A thunderous roar echoed suddenly ahead, carrying with it faint sounds of a struggle. Liu Xiaojiang, alerted by the commotion, scrambled to his feet and dusted off the dirt from his tattered clothes. Ignoring his disheveled appearance, he began to approach the source of the sound cautiously. His purpose was clear—to search for the girl who had saved him years ago. Though his current condition was dire, his concern for his savior outweighed all else. She had tirelessly called out to him and ultimately pulled him from the abyss; there was no way he could abandon her to potential danger.
In the graveyard, a disheveled woman wielding a kitchen knife was dispatching the undead with the ease of slicing vegetables. Despite the onslaught of corpses clawing their way out of the ground, none posed a genuine threat to her. Nearby, in an open grave, a young man with a small braid at the back of his head sat trembling, hugging his knees, utterly overwhelmed.
"What... what the hell is going on?!" he stammered. "A crazy woman pretending to be someone's sister, hacking at corpses with a kitchen knife?!" He let out a hollow laugh, his voice tinged with hysteria. "This must be a dream. Yes, it has to be! The stress of school must have gotten to me…"
Muttering to himself, the young man hesitated before carefully standing, peeking over the edge of the grave to observe the chaos outside. But almost immediately, he sank back into his original position, his expression growing darker. "No, no… I'm still in my dorm, asleep. I never came home... This is all just some bizarre nightmare caused by stress…"
Yet, as though gripped by an inexplicable impulse, he suddenly leaped out of the grave, threw back his head, and shouted, "I won't be defeated! No matter how many hardships lie ahead, I'll face them with laughter! Ha ha! Wake up!"
The scene fell into stunned silence. The disheveled woman glanced at him with an expression of incredulity, as if looking at a fool. Even the surrounding corpses seemed momentarily bewildered, pausing their attack to stare at him in confusion, as though questioning why he was shouting like a lunatic.
Meanwhile, Liu Xiaojiang observed from behind a tree at the edge of the graveyard, his expression equally puzzled. Though he couldn't fathom the braid-wearing man's erratic behavior, he didn't dismiss him as a simple fool. Both the kitchen-knife-wielding woman and the shouting young man exuded an imperceptible glow, faint yet distinct in the dark.
In the eerie night, where corpses roamed ominously, these two individuals stood out—not merely as anomalies but as beings radiating a faint, inexplicable light. Had it been daylight, such a subtle glow might have escaped his notice, but against the backdrop of darkness, it was strikingly apparent.
Liu Xiaojiang also sensed a vague sense of threat emanating from the two. But then...
Gurgle… gurgle…
An intense emptiness gnawed at his stomach, compelling him to clutch his abdomen. A primal urge surged within him—a desire to devour both the disheveled woman and the braided man. This was not normal. How could one harbor such thoughts about their own kind?
Struggling to suppress the insatiable craving, Liu Xiaojiang's hand gripping the tree trunk unconsciously clenched into a fist. Crack… snap… The sturdy trunk, resistant to force, splintered as if it were paper. Staring at his hands in stunned bewilderment, he noticed his nails had turned black, and though his delicate hands appeared unscathed, their strength had shattered the wood effortlessly.
"I... am not human?"
The revelation struck him like a thunderbolt. As if to confirm this realization, the hunger within him intensified, transforming from a faint emptiness to a visceral, overpowering need.
Starving. Ravenous. I must eat!
Though he fought to suppress the monstrous urge, his bloodshot eyes and pallid skin betrayed the turmoil within. Escape seemed inevitable.
As the disheveled woman moved in his direction, perhaps by chance rather than intent, Liu Xiaojiang seized the opportunity to flee. Speeding through the forest with an agility far beyond human limits, he emerged from the woods in mere moments. His once fair complexion now bore a ghastly greenish hue, and his blood-red eyes glowed like embers of madness.
Though his appearance had become terrifying, his mind retained a sliver of rationality. He avoided roads and other humans, determined not to harm the innocent. Yet, he underestimated the primal force driving him. As the hunger consumed him, so too did his resolve begin to erode.
Desperate for a solution, Liu Xiaojiang turned toward a village near the graveyard. If he couldn't harm humans, perhaps other living creatures would suffice. Chickens, ducks, dogs—any livestock would quell the primal thirst for blood.
In the house of a villager known for raising chickens, the clucking of distressed fowl echoed through the night.
"Husband, do you hear something outside?" The woman nudged her drowsy spouse awake. "What's causing the chickens to cry out like that?"
The cries ceased abruptly, leaving only silence. The man listened briefly before turning over. "Probably a weasel. Go back to sleep."
"A weasel? Alright..."