Chapter 122 Backlash

While it was still dark, Zhou Ze carried the female corpse back to the bookstore on his electric scooter. As for Xu Qinglang, he waited where he was for a taxi.

After all, he had arrived in a bridal sedan; there was no bridal sedan for his return trip.

Back at the bookstore, Zhou Ze placed the female corpse in the freezer on the second floor. Then, he went downstairs to take a shower. When he came out in a fresh set of clothes, Xu Qinglang, who had finally managed to hail a cab, had returned. He came straight into the bookstore and, seeing Zhou Ze with his hair still wet, teased,

"You need to control yourself."

"Heh," Zhou Ze replied with only that.

Xu Qinglang shook his head and left the bookstore without saying anything more. He was tired from the night's events.

Zhou Ze locked the shop door and went up to the second floor, standing beside the freezer, looking at the female corpse inside.

The female corpse's features were exquisite, and her demeanor was striking. In ancient times, people married at a young age; it was common for girls to become mothers at fifteen or sixteen. Thus, Bai Furen's corpse, having died before marriage, looked like an ordinary high school student, but with an innate sensuality.

Xu Qinglang's beauty was charming, like a blooming peony, while the Bai Furen before him was like a restrained daisy.

Of course, Zhou Ze would not have too many fantasies about a corpse. What he was pondering was something else entirely.

His ten fingers had been in contact with her the whole way back as he drove the electric scooter while holding her. It felt as if currents were coursing through his body, constantly stimulating his soul and his fingernails.

Fortunately, Xu Qinglang wasn't around on the way back, or Zhou Ze estimated he would have screamed in the same way he did in the bridal sedan. This kind of thing was better left unsaid.

By the time he carried her back to the bookstore, Zhou Ze realized that the chill emanating from her body seemed to have dissipated by more than half.

It was like a rechargeable battery. He had just drained some of its power, but it shouldn't be a big deal. Lying there, she should be able to naturally recharge herself.

He held his palms in front of him, his fingernails slowly growing out. A streak of blood-red appeared on the previously black and translucent nail covers. This must be the change caused by the nails absorbing the corpse's baleful aura.

It looked quite beautiful, actually.

Zhou Ze smiled, reaching for the cup of warm water he had brought up with him, only to find that the water had gone cold.

Because of the female corpse, the temperature of this entire mezzanine was lower than outside, and Zhou Ze's perception of "cold" was already somewhat weak.

It was a pity it wasn't summer. If it were summer, having the female corpse here would save him on air conditioning costs, and it would also help keep mosquitoes away.

That night, Zhou Ze made a makeshift bed next to the freezer and slept soundly.

The little loli had once said that if he held her, Zhou Ze would be able to fall asleep without needing the freezer. It seemed that the female corpse had a similar effect.

When he woke up the next morning, Zhou Ze stretched and placed his fingernails on the other party's lower abdomen. A sense of coldness assaulted him once again.

Comfortable.

Enjoyable.

But this feeling only lasted for about half a minute before dissipating, which meant that the female corpse had only recharged that much overnight.

Bai Furen had said she was worried that her corpse might undergo some changes. Xu Qinglang had also said that if the corpse's dense baleful aura was subjected to external stimuli, it might turn into a zombie. However, it seemed unlikely now. No matter how much baleful aura she accumulated, he would absorb a portion of it every day.

Although he didn't know what this thing was useful for, the comfortable feeling alone was enough to keep Zhou Ze coming back for more.

After going next door to Xu Qinglang's shop for a meal, Zhou Ze sat idly in his own shop, not yet deciding which book to read, when his phone rang.

It was his sister-in-law.

"Xu Le, come back here for a bit."

"What's the matter?" Zhou Ze didn't believe that this sister-in-law would suddenly call him to check on him. The girl was still in her rebellious phase, a bit self-centered, or rather, somewhat selfish and unreasonable.

"Your uncle is at my house. Come and take him away," his sister-in-law said impatiently.

"Uncle?" Zhou Ze frowned slightly. He remembered that Xu Le, like himself, was an orphan. Of course, Xu Le hadn't grown up in an orphanage. His parents had passed away one after the other after he was born.

"Alright, I'll come back."

After hanging up, Zhou Ze told Xu Qinglang next door to keep an eye on his shop, then hailed a cab to return to the Lin family's home.

Wang Ke's treatment suggestion for him was to temporarily sever contact with his original social network. But these are different times. Before, Zhou Ze was an unregistered person, somewhat like a rat crossing the street. Now that he was a temporary civil servant, the things he needed to worry about and the dangers he faced were much less.

Moreover, Zhou Ze had previously read Xu Le's private diary entries on his social media, which mentioned his uncle, who had been supporting him through school all along.

Having taken over someone else's body, some things needed to be addressed. What's more, Xu Le had long since gone to hell to be reborn. The problems with his change in temperament had nothing to do with Xu Le; it was a side effect of body snatching.

When Zhou Ze returned to the Lin family's home, before he even entered the door, he saw an elderly man in a padded jacket with a wrinkled face sitting on the steps in the stairwell, smoking a pipe.

Beside the old man were several fertilizer bags, one of which should contain chickens and ducks, and another that probably contained sausages and the like.

"A'Le!" When the old man saw Xu Le coming up, he immediately stood up, walked in front of Xu Le, and patted him hard on the shoulder. "You've grown taller again, lad."

Zhou Ze grinned. He didn't ask why his uncle was sitting in the stairwell smoking. Actually, there was no need to ask.

Even if his uncle had voluntarily come out to smoke to avoid polluting other people's homes, it was impossible that the local goods he brought would still be left outside. This could only mean that the Lin family didn't welcome him, not even letting him into the house.

Coupled with the tone and attitude of his sister-in-law when she called him earlier, it was enough to illustrate the Lin family's attitude toward his uncle.

Of course, there was nothing to complain about or hate. His relationship with the Lin family was already on the verge of collapse. There was no specific right or wrong.

"Have you eaten?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Not yet," the old man replied honestly.

"I'll take you to eat."

"Alright."

Zhou Ze chose a restaurant, entered, and ordered a few dishes, also asking for a bottle of baijiu (white liquor).

The old man poured himself a drink and took a few sips. He looked a bit heavy-hearted, obviously feeling the Lin family's coldness. After all, they were in-laws, but now they didn't even bother with formalities.

"Le, lad, if you're not happy, just come home," the uncle patted his chest. "The country's targeted poverty alleviation policy is very good now. We're not worried about not being able to make a living at home. You've been to college, too. We can do some special farming or something. Our lives won't be worse than others."

"Okay, we'll talk about it later," Zhou Ze said evasively.

"Sigh." The uncle knew that Xu Le didn't drink alcohol, so he didn't ask Zhou Ze to join him. He finished the bottle slowly by himself, then ate two bowls of rice. After Zhou Ze paid the bill, he carried his things and left the restaurant with Zhou Ze.

"Take these things with you. They don't want them, so you eat them," the uncle handed the burlap sacks to Zhou Ze. "I'm catching the afternoon bus back."

"Okay," Zhou Ze didn't try to persuade him to stay.

The uncle's alcohol tolerance must be very good. Zhou Ze called a taxi for him, paid in advance, and asked the driver to take him to the bus station. Afterward, Zhou Ze carried the things back to the bookstore.

Xu Qinglang was sitting in the doorway, basking in the sun. Zhou Ze placed the pile of local specialties in front of him.

"Oh, what's this?"

"Use them as ingredients for your cooking," Zhou Ze said, pulling up a chair to sit beside him.

"Alright," Xu Qinglang said without standing on ceremony. He hadn't charged Zhou Ze for meals before anyway. "By the way, you told me your real name is Zhou Ze, but you haven't said specifically what you used to do before."

"Doctor," Zhou Ze replied.

There was no need to hide these things from Xu Qinglang.

Moreover, his identity had been laundered now, so he wasn't afraid of official investigations.

"Doctor? That really makes you and your wife a good match," Xu Qinglang said leisurely, blowing out a smoke ring. "I haven't seen your wife come around in days."

"It's over," Zhou Ze said casually.

"Hehe."

The two smoked another cigarette together. Zhou Ze got up, pushed open the bookstore door, and went inside.

He had instructed Xu Qinglang to help him keep an eye on the shop when he went out in the morning, so he hadn't locked the door.

Sitting down behind the counter, Zhou Ze turned on the computer, clicked on an icon, and video information appeared on the screen.

Zhou Ze had bought two pinhole cameras a while ago and placed them in the shop, one at the entrance of the stairs and one in the upper-left corner of the bookstore. They weren't expensive, the kind that perverts usually bought to use.

Casually picking up the cup on the counter, he took a few sips of water and began to adjust the playback time on the video.

When he went out in the morning, Zhou Ze had deliberately not locked the door and asked Xu Qinglang to help him keep an eye on things. There was a reason for this.

Yesterday, Bai Furen had invited him over and also invited Xu Qinglang with a bridal sedan. Although she had explained that it was because of a casual childhood remark by Xu Qinglang, Zhou Ze didn't completely believe it.

He had brought the corpse back and placed it here. If Bai Furen and Xu Qinglang had other relationships, Xu Qinglang should make some moves this morning.

One should always be wary of others. He wasn't even human anymore, so he naturally had to be more cautious.

At 11:30 a.m., the screen showed Xu Qinglang entering his shop.

Zhou Ze took another sip of water, feeling that the water in the cup was somewhat sweet and particularly delicious.

It should be a psychological effect, right? Because he felt self-satisfied for guessing correctly?

However, in the video, Xu Qinglang only entered the shop, took a few newspapers, sat down and read them for half an hour, then put the newspapers back in place and left, without going up to the second floor at all.

Was he wrong?

Was he being paranoid?

Zhou Ze pursed his lips, smiled to himself, and drained the cup of water in one gulp.

Just as Zhou Ze was about to close the screen and go wash his face, he suddenly thought of the camera placed at the entrance of the stairs. This camera's position allowed him to observe the stairs and the counter on the first floor.

But since Xu Qinglang hadn't gone in, it didn't really matter whether he watched it or not.

However, because these types of cameras were cheap, their memory was relatively small, so Zhou Ze had to delete the used memory to free up space.

At the same time, Zhou Ze also clicked on the video recorded by the second camera and dragged it from beginning to end, treating it as a formality.

However, at that moment, Zhou Ze seemed to see a fleeting white shadow.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Ze subconsciously pulled back the mouse, and his other hand picked up the teacup again, only to realize that the cup was already empty.

He couldn't bother to pour more water right now.

Instead, he slowly moved the mouse little by little.

Finally,

The screen captured that moment.

A woman wearing white clothes slowly walked down from the second floor!

That corpse,

She could move!

Zhou Ze felt a rush of blood to his head, and a sense of crisis came over him. His heart and breathing became more rapid at this moment.

Just as Zhou Ze was thinking about this,

The screen continued to play.

In the video,

Bai Furen's corpse walked to the counter, picked up the water cup on the counter,

And then,

Like a dog drinking water,

She stuck out her tongue and stirred it around in the cup,

Then, she put down the cup, like a person getting up in the middle of the night because they were thirsty.

She turned around and slowly walked back upstairs.

Zhou Ze took a deep breath, looking at the cup beside him that he had just emptied.

No wonder he felt a little sweetness when he drank the water just now…