Eight-Armed Monster

"Everyone, gather together!"

In a grove of trees about ten miles from Shannan Town, several Senior Brother students were organizing the students who had escaped and taking a headcount.

"Lei Tianyang, Lu Fei, Xiao Tian, Lao Miao Miao and Ling Xin are all not here..." Deng Qian frowned and looked at Li Xinyu.

"They went back to help..." Li Xinyu shook his head helplessly, "Those guys are just as skilled as us, we couldn't stop them... and the carriages scattered too..."

"At a time like this, you still have the mind to think about the carriage..." Song Shan gritted his teeth and said, "Shouldn't we mainly check if everyone's still here?"

"Everyone else should be..." Deng Qian looked at the panting students when suddenly, Qian Dong shouted, "Luo Jun is missing!"

"Luo Jun?" Li Xinyu exclaimed in surprise, "The only one at the Body Refinement Realm?"

"That's right..." Even the usually composed Qian Dong panicked a little. Song Shan shouted, "Who saw Luo Jun last?"

"We were just together..." Xu Yiming and Zhao Jian were covered in sweat. Lu Fei had specifically asked them to take good care of Luo Jun before he left, but they never expected that he would be gone in the blink of an eye... In this Body Refinement Realm wilderness, even if he didn't encounter zombies or monsters, it wouldn't be easy for him to deal with wild wolves or tigers.

"Don't panic... He has a lot of magical artifacts, he'll be alright..." Xu Yiming comforted him, "Maybe he just got separated, he'll catch up soon..."

"Qian Dong, let's go back and look!" Li Xinyu gritted his teeth. "Deng Qian, Song Shan, you two stay here and keep an eye on the students. If we're not back in half an hour, keep heading south, trying to get as far away from Shannan Town as possible. We'll contact each other using Paper Crane..."

"Okay..." Deng Qian and Song Shan nodded. Li Xinyu and Qian Dong packed up their equipment and were about to run back when they suddenly saw a figure chasing after them.

"So everyone's here! I've been looking for you all for ages!"

Everyone looked up and saw that it was none other than Luo Jun!

"Where have you been, you little rascal!" Li Xinyu scolded, "Do you know how worried we were about you!"

Luo Jun scratched his head sheepishly. "It was so chaotic just now, I accidentally ran in the wrong direction..."

Xu Yiming and Zhao Jian rushed over and hugged him tightly. "Thank goodness you're alright, otherwise how would we explain to Lu Fei...?"

"Oh, it's alright, it's alright, I'm back now..."

Next, everyone checked each other to make sure no one had been injured by zombies or mutants before they were finally relieved.

"Qian Dong, set up Concealing Barrier," Li Xinyu instructed. "Deng Qian, cast a Soothing for everyone. Are there any students from the Insight Faction who can help keep watch? We'll wait here for half an hour. If Teacher Tie and the others haven't caught up by then, we won't wait any longer. We'll head south to Yunzhou City to take refuge. There's a liaison point for the Hundred Rivers Sect there, so we can report to headquarters promptly."

In the Martial World, explorers primarily communicate using Paper Crane, small, Man-made Treasure Item. However, their range is limited, covering at most a single town. For longer distances, larger devices are needed to transmit information. To address this, the Hundred Rivers Sect has established outposts in many important towns in the Central Plains, enabling faster communication between them.

After everyone finished setting up, they quieted down and waited patiently. As for Luo Jun, he sat in a corner, looking north, without moving.

Zhao Jian leaned in and nudged him with his elbow. "Hey, when you got lost just now, did you see if there were any zombies chasing you...?"

Luo Jun was taken aback, then turned his head slightly stiffly. "I'm back now..."

"No, I know you're back..." Zhao Jian blinked, somewhat puzzled. "I asked if any zombies were chasing you..."

"I... accidentally went the wrong way..."

Zhao Jian frowned. "What's wrong with you? Did the zombies drive you crazy? I'm asking..."

"Shh!" Deng Qian walked over and interrupted their conversation, "Don't talk, or we'll be discovered..."

"Oh, I see..." Zhao Jian nodded in agreement, glanced back at the rather strange-looking Luo Jun, but didn't think much of it, and turned to walk away.

In the northern jungle, a figure wearing Half-Face Mask moved forward at an extremely high speed.

If Luo Jun could remain indifferent to the rampant virus in Shannan Town, now that these zombies were right in front of him, even threatening his teachers and classmates, he could no longer stand idly by...

He had originally planned to leave the group at the right time, letting the more intelligent Tomb King take his place in the internship, while he ventured into the martial arts world Martial World. After all, he wasn't just here for an internship; there were still things waiting for him to retrieve from the Gathering Treasure Pavilion Headquarters.

However, according to the plan, this will have to wait until at least after arriving at Medicine King Valley.

Only a handful of people entered [Martial World] this month. If Ye were to appear now and be discovered, it would be easy for suspicion to fall on these interns. By the time the Valley Master's birthday celebration is over, it will have been about a month, and the next opening time will be approaching. If Ye were to appear then, he would be easily assumed to be one of the people entering in the next cycle. At this point, Luo Jun would still be in the intern group, providing an alibi and perfectly clearing himself of suspicion.

But now, this plan may have to be brought forward...

Luo Jun had a lot of confidence in Teacher Tie and Ling Xin's abilities, but the problem was that the Eternal Virus that caused the zombie crisis was likely the special version that Gong Shiyue stole, the one for which the Hell Creek Family had offered a 20 million bounty. The fact that it could spread in the Martial World already showed that it was different from ordinary viruses, and who knew what other effects it might have.

As for the old man who led the horde of zombies that had chased after them, Luo Jun speculated that he was very likely the Virus Progenitor who had escaped from the basement of the oil mill. The original virus fluid that could not be found in the basement was most likely in his possession.

This guy's danger is unpredictable. If the group can't handle him, they might all turn into zombies. Luo Jun is really worried about him...

Of course, he would only observe the situation at first, and would not show himself if it was not necessary. But if he saw his teachers and classmates about to be killed, he would definitely step in to help!

Soon, Luo Jun rushed out of the forest and stood on the hillside. From this angle, he could see the shimmering aura outside the town.

The battle is fierce... Luo Jun shaded his eyes with his hand, looked into the distance, and suddenly his eyes widened.

Wait, what's that?

At this moment, with Tie Jingang at the center, several people were besieging a huge monster.

The monster was over ten meters tall, roughly humanoid in shape, but its upper body had eight arms, each wielding a long, black bone spear. These arms whistled through the air, covering an area of several meters in radius; the fastest spear tips even emitted a supersonic boom. Its lower body consisted of thick legs and a long, thin tail. Its enormous head still vaguely resembled human features, but a vertical split at the bridge of its nose revealed a dense array of fine teeth...

Just as they were surprised, a golden light flashed, and Ling Xin cut off one of the monster's arms. However, the severed arm that fell to the ground suddenly split into countless black tentacles, densely packed like a bunch of earthworms, which quickly crawled to the monster's feet and merged with its body.

At the same time, the severed arm grew back, and even the spear regenerated from his palm.

Goodness, is it that difficult to deal with? Is this the true form of that Virus Progenitor?

Wait... no!

Looking closely, Luo Jun noticed a gaunt figure at the rear of the battlefield.

It seems that old man is the real big boss? So, that giant monster isn't the Virus Progenitor? What is that then?

(End of this chapter)