Luo Yujing was still young when she died, and she didn't have time to learn how to drive. But Kusheng, as a born knower, even if he had never seen such a car before, he would learn it after looking at it inside and out. It just so happened that Qin Shiyuan's assistant had prepared a driver's license for him, so they were able to drive on the road by themselves.
There was no problem for Kusheng to drive. The two zombies did not need to eat, drink or sleep, so basically nothing needed to be prepared in the car. The only problem was that the car needed refueling.
The Yusu Highway is a long and winding highway, with a section that passes through a mountainous area. There are few people in the middle and there are undeveloped mountains on both sides of the road. When driving on it, you may not encounter a car in a whole day. It was under such circumstances that Luo Yujing and Kusheng's car stopped on the side of the road because it ran out of gas.
"I forgot... We passed a gas station earlier and should have refueled." The inexperienced Luo Yujing said while leaning against the car wearing gloves.
The even less experienced Kusheng didn't care and simply lifted the whole car up: "There should be a gas station ahead, let's go."
Seeing him carrying the car forward, Luo Yujing quickly looked around to see if there was anyone, then checked if there were any surveillance cameras on the roadside, then pinched Kusheng's arm and asked him to put the car down.
Kusheng: "What?"
Luo Yujing grabbed his arm and said, "If you're discovered, you'll be famous. Listen, this is not the world of 300 years ago. When people see you in such an extraordinary state, they won't shout 'monster' and run away. They will just take out their phones to take a picture and upload it to Weibo and Moments."
"Then within ten minutes, the picture of you holding the car will spread all over Dongzhou. Then the police or inspectors will come to you to find out the situation, and some people will come to interview you and do physical research on you. Some people will even come to you to participate in a show and ask if you want to debut... Endless troubles!"
Kusheng: "...Are you trying to scare me?"
Luo Yujing: "If you don't believe me, you can give it a try."
The sun was setting and it was about to get dark. The two of them stood on the side of the highway and remained silent for three minutes in front of a car that had run out of gas.
Kusheng: "In that case, let's leave the car here and continue on our way." We had walked before anyway.
Luo Yujing: "Okay, but it's not necessary. Let's just go to a gas station up ahead and buy some gas."
After she finished speaking, she jumped onto Kusheng's back, strangled his neck and said with a smile, "Let's go, let's go buy some oil in front."
Kusheng found that she was somewhat happy. She had smiled several times since he saw her again after waking up. Kusheng thought to himself that she was indeed happy because she was back with her sister. He shook the person on his back and walked forward unhappily.
They had walked less than a hundred meters when headlights from behind hit them. It was a road maintenance vehicle, and after learning about their situation, they helped tow their car to the nearest gas station.
There were two men in blue work clothes in the car, one young and one old. The young man talked to Kusheng and the others, "Are you a couple traveling by car? You should pay more attention to safety when you go out."
Both of the couple were good-looking. The girl looked cool and aloof, and the boy also had long hair, but it was messy and unruly. He guessed that they might be art students.
"Both of them are good-looking and wear red contact lenses. At first glance, I thought they were two vampires. It's a bit scary that they appeared in a place like this at night." The young man whispered to his companions.
"We live in a scientific world. The vampires and werewolves in those novels on the Internet are all fictional and fabricated." The older man looked serious, and then changed his tone and said, "Even if there are vampires, they should not be vampires. They should be our native zombies. How can you be so unpatriotic!"
The young man laughed. In the car behind, Ku Sheng, who had heard their conversation, asked, "Did they see through our true identities?"
Luo Yujing held her arms expressionlessly: "No, we are just two ordinary Shamatte people wearing colored contact lenses and getting manicures."
With the help of a developed road traffic system, powerful in-car navigation and some kind passers-by, in just a few days, Luo Yujing and Kusheng had left Yuzhou, crossed two states, and arrived in Guozhou.
The car stopped at a roadside gas station to refuel. There was a small service station next to it. Perhaps because there were few people here, the lady staff at the service station came over to chat when she saw someone coming.
"Are you going to Huangzhou? Wow, that's far away. How long will it take you to drive there? Why don't you just take a plane... Oh, you don't have money, right? Or is it popular among you young people to travel on a budget?" The elder sister was very excited.
Luo Yujing was caught by her and couldn't get away for a while. She just responded randomly twice and ran away immediately after Kusheng finished filling up the gas.
The reason why they don't take a plane is, first, they are afraid that the evil spirit in Kusheng's body might affect the magnetic field and cause a plane crash; second, it is not convenient to take a crowded, enclosed means of transportation, after all, he is a zombie.
The two were bored while driving on the road, so Luo Yujing played a horror movie for Kusheng. It was about zombies appearing in the subway during rush hour and how everyone tried to survive, or how to die.
The exaggerated images and plot effects made Luo Yujing and Kusheng feel quite stressed - for them, this was not a horror film but an educational travel film.
If they are not careful and take this kind of transportation and accidentally stab someone, it would be like a horror movie replay.
Luo Yujing: "Should we wear another layer of gloves to be on the safe side?"
Kusheng: "... Not really. If it was just scratched by my nails, at most it would just be some corpse poison."
Luo Yujing: "In an era before the baptism of demons and monsters, this is already terrifying."
"This era is very strange." Kusheng paused and said, "But it's very good."
He saw that most people lived well, with plenty of food and clothing, unlike his time when people were threatened by various incurable diseases and evil spirits. This was a good world.
Guozhou has good economic development. When passing through Guozhou, Luo Yujing unexpectedly saw a familiar place name on the navigation map.
"Xicheng?" Luo Yujing asked Kusheng, "Is that the Xicheng where the Zhong family is?"
Kusheng felt it and said, "Indeed, although the aura of the land has changed a lot, it is still recognizable."
Luo Yujing didn't have a good impression of Xicheng. After all, it was here that she was on the verge of death and turned into a zombie. But judging from the outcome, it was hard for her to say whether the trip to the Zhong family was good or bad.
"Our route passes nearby... shall we stop by Xicheng?" Luo Yujing suddenly asked.
They actually had no idea where to go to Huangzhou to find the swordsmith named Shang, and their sister didn't have any relevant information either. It was bound to be a process that would take time, so it didn't matter if they were delayed for a while on the road.
With mixed feelings of revisiting the old place, the two came to the "Xicheng" shown on the map. It is now a well-known tourist area in Guozhou. The biggest attraction is the well-preserved ancient city of Xicheng. Every year, countless tourists come to visit the ancient city and feel the breath of history.
Not long ago... For Luo Yujing, it was still not long ago. It was winter when she came to Xicheng. The old houses and the cold and weird atmosphere made her feel uncomfortable.
Now, they are in a bustling tourist area with a constant flow of people. The houses are indeed in ancient style, but they are obviously just "antiques", all of which are modern houses rebuilt with cement, with only a few insincere ancient styles on the outside.
There are countless shops on the street, all selling things, such as souvenirs, local specialties and snacks, of various kinds.
It was the first time for Kusheng to come to such a place. The street in front of him was crowded with people, as dense as a school of fish. Because of the horror movie he saw not long ago, he subconsciously tightened his leather gloves and pulled Luo Yujing to his side.
It’s not that I’m afraid that she will get lost, but I’m afraid that she will be attracted by so many people and rush into the crowd and bite someone.
As a newborn zombie who had never drunk much blood, it was easy for her to be affected by such popularity.
Luo Yujing indeed felt a little uncomfortable and covered her mouth to prevent her uncontrollably exposed fangs from being noticed.
After she had taken a few steps, Kusheng brought her back to a nearby parking lot.
"Drink some blood first, and you won't be easily affected in a short period of time."
Although he is a zombie who refuses to comb his own hair and silently drinks jealousy, he can be very reliable at times.
Kusheng fed Luo Yujing some more blood, and the two of them hugged each other in the car in this position.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the car window.
A street enforcement officer holding a small notebook said to them: "You can't park here, you know, take the ticket."
Luo Yujing wiped his mouth quietly and took the ticket.
The law enforcement officer, who looked righteous, looked at their postures again and added seriously: "There are a lot of surveillance cameras around here. It is not recommended to do anything private here! Maintaining public harmony is everyone's responsibility!"
Luo Yujing: “…” What do you think we are doing here! It’s blood sucking, not car sex!
But bloodsucking seems harder to explain, damn it!
After parking the car again, the two followed the crowd through the commercial street and came to an alley with fewer people. They entered through a small door and the place suddenly became much quieter.
Hidden in a remote corner of this ancient city are ancient mansions that truly carry an antique atmosphere. Tickets are required to enter.
The place they came to happened to be the Zhong family mansion. The exterior of the mansion, which used to cover a large area, had been basically demolished, leaving only two or three small courtyards inside.
Luo Yujing and Kusheng looked at each other and walked inside.
There was a bell tower protected by railings, and inside the tower a large bell sat heavily on the ground.
There is a sign next to it introducing it as the "Zhong Family Bell".
Luo Yujing looked at the bell. Except for her and Kusheng, no one here knew that there was a well hidden under the bell. Under the well used to be a shrine of a clan god, and many evil spirits appeared there.
"Are those evil spirits still there?" Luo Yujing asked in a low voice.
Kusheng replied, “It has long since dissipated.”
Now there is nothing underneath. It seems that after he left, the Zhong clan members did not try to move the bell and dig underneath. Otherwise, Xicheng would not have survived until today, let alone become as prosperous as it is now.
The few tourists who came here just took a quick look and left. Only Luo Yujing and Kusheng stood in front of the bell tower in silence for a long time.
"I haven't told you yet," Luo Yujing turned her head to look at Kusheng beside her, "thank you for turning me into a zombie at that time."
Kusheng: "I thought you would blame me for turning into a bloodthirsty monster and no longer being a human being."
Luo Yujing snorted: "What's good about being a human being?"
She hesitated a little, and reached out to hold Kusheng: "I, we..."
Kusheng looked at her, his red eyes were not thick with blood, but rather clear and bright. Luo Yujing licked her lips dryly, and felt a little itchy at the root of her teeth. She went up two steps, pinched Kusheng's ears, and kissed him on the cheek.
After a while, someone said from a distance: "Hey, little girl, did you kiss well? You can't step on the steps over there."
Luo Yujing and Kusheng came to their senses and looked sideways. They saw that a tour group of middle-aged and elderly people had arrived in the yard at some point. The one who reminded them was a middle-aged aunt, who was staring at them with burning eyes.
Luo Yujing lowered her head, covered her face with one hand and put the other hand on Kusheng's shoulder. Kusheng carried her down the stairs without saying a word.
As soon as they made way, the aunt who had spoken came up and took their previous position, struck a pose, and said to the other aunt: "You can take the photo now, remember to include the clock and the building in the back!"
Luo Yujing suspected that the auntie drove them away just to take pictures.
The auntie posed for a photo, and after taking the photo, she went to another auntie to look at the photo. She said unsatisfiedly, "Wait, wait, wait, let me take off the scarf and then take another photo."
She took off the silk scarf from her neck and pretended to be intoxicated and fluttering. But she was still not satisfied with the photos her friend took: "Oh, why is it like this? None of your photos look good!"
Seeing Luo Yujing still standing nearby, the aunt asked, "Hey, little girl, come here quickly and help auntie, okay? Please take a picture of the two of us!"
Luo Yujing inexplicably took the aunts' mobile phone and, following their instructions, took more than a dozen photos of the two aunts.
At this moment, she no longer had any sentimental feelings to revisit the old place, nor did she have the desire to express her feelings in this special place.
It’s getting more and more lively here. What the hell is going on? Why are there suddenly so many people
Luo Yujing was just about to pull Kusheng away in frustration when the aunt said, "Excuse me, do you want to take pictures? I'll take two for you."
Luo Yujing and Kusheng stood on the stairs like wooden figures, looking at the camera. Auntie held up her phone and laughed at their appearance: "Oh, why are you just like when we took our wedding photos? Don't be shy, get closer."
"Yes, come closer. I think the kiss you just had was pretty good. Kiss again and I'll take a couple photo of you!"
Luo Yujing was so angry that she said: "…" She will never come to this place again! Damn it!
At this moment, she heard Kusheng next to her suddenly laugh.