Chapter 141: Charging Out Together

Walking along the village path, the group maintained a tense silence, their hands tightening around their weapons to prepare for any sudden emergency. Su Yi walked quietly in the center, his gaze scanning the surroundings as he took in the desolate landscape.

The area was empty and deathly quiet, lacking any of the usual bustle of a village at dawn. The silence was unsettling. What drew Su Yi’s attention most were the puddles of blood appearing on the ground from time to time; they had long since dried and turned a dark, blackened hue, suggesting that a significant amount of time had passed since the carnage occurred.

Could these bloodstains be the remnants of those who were bitten?

Su Yi’s expression grew grave. He knew that these "walking corpses" were created after being bitten by zombifying beetles. The process began with death, followed by reanimation into mindless husks that possessed no consciousness and responded only to sound. Once transformed, these corpses became rigid, yet their latent potential seemed fully unleashed, granting them astonishing, monstrous strength.

This suddenly awakened power was not to be underestimated. An ordinary person, upon becoming a walking corpse, possessed combat prowess comparable to an average fighter. This did not even account for the rare, mutated variants; the stronger a person was in life, the more formidable they became in death. This was one of the most dreaded aspects of these creatures.

Even more terrifying was the fact that anyone bitten by a walking corpse would eventually become one themselves. A single bite from a zombifying beetle could trigger a chain reaction—one becoming a hundred, a hundred a thousand, a thousand ten thousand—ultimately leading to a catastrophic plague. Throughout history, countless lives had been claimed by these disasters, including many who had set out to eliminate the threat only to end up as corpses themselves. Many were forced to strike down their own friends and family, leading to broken homes and shattered lives, which only deepened the universal hatred for this scourge.

Looking at the ordinary, dilapidated houses around him, Su Yi shook his head. He had not expected to encounter walking corpses in such a small village. Given their rate of spread, he feared that by now, the entire population might have already turned. Had the mentor named Zuo Yuan been right to suspect that someone was intentionally breeding these beetles? Could this be the place?

Realizing the situation might be far more complex than anticipated, Su Yi heightened his vigilance; one wrong move could prove fatal. After another ten minutes of trekking, they had covered most of the distance. The exit at the edge of the village was now in sight, and the group felt a surge of relief. If their luck held, they might be able to leave without ever crossing paths with the creatures.

However, they had only taken a few more steps when a rotting wooden door on a house beside the road was suddenly smashed open, crashing to the ground with a dull thud. A small, swaying figure stumbled out.

It was a child. Its eyes, nose, and mouth were blackened and festering. Though there was still a faint, lingering sense of youth, it looked utterly horrifying. Its hands reached out aimlessly, and it emitted bizarre, meaningless hissing sounds.

Yu Li and the others turned pale, realizing the danger. They tightened their grips on their weapons and scanned the surroundings; the sound of the door crashing down could easily attract more corpses. The young girl beside them, already trembling, nearly shrieked but managed to choke it back—whether out of fear of attracting more monsters or because the creature was a child, no one could tell.

As the group stood on high alert, beastly, unintelligible groans began to echo from all directions. More walking corpses slowly emerged, some drifting toward them. Fortunately, the situation was not yet dire; since the sound of the door had been brief, most of the corpses continued to wander aimlessly.

Watching those drifting closer, the group’s expressions grew solemn. While they were not afraid of the corpses individually, any combat would inevitably create noise. If that noise attracted a larger horde, they would be in grave danger. For a group of five, being surrounded by a large number of corpses significantly increased the risk of being bitten.

As the corpses drew nearer, the group gripped their weapons so hard their palms grew slick with sweat. They decided to wait and see. One corpse shuffled toward Qin Shou, its body swaying so violently it seemed it might collapse at any moment. Its face was a decayed mess of blood and muscle, with yellowish-white fluids dripping from it—a sickening sight. Even worse was the pungent, rancid stench that made them want to retch before the creature even got close. Fortunately, the corpse staggered right past Qin Shou.

The group exhaled in relief. Once the other corpses had also passed them by without noticing their presence, Yu Li gave a silent nod, signaling for them to continue moving carefully. Gong Yan and Qin Shou acknowledged with a nod, their weapons pointed forward as they fanned out to lead the way. Yu Li followed with the girl and Su Yi. After another thirty paces, the number of corpses in the vicinity seemed to increase for no apparent reason.

Though they hadn't been surrounded, the pressure was mounting. They just needed to hold on a little longer; the exit was right before them.

As more corpses appeared, the girl’s face turned deathly pale. The pervasive stench of decay was nearly unbearable; even with her nose and mouth covered, the foul odor seeped through, stinging her eyes and drawing tears.

"Ah!"

The girl’s foot caught on something. She lurched forward, falling to the ground, and let out an involuntary cry. To the group, who were advancing in total silence, that sound was like a thunderclap.

They immediately looked around. As expected, many of the wandering corpses stopped in their tracks. With guttural, inhuman cries, they began to shamble toward the girl.

"Bad move!" Yu Li hissed. He saw a corpse near the girl lunging toward her, and with a surge of Qi, he slammed his weapon into the creature’s chest.

The force of the blow shattered the corpse's bones, sending it flying until it crashed into a crumbling wall, dislodging a cascade of debris.

After felling the creature, Yu Li hurried to help the girl up, asking with concern, "Rou'er, are you alright?" The girl stood up, shaken, and shook her head, clearly aware that she had caused trouble.

Gong Yan and Qin Shou gathered around. Seeing the girl was unharmed, they relaxed slightly, but their expressions darkened as they watched the horde beginning to close in, drawn by the noise. Qin Shou furrowed his brow and asked in a low voice, "Uncle Yu, what now?"

Gong Yan glanced at the encroaching crowd, a fierce look crossing his face. He swung his oversized greatsword, whistling through the air. "Before we're fully surrounded, why don't we make a dash for it?"

Yu Li weighed the gravity of the situation for a moment, then gritted his teeth and nodded. He turned to Su Yi and the girl. "When we carve a path, you two must stick close to us, understood?"

Rou'er nodded, her face drained of color. Seeing the corpse that had been sent flying now dragging itself back to its feet, she shrank back in terror and huddled closer to the group.

Su Yi nodded, acting as if it were nothing, though his eyes remained fixed on the rising corpse. He thought to himself that the legends were true: as long as they were not decapitated, these things would keep moving.

With a low shout, Qin Shou and Gong Yan swung their weapons, their Qi surging as their hands took on the color of their energy. They struck fiercely at the heads of the lunging corpses. While these creatures possessed abnormal strength, they were no match for high-level fighters; their only advantage was their sheer numbers.

*Thud! Thud!*

The sound of skulls cracking echoed down the path. Qin Shou and Gong Yan hacked through the horde. Though corpses fell one after another, more kept lunging forward, slowing their progress to a crawl. The group’s formation was strict: the two in front cleared the path, while Yu Li guarded the flanks. Only Rou'er and Su Yi did not fight, focusing solely on staying close.

Rou'er was too terrified to act, her hands trembling; she feared both the physical contact with the rotting monsters and the risk of being bitten. Even Qin Shou and the others knew that being grappled by a corpse was dangerous, as the creatures felt no pain and would bite relentlessly, refusing to let go even when their bodies were mangled.

Su Yi observed the zombie-like monsters with a slight frown. Without a weapon, fighting them barehanded would be troublesome. If he had known, he would have stashed a massive rock inside his white mask as a makeshift bludgeon. If he could wield a boulder like a heavy mace, clearing these creatures would be trivial.

Just then, a shrill, piercing scream from the girl rang out in his ears.