"W-What could have caused this?!"
Hua Shuya's face was filled with horror.
The man's face was now hideously distorted, with no heartbeat or body heat at all. How could he retain any trace of a living person's presence?
Yet despite clearly being a cold corpse, he had staggered over right before her eyes!
As her thoughts raced, memories from the past flashed through Hua Shuya's mind.
It was said that in the Outer Regions of Shenzhou, there existed a form of Witchcraft and Gu Poison Arts that could control a person's body. Even a corpse could move about as freely as a living person—it was sinister and vicious to the extreme.
Could it be that their party had been ambushed by villains long ago, and that the moment she left, her escorts had fallen victim to their poisonous hands?
While Hua Shuya remained caught between suspicion and alarm, Lin Tianlu's initial astonishment soon faded, and his mood quickly settled.
Looking at the other man's mangled face, he strangely felt little fear or dread.
It was almost... as though he were looking at a mass of air?
Lin Tianlu furrowed his brow slightly, faintly realizing that something had changed within him.
Setting aside the changes to his body, he now found himself utterly unmoved and treating it as nothing more than an ordinary sight even after suddenly encountering a hideous zombie capable of making ordinary people scream in terror.
Perhaps his state of mind had... become somewhat unlike that of ordinary people during his half-month of solitary life?
Facing the slowly approaching zombie, he merely said in a calm, low voice:
"Miss, have you had a conflict with someone earlier?"
"This junior doesn't know!"
Seeing the escort's corpse steadily approaching, Hua Shuya gritted her teeth and immediately drew the sword at her waist.
"Senior, there's no need to worry... These zombies controlled by Witchcraft and Gu Poison Arts are nothing to fear. Leave them to this junior!"
The moment she finished speaking, she stepped forward and charged.
Her wrist trembled lightly, and swordlight flashed into being. A dazzling sword shadow pierced through the air and struck with uncanny precision into the zombie's skull.
Her sleeves fluttered, and her brows held a solemn expression, giving her the bearing of a transcendent heroic maiden. Even when facing someone transformed into a hideous zombie, she had not shown the slightest hesitation. Her strike had been decisive and absolute.
Pfft!
As the longsword was pulled free, filthy blood sprayed through the air. The zombie quickly toppled stiffly to the ground and stopped moving.
Rustle, rustle, rustle—
The sound of leaves brushing together rose eerily once more. Hua Shuya's pretty face turned cold, and her eyes, sharp as drawn swords, swept across the surroundings. Several dark figures slowly emerged from the bushes. Clearly, more than one escort had fallen victim.
Most likely... all eight of the escorts had been killed!
Hua Shuya lightly bit her pink lips, her heart filled with both anger and pity. Her grip on the sword hilt tightened until it creaked.
Although the eight escorts on this journey were merely farmers and mountain folk hired in the town to lead the way, and she had no personal ties with them, seeing them die such miserable deaths before her eyes still left her furious.
"Despicable scum!"
She clicked her tongue under her breath and charged forward again with her sword raised.
"Hrrgh—"
The zombie at the forefront let out a howl and thrust out both hands, seemingly intending to forcibly seize the incoming blade.
The instant the sword met its ten fingers, a crisp clang rang out like metal striking metal!
The girl's eyes narrowed slightly. She immediately turned her body, and an exquisite, masterful sword technique unfolded. A rapid series of clanging sword cries rang out as the blade whirled sharply, slicing the zombie's ten fingers clean off in midair.
In the next moment, Hua Shuya flipped through the air and swept her sword across in a horizontal slash. The headless zombie soon crashed face-first onto the ground.
The girl darted and weaved through the forest, slipping through the encircling zombies as though dancing lightly. Clear swordlight flashed unpredictably, and one zombie after another was struck down and slain as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.
"Impressive!"
Watching the scene before him, Lin Tianlu could not help praising her inwardly.
Who would have thought that the girl seeking immortals whom he had encountered by chance was actually such an extraordinary martial artist? This swordsmanship... was truly beautiful!
Her fighting was far more dazzling than all those special-effects television dramas he had watched in his previous life.
By his rough estimate, Miss Hua should be able to finish off all these zombies in about another thirty seconds.
As an ordinary scholar who could not even truss a chicken, he had better not rush in and make trouble. If he accidentally held her back, he did not want to gamble on whether there might be some kind of alphabet virus in those zombies.
"—Hmm?"
Lin Tianlu soon let out a soft cry and turned to look behind him.
Why did he suddenly feel... a chill at his back?
The forest remained quiet and still, shrouded in dense woodland, and the light was somewhat dim.
Yet there was no sign of any zombies—
"Strange. I spent more than half a month atop the mountain without ever feeling cold." Lin Tianlu was puzzled. "Why are there waves of chilly wind here instead, making me feel faintly cold?"
At the same time, Hua Shuya, who was dealing with the zombies, also sensed something amiss.
"What... is going on?!"
She hurriedly dodged sideways as a zombie's hard claw slashed toward her, then struck it back with a reverse slash. Sweeping the area with her sharp eyes, she was stunned to discover that several zombies she had just decapitated and killed were staggering around, picking up their heads and fitting them back onto their necks before standing up again!
"I clearly pierced their vital points! Why—"
Although the Witchcraft and Gu Poison Arts of the Outer Regions were domineering and evil, they ultimately relied entirely on the power of Gu insects. Once the skull was destroyed, they could be easily broken.
That was battlefield experience her grandfather had told her about.
Yet now, these zombies had not even had their heads attached, and they could still resume moving!?
Gritting her teeth, she swung her sword again and tangled with the several zombies for a few exchanges, but she was soon forced back once more.
"This won't do!"
With her current inner force at the Pure Yang Realm, eliminating these zombies would not be difficult. But they could rise again and again, truly without end!
—Boom!
At that moment, an explosion of air suddenly rang out.
Hua Shuya's spirits jolted. She turned around in surprise. "Senior?!"
"..."
Lin Tianlu was maintaining a pose with one hand extended, his expression as calm as an ancient well.
Yet his heart was filled with astonishment.
"What the heck?"
Just now, he had merely felt as though some black shadow or flying insect was flitting around in front of him, irritating him terribly, so he had waved his hand to drive it away.
But the moment his palm struck out, it seemed to touch something cold and soft.
Then the sound of an explosion had rung out. Wisps of blue smoke were still rising from his palm.
Lin Tianlu stared blankly at his palm and muttered:
"Am I turning into Iron Man? Can I fire palm cannons now?"
Hiss, hiss, hiss—
Sinister, hoarse hissing suddenly rang out all around them!
Hua Shuya's delicate body trembled slightly, and her face instantly turned deathly pale. She felt as though all the inner force in her body had frozen solid, her blood and qi sluggish. In horror, she looked around.
"W-What happened?!"
What sort of terrifying existence was hiding in this forest?
How could a single hissing growl make her instantly lose all ability to resist?!
"Hey, Miss Hua!" Lin Tianlu's shout quickly rang out. "Is the person behind you one of the escorts who came with you?"
The person behind her...?
Hua Shuya stood dazed for a moment before suddenly being struck by terror.
How could there be anyone behind her?
Instinctively, she turned to look behind her.
In an instant, a sinister, bluish woman's face filled her vision. The moment their eyes met, the woman's lips slowly split into a horrifying grin.
"This is bad!"
Hua Shuya's face filled with terror, and she hurriedly tried to retreat, but a cold wind blew straight into her face, leaving her completely unable to move. She could only watch as the eerie woman brought her five fingers together and thrust them directly toward her chest!
She could only force her longsword across her chest. Clenching her lips as though awaiting death, she squeezed her eyes shut.
—Smack!
The eerie woman's movement abruptly halted, and the surprise attack came to a stop as well.
Hua Shuya tentatively opened her eyes again, only to discover in astonishment that the woman's wrist was being firmly seized in someone else's hand.
The eerie woman's black pupils suddenly contracted. She turned her head and saw that Lin Tianlu had appeared beside her at some unknown point.
"Looks like you aren't one of Miss Hua's escorts."
Lin Tianlu's gaze was indifferent, though a gentle, jade-like smile still rested on his lips.
"They say scholars must understand propriety, honor, and shame, and must never harm women. I accidentally slapped you just now, so I ought to properly apologize."
"..."
The eerie woman's left cheek, still bearing a bright red palm print, twitched violently.
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