Striving for Science C86 pt2

Shen Chang'an put down his things and turned to leave. As he reached the door, he suddenly screamed, "Ah, boss, there's someone lying outside your shop, and it looks like they're bleeding."

How is that possible?

He had just checked the doorway and there was nothing there.

The man walked to the door with a gloomy face. Unexpectedly, there was actually someone lying there. His eyes narrowed, and he turned to Shen Chang'an, saying, "Leave this to me. You go back quickly and take the flowers to cheer up your wife."

After saying that, he leaned down to look at the person lying on the ground, seemingly wanting to confirm whether the person was dead or alive.

In that flash of lightning, the person lying on the ground suddenly sprang up, using a scissor kick to lock the man's neck. Several people rushed out from the darkness.

"Police, don't move!"

The man struggled wildly, unable to believe that he had been caught by those foolish police. It was impossible! When the cold handcuffs were placed on his wrists, he suddenly broke down and cried.

"Why are you crying? The ones who should be crying are the victims you tied up." The police rescued the store owner who was tied up in the storage room and brother Ming. Both of them kept thanking the police.

"This time, it was a concerned citizen who noticed something was wrong with the store, and they bravely outsmarted the criminals, stalling for time until we arrived to save you."

When the police mentioned "concerned citizen," brother Ming knew that the person who discovered the problem in the store must have been Mr. Shen. Earlier, he had heard Mr. Shen pretending to have never been to this store, claiming he had been kicked out by his wife. At that moment, brother Ming knew that Mr. Shen must have discovered something was wrong with the store.

The two of them repeatedly thanked Shen Chang'an and intended to repay him financially, but no matter what they said, Mr. Shen wouldn't agree. In desperation, the shopkeeper said, "Mr. Shen, we have no way to repay your life-saving grace. From now on, we will send two bouquets of flowers representing friendship to Mr. Nian every week, and we will not charge any fees."

"That's good." Shen Chang'an was worried that the couple would be uneasy if he kept refusing, so he simply agreed.

"There's a zombie!"

The man, who was being held by the police, suddenly pointed at the dark corner of the street, "There's a zombie there!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the man scream, and a black shadow flew towards them like an arrow. The shadow's target was Yao Huailin, who was lecturing the man.

He deliberately stalled for time tonight, just to wait for Yao Huailin and the others to arrive. He couldn't determine if the man had any other weapons, and he didn't know what was happening to the couple, so calling the police was the best option.

When the dark shadow rushed over, Shen Chang'an was still in a daze. He looked up and saw something rushing towards Yao Huailin, and he instinctively kicked out his foot.

The dark shadow let out a scream and fell to the ground.

Is this the legendary zombie?

Everyone looked at the "person" lying on the ground. His skin was slightly green, and his limbs looked stiff, but his speed was surprisingly fast.

Yao Huailin thought with a lingering sense of fear, if Shen Chang'an hadn't kicked out a leg to stop him, he might have really been attacked by this strange person.

"Thanks." Yao Huailin thanked Shen Chang'an.

"No problem." Shen Chang'an waved his hand, stepped onto the strange person's back, and said to the police officers who were about to touch him, "Don't touch him for now, I'm worried he might have a contagious disease." Then, he took out his phone and dialed a number.

Yao Huailin frowned at the sound of the man's words and said to the other police officers, "You guys keep an eye on this criminal, I'll go over there."

"Captain Yao!"

"How can we let you go?"

"No, we brothers can't watch you go to your death."

After Shen Chang'an finished the call, he turned around and saw Yao Huailin and the other policemen with red eyes, as if they had just experienced a major farewell in their lives.

"What are you guys doing? It's not like you're filming a farewell drama." Shen Chang'an didn't let anyone else touch the strange person. "I just contacted a friend who knows about this kind of strange illness. Let's wait for him to come before we do anything."

"Alright." Yao Huailin looked at the strange person on the ground, who was unable to struggle under Shen Chang'an's foot. He took out a pack of cigarettes and handed them out, taking a deep drag. If this thing was the zombie that the common people had been rumored to be seeing lately, he had to bring the monster to justice. It would also give the terrified people a sense of reassurance.

Shen Tu arrived quickly, and from afar he saw Shen Chang'an stepping on a dirty, messy thing. He raised an eyebrow and walked over to Shen Chang'an. "Chang'an, why did you catch something like this?"

"Ahem." Shen Chang'an coughed dryly and introduced Shen Tu's identity to Yao Huailin and the others.

Shen Tu: "..."

He has seen a lot and has some knowledge of strange illnesses, is that what he means?

Why would a door god be interested in strange illnesses?

"Shen Tu," Shen Chang'an asked softly, "Is this thing under my foot a person or something else?"

"He's a human for now, but I think if you keep stepping on him like that, he might turn into a ghost." Shen Tu glanced at him a couple of times and knew what was going on with this person, "There are some living people who don't want to work properly, they just think about the things in the dead people's tombs. Those tombs that have been buried in the soil for hundreds or even thousands of years, who knows what strange things might grow in them?"

"So…"

"He was infected by bacteria from the tomb. Don't worry, it's not contagious." Shen Tu raised his voice, letting the police hear this to reassure them, then pulled Shen Chang'an away from the strange man, "This tomb robber was cursed by the tomb."

"Can people still curse after they die?" Shen Chang'an was surprised, "Isn't it said that when people die, they're like extinguished lamps?"

"Can animals really turn into humans? Is that even scientific?" Shen Tu asked back.

"Sorry, I offended you." Shen Chang'an thought that Shen Tu was also a yao transformed from an animal or plant, so he quickly apologized.

Shen Tu: Huh?

What does it have to do with him?

"When I left, the master also told me to go back with you if it was on the way." Shen Tu said to Shen Chang'an after watching the police take away both the assailant and the victim. "You're such a big guy, you can fight, you can eat, you can jump, and you even have merit golden light attached to your body. Who could hurt you? Yet the master always worries about this and that, sigh. Honestly, someone like you, even walking at night is a kind of harm to ghosts."

Speaking of ghosts...

Shen Chang'an suddenly remembered that he hadn't properly fed the otaku ghost Chen Yuan for a while. Should he find some time to buy some delicious food and go see him?

Shen Chang'an returned home with Shen Tu. As he tiptoed upstairs, he saw Dao Nian's door open.

"Back?" Dao Nian stood behind the door, dressed neatly, clearly not yet ready for bed.

"Dao Nian, it's so late, why aren't you asleep?" Shen Chang'an straightened his bent back. "I heard that going to bed early is good for bone development. Your legs are just healed, maybe going to bed early will make your legs stronger."

"Can't sleep." Dao Nian glanced at him. There was a faint scent of ancient tombs about Chang'an, and... signs of disrupting the rules.

He silently calculated in his heart, his expression becoming slightly subtle.

The engaged couple Shen Chang'an saved today, according to their destined trajectory, were supposed to die at the hands of a deranged killer. The killer, due to their torture, would lose control of their twisted desires, killing many innocent elderly and children. The couple suffered various tortures before their deaths, and their resentment shook the heavens. Combined with the corpse energy from the ancient tomb, they eventually transformed into evil spirits.

And that police officer would be bitten to death by the deranged tomb robber, dying on the spot.

From then on, death incidents frequently occurred near that flower shop, and then...

Then, all the resentment coalesced, reviving an ancient ferocious beast, ultimately leading to the deaths of many people and social unrest.

However, this incident, right from the start, encountered Shen Chang'an. The lives of the engaged couple were saved, and because of Shen Chang'an's heroic act, they felt that there were still many good people in the world. After achieving success in middle age, they did a lot of charity work to give back to society.

The deranged killer was stopped during his first murder and ultimately confined to a special psychiatric hospital.

And that police officer named Yao Huailin, needless to say, would later become a very capable and righteous police officer.

But if he hadn't suddenly bought Chang'an a bouquet of red roses, Chang'an wouldn't have met this couple. Maybe when he drove past the flower shop, he wouldn't have noticed anything unusual about it.

It all seemed to have started because of him, and then Shen Chang'an found redemption.

So, was it his Heavenly Dao, unconsciously, that was letting the Life Dao off easy?

"Dao Nian, what's wrong with you?" Shen Chang'an felt that Dao Nian's complexion was a bit strange.

"It's nothing." Dao Nian shook his head. "Go to sleep early.

Shen Chang'an understood. Dao Nian was staying up so late, waiting for him to come back.

After moving into Dao Nian's house, Shen Chang'an seemed to have gradually gotten used to it. Every night, someone would be waiting for him when he got home, and every morning, someone would worry about whether he would eat breakfast properly.

"If I come back late in the future, don't wait for me anymore," Shen Chang'an sighed. "Staying up late is bad for your health."

Dao Nian's deep, unfathomable eyes looked at him, as if asking, how could he, who often stayed up late, dare to say such a thing?

Shen Chang'an slunk his head down and ran to his room.

"Chang'an." Dao Nian called out to him.

Shen Chang'an turned back, looking at Dao Nian standing in the glow: "Hmm?"

"No matter where you go, as long as you come back, I will leave a light for you." Dao Nian looked at him, his expression very calm, his tone not deliberately serious, but Shen Chang'an felt that Dao Nian was very serious when he said this.

"It's worth it to stay up late for you."