The Years I Spent as a Demon Corpse

I’ve heard that the moment when a person suddenly grows up happens in countless different ways. Between time and space, there’s a thin membrane, and countless people pierce through it from countless places, descending into the real world they once wished to avoid, only to eventually become much like everyone else.

Every sector in modern society is advancing rapidly, with skyscrapers everywhere. Archaeology has progressed alongside them.

Allow me to introduce myself: I am a sophomore intern in the archaeology department of a certain university, named Hu Xiaodong. My grades can only be described with two words—average. This makes me feel as though I’m not cut out for archaeology.

Recently, some students from our department are to accompany our professors to Shennongjia to investigate so-called wild man relics and skulls, among other things—an assortment of oddities. The most bizarre rumor is that Shennongjia is home to blood-drinking “demon corpses.” Naturally, I don’t pay attention to such tales. In a harmonious society like ours, all these supernatural beliefs were forcefully driven out of people’s minds during Chairman Mao’s turbulent decade.

Besides, not everyone gets to witness such strange phenomena. Unless you’re destined—or just unlucky. There are so many people in the world, and the odds of misfortune falling on you are just a few in billions, so don’t always assume the worst.

With such thoughts, I set off on my journey to Shennongjia.

On the way, the towering buildings gradually shrank, then disappeared altogether from view. As