Blind Bei had invested considerable effort into the design of Green Willow Fortress. However, its defensive capabilities weren’t his utmost priority, as he never envisioned a day he’d be forced to defend it while awaiting reinforcements. He reasoned that, not only was it unlikely for Qian State to launch an offensive, but even if enemy forces did attack and prove too strong, he could simply flee with his subordinates and belongings.
Nevertheless, Blind Bei had meticulously planned the finer details, including this secret tunnel. He had informed Zheng Fan about it and had even personally guided him through it once.
The room above the tunnel had originally belonged to A Ming. However, when Blind Bei departed for Qian State, he had A Ming exchange rooms with Shatuo Queshi. This led to the blunder where Zheng Fan, upon his return, walked into the wrong room and inadvertently spoke his "inner thoughts" aloud.
Later, Blind Bei explained his reasoning to Zheng Fan: firstly, Shatuo Queshi’s coffin could serve to secure the vital entrance to the secret passage. Secondly, it would provide Shatuo Queshi a convenient means of exit, should the need arise.
Shatuo Queshi’s dramatic entrance—appearing as if "Lin Daiyu had fallen from the heavens"—had left an indelible impression on Blind Bei, who was, at that time, in Mei Village coordinating a Yue Opera performance with Xue Three.
According to Blind Bei, if a day ever came when they had to place their hopes on Shatuo Queshi—whether he could awaken or not—they first had to assume the best-case scenario: that he would awaken and be willing to help Zheng Fan, and by extension, their side. And if so, they certainly needed to provide him an easy way out, wouldn’t they?
Generally, after transforming into a Zombie, a person’s cognitive functions would become somewhat sluggish.
It would be rather problematic if Shatuo Queshi, upon awakening and wishing to help, first had to smash through a wall...
Consequently, Shatuo Queshi’s room featured not only the secret passage beneath it but also a spacious ventilation shaft above, which connected to the kitchen chimney of Green Willow Fortress.
This design ensured that if Shatuo Queshi were to ever awaken, he could exit swiftly, whether from above or below, without needing to demolish anything first.
Zheng Fan had lured Mr. Chen here with a specific purpose: to use one formidable power to suppress another—the one that was on the verge of crushing him, Blind Bei, and Xue Three.
However, Zheng Fan had no certainty whether Shatuo Queshi would "awaken," whether he would intervene, or even if he could sense the current predicament.
After all, Shatuo Queshi wasn’t his godfather. The man was already deceased, transformed into a Zombie. There was no knowing if he would still be like his former self—willing to smash Hui Wenzu’s carriage for a few meals or cooperate in the charade of "rescuing" the Sixth Prince.
But this was, genuinely, the only option available. Mr. Chen might be eccentric, but he was no fool.
Zheng Fan was convinced that if he tried to deceive Mr. Chen into going to Nanwang City, Mr. Chen would undoubtedly cut him down with a single sword stroke first.
Indeed, even as he instructed Mr. Chen to plant the willow branch above the secret passage’s exit, Zheng Fan had no idea if Shatuo Queshi was actually below. When Zheng Fan cried out, "...Please accept this!" he was, in truth, mentally braced for the likelihood of being cut down should his gamble fail.
But when a roar erupted from below the instant his voice faded, Zheng Fan knew he had won his gamble.
A current of warmth instantly surged through Zheng Fan’s heart. How many people in this world, even counting spouses and parents, would willingly protect you even after their own death? ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✶𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✶𝓷𝓮𝓽
This sense of profound gratitude, however, was short-lived, shattered by the arrival of Mr. Chen’s sword.
Mr. Chen’s sword was fast—incredibly so. He had previously warned Zheng Fan that regardless of any schemes, he could take Zheng Fan’s head in an instant.
He undeniably possessed both the qualification and the ability to back up such a claim.
However, just as his sword was about to pierce Zheng Fan, a potent, malevolent aura erupted from beneath the ground where Mr. Chen stood.
While Mr. Chen’s sword could undoubtedly kill Zheng Fan, he himself, left defenseless, would be torn to shreds by the entity below in the very next instant.
This wasn’t cowardice. For a man like Mr. Chen, who remained composed even after losing a leg, cowardice was an alien concept.
He simply felt he could not die yet, for he clung to the hope—perhaps an illusion—that Xiao Hua and the others were still waiting for him to rescue them.
Therefore, Mr. Chen retracted his sword and retreated.
When Mr. Chen finally halted his retreat, having moved back more than thirty meters, he discovered a deep pit had appeared where he had just been standing beside the carriage.
Beside the pit stood a middle-aged man clad in an animal-hide robe.
The man possessed a large, imposing physique. His eyes were particularly striking—pure, swirling black voids—and a dense, malevolent aura emanated from him, permeating the air.
Leaning back in the carriage, Zheng Fan, having just narrowly escaped death, gazed at the back of Shatuo Queshi standing before him, a whirlwind of emotions churning within him.
If only Shatuo Queshi were still that same scruffy man, more punctual than any dog at mealtimes, eagerly awaiting his food.
But some things, he knew deep down, were irrevocably lost. The Shatuo Queshi transformed into a Zombie was no longer, in the strictest sense, Shatuo Queshi himself. He was more akin to a beast, albeit one retaining fragments of its former consciousness and thought patterns.
It wasn’t that there was absolutely no way for Shatuo Queshi to become a Zombie with self-awareness, capable of thought and inheriting his past memories. However, the difficulty of achieving such a state was truly immense.
The sole hope lay with Liang Cheng. If Liang Cheng could recover his full power as a Zombie Progenitor, he might be able to alter Shatuo Queshi’s zombie fate. But that hope was so very distant, so very distant indeed.