Chapter 163: Warning of the Living Corpses

When Asano Arisu was shaken awake, a tiny thread of drool still lingered at the corner of her mouth.

"Wh-what?"

She jolted to her feet, frantically scanning her surroundings for Qiao Qiao.

"Please come with me."

The flight attendant anxiously led Asano Arisu toward the rear of the cabin.

Since the captain had just made an announcement informing the passengers that the plane was experiencing a minor issue, yet there were no signs of turbulence, the passengers remained relatively calm, albeit bewildered.

"This is..."

Upon reaching the back of the cabin and witnessing the scene, Asano Arisu gasped sharply.

In the dim cabin, dozens of ash-faced people were swaying and struggling as they moved about. Qiao Qiao was caught in the middle of them, completely occupied.

Not far from Qiao Qiao, a figure with eyes glowing a eerie cyan hue hovered menacingly, biding its time.

"A living corpse?"

Asano Arisu identified the entity's condition at a single glance.

Living corpses were not native, traditional aberrations of Wa.

Instead, they were entities birthed through the esoteric techniques of foreign shamans and similar religions.

A living corpse was not actually a living body; rather, it was a technique that projected an exorcist's will onto a corpse, utilizing Yin energy and spiritual power to manipulate the deceased.

Within the Onmyoryo, Onmyoji could control Shikigami through their own will, and the art of controlling a living corpse was merely a simplified version of such a method.

After all, compared to willful spirits and demons, lifeless corpses were undeniably much easier to control.

In other words, what Qiao Qiao was facing right now was merely a manipulated cadaver.

By pre-modifying the corpse and implanting the core of an incantation, one could manipulate it at will, even across a distance of thousands of miles.

Naturally, since there were no vengeful spirits or similar entities present to convert the surrounding Yin energy, this kind of control had a limited duration, much like a battery that would eventually run out of power and cease to move.

However, if the corpses controlled by the living corpse caused casualties during this period, those vengeful spirits would serve as a medium to transform the Yin energy, continuously generating even more casualties.

Ultimately, if left unchecked, this entire flight could potentially become a plane of corpses, even causing massive chaos upon landing.

Qiao Qiao had naturally realized this as well.

The revolver in his hand had already been loaded with ordinary bullets.

Due to the confined space and the fact that they were tens of thousands of feet in the air, Qiao Qiao could not simply use explosive rounds at will.

Bang—

He pulled the trigger, and a bullet zipped out of the barrel.

Suddenly, a corpse lunged forward, using its own body to block the bullet.

At that moment, a wall of bodies had formed around the source corpse, shielding it from Qiao Qiao's attack.

During this time, more corpses continued to rise, forming a horrifying and eerie tableau.

This made Asano Arisu think of certain movie plots where an airliner was attacked by zombies, leaving no survivors and ultimately being shot down by a missile.

She briefly pictured Qiao Qiao sitting in a tiny inflatable boat, holding a bazooka, tearfully destroying the passenger plane.

For some reason, the mental image made a strange kind of sense.

"No way."

Asano Arisu shook her head, banishing those stray thoughts.

Right now, the living corpse was simultaneously manipulating the bodies to encircle Qiao Qiao while directing others to shamble toward her own position.

It was obvious that the entity intended to assault this flight and complete the cycle of transformation.

"D-don't come over here!"

Asano Arisu took half a step back, then pulled a retractable Gohei wand from her small handbag.

Swish—

The white mulberry paper rustled, and spiritual power surged outward through the Gohei.

Through her spiritual vision, the pure white spiritual energy came into contact with the corpses, instantly dispersing the Yin energy in their joints and causing them to collapse, devoid of control.

Yet very soon, the Yin energy coiled around the living corpse reasserted control over those bodies.

Like marionettes on strings, the corpses began to move once more.

"Ugh, what a pain."

Asano Arisu gently shook the Gohei, but it only managed to temporarily halt the advance of the corpses.

Once their true nature was understood, these cadavers were, to Asano Arisu, nothing more than ordinary bodies.

They were far less terrifying than vengeful spirits.

Even so, Asano Arisu glanced toward Qiao Qiao's direction.

A corpse lunged at Qiao Qiao, who lowered his stance slightly and kicked it straight to the ground.

Behind him, another corpse seized the opportunity to try and grab him.

Yet Qiao Qiao countered with a backhand strike, using the butt of the revolver's grip to smash against the corpse's head and drive it back.

Bang—

The next instant, he pulled the trigger, firing a bullet mid-combat that threaded through the gaps between the corpses toward the source living corpse.

Splat—

Taken by surprise, the bullet bypassed numerous obstacles and struck the living corpse's shoulder.

The spiritual-infused bullet head immediately hissed and smoked the moment it touched the living corpse's flesh.

The living corpse's movements faltered instantly, causing the actions of all the other controlled bodies to slow down by half a beat.

A small hole had already appeared on the living corpse's shoulder.

Creating a living corpse was not simply a matter of implanting an incantation core; the body itself required long-term preparation. Therefore, this was no longer an ordinary corpse, and when struck by spiritual power, the resulting wounds were naturally much more severe than those on a regular body.

Taking advantage of this opening, Qiao Qiao moved swiftly, using the adjustable passenger seats to successfully shake off the three corpses that had been tangling with him.

However, from this angle, a thick wall of corpses still stood between Qiao Qiao and the living corpse.

There was simply no way Qiao Qiao's bullets could hit the living corpse.

Even though his spiritual vision had already pinpointed the incantation core located in its head.

The controller of the living corpse seemed to have noticed this as well; it huddled behind the other remains, directing its army of corpses to press forward step by step.

"Teacher."

Asano Arisu waved the Gohei, clearing a path for Qiao Qiao.

She deeply regretted leaving her Kagura bells inside her suitcase, which was currently stored in the plane's cargo hold.

"It's fine, I can handle this."

With that, Qiao Qiao took out his smartphone.

He tapped on a pre-recorded audio file.

Tinkle—

The chiming sound of Kagura bells rang out from the phone.

Asano Arisu instantly stiffened, breaking out in a cold sweat on pure instinct.

Hearing the sound of the Kagura bells, the living corpse and all the controlled bodies alike snapped their heads toward the source.

However, rather than being purified and destroyed by the sound, they grew violently agitated.

Qiao Qiao gave an imperceptible nod, and then tossed the phone away.

He threw it toward the far end of the cabin.

"!!!"

The controlled corpses lunged frantically toward the phone.

Just as Qiao Qiao's previous research on the recording of the Kagura bells had indicated, although the transcribed sound of the bells could not perform exorcisms, it possessed a powerful attraction for vengeful spirits and other aberrations.

Back then, Qiao Qiao had used a police cruiser's PA system to lure out the wicked child.

Right now, the phone's recording of the Kagura bells served precisely to draw the attention of the corpses.

In a mere fraction of a second, a massive gap opened up between the living corpse and Qiao Qiao.

Qiao Qiao raised his muzzle and pulled the trigger.

Bang, bang, bang—

Three bullets flew toward the living corpse.

At this distance, there was no possibility of Qiao Qiao missing.

Yet.

The living corpse jerked backward a step, and two corpses immediately stepped in front to form a final barrier.

The three bullets struck the bodies, failing to penetrate and leaving the living corpse unharmed.

Yet Qiao Qiao did not cease firing.

Bang, bang, bang—

He shifted his aim slightly, and the remaining three bullets were not shot toward the living corpse at all, instead flying off in a seemingly nonsensical direction.

A moment later, however.

Splat—

From a completely unexpected angle, a bullet punched straight into the living corpse's head.