đź“– Chapter 1053 - My Name is Gray Number Three!
“Zombies are born from the convergence of deathly aura, and are usually people who carried deep resentment before their deaths. Occasionally, Zombie Spirit, born from the natural laws of the universe, will look over at such corpses. The first glance places a mark, and the second glance turns a corpse into a zombie!
“Moreover, there are some who convert before death, filling their living bodies with deathly aura and turning into zombies. Such zombies are exceptionally talented, and as long as they aren’t destroyed, they are certain to become powerhouses!”
Gray Number Three sat in a cemetery, holding a black stone tablet in his hand. He looked up at the sky that was filled with black clouds, then lowered his head to recite the words inscribed on black tablet.
He didn’t choose the name Gray Number Three for himself; it was given to him by the lord of the mountain. Apparently, there were two other zombies who awakened on the same day as him. He was the third to wake up, so he was called Number Three.
As for the “Gray” part… that represented the lord’s deep-seated desire for the status of a gray-furred zombie.
Gray Number Three didn’t particularly like his name. For a while, he had tried to recall his name from when he was alive, but unfortunately never remembered anything. Thus, he gradually came to accept the name Gray Number Three.
However, for Gray Number Three, time seemed to pass extremely fast. This speed… wasn’t reflected in his body. His fur had always been light green and had never grown any darker.
Instead, it was reflected in his thoughts. Oftentimes, when he thought about an issue, a long time would pass quickly. Several years might go by before he could even collect his thoughts.
For example, back then, Old Deviless Li Ling had caught him and refined his zombie oil. While Gray Number Three had been thinking about why that happened, Old Deviless Li Ling had already become the lady of the mountain, engaging in dual cultivation with the lord.
Another example was a certain question he had in his heart. Until now, it had already been thirty years since he became a zombie, but he still hadn’t finished thinking about this question.
In addition to this quirk, Gray Number Three could be considered the weakest of the zombies. Thus, he naturally had no status of any sort. If not for Gray Number Two’s help, he might have returned to dust long ago. He wouldn’t have obtained his current post of awakening and initiating new zombies.
At that moment, there were eight corpses in front of him. His job was to chant continuously for a month until Zombie Spirit glanced over and made them awaken as zombies.
These corpses were of all shapes and sizes. Strangely, although the corpses had been dead for a long time, they had yet to decompose. As Gray Number Three recited the words on the black tablet, wisps of deathly aura churned and writhed around these corpses.
However, Gray Number Three wasn’t paying attention to the corpses. Instead, he was looking at a young girl who was sitting not far away.
The girl was very beautiful and wore a palace dress. Although she didn’t seem more than sixteen or seventeen years old, everything about her, be it her fair face or pupilless black eyes, made her like a black hole that attracted Gray Number Three’s entire being.
Gray Number Three lowered his head, but he couldn’t help but raise it again soon after, taking another look at the girl.
“Do you find me very beautiful?” The girl’s voice was cold.
“Yes.” Gray Number Three lowered his head again, and thus didn’t see the look of mockery and disdain on the girl’s face. Well, even if he did see it, Gray Number Three might not have noticed it with his current mentality.
“Tell me, what is Zombie Spirit?” The mockery on the girl’s face faded as she slowly spoke.
“Zombie Spirit was formed from the natural laws of the universe. The creatures that He gazes upon turn into zombies.” Gray Number Three murmured.
“Then, when will Zombie Spirit look over here?” The girl continued.
“We cannot presume to try and understand Zombie Spirit. We can only continuously chant and attempt to move Him with our sincerity. Only then will there be a chance for Zombie Spirit to look over. If He hasn’t looked over after three months, the corpses will rot.” The words Gray Number Three murmured were all recorded in the black stone tablet. Even he didn’t know how many times he had recited these same words over the past thirty years.
“How boring!” The girl’s impatient voice came in response. Then, Gray Number Three saw a scene that he would never forget.
The girl stood up and looked at the dark sky. Opening her arms to the heavens, she called out.
“Zombie Spirit, my time is limited. I can’t wait that long!”
As soon as these words were spoken, Gray Number Three saw the dark vault of heaven churn. A huge eye appeared in the sky, an eye filled with countless black threads. The eye’s gaze fell… on the girl’s body.
In an instant, Gray Number Three saw fur rapidly sprouting from the girl’s body. At first, the fur was green, then it turned blue. In the end, even black fur appeared. Although her fur wasn’t completely black, it could at least be considered half-blue and half-black.
At that moment, the other corpses all disintegrated into ash. As for the girl… she turned and left, swiftly disappearing from Gray Number Three’s sight.
It wasn’t until a long time passed that Gray Number Three finally mumbled with a dazed expression.
“So it turns out that Zombie Spirit can actually be summoned…”
The girl had left, but Gray Number Three’s life didn’t change at all. He continued to chant for batch after batch of corpses, watching as some of them rotted away and some of them awakened as zombies.
Just like that, years flew by. Gray Number Three didn’t pay attention to the passage of time. He still liked to think about the question that had been in his heart for a long time. He still liked to look up into the dark sky and stare without blinking.
As for the girl who had engraved herself into his memory… over the years, he saw her five more times.
The first time, she was covered in injuries, but her fur had turned completely black. Sitting on a gravestone not far from Gray Number Three, she was completely silent, as if she was asleep. But in the end, before she left, she asked him a question.
“You seem to be thinking about something every day. Can you tell me what it is? Why are you always staring at the sky?”
This was the first fellow zombie to ever ask him what he was thinking about, so Gray Number Three was very serious as he gave his reply.
“I’m thinking about why the sky is black. I like white, so I wonder if I can see the sky turn white someday.”
The girl was silent for a while. In the end, she snorted coldly before turning and leaving.
“Idiot!”
The second time, the girl was also injured, but the fur on her body was already starting to turn gray. She sat on the same gravestone as before, but she wasn’t silent this time. Instead, she talked a lot, in a voice that almost seemed like she was talking to herself.
She said that she had killed the lord of the mountain, killed Old Deviless Li Ling, and carried out a slaughter in all directions, unifying the entire mountain range.
Gray Number Three nodded and continued staring at the sky. The girl didn’t mind. After speaking, she was quiet for a while, and before she left, she asked a question again.
“If the sky never turns white, what will you do? Will you keep staring, keep waiting, until you rot away and disappear?”
Gray Number Three was silent. He had never thought about this question before. However, the girl left without waiting for an answer, and when she returned for the third time, she didn’t have another question, nor did she ask for his answer. Instead, she talked about how she had conquered seven or eight nearby mountain ranges. She said that she was going to organize an army to launch a war of revenge against a place called Cloudshine.
And after she left, it was a very long time before she returned to see Gray Number Three again. Gray Number Three saw that the fur on her body had turned purple, and he also saw that half of her face had rotted away. Her whole body was filled with deathly aura, and those who saw her would feel that she was very ugly.
After she came, she still sat on the same gravestone as before. She seemed to noticed Gray Number Three’s gaze and raised her hand to touch her half-rotten face. Suddenly smiling, the girl spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Gray Number Three, am I still beautiful?”
“You are.” Gray Number Three said seriously.
The girl smiled, and there seemed to be some indescribable emotions in that smile. Then she fell silent again. She didn’t speak until a wailing that seemed to cause heaven and earth to tremble sounded in the distant sky. Then, the girl silently stood up and looked at Gray Number Three.
“You are the strangest zombie I’ve ever seen… I’m leaving now. Perhaps I won’t come back again in the future.”
Gray Number Three was stunned for a moment. As he looked at the girl who had engraved herself in his memory, a sense of loss that he’d never experienced before suddenly emerged from his body, and he didn’t know what to say.
After a while, the girl raised her head and looked toward the vault of heaven. An enormous vortex appeared there, and an eye appeared within the vortex. It seemed to be calling out to her.
“Goodbye.” The girl said softly. A black mask appeared in her right hand, which she slowly put on her face. Then, she flew out into the sky!
Gray Number Three looked at the girl’s departing figure. At that moment, although she was surrounded by deathly aura, although the hair fluttering in the wind was purple fur, she still seemed possess a valiant and peerless demeanor. As he watched her leave, a mumble made its way out of his mouth.
“Goodbye.”