Chapter 24: Theory of Corpse Miasma Expansion
Zhou Zhengzong, a 45-year-old man, was a crematorium worker and an occult enthusiast. He had dreamed of becoming a supernatural being since he was young and worked his way toward that goal by studying publicly available resources on supernatural systems.
At one point, he had even considered becoming a wild vampire. However, during that period, the Blood Race had captured and publicly executed several foreign wild vampires. After learning about that, he felt the risk was too high and gave up on the idea.
Between the ages of 20 and 35, he had been fanatically obsessed with Forbidden Fruits and spent a great deal of money chasing his dream. However, in the end, it all turned out to be nothing more than castles in the air.
To repay his debts, he spent the next ten years working honestly and steadily, but he never gave up on researching ways to become a supernatural being. In the end, his "perfect plan" was to become a zombie. Of course, he did not want to become a mindless zombie. What he wanted was to become the first zombie in the world that still retained its self-awareness.
Among the numerous ancient texts, he had found a method to compensate for the risks of becoming a zombie. First, he would purchase a Soul-Sealing Talisman to bind his soul to his physical body. Then, he would prepare a coffin capable of sealing a zombie.
After being infected with corpse miasma, he would seek out a corpse-nourishing ground, lie inside the coffin, and have himself buried there. Because his soul would remain anchored to his physical body, once it transformed into a zombie, his soul would mutate into a vengeful spirit. When the zombie grew to a certain level, it would develop a faint sense of self and even become increasingly intelligent.
At that point, Zhou Zhengzong would seize the opportunity to devour the consciousness born from his zombie body, forcibly taking it over. It would allow him to achieve a perfect fusion between his human self and his zombie form. After eventually emerging from the corpse-raising ground, he would be the only perfect zombie in the world to retain his self-awareness. The plan sounded beautiful in theory.
The man had even spent a year’s salary to obtain a genuine Soul-Sealing Talisman. He had intended to execute his plan after obtaining zombie fangs containing corpse miasma. However, as an ordinary person, he had no way of acquiring zombie fangs, so he was completely stuck at this first step.
That day, he rode his bicycle home after getting off work. Recently, there had been quite a lot of corpses to handle, and he had to work overtime until seven or eight in the evening. Overtime came with overtime pay, and he was more than willing to work the extra hours. Only with money could he continue pursuing his dream.
Zhou Zhengzong had just returned home when he saw a basketball-sized hole in the corner of his front door. "Who the hell did this?"
He quickly stepped forward, took out his key, and unlocked the door. After turning on the lights, he saw a rabbit hopping around in the corner of the room. Frowning, he picked up a ribbed steel rod he kept for self-defense and carefully approached it.
He swung the steel rod at the rabbit. "Hey!"
The recoil made his hand go slightly numb. Realizing it was a supernatural creature, he immediately gritted his teeth and furiously swung the steel rod. After nearly exhausting himself, he finally beat the rabbit until it stopped moving. He then let out a long sigh of relief and rested for a moment.
Just as he was about to check what exactly this thing was, Yu Xian arrived. Yu Xian quickly stopped him. "Careful, that's a Zombie Rabbit. Let me handle it."
Zhou Zhengzong was first startled, then overjoyed. He turned around and yelled, "Who are you? Why are you breaking into my house? Get out, or I'm calling the police!"
Yu Xian took out his badge. "I am with the police. I'm currently on night patrol. Any supernatural creatures fall under my jurisdiction!"
Zhou Zhengzong stared hard at the badge in Yu Xian's hand before suppressing his unwillingness and stepping aside. Yu Xian breathed a slight sigh of relief and stepped forward to bind the Zombie Rabbit with silver threads.
Before he left, he reminded Zhuo Zhengzong. "Thank you for your cooperation. Also, if something like this happens again, it's better to call the police first and let the officers of the Combat Police unit handle it. What you did was very dangerous. If you had happened to get bitten, it would have been a lot of trouble."
Zhou Zhengzong could only smile perfunctorily as he walked Yu Xian toward the door. When he turned around, his smile vanished instantly and his expression turned dark. That was the zombie he had been yearning for day and night. Without a doubt, this was the closest he had ever come to becoming a supernatural being.
Returning inside, he looked toward the spot where he had beaten the zombie rabbit to death. He noticed something on the floor and quickly crouched down, carefully picking up a bone fragment smaller than a grain of rice.
He had probably broken it off the Zombie Rabbit when he struck it with the steel rod. Zhou Zhengzong stared at the bone fragment, and a look of ecstatic joy gradually spread across his face.
According to the Supernatural Alliance's research papers, ever since corpse miasma first appeared, it had only continued to grow. This was the well-known "Theory of Corpse Miasma Expansion."
The theory argued that even a trace amount of corpse miasma was enough to create a zombie. As zombies grew stronger, they would generate more corpse miasma within their bodies.
Worst yet, when a zombie was killed, that corpse miasma would not disappear. Instead, it would disperse back into the natural world. Thus, corpse miasma would only continue to increase, ultimately dragging all of humanity into the world of the dead.
When Zhou Zhengzong had first read this theory, he felt as if the entire world was collapsing. He even fell into depression for quite some time. However, he came across an ancient saying online that went, If you can't beat them, join them.
In that instant, it felt as though his meridians had been unblocked. Since this world will eventually belong to the dead anyway, won't it be better to become one of the dead in advance?
***
As Yu Xian walked along the street, a suspicion lingered in his mind. The man he had just met reeked of rotting corpses. He took out his phone and logged into the Public Security Bureau app. Using the house number, he quickly retrieved the man's profile.
After going through the file, he paused for a moment, then shook his head. The man worked at a crematorium. Having a bad smell around him was perfectly normal. Yu Xian concluded that he had indeed been overthinking things.
He quickly returned to the car. Seeing that Zhang Shou was still searching for a burrow, he secured the Zombie Rabbit, then stood at the edge of the grass. "Zhang Shou, found anything yet?"
Zhang Shou stood up, completely baffled, and looked at his friend. "Nope. This is way too strange. Where the hell are they coming from?"
Yu Xian smiled. "That's one of the world's three great mysteries. If I could answer that, I'd be famous."
In the world of the supernatural, there were always many unresolved mysteries. The sudden appearance of supernatural animals was one of them. Some believed the world was glitching. Others thought it was the effect of some kind of Forbidden Fruit. In any case, opinions were divided, and no one knew where these supernatural animals were coming from.
The two returned to the car, and Zhang Shou continued driving. Along the way, supernatural animals would appear from time to time. Yu Xian and Zhang Shou stopped and started their car repeatedly, and before long, they had reached the Eastern District.
Compared to other districts, the Eastern District was undoubtedly much livelier. Even past eleven o'clock, many people were still walking on the streets, and the shops remained open. This was a scene only seen in this part of the city.
Zhang Shou whispered, "Salted Fish, look. It's Hu Tu'er."
Yu Xian had been knitting a sweater. He looked up out of the car window. Sure enough, Hu Tu'er was mingling with a few young men, occasionally flashing a smile that left them completely captivated.
Zhang Shou remarked, "As expected of a seductress. She really is something."
Yu Xian's nose twitched, but after failing to detect anything, he said flatly, "Let's go, keep patrolling."
The Eastern District did not really require patrolling. The residents here were all supernatural beings, with the strongest even reaching Eagle rank. If any supernatural animals appeared here, they were more than capable of handling them themselves.
Despite that, it was still their duty, so Yu Xian and Zhang Shou kept driving and patrolling.