Is this what a zombie is?

5. Nine-tailed cat, Cat Master

One, two, three... eight, nine.

Nine tails!

In Jiang Chen's black-and-white world, the black cat perched by the window had a solid black tail that swayed gently in the night breeze, as well as eight illusory tails formed from pale gray gas, which fluttered in the wind.

The illusory tails, like ink stains in water, stretched and swayed silently, exuding a non-material, unsettling eeriness.

I'm already familiar with nine-tailed foxes, but this is the first time I've encountered a nine-tailed cat.

But no matter what, it's no ordinary black cat.

Is it a monster?

As the black cat slowly got up and approached him, Jiang Chen was so frightened that his heart jumped into his throat.

Because he remembered a taboo from a folk tale.

"If a black cat leaps over a corpse, the corpse will transform."

Physiologically speaking, he is a corpse, and there is more than one corpse in this room.

The cat in front of me is no ordinary cat; it is a spirit that has lived for countless years, has nine tails, and has become a deity.

With this leap, the effect doubles; won't the zombie transformation be even more ferocious?

Jiang Chen dodged backward repeatedly, maintaining a safe distance from the black cat.

The black cat leaped down nimbly, its movements gentle and graceful, without making a sound or even raising a speck of dust.

It moved with cat-like steps, slowly and deliberately approaching Jiang Chen.

But for every step it took closer, Jiang Chen took a step back.

A person and a cat are playing...hide-and-seek in this cramped room?

The black cat's emerald green eyes remained fixed on him, filled with scrutiny and amusement.

This made Jiang Chen immediately realize, "Are you kidding me?"

"You're not too stupid, kid, but don't be so superstitious."

"You...you can talk?"

Is that strange?

The black cat revealed a very human-like expression.

That expression was three parts disdain, three parts sarcasm, and four parts nonchalance.

Is it weird?

Compared to the resurrection of the dead that happened to him, the female corpse under his bed, and the "reenactment of the case" he had just experienced,

What's so strange about a nine-tailed cat that can talk?

This is a spirit with nine tails that can talk, so there's nothing surprising about it; it makes perfect sense.

It would be strange if they didn't know how.

"Okay, compared to you telling me not to be superstitious, your words make much more sense."

"The idea that a black cat jumping over a corpse will cause it to rise from the dead is just a rumor. A corpse destined to become a zombie will definitely become a zombie, regardless of whether a black cat has jumped over it."

"The only connection is that the life force of living things can stimulate and accelerate the process of turning into zombies."

The black cat paid no attention to Jiang Chen's fascinating expressions, its emerald green eyes fixed on Jiang Chen's chest.

No, to be precise, it landed on the resurrection incense pendant that had completed its fusion.

It slowly shook its head and said in a deep, old-fashioned voice, "Another pitiful person relying on the Resurrection Incense to prolong their life."

These words struck Jiang Chen like a bolt of lightning, instantly brightening his eyes.

The shock in his heart surged like a raging storm, while his brain worked at an unprecedented speed.

It just mentioned yet another one, relying on the Resurrection Incense to prolong its life; it knows a lot about the Resurrection Incense.

This means it has seen more than one "living dead" like itself.

Moreover, many years ago, when the female corpse under the bed was killed and disappeared, the black cat witnessed everything.

It has been keeping an eye on the Resurrection Incense!

The letter from a hundred years ago only mentioned the whereabouts of the second piece of the Resurrection Incense, but made no mention of the third piece.

Jiang Chen originally thought he didn't need a third Soul-Returning Incense, but now it seems...

It's not that it's unnecessary, but the clue lies with this cat.

Perhaps for some reason, I couldn't tell them directly in a letter.

"Um, black cat..."

"Kid, just call me Master Cat."

The black cat flicked its tail and said arrogantly.

"Master Cat, have you ever seen someone like me who relies on the Resurrection Incense to prolong their life? Do you know where the third Resurrection Incense is?"

Cat Master didn't directly answer Jiang Chen's question, "Do you think this is the place to talk?"

It's nice here, there are no outsiders around.

Before Jiang Chen could speak, a pungent odor assaulted his senses.

The stench of a corpse, a nauseating stench of a corpse.

Jiang Chen's stomach churned from the stench, and she couldn't help but ejaculate on the spot.

He hadn't eaten for two or three days, and his stomach was completely empty, without even stomach acid.

However, he experienced that acidic water corroding his throat again, causing his nose and eyes to run.

My stomach was growling loudly, a protest of my rumbling hunger.

All these physiological reactions caused Jiang Chen to burst into uncontrollable ecstasy.

He could smell things, and he also had stomach acid and a feeling of hunger, so he had a need to eat.

The second incense stick has taken effect!

This process gradually restored his severely degenerated five senses and brought his body, which was on the verge of death and decay, back to the state of a living person.

How wonderful it is to be pulled back from the abyss of death.

This is what it means to be alive!

It feels so good to be alive.

The reason he was still alive was that he obtained a second piece of the Soul-Returning Incense.

Jiang Chen lowered his head and looked under the bed. The source of the stench was the female corpse under the bed.

The female corpse, still breathing faintly and appearing gigantic, rapidly rotted, disintegrated, and liquefied after he pried the incense from her mouth.

The skin turned into pus, the muscle tissue melted, and the flesh rotted into a puddle of black mud in a very short time.

Even though Jiang Chen was a medical student, he couldn't identify what the black mud was at this moment.

In the end, only bare bones remained, and even those bones began to turn yellow...

The current situation and environment are indeed not suitable for conversation. His sense of taste has just recovered, and he doesn't want to be stimulated to the point of malfunction again.

The man and the cat left the old house. Looking at the abandoned house behind him, Jiang Chen's mood was still complicated. The image of the female corpse kept lingering in his mind, making it difficult for him to calm down.

"Master Cat, what happened to that man afterward?"

"You want to ask if he has been punished by law, right?" Master Cat shook his head slightly. "After the body disappeared, it could only be classified as missing, so he was happy for a while."

"But this was only temporary. In the nights that followed, he would often hear breathing sounds coming from under the bed, and strange, inexplicable things would often happen in the room, so he left not long after."

"Although this house has changed hands several times, strange things have happened one after another. Every owner has been unable to find peace, and the reputation of it as a haunted house has naturally spread. After that, no one dared to take over, and it gradually fell into disrepair until your arrival."

Therefore, he escaped legal punishment!

Jiang Chen lowered his head, his lips pressed tightly together, seemingly lost in thought.