Chapter 64: The Ghost Wall

Bai Chen Zhu unconsciously held his breath. He took a few deep breaths, looked around, walked up to the nearest old lady, and half-squatted down. “Hello?”

The old lady’s skin was wrinkled, and her eyes curved kindly as she gazed at him. She was weaving a bracelet adorned with flowers—bright yellow and very pretty—but they would probably wilt after just a day of wear.

Hearing his voice, the old lady opened her mouth, which had only a few teeth left, and replied in a local accent, “Hello there. Want a bracelet? It’d look great on your girlfriend.”

She could talk? As Bai Chen Zhu pondered this, the old lady suddenly reached out toward him. Her withered fingers resembled those of a zombie. The moment they were about to touch him, his heart skipped a beat. Sensing danger, he swiftly grabbed her hand, stopping it from moving further.

Feeling the wrinkled skin under his palm, Bai Chen Zhu frowned.

He could actually touch her.

Bai Chen Zhu casually released her hand. “Then I’ll take a bracelet. By the way… my friend and I are here on vacation. What’s the name of this village?”

The old lady pulled out her prettiest bracelet and handed it to him. “This place? Golden Autumn Village.”

Bai Chen Zhu patted his pocket—of course, he had no money. After the apocalypse, he never carried cash anymore. So, with an apologetic smile, he took out a piece of candy and tested the waters. “Can I trade this for it?”

To his surprise, the old lady agreed. She beamed. “Sure thing.”

Golden Autumn Village—it matched the color of the rapeseed flowers outside. Bai Chen Zhu thought as he casually pocketed the bracelet.

He chatted idly with the old lady for a bit more and learned that this was indeed a village left mostly to the elderly and children, with a small population. But thanks to that vast field of rapeseed flowers, it had accidentally become a tourist spot. Cars came every day for photos.

He couldn’t get much more out of her. The old lady always steered the conversation back to her flowers. She’d mention the village occasionally, but clammed up on anything else.

He walked against the flow of people toward the village entrance and saw a stone stele there inscribed with: Golden Autumn Village.

Where their vehicle should have been parked, only a few old men were now selling steamed buns and buns.

“Sir, have you seen a black car around?” Bai Chen Zhu asked.

The old man shook his head. “What black car? No parking allowed here—fine if you do.”

Bai Chen Zhu circled the village entrance repeatedly but couldn’t find the car. Growing anxious, he followed the only dirt path from the entrance into the fields.

Rapeseed flowers stretched endlessly on both sides. Young people laughed and jostled past him. He pushed upstream through the crowd to the end, only to see the ‘Golden Autumn Village’ stele again.

Bai Chen Zhu whipped around and realized the flow of people had somehow reversed—they were coming toward him.

One of the old men at the entrance asked him, “Young man, want a bun?”

Refusing to believe it, Bai Chen Zhu took a breath, turned, and headed out of the village again. He walked against the crowd along the dirt path, farther and farther, until people thinned out. For the third time, he saw the ‘Golden Autumn Village’ stele.

Looking back, the crowd that had been behind him now approached from the front.

This was ridiculous. Wait—Jiang Ye and the others… Realization struck Bai Chen Zhu, and he bolted.

Panting, he shoved open the door. Zhou Zhuo Hua, who had gotten up to use the bathroom, jumped in fright. “Little Bai, what’s wrong? Why are you covered in so many scratches?”

Bai Chen Zhu glanced down and saw his clothes were filthy, torn in places, stained with blood. Claw marks covered his arms, chest, and back—like he’d been mauled by zombies.

He recalled the bustling street earlier, the people who had brushed past him carelessly, those who had gotten too close. Luckily, he habitually kept his distance from others and had moved quickly, dodging and weaving.

In other words, he had threaded through an invisible horde of zombies. It had been a close call; these were just minor injuries.

“Sis,” Bai Chen Zhu said gravely. “Something’s wrong.”

—

They woke the others. The door was open, revealing crowds of tourists on the road, elders lounging in the cool air, dogs wagging their tails—all crystal clear. Everyone reacted just like Bai Chen Zhu had.

They first verified the scene’s reality, confirming it wasn’t another ‘holographic projection.’ Then they searched for the car—still nowhere. They returned to the house, exchanging uneasy glances.

“This is haunted, straight up haunted!” Bai Tao paced. “Why can’t we leave? Did we stumble into some ghost village last night?”

“Don’t scare yourself,” Zhou Zhuo Hua soothed. “Nothing’s clear yet. Panicking is the worst thing we can do.”

Bai Tao plopped onto the sofa with a huff, bouncing Tang Zhao at the other end. He rubbed the goosebumps on his arm. “Or maybe it’s time-related?”

“Time?” Bai Chen Zhu, lost in thought, glanced at him.

“Yeah.” Tang Zhao speculated. “We arrived at night, when the village was rundown. Now it’s day, and it looks pre-apocalypse. What if we can leave by car once night falls?”

Bai Chen Zhu thought it made sense. He looked up at Jiang Ye standing behind him. “What do you think?”

Jiang Ye leaned on the sofa back, looking down at him. “I think it’s an ability user.”

“No way!”

Before Bai Chen Zhu could respond, Tang Zhao looked shocked. “Can an ability user really do this? That’s heaven-defying! Everything we touched felt real! This could rewrite the world!”

Bai Tao murmured, “What ability user is this heaven-defying? Bringing the dead back to life and defying fate?”

Zhou Zhuo Hua had a different take.

She rubbed her temples. “Jiang Ye means a mental system ability user?”

Everyone looked at her. Zhou Zhuo Hua tapped her temple and continued, “Mental system—acts directly on the brain. Peach and Little Bai both have mental power like that.”

“What if an ability user is affecting us right now?” She glanced at the crowd outside. “Seeing isn’t always believing. They might be influencing our five senses. They haven’t changed the world—just us five.”

Bai Chen Zhu, who had treated his wounds, tossed out the clothes he’d worn that morning. “Right. I went out this morning and came back scratched up, clothes torn by claws. The zombies are still real. The world hasn’t changed. Only our perception has.”

Jiang Ye sat on the armrest next to Bai Chen Zhu and clapped. “I think so too. But we’ll know for sure tonight.”

—

Since their senses might be compromised—and the mutants outside were very real—they couldn’t fight zombies while blinded by illusion, so they stayed in and used household supplies.

Until sunset. The crowds outside thinned, shadows lengthened in the dusk, blending into the house’s darkness.

They placed a clock prominently; its ticks echoed.

Outside grew deathly quiet, just like when they’d arrived. A familiar rotten stench gradually spread.

Bai Chen Zhu leaned at the door and peered out. The little stool lay crooked in the corner; the kindly grandma who’d sat there was gone. He pulled out the bracelet from his pocket.

The fresh yellow flowers from daytime had vanished, replaced by a strand of withered grass.

Jiang Ye walked over and saw him staring at the grass. “What’s up?”

Bai Chen Zhu told him about the grandma and the bracelet.

Jiang Ye said, “So the ability fades at night.”

Tang Zhao poked his head over. “When do we go?”

Jiang Ye looked outside. Their house was the only lit one in the dark. Zombies wandered the night, their unrotted corpses reeking on the ground.

“Now.”

They packed up and headed to the village entrance under moonlight.

—

At the entrance sat their familiar car, fully loaded. Nearby, a skeletal zombie lurked.

It clung extremely close, as if sensing someone inside. It pressed its entire face against the window glass.

Desensitized after months, Tang Zhao no longer feared zombies. He rushed excitedly to open the door—only for the zombie to shriek and dissolve into a black shadow, fleeing into an alley.

Tang Zhao’s scream matched its own. Jiang Ye instantly realized it was human, not zombie, and charged after it. Tang Zhao followed.

“That was the ability user?” Bai Tao jumped up.

Bai Chen Zhu opened the trunk and rear doors, while Zhou Zhuo Hua checked the driver’s seat and nodded to him. “Just like we left it.”

Bai Chen Zhu said, “Supplies are untouched too.”

Soon, Jiang Ye and Tang Zhao returned.

Jiang Ye said, “That guy knows the area well—ran fast and hid.”

Tang Zhao clenched his fists, indignant. “Sneaking around at night, up to no good. Once I catch him, I’ll beat him senseless.”

“Let’s go.” Jiang Ye took the passenger seat; the others piled in.

The car turned, passing through the flower field’s center—their entry route. A bit farther, and they’d hit the main road, escaping this cursed place.

But after a stretch from the entrance—like Bai Chen Zhu’s daytime ordeal—they looped back to the entrance, facing the ‘Golden Autumn Village’ stele again.

Jiang Ye inhaled deeply, patience fraying. “Enough already!”

Bai Chen Zhu pointed at the window. “That ability user doesn’t want us leaving.”

Bai Tao puzzled, “But their power works during the day, right? It’s night now!”

With all these supplies, who wouldn’t covet them? Bai Chen Zhu sighed. “We’ve been marked—‘special attention.’”

Unwilling to yield, Bai Chen Zhu took the passenger seat and blindfolded himself with a strap. “I’ll guide. Jiang Ye, drive where I say.”

“Got it.”

Under Bai Chen Zhu’s directions, Jiang Ye drove into the flower field, crushing yellow blooms. They navigated smoothly—until Bai Tao’s cry and Tang Zhao’s gasp.

“Brother Bai, there’s a big river ahead!” Bai Tao urged.

Bai Chen Zhu paused, rubbed his throbbing temples, and affirmed, “Jiang Ye, drive through.”

Amid everyone’s exclamations, Jiang Ye calmly forded the rushing river.

Then pits appeared, houses…

They never reached the main road.

Frustrated, Bai Chen Zhu yanked off the blindfold and clutched his splitting head.

He could probe reality with his superpowers, but an alien mental power kept obstructing, layering fake images.

He diverted more focus to shatter illusions and seek truth, but they kept coming—no rest for the opponent.

What the hell? What did that person want? With such power, why not confront them directly?

Jiang Ye watched him worriedly and stopped the car. Yellow flowers surrounded them under the high moon. He patted Bai Chen Zhu’s back. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re dueling me, like they don’t care if they live or die.” Bai Chen Zhu’s world spun. Unable to hold it, he shoved open the door, stumbled two meters out, and vomited.

Jiang Ye grabbed a bottle of mineral water, got out, patted his back soothingly, and handed it over to rinse. “It’s fine. We’ll go back, drag them out.”

Bai Chen Zhu’s ears rang louder than Jiang Ye’s voice. After a while, he rinsed, took a deep breath. “No. Tonight, I’m settling this with them.”

“The one with nothing to lose doesn’t fear those with something to protect. They don’t care—you gonna match that?” Jiang Ye said helplessly, waving to the three in back. “Everyone, back to the village.”

They drove back.

This time, they stayed in the car, waiting.

But the culprit, perhaps spooked, never showed. Outside was pitch-black and silent. They took shifts watching and endured the night.

—

At dawn the next day, the car still sat at the entrance. Old men wheeled over carts selling buns, griping that they blocked the way and demanding a fine.

Jiang Ye raised his eyes and scanned the chattering old men outside. He called back Tang Zhao, who had gotten out of the car to argue with them. “Come back first. Who knows what those things are.”

Bai Chen Zhu deliberately teased Tang Zhao. “Yeah, what if they’re zombies, or even a tree? You want to argue with those things, Tang Zhao?”

Tang Zhao jolted in surprise. The hand he had pressed against the door loosened, and he sat up straight. “So what do we do now?”

Bai Chen Zhu pondered for a moment. “How about we get out and circle around to check?”

Everyone agreed unanimously. After Tang Zhao got out of the car, he threw a punch at the old man who was muttering like a monk reciting scriptures. But unexpectedly, it whistled through empty air, and he nearly fell over himself.

Bai Chen Zhu looked toward the spot where the old man had vanished. “Looks like they spent quite some effort last night just to block us.”

To the point where they couldn’t even fake a sense of touch anymore.

Zhou Zhuo Hua volunteered to stay in the car. She said, “I don’t know which of those people are zombies. You all know I’m just an ordinary person. If I accidentally touch one and get infected…”

Everyone understood what she left unsaid.

Jiang Ye said, “We won’t be here, so stay vigilant yourself.”

And so, leaving Zhou Zhuo Hua behind, the four of them split into pairs and headed off in opposite directions, planning to circle the village and take a look.

Zhou Zhuo Hua settled back into the driver’s seat. The sunlight was warm and cozy on her skin. Seeing that they wouldn’t be back anytime soon, she stretched lazily, yawned, and rested her head on the steering wheel for a quick nap.

In her drowsy state, a sound came from outside the car window.

Zhou Zhuo Hua lifted her head groggily, put on her glasses, and only then saw that Tang Zhao had returned at some point. He was anxiously knocking on the window.

Zhou Zhuo Hua only cracked the window a sliver. “Where’s Taotao? Weren’t you two acting together?”

Tang Zhao grinned, baring his teeth. “She’s got a stomachache and went off to squat somewhere. Sis, I’m kinda hungry. Got any food left in the car?”

Zhou Zhuo Hua’s eyes flashed. She said sternly, “Are you a pig? You ate three loaves of bread this morning and you’re hungry already?”

Tang Zhao smacked his lips. “Three loaves aren’t enough. Need a few more.”