It was as if a bomb had exploded in Dongfang Huaizhu's mind. The stench was so strong that she guessed there must be quite a few corpses outside, though she had no idea where they came from.
Instinctively, she rushed to the bedside and shook Dongfang Qinlan awake. "Wake up, Qinlan! Stop sleeping and wake up!"
Dongfang Huaizhu dared not make a sound. She could only whisper to Dongfang Qinlan, afraid that the things outside might hear the noise in the room. She was both anxious and scared.
"What's going on, sister?" Dongfang Qinlan rubbed her sleepy eyes. She had no idea what was happening, but seeing her sister's nervous face, she knew it wasn't good. She quickly scrambled out of bed.
Just as Dongfang Huaizhu was about to explain the situation outside to Dongfang Qinlan, there was a loud noise at the door. The door was kicked open. Her heart tightened. She thought the things outside had broken in and quickly turned around, ready to attack. But it was Mei Sanniang who rushed in in a hurry.
"Run!" Mei Sanniang didn't have time to say anything else. She just rushed into the room and dragged the two of them away. Dongfang Qinlan was completely at a loss.
"Don't say anything. Just follow me! It's very dangerous outside now!" Mei Sanniang shouted at them.
When they reached the door, there was still a strong stench of corpses. Dongfang Qinlan covered her nose, trying to hold back the nausea in her stomach.
Mei Sanniang looked around. Seeing no one, she led the two of them out quickly. They walked fast, went downstairs, and soon ran out of the inn.
Just when the three of them thought they had escaped the danger, an unexpected person appeared.
"Where are you three going?" A familiar and old voice rang in their ears. Completely different from his previous hunched back, he was now standing upright. He walked over slowly, looking completely confident.
"It's you! What do you want!" Dongfang Huaizhu was completely shocked by the innkeeper's appearance. She knew something was wrong. This was indeed an unusual inn.
The innkeeper on the other side completely ignored their questions. A slow and eerie smile spread across his face. Then he took a few steps back to keep a greater distance from them.
Suddenly, the three of them smelled an even stronger stench of corpses than inside the inn. Along with the strange noises Dongfang Huaizhu had heard before, before they could react, wave after wave of zombies rushed out of the inn. Dongfang Huaizhu finally understood why the innkeeper had taken a few steps back and his eerie smile.
A large number of zombies rushed out and quickly surrounded the three of them.
"Sister!"
"We have no grudges against you. Why are you trying to harm us?" Mei Sanniang shouted at the innkeeper who had already disappeared from their sight, but there was no response.
Dongfang Qinlan hadn't heard the strange noises before. She was startled by the sudden appearance of the large number of zombies. Looking at the zombies with hideous faces, tattered clothes, and greenish, decayed skin that had lost its original color, and the stench coming from the rotting parts, she couldn't help but feel nauseous.
"Be careful!" Mei Sanniang saw the zombies lunging at them one by one. She warned the two of them sharply, drew her sword, and rushed into the zombie horde. She killed one zombie with each strike, her movements were swift and decisive.
The zombies fell one by one, but upon closer inspection, it could be seen that although the zombies were injured by the sword and fell for a few seconds, they would then get up stiffly as if all their bones had been broken.
A fast - moving zombie opened its mouth and lunged at Dongfang Huaizhu. Dongfang Huaizhu drew out the flute from her waist and shot out a burst of divine fire, surrounding the zombie completely. The zombie still stubbornly lunged at Dongfang Huaizhu, and she quickly dodged to one side.
Dongfang Qinlan's situation was not optimistic either. The divine fire was not very effective against the cold and hard - bodied zombies. It didn't have its usual power. These zombies had no thoughts and only blindly attacked the enemy.
For a moment, the scene was in chaos. The zombies that were on fire or injured by the sword were moving grotesquely as if their bones were about to break. The scene was in a complete mess. The three of them were surrounded tightly by the zombies, and they didn't know what to do as the number of zombies didn't seem to decrease.
"Get out of the way! Disgusting things!" Mei Sanniang kicked a zombie that lunged at her and shouted loudly.
The zombie's neck twisted into an angle that a normal person could never reach. It lunged at Mei Sanniang while emitting a strong stench of corpses. Naturally, it was disgusting for Mei Sanniang, who was not good at fighting.
The zombie that lunged at Mei Sanniang opened its mouth wide, grabbed Mei Sanniang's leg, and its long and sharp nails were about to dig into her flesh.
"Get away!" Mei Sanniang felt a chill in her heart. Dongfang Huaizhu stepped in to save her and stabbed the zombie away with her sword.
Dongfang Qinlan looked up and saw the approaching zombie horde. She felt a sense of unwillingness in her heart. Why were these zombies so slow to react to the divine fire?
"Don't struggle in vain. These zombies have been carefully trained by me. How could you three little girls defeat them so easily!"
The zombies slowly stopped their movements and actually moved to the side, making way for someone.
"Why do you want to harm us for no reason? We were just resting here. We should have nothing to do with each other." Dongfang Huaizhu knew they couldn't win, so she asked the innkeeper with a glimmer of hope, hoping that he still had a shred of humanity.
"Who's any different? Haha! I need all humans!" The innkeeper laughed arrogantly, almost like a madman.
"Humph! Shameless old man! Do you know who I am? I'm a young lady of the Dongfang family. If my father finds out that you've framed us today, he'll surely make you pay with your life!" Dongfang Qinlan interrupted him, fearless and holding her head high.
"Enough of your nonsense!" The innkeeper didn't want to pay attention to Dongfang Qinlan. He snapped his fingers at the zombie horde, and several zombies came forward with ropes to tie them up.
The zombies smelled of corpses, and their movements were far from skillful. They were very strange.
Mei Sanniang had been silent all this time. Her face looked bad. Where were Qimiao and Zhili? What were these two up to? They still hadn't shown up even though she had been captured!
Soon, the three of them were taken to the cellar. It was cold and damp here. They were casually thrown to one side, and the innkeeper came down leisurely.
"Today, you three will be my puppets! Hahaha! A young lady of the Dongfang family? Who would have thought this would happen to you!" The innkeeper was already very proud even before he took action.
"Spit! Shameless old man! A despicable person!" Dongfang Qinlan spat at him.
The innkeeper started laughing wildly. Without saying a word, he closed the cellar entrance and left.
After that, the three of them stayed there. Except for some occasional special situations when they were separated, they always stayed together, on high alert. But most of the time, they were worried that the innkeeper would do something harmful to them.
Just like this, as they were on guard, days passed by.
"Sister, what on earth is going on? Why did that innkeeper manage to create such terrifying things?" Dongfang Qinlan sat beside Dongfang Huaizhu.