After changing his clothes and washing off the sticky substances from his face, Zheng Fan followed Feng Siniang back.
They entered the inn from the rear and walked into the courtyard, where Blind Bei was already waiting. Beside Blind Bei stood the diminutive Xue Three, who seemed to have just returned from a thieving excursion.
Blind Bei said seriously to Zheng Fan, "My Lord, regarding that ’tongue,’ we must ask you to conduct the interrogation."
Xue Three added from the side, "My Lord, that fellow most likely isn’t a tough one. If he proves a bit stubborn, San’er here has plenty of methods."
Xue Three seemed somewhat impatient, perhaps too eager from not having tortured anyone for a long time.
"Er... you should do the interrogation. I’ll just wait for the results," Zheng Fan demurred.
He truly had no experience in this area, and with so much to handle tonight, everyone’s time was limited. Even if he wanted to learn, there was no rush to do it today.
Receiving the anticipated reply, Blind Bei still bowed respectfully and responded, "In that case, I will report to you, My Lord, once I have summarized and organized all the information."
"Mm, good. You’ve worked hard."
"My Lord, you are too kind. This is merely my duty." Then, Blind Bei turned to Siniang and said, "Siniang, please help organize and transcribe the documents Xue Three brought back."
Feng Siniang nodded. "Understood."
Blind Bei turned and left, with Xue Three following him.
Siniang prepared to transcribe the documents stolen from the government office, but before starting, she thoughtfully asked Zheng Fan, "My Lord, should I instruct Yun’er to prepare your bathwater now?"
Having witnessed murder for the first time, having seen a man’s intestines spilled across the ground, Zheng Fan felt he genuinely needed to relax. So, he readily agreed to Siniang’s suggestion.
When he returned to his room, he found the large bathtub already prepared. Yun’er was still carrying water from the back kitchen, bucket by bucket. Seeing Zheng Fan enter, she proactively came over to help him undress. Zheng Fan didn’t refuse and, once unclothed, stepped into the bathtub.
Instantly, the physical comfort began to dispel the weariness in his heart. Yun’er took a soft brush and started scrubbing Zheng Fan’s back, the pressure perfectly applied. Zheng Fan closed his eyes, silently enjoying the sensation.
Truthfully, tonight’s events were a first in his life, but he was merely flustered, not terrified. The guard had died before his eyes, his blood drained by A Ming. As for the young nobleman, after they extracted the ’worldview’—vital information—from him, his body would be utterly destroyed, leaving no trace. Yet, Zheng Fan felt little guilt.
Morality, right or wrong—in this world, such concepts had lost their meaning. When he and Feng Siniang had earlier pretended to be master and servant, walking on the streets at night, devoid of streetlights and the dense network of surveillance cameras found in modern society, an innate wickedness and desire for unrestrained freedom inevitably began to stir within him.
Or perhaps, this was my true nature?
He even thought that such behavior, such choices, such a modus operandi, was what truly suited him.
Yun’er finished scrubbing his back and was about to move to his front. Zheng Fan waved his hand, signaling that she could leave. After Yun’er departed, Zheng Fan submerged himself further into the tub, leaving only his nose above the water to breathe.
Gradually, he fell asleep.
In a room two doors down from Zheng Fan’s, Liang Cheng pushed open the lid of a coffin—wider at the head and narrower at the foot—and placed A Ming inside. A Ming’s chest was bandaged, resembling a mummy stuffed with spices.
After settling him in, Liang Cheng, one hand clutching his chest and the other propped on the coffin’s edge, asked, "Does lying in this thing enhance your recovery?"
A Ming shook his head but answered earnestly, "But life requires a sense of ceremony."
The corner of Liang Cheng’s mouth twitched. "I always thought that as a Zombie, you too would understand this sense of ceremony we have."
Vampires liked sleeping in coffins; Zombies, it seemed, also favored them.
"No, I prefer sleeping in beds."
"This is such a betrayal of your roots, forgetting your origins," A Ming said teasingly. "Actually, I rarely slept in coffins in the past. But after coming to this world and making some money from brewing wine, I had this one custom-made."
"I’m afraid that if I act like an ordinary person for too long, I’ll genuinely start to believe I am one."
"You’re not an ordinary person now," Liang Cheng said, his eyes narrowing.
"Haha, if Blind Bei and Siniang weren’t swamped with urgent matters, they’d probably be impatiently gathered around my coffin by now."
"Everyone has been repressed for too long," Liang Cheng sighed. "In the past, there was no hope, so we could suppress it. Now that hope is visible, it’s certainly difficult to continue enduring."
"Actually, I’d rather not answer you right now. Because if I do, I’ll have to repeat it all for them later. I’m injured, seriously injured, and I need to rest."
"I could let out a bit more of your blood, let you sleep eternally."
"That’s going too far."
"It’s what you deserve."
"Alright, fine. Actually, I think the partial recovery of my strength is inextricably linked to My Lord. Otherwise, the past six months of stagnation would be inexplicable."
"What have you and My Lord... done in private?"
"That sounds a bit disgusting."
"Could it be that you did something... disgusting?"
"......." A Ming was speechless.
"I’ve talked with him."
"We’ve all talked with him."
"I’ve had a serious conversation with him."
"Truth be told, he’s quite useless."
"But we won’t abandon him."
"Perhaps the only difference between you all and me is that I told him we wouldn’t abandon him."
"Now it’s your turn to be disgusting."
"No, it’s not like that."
"By process of elimination, it must be due to being moved and his recognition."
"Aren’t you curious? Why was it the seven of us who came to this world with him? We seven, though distinct individuals, are, in reality, all characters he created."
"From the moment we awakened, it seems all seven of us shared a common understanding in our hearts: he is Our Lord."
"The term ’My Lord’ was coined by Blind Bei."
"The title is merely an extension of that feeling. It’s not like we can call him... ’Dad,’ as that oaf Fanli suggested, can we?"
"Actually, our relationship with him is somewhat akin to that between a knight and his squire in the medieval West."
"His awakening means that the inherent contractual bond of our existence has been activated."
"And what we must do now is obtain recognition from him."
"I understand." Liang Cheng stood up, preparing to leave the room.
"What are you going to do?"
"I’m going to see My Lord."
"My Lord is bathing right now. Are you planning to scrub his back?"
"I’ll wait for him to finish."
"So impatient, hehe."
"You’re satisfied, so of course you’re not anxious."
"Help me put the coffin lid on. I’m going to rest."
"Should I nail it shut while I’m at it?"
Zheng Fan figured he had slept for over three hours. During that time, Yun’er had quietly come in to add hot water to the bathtub.
Upon waking, Zheng Fan coughed, feeling a bit lightheaded. He stepped out of the bathtub, changed into a clean white undershirt, and then put on his sweatshirt and leather boots. He felt an indescribable sense of ease. It seemed the most obvious change in him since arriving in this world was that he could sleep much more soundly.
However, just as Zheng Fan, intending to visit the latrine to answer nature’s call, pushed open his door, he was startled. Liang Cheng, his face pale, stood ramrod straight right outside his door.
People can scare people to death, let alone when the one before you is a genuine Zombie.
"I..." A curse caught in his throat, unable to be uttered or swallowed.
"Your wound... is it alright?" Zheng Fan asked after composing himself.
"It’s nothing, My Lord." Liang Cheng unwrapped the bandage, revealing the wound. The bleeding seemed to have stopped; the wound itself was black.
"That’s good. Um, are you planning to take a bath? Do you need the bathtub?"
"Oh. Then, is the interrogation over?"
"Er... then, what is it?"
Liang Cheng fell silent. A Ming’s words still echoed in his ears, but how to actually say what he needed to, he suddenly found himself at a loss.
"Is something wrong?" Zheng Fan asked again.
Liang Cheng opened his mouth slightly. Zheng Fan was getting a bit anxious but maintained his patience, placing a hand on Liang Cheng’s shoulder. "If something’s wrong, you can tell me. I know I might not be able to do much, but I can at least listen."
Liang Cheng looked down at the hand on his shoulder. Then, as if guided by some unseen force, he also reached out and placed his hand on Zheng Fan’s shoulder.
"......." Zheng Fan was speechless.
Under the night sky, at the doorway of the room containing the bathtub, two men stood, each with an arm draped over the other’s shoulder. This scene reminded Zheng Fan of the works of his peers from his past, those who had ventured into a different artistic style. Zheng Fan wasn’t a fan of that particular genre, but he couldn’t deny its massive fanbase and influence.
But when this scene involved him personally, the discomfort was palpable, as if countless ants were crawling all over him.
"My Lord, next time, if something happens, please don’t rush to the front."
"To put it bluntly, we ourselves know that we don’t even count as human. If we’re gone, we’re gone. But you, My Lord, are different."
"That... sounds a bit too formal."
"In any case, what happened this time won’t happen again. Next time, we won’t allow My Lord to be put in a dangerous situation, unless... unless we are all dead."
Ugh, in the middle of the night, suddenly saying something so heartfelt... Zheng Fan felt goosebumps rise, and the urgency of his biological need grew even stronger.
But Zheng Fan still nodded earnestly and said, "I understand. And I trust you all." As he spoke, he gave Liang Cheng’s shoulder another firm pat.
Hiss... I can’t hold it any longer.
"I’m going to the front to see how their interrogation is going." With that, Zheng Fan hurried into the courtyard.
Liang Cheng, still standing by the door, closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Recalling his own behavior and words just now, the memory was so mortifying it made him want to fly into a rage! He was a Zombie, a Zombie, a Zombie!!! If an irrelevant bystander had been present, Liang Cheng might very well have unleashed his fury and torn them to shreds!
But in the next moment, Liang Cheng suddenly froze. He looked down again in astonishment. He saw, at the site of the wound on his chest, a wisp of black Zombie qi beginning to seep out!