Suppression

Crackle~

The flames produced by the alcohol continued to burn across the corpse's surface,

Strangely enough,

the zombie showed no reaction whatsoever to being burned, such as using the nearby pond or rolling on the ground to put out the fire.

All four of them realized this as well. Perhaps because the ritual had been interrupted, the zombie before them did not even possess complete basic biological instincts.

However, the pus seeping from beneath the Zombie Skin could effectively suppress the flames. It was impossible to burn it to ashes with alcohol alone, though it would more or less have some effect.

The zombie's most important sense, its sense of smell, was currently being affected by the thick smoke rising from its burning flesh. For the moment, it could not pinpoint their exact locations and was looking around in all directions.

The class monitor gave Anna, who had thrown the Molotov cocktail, a thumbs-up. At the same time, she signaled with her eyes for the two at the entrance to cooperate with her and attack the zombie from both front and rear.

The class monitor and Anna nearly simultaneously moved to the zombie's left and right sides, forming a pincer attack.

A sword and an axe,

The physical training from twelve years of compulsory education, along with the combat skills gained from extracurricular tutoring, made them naturally aim for the theoretically weakest point: the neck.

It was also because the two had drawn close that the zombie once again smelled the scent of living humans, and its seemingly stiff body immediately reacted.

Clang!

The sharp sound of metal striking metal echoed across the mountaintop.

From the front: the zombie actually thrust out its head and bit down on the axe Anna had swung from the front.

Although the axe blade sliced open both sides of the zombie's cheeks to some extent, it was ultimately clamped down on tightly and could not even be pulled free.

From the rear: the class monitor, standing behind it, successfully brought her sharp sword down upon the unguarded back of its neck.

Yet the blade only cut through the outer skin, penetrating less than two centimeters.

Through the skin split open by the blade, they could even clearly see the pitch-black cervical vertebrae. They seemed to possess some kind of hardening property, and the metallic collision just now had come from the blade striking the vertebrae.

Thoughts raced through the class monitor's mind, leading her to a conclusion:

As expected, this zombie can achieve "partial hardening." It was the same when Luo Di and I fought it together before. Once I drew its attention away, Luo Di could saw off its arm relatively easily.

Fighting it alone, there is almost no chance of winning.

But with multiple people attacking from different sides, things become much simpler.

Good thing we didn't let this zombie complete the entire ritual. Otherwise, it really might have gained full-body hardening along with all kinds of inhuman abilities.

The zombie was not going to sit still either. Taking advantage of its bite on the axe, it immediately swung its remaining arm, intending to tear apart the woman in front of it.

Anna's biceps suddenly flexed. Snap! She yanked the axe from the zombie's mouth along with three of its teeth.

She quickly dodged backward, narrowly avoiding having her body pierced by its black nails. Looking at the black claw that had swept past her, Anna broke out in a cold sweat.

It was in the gap after the zombie attacked Anna that Gao Yuxuan arrived.

With practiced fingers, he drew out a silver needle and swiftly, precisely stabbed it toward the back of the zombie's head,

one and a half inches above the hairline, at the depression between the trapezius muscles on either side.

Clang! Another metallic collision rang out. The zombie's rear neck, along with the entire back of its head, had completely hardened. Even the sharp needle tip could not pierce it.

But Gao Yuxuan's gaze was filled with absolute confidence.

He held the silver needle steady between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, while his left arm assumed a palm-strike stance, gathering force.

Then he suddenly exerted himself, driving his palm straight into the end of the needle like hammering in a nail.

Logically speaking,

given the thinness of the silver needle and the hardness of the zombie's skull, if Gao Yuxuan struck down with enough force, the needle would inevitably pierce backward through his palm.

Yet when his palm touched the base of the needle, what rang out was an even crisper sound of metal being forged.

Clang!

The precise, heavy palm strike drove the silver needle another two centimeters deeper, seeming close to breaking through the hardened layer.

Moreover, this object made of pure silver seemed to have a certain restraining effect on evil entities. The needle embedded beneath the skin vibrated continuously as thick Black Mist poured out.

The zombie itself also felt this "pain" and was about to turn around when—

A second palm strike landed, even stronger than the first.

Crack! The entire silver needle seemed to break through some kind of limit, plunging in nearly three inches.

Fengfu

In Gao Yuxuan's view, a zombie was still fundamentally a human body, and the meridians within it still served their corresponding functions.

This needle had pierced Fengfu, reaching the medulla oblongata.

The zombie's body shuddered violently, nearly collapsing limply to the ground.

The class monitor seized the opportunity. Quickly adjusting her position, she swung her sword! The blade skimmed past Gao Yuxuan's face before descending upon the zombie's neck once more.

Slash!

Sure enough, the strike no longer produced a metallic collision.

The sharp blade smoothly cut into the neck, causing real damage.

However, the zombie's body was still hard. The blade stopped completely after cutting roughly halfway into its cervical vertebrae, making a full decapitation far from easy.

Gao Yuxuan also pulled out a second silver needle, preparing to jab it into the zombie's temple.

Suddenly,

the zombie's faint instincts were awakened by death. Yin Energy surged rapidly through its body, gathering at the spot where the silver needle had entered!

The needle deeply embedded in the Fengfu acupoint was blasted backward by a powerful surge of black energy. It moved so fast that Gao Yuxuan would have had his face pierced if he had not shifted aside in advance.

Freed from the restriction on its acupoint, the frenzied zombie abruptly turned around, its dark fingers carving terrifying black streaks through the air.

The class monitor reacted with remarkable speed, immediately stepping away with nimble footwork.

But Gao Yuxuan, who was almost pressed against the zombie's back, had nowhere near as much room to evade. He could only take a step back and raise his arm to block, just as the claws were about to tear his arm apart.

Clang!

Gao Yuxuan was sent crashing heavily to the ground two meters away.

Scattered across the ground were scraps of clothing torn off by the zombie's claws, along with several pieces of skin-like material without a trace of blood.

Beneath Gao Yuxuan's torn sleeve was not the flesh and blood a human should have, but a gleaming metallic structure.

His entire left arm seemed to have been modified, or perhaps completely replaced. This seemed to be the main reason he had taken half a month off from school before.

The class monitor stared at Gao Yuxuan on the ground. "That prosthetic arm is unexpectedly useful. And Xiao Gao, your attacks are exceptionally effective too.

"If we repeat that acupuncture treatment from earlier, we might be able to cut that thing's head off. This time, let Anna do the chopping. My strength is still a little lacking."

There was no time to rest. The flames on the zombie's body had mostly gone out, and half of its body had been burned charred black.

There was no room for delay. Danger was about to strike.

But the one who attacked first was not the zombie, but Anna on the other side.

She was not holding her axe. Instead, she assumed a wrestling stance, lowering her center of gravity before charging toward her target with a step.

The zombie immediately caught the scent of a living human approaching and rapidly swung its remaining arm, seeking to tear her completely apart.

Slash~

But the five black streaks cut through empty air in front of it.

Anna, who should have been struck, dropped her body low in an instant and dodged the attack.

Smack! Her powerful arms wrapped around the zombie's body.

After these several direct confrontations, Anna had gathered enough combat information. She was one hundred percent confident she could avoid the opponent's monotonous arm attacks.

And most importantly, no matter how much the zombie's body hardened, its weight would not exceed that of a normal person by too much.

Suplex

With a perfect turning suplex, Anna lifted the zombie's entire body and slammed it heavily into the ground, its face buried in the dirt.

At the same time, Anna pinned the zombie down tightly, restricting its movements as much as possible.

However, even Anna, who stood 187 centimeters tall and weighed 90 kilograms, wore an ugly expression as she restrained it. She could clearly feel an invisible force surging within the zombie's body, and she feared she would not be able to hold it down for long.

Almost at the same time,

a silver needle descended from above and pierced the same acupoint again. This time, a single palm strike drove the needle in.

Anna immediately shouted at the sight:

"Wenwen! Cut it already... I can't hold it down much longer!"

The class monitor had experience with her previous strikes. She was not confident she could sever the zombie's head in a short time. It would take at least four or five strikes, and every single cut would have to land precisely.

However, something seemed to catch the corner of her eye. Her lips twitched, and the blade that had been poised to strike the neck changed course, stabbing straight down somewhere else.

Slash!

The vertically descending blade pierced through the zombie's palm and sank into the earth, pinning it down even further.

"Wenwen, what are you doing!?"

Just as Anna was baffled, someone suddenly walked toward her from the front.

Since she was bent over, pinning down the zombie from a low position, the person before her looked especially enormous when she looked up.

Perhaps it was because of the angle,

perhaps it was the newcomer's build and the way they held their blade,

or perhaps it was some unique aura,

but at that moment, Anna seemed to recall a slasher film she had watched with her friends one weekend.