He emphasized the word "meat," which instantly reminded me of the bowl of piping hot meat soup that Wang Fugui had brought me earlier.

My stomach churned violently again.

I gave a wry smile:

"We're not stupid, seniors. Of course we know that thing is inedible, but it's not like we can just choose not to eat it."

Upon hearing this, the old man waved his hand:

"It's alright, you can leave as soon as it's light tomorrow."

"Senior, I really have a reason to stay here. I can't leave until I find out about that person!"

I said firmly.

The old man glanced at me sideways, hesitated for a moment, but still didn't say anything to dissuade me.

"Then you can investigate during the day, and hide in this room at night. Don't stay outside."

We nodded quickly. After our life-or-death escape, this seemingly dilapidated stone house had become the safest fortress in the world in our hearts.

"Alright, alright, let's rest first. You all look exhausted."

The old man finished speaking and was about to extinguish the oil lamp when I suddenly remembered something and asked:

"Senior, why do they all say you're lame? I see you have perfectly fine legs!"

Upon hearing my question, Li Huai and Luo Tianhe immediately showed expressions of curiosity.

"Hehe, I see you have some skills, much better than those two. Have you ever heard of 'pretending to be disabled to collect ghosts'?"

"Pretending to be disabled to lure the dead?"

I murmured.

The word sounded familiar; my grandfather seemed to have mentioned it to me before. I racked my brains for a moment and suddenly remembered.

"Some older generations believe that faking a disability can deceive the rules of Yin and Yang, and that by appearing in a disabled state, it is easier to come into contact with certain forces."

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately smiled.

“You’re right. In our line of work, disabled people are indeed more likely to glimpse the secrets of the universe!”

"The blind can see things that ordinary people cannot, and the deaf can hear the sounds of the boundary between yin and yang. This is the compensation that heaven and earth give to us, the disabled, and it is also the ultimate truth of the esoteric school!"

"So you are?"

"That's right!"

The old man nodded.

"My limp is actually an act."

"You're just pretending, are you really okay telling us this? Besides, those villagers just saw how fast and agile you were."

There were too many suspicious points, so I couldn't help but ask.

"Haha, it's just a few of you who know the truth, it won't have any impact."

"And in the minds of those walking corpses, a deep-rooted notion has formed: that I am indeed a cripple, and no matter what they see, they won't think much of it, since they have lost the ability to think!"

The old man's voice was quite confident, which made Li Huai somewhat eager to try. He leaned forward and asked the old man:

"Sir, could you teach me this method? I also want to pretend to be disabled so that I can become more useful."

Upon hearing Li Huai's words, the old man was taken aback, and then his expression turned serious.

"I did this because I had no other choice. You must never learn this kind of ritual that gains power by deceiving the heavens; there will always be a price to pay!"

The old man didn't hide anything; what he said was pretty much what my grandfather had told me. I looked at Li Huai and solemnly said:

“That’s right. My grandfather once told me about the relationship between disguise and consequences. Since it’s not a real disability, then there must be other costs to pay. For example, having to drink specially made talisman water every month to maintain the condition, or consuming one’s lifespan!”

"Is there any other way?"

The old man opened his mouth wide, looking astonished.

I understand now. It seems that this old man has been continuously gaining this ability by consuming his own lifespan.

"Forget it, I'm already old enough, and I'm used to it. I don't want to try any other methods."

The old man chuckled and didn't ask me how to use the specially prepared talisman water to pay the price.

After they finished talking, the room fell silent. The old man extinguished the oil lamp.

"Alright, you're all exhausted, go and rest."

There was only one broken bed in the whole room, and the old man lay there as a matter of course.

We didn't have any objections, after all, we were all strong young men, while he looked like an old man with frail arms and legs.

And he was the one who saved our lives.

The footsteps we had heard earlier lingered outside the door, dense and numerous, but no one dared to cross the line.

Just as the three of us were dozing off, a faint sobbing sound drifted in.

It sounded like a woman wailing, her voice broken and intermittent, sending chills down our spines.

We couldn't help but exchange a glance, and we did see the fear in each other's eyes.

"Don't listen, cover your ears."

The old man had sat up at some point and whispered a shout at us.

We immediately did as instructed, but the crying seemed to penetrate our palms and drill straight into our brains.

The piercing cry made my head ache.

After a long while, the crying gradually subsided, and we were finally able to fall asleep.

Even so, we were awakened several times during the night, making the night seem exceptionally long.

As dawn finally broke on the horizon, the dim light shone through the numerous wormholes in the wooden door into the room, and we finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, dawn broke.

The old man also stood up, stretched his limbs, and said:

"That's about it. It's dawn. Those things should have gone back by now."

After saying that, the old man opened the broken wooden door.

Suddenly, the slightly chilly morning air rushed in, jolting us awake.

I glanced at my phone; it was only a little before six.

It was very quiet outside, and the village road was deserted, as if the terrifying scene from last night was just our hallucination.

"Thank you for saving my life, senior."

We thanked them again with great solemnity.

"If you really want to thank me, then leave this village as soon as possible. I don't want any more zombies in this village, especially young people like you."

After saying that, the old man left along the village road, and no one knows where he went.

We exchanged a helpless glance, but couldn't listen to the old man.

After a while, we carefully walked back the way we came.

According to him, at least during the day Wang Fugui and the others would act normally. We decided to go back and investigate further, hoping to find something out.

"This village is definitely not normal."

After walking for a while, I came to a conclusion.

Luo Tianhe and Li Huai didn't even lift their eyelids; of course, they knew something was wrong here.

"It's almost six o'clock. Logically speaking, the villagers in the countryside should be up and busy much earlier. But they're not in the fields. I don't know what they're all doing."