Is this what a zombie is?

The Zombie King 45 years ago

Uncle Chen stared wide-eyed at Jiang Chen.

His eyes were like those of a hungry wolf, making Jiang Chen's heart tighten. There was greed, fanaticism, madness, and expectation in his eyes.

As Chen Bo waited expectantly, the Soul-Returning Incense pendant on Jiang Chen's chest began to release smoke.

The complete and incomplete incense sticks of resurrection are now resonating and attracting each other.

The two plumes of smoke intertwined in the air, then merged into one, eventually enveloping Jiang Chen.

"Hahaha, I did it! I did it! Hahahaha, I finally did it!"

Upon seeing this, Uncle Chen was so excited that he trembled all over, as if he had gone mad.

The incense of resurrection that he had been searching for for thirty years, the divine object he had spent half his life pursuing, his lifelong wish has finally been answered today.

What he needed to do now was wait for Jiang Chen, the vessel, to fully absorb the energy of the Soul-Returning Incense.

When the intangible is transformed into the tangible, it will all belong to him.

Enveloped in smoke, Jiang Chen could no longer hear the maniacal laughter outside.

His consciousness was being pulled by an irresistible, enormous force, causing him to spin around.

As the smoke began to dissipate and the dizziness and weightlessness subsided, his consciousness was pulled into a historical illusion.

This was Jiang Chen's third time entering the palace, and he had long since adapted, quickly adjusting his state.

Last time, the historical illusion ended abruptly when the twelve shikigami pushed open a corner of the bronze coffin, preventing him from seeing what was lying inside.

This time, he was determined to find out the truth.

However, contrary to expectations, this time the historical illusion clearly involved a jump in the timeline.

Skipping the process of the being inside the bronze coffin breaking out and battling the Onmyoji and Shikigami for three hundred rounds, the story jumps directly to the result.

What Jiang Chen saw was a scene of carnage after a massacre.

In the center of the pentagram array, the heavy bronze coffin had long since vanished, leaving only a trail of blood on the ground.

The entire underground experimental base can only be described as a scene of carnage and rivers of blood.

The twelve Onmyoji died in a truly gruesome manner; their bodies were mangled and their limbs were scattered all over the ground, to the point that even a master jigsaw puzzle artist would find it difficult to piece them back together.

If you're lucky, you might even be able to keep a head, allowing you to barely identify your identity before birth.

As for those who were unlucky, they were directly blown up, turning into clouds of blood mist and minced meat, which were evenly smeared on the wall.

Despite the powerful energy impact, a blood-red human figure remained, preserved forever as a mural.

This is similar to the lingering shadow that remained after the little boy's baptism not long afterward.

As for the shikigami that Onmyoji are so proud of, they can't be found at all. They probably just disappeared because they are spirits or energy beings.

Following the trail of blood upwards, you'll find the same scene.

Those fully armed Japanese soldiers, including that Japanese colonel, all died in basically the same way.

Compared to Onmyoji, their treatment was relatively good; at least their corpses were mostly kept intact.

But everyone's face was filled with fear and confusion, as if they had seen something terrifying beyond their comprehension before they died.

Before they could even react, they were already dead.

This was not a battle; it was a one-sided, one-sided massacre.

Suddenly, Jiang Chen remembered what Cat Master had said at the hospital.

"They attempted to use the power of the Resurrection Incense to create an undead army that was tireless and fearless of death."

"But they underestimated the power of the Resurrection Incense and overestimated their own abilities."

"The experiment eventually spiraled out of control... and awakened a... zombie king."

"Everyone in the entire experimental base, including those Onmyoji, was slaughtered."

Zombie King...

Jiang Chen's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. He recalled the strange connection between himself and the bronze coffin, and his bold guess from before.

A hundred years ago, the person lying in the bronze coffin was very likely himself.

Combining the historical illusions unfolding before our eyes, could the zombie king who slaughtered the entire base be... himself?

Will he become a zombie?

"No, no, no, it's impossible, impossible, impossible!!!"

Jiang Chen shook his head repeatedly, trying to dismiss this crazy and unrealistic idea from his mind.

He sought the Resurrection Incense to resurrect himself, not to become the Zombie King.

Whether rationally or emotionally, he couldn't accept that he would become a bloodthirsty, insane, undead monster.

Therefore, he must find out what exactly happened.

Wherever the bronze coffin was dragged, it left a wide trail of blood that stretched all the way to the base's exit passage.

Jiang Chen followed the trail of blood and arrived at the exit of the base.

Perhaps because of historical illusions, there is no world outside the exit, so in Jiang Chen's eyes, the exit is just a white halo that cannot be seen clearly or approached.

No matter how hard Jiang Chen ran, there was always an insurmountable chasm between him and the exit.

At that moment, the entire historical illusion became unstable again, and the surrounding scenery began to distort and flicker.

The illusion is about to end!

Just as Jiang Chen was feeling disappointed, a blurry figure appeared in the halo of light at the exit, and that figure quickly approached.

Jiang Chen's breath caught in his throat. He stared intently at the figure's back, straining with all his might to make out its features.

Is it him?

Is it really me?

What Jiang Chen longed for was a chilling roar that didn't belong to any known beast, yet was enough to freeze one's blood.

"Roar—"

He heard it. He heard that roar, a roar that sent chills down one's spine.

But this shouldn't be the case. For him, this historical illusion is like a silent film; he can see it but hear nothing.

But now he can not only hear sounds, he can even smell them.

The intense stench of blood mixed with the putrid smell of corpses was nauseating. Jiang Chen's stomach cramped, and he couldn't help but convulse, with stomach acid rushing to his throat and nostrils.

The figure quickly approached, and Jiang Chen finally saw its appearance clearly.

To Jiang Chen's dismay, its face was covered with a thick layer of mosaic, making it impossible to see its features.

Aside from his blood-red eyes and sharp fangs protruding from his lips, it was clear that he was not a human.

Jiang Chen couldn't find a single resemblance to himself in him.

But something even stranger happened.

This zombie was staring intently at Jiang Chen, who was supposed to be an observer in his ghostly form.

The next second, it transformed into a blur and charged forward.