Evil As Humans, page 120
The blade of the Evil Fruit was clasped in the palm of his hand as Zhong Chengshuo passed through the evil things, like he was passing through ancient times.
…As if he were a phantom.
At the end of the second carriage, there was a huge calendar of the God of Wealth.
On the paper painting, the Gold of Wealth had a round face with big earlobes and a beaming smile. However, his eyeballs had been gouged out and painted over with a red pen.
The days on the wall calendar were crossed out one by one in red ink, stopping on a certain day twenty-eight years ago.
Above the wall calendar, the red light from the LED screen condensed into a line, passing through the thick fog and reflecting on Zhong Chengshuo’s glasses.
[I don’t want to disappear. I don’t want to disappear. I don’t want to disappear. I don’t want to disappear…]
Blood-red spots of light circulated in the fog.
Zhong Chengshuo cast a quick glance at the electronic screen but did not linger for more than a half-second. He put on a loose sweater and passed through the weird wall calendar as if it wasn’t even there.
As soon as he entered the third carriage, a few arrows shot out from the fog. Zhong Chengshuo had been prepared. His attack flashed like light wind as he twirled his feet.
The dial on Zhong Chengshuo’s wrist emitted a long and uninterrupted shrill noise. The metal shell behind the dial was as hot as soldering iron. During the long-term strange noise, a wisp of green smoke appeared from the electronic watch, then the red dial went out and turned into a deep black.
He finally arrived.
Zhong Chengshuo removed his glasses and placed them in a strong pocket bag. His too-long bangs were disturbed by the frame as it glided across the ends of his eyes.
Immediately afterwards, he tore off the button of his cuff and threw it into the depths of the thick fog.
Three seconds after the little thing stopped, there was a muffled “puff” sound, followed by a violent shake in the air. The fog in the carriage was twisted into pieces, sucked into the button, and disappeared with a quick spin.
When the fog disappeared, the Yin Ren-like smell became extremely thick, almost condensing into a strong stench. It was several grades more irritating than the smell of corpses. Zhong Chengshuo almost burst into tears when he sniffed it.
…The “thing behind the scenes” was nearby.
At this moment, Zhong Chengshuo could see clearly.
The interior of the carriage was covered with dense yellow symbols. They were organized in an orderly manner, one by one, and the edges were arranged neatly, leaving only the windows. Zhong Chengshuo glanced at the lines of the symbols—the lines had obvious characteristics, and most of these charms were used to “diffuse” corruption.
There were between thirty to forty people sitting in the carriage.
Most of them were middle-aged men and women, mixed with a few sturdy old people, but there were no young faces.
The fog had dissipated, revealing their hateful eyes on their almost dull, pale faces. Their bodies trembled lightly, and there were water vapors floating around their mouths and noses, as if they were sitting in a cold environment.
Kitchen knives, shovels, wrenches… All kinds of weapons were scattered on the floor. At this moment, everyone was holding a homemade crossbow in their hands. The tips of the arrow loaded in the crossbow emitted a faint sweet smell, which was probably a homemade poison.
Finding that Zhong Chengshuo wasn’t shot down, they turned their heads sideways at the same time and stared straight at the uninvited guest.
In addition to this group of “innocent people”, there were four mummified corpses standing in the carriage.
They blocked the long aisle—two in front and two behind. Their faces were submerged by layers of yellow talismans. The skinny skeleton barely propped up the large cloth gown, which was stained with a dark yellow liquid of unknown origin. Whether it was the body shape or the claws with sharp nails, these zombies were exactly the same as Lao Jiang from the ghost market pawnshop.
The zombies curled up, making hoarse noises in their throats.
The mental outlook of these enemies was far from that of Lao Jiang, Zhong Chengshuo thought regretfully.
He stepped on the “weapon carpet” with one foot.
The entire carriage seemed to be activated at this moment. Everyone in the carriage suddenly got up. There were dozens of crossbows firing arrows at him this time. Zhong Chengshuo leaned down on one side, bit the Evil Fruit, raised two rectangular kitchen knives with his toe, and held them with both hands.
Clang, clang, clang, clang.
The majority of the poisonous arrows missed, and the rest were all blocked by the kitchen knives. Not a single scratch was made on this person’s oily skin. In the next instant, two kitchen knives were thrown out in a spinning motion, passing by a living person and hitting right between the eyes of the two zombies.
Two knives were embedded horizontally into the zombie’s head, cutting nearly half a head deep.
The corners of Zhong Chengshuo’s lips curled.
Countless incorporeal evil things gathered around him long ago. Numerous severed hands tried to grab Zhong Chengshuo’s feet as a giant bloody mouth descended from above, attempting to bite off his head. Wet and slimy tentacles emerged from the ground, overwhelmingly covering Zhong Chengshuo.
The severe hands caught nothing. the mouth above bit into air, and the tentacles almost got tangled in each other.
The strongest one just managed to corrode Zhong Chengshuo’s clothes, exposing half of his shoulders and arms, revealing the unscathed skin underneath.
Curses, collisions, and corruption were all invalid attacks. The position of evil things in relation to mortals appeared to be completely reversed.
All but for a few seconds.
Seeing that the situation wasn’t good, the living people switched out their crossbows. They replaced them with the “short-ranged weapons” on the ground and swarmed up.
They acted disorderly, trying to suppress Zhong Chengshuo with their own bodies. However, since their target threw the kitchen knives, his movements hadn’t stopped at all.
Zhong Chengshuo stepped on one end of a rake, lowered his body, and cocked the rod directly into the person behind him, knocking them out. He crouched down and performed a roundhouse kick, knocking over two people in front of him. Zhong Chengshuo then grabbed their heads and slammed them together, causing their eyes to roll back.
As soon as his body fell, there were three fewer enemies.
When he stood up, Zhong Chengshuo bit the Evil Fruit and grabbed a nearby steel pipe. He used it to block an old man who was attacking him from behind with a meat cleaver. Zhong Chengshuo hooked his arm around the old man’s shoulder, and then used the momentum to jump up and kick a man and woman who were trying to hit him with shovels, sending them flying away.
Before the old man could react, the steel pipe hit his chin, causing him to fall back and hit his head on a seat, rendering him unconscious.
People continued to pour in.
Their goal was like a high-precision instrument, and their movements were as smooth as if they were filming. Although the space was narrow, the people used the most difficult encirclement method. However, that person was like a breeze and was impossible to catch.
Zhong Chengshuo advanced firmly in the front line as murder weapons danced around the carriage full of astral winds that caused the yellow talismans to flutter.
From a third person’s perspective, he advanced at a much slower pace than the first two carriages but still maintained a terrifyingly uniform speed.
One step, then another, then another.
With a roar, the two zombies with kitchen knives embedded in them crossed the unconscious townspeople and rushed towards Zhong Chengshuo. The sounds of chains rattling lightly sounded as the Evil Fruit flew out in a red arc along the chain—
Cling, cling. Two solitary kitchen knives fell to the ground.
The next moment, a pair of sneakers stepped on them.
…Finally, with a slashing motion, the last townsperson fell.
Zhong Chengshuo stopped beside a pole-shaped handrail. His expression became more vigilant.
Sure enough, the spirit weapon hidden in the corner was activated at the same time. Countless metal wires soaked in lethal poison twisted around the unconscious bodies as they approached Zhong Chengshuo. At the same time, a concealed machine gun on the top of the carriage was activated and fired at Zhong Chengshuo’s head.
King Yama swung the Evil Fruit attached to a chain and countless metal wires broke in response. It seemed he had eyes on the back of his head. With a neat twist, Zhong Chengshuo circled the thick metal pole in the middle of the carriage. All the bullets fired by the machine gun hit the metal pole.
He didn’t give them more time as he threw out the Evil Fruit quickly, destroying the organs of the spirit weapon—after learning about the arrangement of the spirit weapons here, even those that had not had time to activate were calculated by him.
Time and again, a bright red brilliance cut through the space.
The Evil Fruit returned to Zhong Chengshuo’s hands, leaving behind only four “people” who were still awake in the entire carriage.
Except for Zhong Chengshuo, two zombies were still standing quietly in the back row, as if they were background decorations for the carriage. At the back of the carriage was a thin figure wrapped in a blanket who appeared to be an elderly man.
The old man sat among all kinds of weapons. Compared with those sturdy townspeople, he looked extremely weak, and the space around him seemed wider.
The LED screen above his head was still scrolling red letters.
[I don’t want to disappear. I don’t want to disappear. I don’t want to disappear. I don’t want to disappear…]
Under the old man’s dirty red blanket, something gray and visceral leaked out. It shivered, then retracted, and a foul stench emanated from the blanket.
Yin Ren’s translucent wings were soft and beautiful, with the smell that Zhong Chengshuo liked. Under the old man’s blanket, the abnormal limb appeared to be stillborn, decomposing, and necrotic.
Zhong Chengshuo’s hands once again only held the Evil Fruit.
He stopped a few steps away from the old man and lowered his gaze.
…He speculated that this was a replica of Yin Ren, or rather, an imitation of the Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi. Since the “evil thing behind the scenes” was based on a living human, it probably had a physical form.
But he never thought that the “evil thing behind the scenes” was still alive.
The old man-like thing was breathing. He could even hear its rapid, human-like heartbeat. Unlike the weird madness that Zhong Chengshuo imagined, that thing looked old, thin, and confused.
The townspeople scattered in all directions, and all that remained was silence, save for the rumbling sound of the circular train moving forward.
“Look up,” Zhong Chengshuo said softly.
The evil thing understood human language and subconsciously raised its head, revealing a human face.
Zhong Chengshuo was slightly startled.
“You guys… go back…”
The face was filled with sticky, muddy tears.
“Must… all go back… I don’t welcome you… Ahhhhhh…”
Its face twitched with an expression of pain, and its mouth couldn’t stop raving.
“Go back. Go back… die… die… let me… stay quiet…”
Zhong Chengshuo silently stood in the ruins of the murder weapon.
He had been in control of the battle initiative all along, but he couldn’t claim to have emerged unscathed—his clothes were mostly corroded and were full of holes and tattered edges. Purple and blue bruises were visible through the tears, and blood was oozing from his wounds, mixing with the dirt on his skin.
Fresh soil was smeared on the shovels beside him, and the cleavers had obvious scratch marks on them. They trembled and stirred in the pile of lethal weapons, as if eager to be used again.
Even if the Evil Fruit had cut through most of the space, Zhong Chengshuo could guess that there were still powerful intangible evil things left. They still hadn’t given up and were trying their best to attack.
The night was long and fraught with dreams. He knew what he should do.
The body of the “evil thing behind the scenes” wasn’t strong. Its sense of oppression was far inferior to Yin Ren’s. He could quickly take samples, and then destroy all the evil things here. Then came the investigation and analysis, which was what he did best.
Shian had withdrawn in time. Even if he didn’t deal with this evil thing, Sunken Society would transfer it away afterwards and even destroy the corpse.
This was his only chance to get in touch with the “imitation”, and there was no problem with his plan.
Zhong Chengshuo cracked his knuckles and moved the Evil Fruit to his left hand. He made an improvised knife from the surroundings and pasted several talismans on it, creating a crackling sound.
However, the sharp knife hung in the air for a long time, but it didn’t fall.
The thing that looked like an old man stared at Zhong Chengshuo. Perhaps it was because they were too far away, but the thing didn’t recall Yellow Millet or Snake Swallowing, nor did it beg for mercy. It just watched Zhong Chengshuo sadly.
…The same kind as Yin Ren.
“King Yama”, who had always been resolute, was a little disturbed.
Perhaps it was the smell that reminded him of Yin Ren that numbed him.
Perhaps it was because the other party’s breathing and heartbeat were too close to a living person.
In the carriage that was wrapped with yellow talismans, Zhong Chengshuo was expressionless as his makeshift knife dangled frozen in the air.
The evil thing raised its wrinkled face, a little more puzzled in despair.
“Order Snake Swallowing and Yellow Millet to keep everyone alive, but don’t let them go for now.” Zhong Chengshuo stared at those human eyes, trying to suppress the strange emotions in his heart.
“What do you want to… do…”
Zhong Chengshuo lowered the makeshift knife, tilted his head, and thought for a while. “Let you live for about half an hour longer?”
The evil thing made a series of rapid breathing sounds; he didn’t know whether he was crying or laughing.
“Slowly studying is fine, but I’m very curious this time.” Zhong Chengshuo played with the Evil Fruit as he spoke. “I know you… How did you become like this? What is your current condition? You…”
Zhong Chengshuo paused as he digested his question for a while.
“Are you in pain?”
With his back to the unconscious people on the floor and small wounds all over his body, Zhong Chengshuo asked this question solemnly.
“……”
The living, evil thing didn’t answer immediately.
It took a short breath and slowly exhaled. The expression on the old man’s face was frozen, as if trying to understand his words.
“I… don’t know… for hundreds of years… I have been… here…” Its eyes were dilated, and muddy tears continued to flow. “I just… don’t want… to disappear…”
Zhong Chengshuo looked down at the “person” in front of him in amazement.
He thought for a few seconds, then slowly squatted down in front of the evil thing, looking directly into its eyes.
“You…”
Zhong Chengshuo frowned slightly.
“Do you remember your name?”
“I’m more… No… I don’t remember… too much… No, no, I’m human…. My name is…”
The evil thing coughed painfully, exposing some necrotic intestine-like limbs under the dirty red blanket that was covered with dust.
This time, Zhong Chengshuo was silent for a while.
“So that’s it. I understand,” he said softly. “No wonder they chose you… It’s a pity that you and him are still different.”
“I’ll give you half an hour.”
Zhong Chengshuo picked up the skinny old man with one hand and put him on a plastic seat. He ignored the two zombies who were still standing in the corner and sat beside the old man.
“Let’s talk about ‘the will of Gengsheng Town’.”
……
Time reversed ten minutes ago.
Fu Xingchuan was shot by a poisonous arrow, and his defenses fell. Yellow Millet and Snake Swallowing were coming from above and below, intending to collide with the eight people that were floating in the air.
Yin Ren’s eyes shone with a faint red light, and everything around him seemed to move in slow motion.
Xiang Hai’s hemp-rope net came over. Li Nian immediately threw the green willow whip, tied himself, Ren Jiying, and Qi Xin together, and locked the handle of the whip onto Xiang Jiang. Several science posts were bound by the wicker, and they didn’t slip through the hemp rope net.
Ge Tingting subconsciously stretched out her hand, wanting to summon bones to serve as a shield. Huang Jin hugged his spirit weapon bag tightly as he cowered his head and closed his eyes. Fu Xingchuan was struggling to cast a spell. Yin Ren could recognize that it was a strong protective spell.
The huge eyeball and the hideous snake mouth were getting closer.
If this was just a protective technique, the battle would only continue to prolong.
Yin Ren closed his eyes.
He put his hand behind his back to cast a different spell at an inhuman speed.
At the same moment that Fu Xingchuan’s protection spell was activated, Yin Ren’s left hand also completed a spell. The air suddenly shook, and in less than a heartbeat, the violent impact stunned seven people physically.
Immediately, his right hand followed.
Yin Ren straightened his right arm and rushed straight at Yellow Millet’s huge pupil that was close at hand.
“Idiot, after being controlled by someone for a few days, you don’t even recognize your old master?”
In the dense fog, a red light appeared.
