MERIDIAN OF THE DAMNED

"Cough! Ugh... bastard," a raspy voice groaned, shattering the cold silence inside the crumbling ancient temple.

Jian Wu Chen tried to open his eyelids, glued shut by dried blood and thick dust. Agonizing pain instantly invaded every nerve in his body, as if thousands of red-hot needles were being thrust into every inch of his skin all at once.

"It hurts... it hurts like hell," he whispered with a trembling voice that sounded completely foreign to his own ears. "Where am I? Why does my throat feel like it's stuffed with hot sand?"

He tried to move his right arm, but the excruciating pain made him groan again.

"Argh! Damn it! My arm... why is it so small?" he muttered, staring blankly at his skin-and-bones forearm covered in grime. "This isn't my arm. Where did my right arm with the dragon tattoo go?"

Wu Chen dragged his body backward, leaning against a cracked stone altar coated in thick dust. His head spun violently, delivering a sudden deluge of foreign memories that stormed his brain like a flash flood.

"Li Jian Nan? The bastard son of Concubine Lan? A trash without meridians?" Wu Chen shook his head violently, trying to dispel the agonizing dizziness. "No, no way. I'm Wu Chen, the most feared triad boss in Shenzing! I was supposed to be dead after being shot in the back by that bastard Lu Min! How did I end up in this pitiful, skin-and-bones body?"

He looked around in panic. The ancient temple had no intact roof; the pale gray night sky of Tingzhou was visible through the gaps in the collapsed tiles. The freezing night air pierced his skin, which was covered only by a ragged, coarse cloth robe.

"Damn, this altar is so dusty. It smells like wet dirt and rotting corpses," Wu Chen muttered, coughing softly. "Who would be cruel enough to throw a helpless kid like Li Jian Nan into a rotten place like this? Oh... so you died from poison, and then your body was dumped in the Common’s District to rot? The Wuji family plays dirty. Damn it, their methods are just like my enemies back in Shenzing."

Suddenly, the night's silence was torn apart by a terrifying sound from outside the temple.

"Help! Help me, by the gods!"

"Run! Don't come near me! Ahhhh! My leg! Don't bite!"

"Arrrgh! Let go! Let me go!"

Wu Chen flinched. The sound of mass hysterical screams echoed so close, shaking the fragile walls of the temple.

"What is that noise? Is there a gang fight outside?" Wu Chen muttered, holding his breath to listen closely.

He dragged his trembling body toward a gap in the collapsed wooden wall.

Carefully, he peeked out at the muddy street outside.

"Holy shit... what on earth are they?" Wu Chen whispered, his eyes widening in horror.

Under the dim moonlight, three people clad in rags were surrounding a stray dog in the middle of the road. They were not merely killing it; they were brutally tearing its flesh apart.

"Krrgghhh..."

"Blood... hungry... blood..." one of them rasped. His jaw was entirely torn off, revealing rows of teeth dripping with thick black blood.

"Are they... eating that dog alive?" Wu Chen muttered, cold sweat soaking his back. "Crazy! That's not human anymore! His eyes are glowing red like a monster's!"

Crack!

The distinct sound of the dog's neck snapping reached Wu Chen's ears.

One of the creatures, a middle-aged man with grayish skin that had begun to rot, suddenly stopped chewing. He raised his head, sniffing the night air.

"Damn it, don't look over here," Wu Chen whispered, pulling his head back into the shadows of the temple. "Don't come this way, you bastard..."

However, Wu Chen's prayers were not answered. The creature's head snapped jerkily toward the ruined temple where Wu Chen hid. A pair of pupil-less red eyes locked directly onto the gap in the wall.

"KRAAAAA!"

The creature roared, letting out a horrific screech. The other two creatures stood up, ignoring the half-mangled carcass on the mud. The three of them began to limp with unnatural speed toward the temple entrance.

"Damn it, they know I'm in here!" Wu Chen shouted, his heart pounding violently. "Think, Wu Chen! Think! Does this body... have cultivation? Inner energy?"

He closed his eyes, searching for any remnants of energy within Li Jian Nan's body based on the fresh memories he had received.

"There's nothing! It's completely empty!" Wu Chen screamed in frustration. "This kid's meridians are dead! Forget inner energy, the muscles in my legs feel like jelly!"

He tried to stand, but his knees immediately buckled, sending him crashing back onto the dusty ground.

"Cough! Cough!" He spat out a mouthful of blood as his chest felt suffocatingly tight. "Crazy. Am I, who was once feared in the underworld, going to die being chewed on by three cannibalistic hoboes in a broken temple? No, I refuse to die such a pathetic death!"

The footsteps outside the temple grew closer. The sound of dragging feet on wet soil echoed right in front of the tilted entrance.

"What is that stench? It smells horrible!" Wu Chen cursed, covering his nose with his left hand. "Rotting meat!"

A shadow broke through the ruined doorway. It was a woman in torn clothing, half of her face decayed down to the cheekbone.

"Eat... hungry..." the zombie woman groaned, her glowing red eyes fixed on Wu Chen with pure murderous intent.

"Eat my foot!" Wu Chen yelled, scrambling to find anything nearby. "Damn it, there are no guns here!"

His hand touched a sharp piece of wood from the collapsed roof frame. Without thinking, he gripped it tightly.

"Come at me, you rotten hobo! Come on if you dare!" Wu Chen challenged, trying to force an adrenaline rush to mask his overwhelming fear.

The female zombie did not respond to his insults. She lunged forward with shocking speed.

"Watch out!" Wu Chen yelled to himself.

He rolled to the side with great effort. His weak body slammed hard against the dirt floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Argh, my back!" he groaned.

The female zombie landed right where Wu Chen had been lying, her claws scraping deep gouges into the dirt.

"Insane, her strength makes no sense for a corpse!" Wu Chen yelled, his face turning pale. "If I get scratched, I'm done for!"

Before he could stand up, the other two zombies entered the temple. The exit was now completely blocked by the three horrific creatures.

"Great, now I'm completely cornered," Wu Chen muttered. His breath came fast, and his chest felt like it was burning from the inside. "Three against one. No inner energy, no firearms. Talk about fair odds."

The muscular male zombie stepped forward, reaching his sharp, black-nailed hands toward Wu Chen's neck.

"Don't expect me to die without a fight, you bastard!" Wu Chen screamed.

With the last of his strength, Wu Chen thrust the sharp wooden stake into the muscular zombie's face.

Thwip!

"KRAA!"

The sharp wood pierced the zombie's right eye, driving deep into its skull. Yet, the creature felt no pain. It roared in rage and grabbed Wu Chen's right arm with immense force.

Crack!

"Ah! You bastard! It hurts!" Wu Chen screamed, tears springing to his eyes as he felt his arm bone fracture under the zombie's grip. "Let go of me, you monster! Let go!"

He kicked the zombie's chest repeatedly with his left leg, but his strikes felt like hitting a concrete wall. His left leg went numb.

"Why... why is this body so weak?" Wu Chen groaned. Tears fell not out of cowardice, but because Li Jian Nan's physical limits had been pushed past their breaking point. "I can't... move..."

The third zombie, smaller in build, began crawling quickly across the floor, preparing to bite Wu Chen's unprotected leg. Meanwhile, the female zombie had recovered and leaped straight toward Wu Chen's head with her jaw wide open.

"Fresh... blood..." the woman growled.

"Damn it! Get off!" Wu Chen shouted, but his strength was completely drained. His right arm was still trapped in the grip of the muscular zombie with the stake in its eye.

Thick, black, blood-stained saliva dripped from the female zombie's mouth onto Wu Chen's forehead. The stench of death was suffocating, filling his chest until he felt violently ill.

"Am I... going to die here?" Wu Chen whispered, looking at the rows of sharp, yellow teeth just inches from his throat. "I... I just got a second chance at life... Is it really going to end like this?"

Deep despair washed over the mob boss. His pride crumbled. In this new world, he was a nobody. He was merely a piece of fresh meat waiting to be chewed on by these hideous monsters.

"Damn it... someone... help..." he gasped, his remaining breath fading.

Just as the female zombie's sharp teeth were about to puncture the skin of his neck, the world around Wu Chen seemed to stop turning. The growls of the zombies faded, replaced by a deafening high-frequency hum.

A bright blue holographic light suddenly illuminated the darkness of the ancient temple, flickering rapidly right before his eyes.

[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]

[WARNING: HOST PHYSICAL CONDITION: CRITICAL]

[MERIDIAN STATUS: DEAD]

[EMERGENCY SYSTEM PROTOCOL ACTIVATED: SYSTEM REQUIREMENT MET...]

Wu Chen's eyes widened, staring at the floating lines of text with the last of his consciousness. "What... what on earth is this?"