The Living Dead

The Living Dead is a supernatural suspense web novel by the Sichuan author Yanmen Guanwai, serialized on Heiyan Reading from February 22, 2017, and completed the same year at roughly 1.86 million words. The story begins with a strange incident at a gas station late at night: a paper effigy of a car drives up for fuel, and the surveillance camera captures it all. Afterward, those who have seen the footage die one after another, and "I" become the last target. To survive, "I" seeks out a blind old woman versed in such matters and asks her to ward off the evil; instead she loses her life, and "I" fall under a curse, becoming a peculiar "living dead" caught between life and death. Paper cars, death-announcing dogs, bronze daggers, and ghost-face masks appear in succession, drawing in more mysterious figures and hidden circumstances. While seeking a way to break the curse and escape death, the protagonist gradually closes in on the manipulator behind it all and discovers that this calamity is only the prelude to a larger conspiracy. Set in the modern city and blending folk taboos, feng shui talismans, and soul-borrowing, the novel unfolds in first person with a cold, eerie atmosphere and tightly paced chapters, suited to readers who enjoy traditional folk horror. Online sources also record that audio and screen adaptation rights have been sold.