clad figure in the woods looked familiar. That, that, that—wasn't that the weapon of the dwarf dragon envoy? He'd used it to save the great hero and the snake envoy before; I remembered it vividly! Both their weapons were still there, but where were they? In the old stories of the martial arts world my mother used to tell, some fools always shouted things like, "As long as the weapon is there, the person is there; if the weapon dies, the person dies..."

Thinking of "death," I suddenly remembered the mountain of flesh that had just smashed into me, the one whose head I had easily ripped off—it was...it looked just like the Pig Envoy...

Zhu Huihui felt increasingly chilled as she thought about it. Mustering her courage, she went closer and brushed aside the stray hairs on the zombie's face. Nearly half of the skin on the left side of the face, including the left ear, had been shaved off. The wound was so deep that the muscles were exposed and the flesh was a bloody mess. However, the remaining right half of the face still allowed her to vaguely recognize that this was the demon snake envoy!

Although he didn't have a good impression of this person, he was still an acquaintance, and Zhu Huihui believed the snake envoy's words completely.

"You...how did you become like this? Where are your...your brothers?" Where are the others besides the Pig Envoy?

The Serpent Envoy didn't recognize her and said sadly, "Perhaps they...they're all...dead! We...we accidentally...discovered...the General's family...in...that caravan...and followed them...wanting to rescue them...but...but...we were no match for them...we deserve to die...but...if we delay the news...and implicate the General's family...we'll have no face to...see anyone in the afterlife..."

Her voice trailed off: "I...I'm going to die too...to join my brothers..."

That battle, filled with intrigue and a fierce fight to the death, was a testament to the enemy's overwhelming strength. All eleven of his brothers perished, and the Serpent Envoy was also seriously injured. However, due to his usual skill in using poisons and his strong physical endurance, he did not die immediately. Fortunately, the enemy was eager to cover up their crimes and did not conduct a thorough inspection before hastily burying him.

The pig, with its keen sense of smell and fondness for rooting in the soil, actually dug the snake out of the ground. A gust of cold wind roused her, and she slowly awoke, initially thinking it was a wild dog devouring a corpse. Heaven had shown her mercy, but instead, a person had appeared! She didn't know if he was a good person or a bad person, but she had no choice. She only hoped that she could send the message out, and then she could die in peace!

“I…have a…daughter…If…if you have time…go to the Bloodstained Tower…and tell her…that her mother…though a killer who kills for money, never…”

The snake-like figure tilted its head, and its voice abruptly stopped halfway through its sentence.