Come Daybreak

2. Nangong Rui (i)

SPONSORED CHAPTER 2/4 BY @Jade_Lily_Dragon!(via ko-fi)

As soon as Feng Xinya's soul completely transmigrated into the next mission world, his instincts immediately kicked in as he rose up from his lying position on the cold, hard ground beside the large, burnt, and barely recognizable bed.

Not even half a second later, something had pounced toward his previous spot with a ferocious and voiceless screech. When Xinya turned his head and directed his gaze to scrutinize the figure that had attempted to harm him, he spotted a humanoid creature with an average build crouching down on all fours with only a few strands of graying, whispy hair hanging from its otherwise bald head.

Its hallowed eye sockets were completely devoid of its eyeballs, with traces of dried blood trailing down its emaciated, dull cheeks. The teeth in its mouth were jagged and sharp. It donned clothes that a stereotypical chef would wear, but the pristine whiteness of the garb was ruined by the occasional leakage of blood and pus from the large pores on the creature's body.

Accompanying the creature was an exceptionally foul and heavy scent of rot and decay.

The time it took for Feng Xinya to observe the walking corpse was not long. Similarly, when the screeching being realized it had missed its target, its bones creaked as it lifted its head to face Xinya's direction and shrieked before lunging its body toward him once more with its bony fingers extended out as if to grab him. The creature was agile.

The wide, opened mouth full of sharp canines aimed straight at what it perceived to be Xinya's most vulnerable spot as he sat carelessly on the floor—his exposed neck.

As a vampire who had been on the battlefield for his entire life, this "corpse" was not much to Feng Xinya. There were plenty of lower vampires that were used as foot soldiers, and they appeared almost no different from the frenzied corpse before him. Furthermore, in his world, vampire necromancers had the ability to manipulate corpses, which was fundamentally different from the existence of vampires.

If he were in his original body, Feng Xinya would have smashed its fragile skull with a slight squeeze of his palm.

Unfortunately, he was not foolish enough to trust in his current vessel. The moment he'd sat up to avoid injury, Feng Xinya had taken note of the heaviness of his body and a minor headache that was insignificant due to his own pain tolerance. In actuality, his face was covered in fresh blood that had oozed from his orifices prior to his transmigration.

Although the body's build was certainly outstanding, its current condition was akin to an engine having long run out of steam. The only reason it was still functioning at all was due to Feng Xinya's soul and willpower that was strong enough to defy the body's natural constraints.

Maneuvering such a body as he would his own would be a dumb move since the effect would not be up to par with his expectations. In short, it was an inefficient use of his energy.

The corpse wasn't very far from Xinya in the first place, so it didn't take any longer than a second for it to reach him. As Xinya did not move from his spot, he let its bony fingers pierce into his shoulders, drawing blood.

"Wha-Damn! Xinya! That's a zombie! A zombie ah! Why did you let it scratch you?!" Xiao's panicked voice echoed throughout the formerly simple yet elegant bedroom with seemingly recently-charred walls, straight into Feng Xinya's ear. This time, the system was a miniature version of its rosary form, hanging from the host body's sterling silver hoop earring on his right ear.

Although Feng Xinya had never seen a zombie since he'd never encountered a vampire necromancer, with his intelligence, he was more than aware that coming into contact with such an infectious rotting creature was not good for his obviously human body. However, his experience with danger and threatening situations did not alert him, so he knew that the scratches would not affect him.