Hearing Wu Jiasheng’s words, Xia Liang was about to explain. He opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing. Instead, he simply shook the bell in his hand toward the distance, and a corpse slowly shuffled over. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Wu Jiasheng watched Xia Liang’s movements, unsure of what he was doing. He just observed quietly.

A few breaths later, a corpse arrived before them. Wu Jiasheng, however, was none the wiser, assuming the figure was just an extra.

"Wow, you guys are so dedicated! You even got the stench down. Impressive!" As he spoke, Wu Jiasheng gave the extra in front of him a thumbs-up.

But strangely, the extra didn’t respond. Beside him, Xia Liang began to speak slowly, a smile playing on his lips.

"Do you know why the actors I found to play zombies are so convincing?"

"Why?" A flicker of curiosity appeared in Wu Jiasheng’s eyes.

"Because," Xia Liang smiled, "nothing looks more like a zombie... than a real zombie."

As Xia Liang’s words faded, Wu Jiasheng stood frozen to the spot. Goosebumps shot up from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

"M-Master Xia, you... what do you mean?"

An excited gleam appeared in Wu Jiasheng’s eyes. I’ve always been fascinated by zombies, but I know they’re fake, that they don’t really exist. But what Xia Liang just implied... it sounds like the extras he brought are all real zombies!

"No, that can’t be right... Master Xia, you must be joking, right?"

Hearing Wu Jiasheng’s disbelief, Xia Liang didn’t answer. Instead, he used the bamboo fan in his hand to slowly lift the zombie costume worn by the corpse before them.

Beneath the costume was a huge, hollow cavity. All the flesh was gone, and one could see right through to the clothing on its back.

The corpse’s entire torso was held together by just its spine. At this sight, Wu Jiasheng gasped, so frightened he stumbled back two steps before his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

And yet, the excitement in his eyes didn’t diminish in the slightest.

He shifted his gaze to the street in the distance. There, scattered in various positions, some standing and some sitting, were several more zombies. Their appearances and builds varied, but the aura they all emitted was identical. None of them were alive!

Realizing this, Wu Jiasheng looked at the other corpses again, his eyes filled with a new understanding.

Actually, if you look closely, it’s easy to tell these ’extras’ aren’t alive. Many of the bodies have obvious problems you can see at a glance. Before, I just thought their makeup was incredible and never considered anything else. But now I get it. These things are all real zombies.

Just then, the crew prepared to shoot the final scene in the distance. Xia Liang stood up and walked over with a smile. After all, the scene couldn’t be filmed properly without him there to control the corpses.

But before leaving, he glanced back at Wu Jiasheng, who was still sitting paralyzed on the ground, and said with a smile, "Keep this a secret for now. If Director Wu and the others find out they’re acting with real zombies, they’ll be scared to death."

As filming on Xia Liang’s side reached its final scene, a different scene was unfolding in a warehouse somewhere in Xiangjiang. Nearly a hundred people were gathered there, all staring at a photo of Xia Liang on the wall.

This group consisted of the fleeing enforcers and some of the higher-ups from the Tufeng Group. Aside from those who had already escaped Xiangjiang or been captured, this was everyone who remained.

This warehouse was their last hiding place. The location was incredibly secret, originally used to store their cache of weapons, and its existence was known only to a few high-ranking members. Even the evidence of the Tufeng Group’s crimes that had accidentally leaked did not include this location.

Now, everyone in the warehouse was staring at that single photo on the wall: a picture of Xia Liang.

"I’ve already reached out to our old connections, but they can no longer help us. The Tufeng Group is completely finished." The speaker was the Tufeng Group’s only high-ranking member who had neither been caught nor fled Xiangjiang. He had also been present when the Tufeng Group’s chairman met his fate.

"I’ve already found out where this man is," he continued, pointing to the photo of Xia Liang on the wall. "We’ll make our move tonight."

Most of the others in the warehouse nodded in agreement, but a dissenting voice spoke up.

"The chairman is already dead. Why should we risk our lives to kill this person?"

The man who spoke had not been present when the chairman died so suddenly, so he didn’t know the details. Hearing the question, the Tufeng Group’s sole remaining leader’s face hardened with a fierce expression.

"That man has everything to do with the chairman’s sudden death," the leader said, his voice hard. "We must avenge him. I refuse to believe he can handle all of us."

With that, he turned and began recounting to the others what had happened in the chairman’s office.

A few hours later, as dusk began to settle, Director Wu’s crew finished shooting the final scene.

"Master Xia, I’m truly grateful for your help today! Without you, filming the climax of this last scene probably would have taken us several more days."