Chapter 18: Death’s Door

The moment I exited the mall, I immediately recalled one of the questions that the System asked me. Without further ado, I retraced my footsteps and blocked Yu Sying from closing the door. There was something that needed to be done and it would be a wasted opportunity if I just took my leave.

For a split second, Yu Sying gazed at me with a hint of confusion and surprise in her eyes, wondering why I came back as soon as I left. And then, she gave a smile upon noticing that I haven’t turned into a rabid human. She was hesitant a second ago, however, but she didn’t shut the door nor did she panic when I came back. Well, my return probably gave them a feeling of security since they were more welcoming than before.

Just when I’m about to leave, they had a change of heart. Sigh. I guess this is why reverse psychology has a high success rate.

“Is there anything else you need?” Lin Xian asked, she was keeping her distance but she wore a concerned face as well.

She probably thought that I’d be turning any time soon but she didn’t want to drive me out after I just saved them from the high-leveled rabid human. Of course, I don’t want to turn into one myself while I’m here so I wanted to do this as fast as possible.

“System, you told me I could make this rabid human my subordinate, right? Can I still make it my subordinate if I already killed it?” I asked, carefully approaching the area where I killed the rabid human.

<Yes, do you want to make this zombie your subordinate?>

<Yes/No>

A prompt suddenly appeared in front of me and I clicked yes without thinking.

Suddenly, the body of the high-leveled rabid human jerked upwards and it was shrouded in a purplish hazy mist. The mist continued to encapsulate him as time seemed to revert backward. It’s as if the high-leveled rabid human was slowly turning into the purplish haze itself. For a moment, I thought I heard it groan but it could’ve been my imagination.

The violet-hued mist that surrounded the high-leveled rabid human gradually rose up until it covered almost the entire hallway. Lin Xian and Yu Sying caught a glimpse of the haze so they decided to take a look. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw them peeking in but I didn’t mind them. Cat’s out of the bag anyway.

After a few seconds, the haze dissipated and a violet-colored, high-leveled rabid human appeared in front of me. Well, it doesn’t really look like a rabid human anymore since it was violet and black in color. If ever, it looked like a shadow warrior, but way fatter.

<Congratulations! You received the title “Zombie Master”>

<You’ve earned 100 exp>

<You are now Level 3>

<Exp 50/160>

<Storage Unlocked>

As a previous Level 2 granted by the System, I sure received a lot of pings just for making this rabid human a subordinate. I could tell that the System is absurdly generous even though I don’t know half of what it’s doing. Or maybe, it’s just like one of them bait games I’ve heard before: games that lead you on by giving you a lot of rewards on lower levels and then tempt you to spend money on later levels because of the high-level caps and few level-up rewards. If that were so, then I have to be wary of this system. Who knows, maybe one day it would ask me for an arm or two just so I could level up.

The consecutive pings of the System distracted me a little bit. I could tell that the virus is already spreading in my body and it almost reached my head. After taking one last look towards Yu Sying, Yu Yan, and Lin Xian, I headed out of the mall with my high leveled zombie. They were shocked to see it follow me but they didn’t speak ill bout it. Well, while I was around of course.

As they were closing the doors, I began to wonder if their promise from awhile ago would still be available if ever I didn’t turn into a rabid human.

Once again, I found myself out and about, looking at the nighttime sky as I took a stroll around the city. It was peaceful and quiet with occasional groans from nearby rabid humans, which, I do carefully avoided. I don’t want to get into another fight with them again even though I was confident in defeating them.

I did defeat a high-leveled rabid human barehanded. That alone is a spectacular feat and I don’t think regular humans are capable of doing that. As expected of being the Sect Master of Tang Sect before! I sure can still fight when necessary!

Walking alone on a night like this made me wonder what would’ve happened if I didn’t die back there. Would I have been able to create the most fortified shelter of all time? Would other cultivators help me? How about my three disciples? Are they still alive?

Those thoughts ran through my head, joining the countless regrets that I had back then. Things like not getting a lover, a child, a vacation… I regretted them all. After all, the only thing that mattered in my previous life was to get stronger so no one would best me in combat. But at what cost? Was all that hard work for naught? Did it all happen just so I could get bitten by Natalia and die an awful death in front of a hole in her stomach?

All those years, I’ve lived without meditating on what life is all about, and now that I’ve been given the second chance, it seemed like I messed up again.

“Yongrui! I got news for you!” The System excitedly announced, breaking my thought process. “It’s got something to do with the Blood Element?”

I skeptically gave the System a stare even though it wasn’t around. Up until now, I deemed the System useless and now it’s telling me that it has important info?

Unbelievable! But please go on.

As if she read my mind, she continued on with her ramblings. “A while ago, when you were fighting that zombie… “

“Rabid human.” I corrected her. Well, I just wanted to tease her a little bit.

“Um… rabid human, you were able to activate the Blood Element. Although, it wasn’t as perfect as before.” The System continued.

Before I knew it, I suddenly collapsed to the ground with a thud. An intense throbbing on my head rendered me immobile, making me writhe in pain and agony. Compared to before when I was bitten by Natalia, this hurt far more than I could ever imagine. Although my pain tolerance is a cut above the average human’s average, it still felt indescribably painful.

What’s going on?!

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