Chapter 197: Zombification
"Hello? Yes, that's right! Come pick us up at Yan Village right away. Our car broke down. It's too late now, so we'll get a tow truck to haul it in for repairs tomorrow!"
Tang Dan caught a nauseating stench and was about to step away when a putrid gust of wind rushed toward him.
"AH—!" A bloodcurdling scream tore from Tang Dan's throat!
The light from his dropped phone illuminated the dark shape—it was a large yellow dog. No, a Corpse Dog, to be precise.
The Corpse Dog pounced on Tang Dan. Its yellow fur was matted with festering wounds pecked out by crows. Bloody holes of all sizes riddled its body, oozing a viscous mixture of pus and blood.
Its head, far more ferocious than that of a normal dog, held a pair of scarlet eyes. Its putrid maw gaped wide, revealing two rows of incredibly sharp teeth as it lunged to take a bite out of Tang Dan.
Just as Tang Dan was about to lose his life, Tang Yongjun, who was standing nearby, kicked the Corpse Dog with all his might, saving him in the nick of time.
Hearing the scream, Xu Shanbao looked over from a short distance away and cried out in astonishment, "Isn't that Dahuang, the dog the workers used to feed? How is it alive?"
It was common for construction sites to keep a dog or two, and Tang Dan's was no exception. After the crows had pecked the dog to death, the workers had buried it in the nearby woods.
When Chen Dong had asked if there were any other bodies that needed to be handled, Xu Shanbao, the only one who knew about the dog, had been on the phone. Thus, the dog's corpse had been forgotten.
Dahuang, sent flying by the kick, charged at the group once more. One of the workers who had just returned, perhaps hoping to redeem himself in front of Tang Dan, rushed forward with a sledgehammer.
The hammer swung wide. The Corpse Dog, now alert, moved with incredible speed, juking to the side to dodge the blow. It then lunged forward and tackled the worker. Tang Yongjun rushed to help again, but perhaps learning from its first failure, the Corpse Dog didn't hesitate this time and tore out the worker's throat.
Staring at the ferocious Corpse Dog, Xu Shanbao stumbled backward, screaming in panic, "Reanimation! It's really reanimated! They buried Dahuang, I saw them! It climbed right out of the ground!"
Another petrified worker stammered, "If Dahuang's reanimated, then Big Black must be too!"
That's right. The construction site had kept two dogs.
Just then, a black shadow tackled the worker who had just spoken.
They whipped their heads around to see a black-furred Corpse Dog already devouring the worker's body. It had killed him with a single strike—the man hadn't even had time to scream.
These Corpse Dogs were too fast. Even a prepared person couldn't possibly keep up with their speed.
Tang Dan had left in a hurry this time, and since he was only heading to the construction site, he hadn't brought any bodyguards. In that moment, the four remaining survivors were gripped by absolute terror.
The two Corpse Dogs took a few more bites from the workers' bodies, as if just sampling the flesh, before turning their attention back to the four survivors.
Tang Yongjun grabbed a crowbar from nearby and positioned himself in front of the others. "President Tang, get to the car!"
At his words, the group started moving toward the SUV, but the two Corpse Dogs seemed to anticipate their intent, darting ahead to block the path to the vehicle.
That path was blocked, so their only other option was the workers' dormitory. But just as they turned, the Big Black Corpse Dog raced to cut off their path to the dorms as well.
With Dahuang by the car and Big Black by the dorms, they chose the closer escape route. Tang Yongjun tightened his grip on the crowbar. "I'll hold this one off! You guys get in the car, fast!"
With that, he charged head-on at Dahuang with the crowbar. Dahuang bared its fangs and lunged, snapping its jaws at Tang Yongjun. Seizing the opportunity, Big Black launched a surprise attack on the worker lagging at the rear.
Tang Yongjun thrust the crowbar out horizontally to block the vicious attack, but the Corpse Dog's strength was far beyond his imagination. He was thrown to the ground, struggling desperately to keep the beast at bay. Seeing this, Tang Dan abandoned the idea of getting into the car. He snatched up the sledgehammer the first worker had dropped and brought it down hard on the Corpse Dog.
Dahuang was sent flying, half of its head caved in from the blow. But to Tang Dan's horror, the Corpse Dog, despite missing half its head, still managed to climb back to its feet.
Tang Dan hauled the fallen Tang Yongjun to his feet, and the two prepared to take refuge in the vehicle. Tang Dan's SUV had been custom-modified with full bulletproof armor; if they could just get inside, they would be completely safe.
But when Tang Dan yanked on the door handle, he found it locked. Inside, a panicked Xu Shanbao was frantically shaking his head.
In the next moment, Big Black mauled the last worker to death. Now both dogs closed in on them.
Tang Dan was both furious and terrified. "Xu Shanbao, open the door!"
Xu Shanbao just kept shaking his head, his eyes wild with panic. "No! I'll be killed! I won't open it! I won't!"
Tang Yongjun was livid. 'We survived all that, just to die because of this idiot?' He slammed the crowbar against the window, but the heavily armored SUV was too secure. Even the glass remained unscratched under the heavy blows.
Dahuang, with half its head missing, staggered a few steps as if reorienting itself, then bared its fangs and closed in again.
Seeing the Corpse Dogs closing in, Tang Yongjun gave up on the window and once again stood protectively in front of Tang Dan, crowbar at the ready.
The two Corpse Dogs pounced simultaneously. Tang Yongjun swung the crowbar with every ounce of his strength in a wild frenzy. His desperate, furious assault was surprisingly effective, actually forcing the Corpse Dogs back from their initial charge.
Tang Dan hammered on the car door. "One billion! Xu Shanbao, just open the door! I'll give you one billion when we get back!"
The power of money was enough to steady Xu Shanbao's nerves. "President Tang, are you serious? You won't blame me for this when we get back?"
"As long as Yongjun and I get out of this alive, I won't blame you!"
Xu Shanbao hesitated, his hand moving toward the lock. But then he glanced out the window in terror, immediately threw his arms over his head, and dove down below the seats.
Tang Dan sensed the shift in his expression and whipped his head around. The color drained from his face, leaving it deathly pale.
The first two workers who had been killed were now, impossibly, staggering back to their feet!