In an instant, the surrounding environment changed completely. The azure sky shone like freshly washed sapphires, while soft, fluffy white clouds leisurely strolled across it. Layer upon layer of mountains rolled into the distance, one green, one verdant, one deep, one pale. Sturdy, lush trees stood straight as soldiers guarding the river, while the emerald grass dressed Mother Earth in a green skirt. The clear river lay quietly in the soil like a transparent blue silk ribbon, its bottom plainly visible.
Mountains and water—what a beautiful place. Fuck, System, why did you teleport me to some uninhabited wilderness? Yang Xuan, who had finally come to his senses, complained furiously inwardly.
Yang Xuan was the kind of directionally challenged person who could tell left from right but not east from west. What should he do? He would follow the river for now.
Yang Xuan wore a dark expression as he walked along the riverbank for more than half a day without seeing a single person. What was he supposed to do? There weren't even any wild beasts in the forest. He wouldn't fear them even if there were, but he did fear bugs. Yang Xuan hated bugs and could only crush them with his telekinesis. Heh, that counted as training his telekinesis too.
At last, he saw signs of a household. He couldn't see the house, but the curling smoke from a chimney meant there had to be people there. Thank goodness—at least he would have someone to talk to. His feet immediately found new strength, and he ran toward the smoke in great strides.
The wind blew past his ears, and his legs had already become a blur. As long as he had a destination, everything was fine.
They really did say that one could run oneself to death trying to reach a mountain. The smoke had clearly been visible, yet after running for more than ten minutes, he could only barely make out the outlines of a few houses.
He had finally arrived. Even with Yang Xuan's physique, sprinting for dozens of minutes left him breathing slightly hard.
"Hello, uncle. Do you know if there's a place called Ren Family Town nearby?" he asked with a smile.
The middle-aged man sized up the oddly dressed young man and slowly replied, "Young fellow, Ren Family Town is still quite far from here. If you're going there, head east for thirty li or so and you should arrive. However, it's getting late, and unclean things often appear in the mountains at night. If you don't mind, you can stay here for the night."
Yang Xuan took out a cigarette and offered it to the man. After thinking for a moment, he told a small lie. "Uncle, thanks. I have something urgent to attend to and need to find a friend, so I'll be on my way. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction."
With that, he broke into a sprint eastward. Why was Yang Xuan in such a hurry? He still hadn't figured out the timeline, which made him somewhat anxious. Besides, damn it, he had protein bars and biscuits, but no hot food or rice. It just didn't feel right.
"Hey, hey, young fellow, wait!" The uncle hadn't even recovered from his surprise before Yang Xuan had already vanished. "Sigh, I hope he doesn't run onto Black Mountain Slope. A lot of people have died there recently." The uncle muttered to himself with a troubled look.
Meanwhile...
Yang Xuan continued sprinting eastward. Huh? How strange. Why were the hills ahead all black? Odd. Could it be because of some unusual mineral?
Whatever. He had been bored out of his mind today and was exhausted half to death. Who cared? If the slope wasn't too high, he would just charge straight over it. The moment he reached the hilltop, Yang Xuan clearly felt the temperature around him drop by several degrees. The surroundings also began to grow gloomy and sinister.
Damn, why did this feel like a road to the underworld? The light was growing dimmer and dimmer too.
While Yang Xuan was letting his imagination run wild, he vaguely saw a standing figure ahead, its back turned toward him. After finally seeing another person, Yang Xuan instinctively ran toward the figure.
"Friend, hello. Are you here alone? Would you like some company... Oh my god!" Before he could finish speaking, Yang Xuan had already retreated more than ten meters.
What kind of person was that? It looked like a zombie. Its face was bluish, its fangs protruded, and it wore an official robe from the Qing Dynasty. It stared stiffly at Yang Xuan. So this was a zombie? It looked utterly disgusting.
Yang Xuan was caught between advancing and retreating. Should he go around it? Just looking at it made him feel dirty, and he had no idea how strong it was. That seemed like the best option, but the zombie had no intention of letting Yang Xuan go.
It jumped straight at Yang Xuan, its arms rigid as it reached for his throat.
Yang Xuan shifted left and struck with Eighth Level Double Extension, punching the zombie in the shoulder. The zombie was blasted five or six meters away as if it had been hit by a car.
"Whew, what a hard body." Yang Xuan rubbed his fist as he spoke.
The zombie rose stiffly, completely unharmed, and hopped toward Yang Xuan again.
Damn, you still refuse to submit, huh? I'll beat you into submission today. Eat this punch!
He faced the zombie with a hardened Eighth Level body. Its face was a little too disgusting, so he changed targets and struck its chest instead. Before the zombie could be knocked away, he hooked it and pulled it back, then unleashed Six Elbows, Fist Thrust, Punch Strike, Poke and Press, and Turning Ring Palm.
The zombie was blasted away again, yet it still stood up stiffly without a scratch.
Yang Xuan spat on the ground. Come on, then! If I don't beat the shit out of you today, I'll write the name Yang Xuan backward. With that, he charged forward again.
"When the yin people travel, the yang people make way." A voice with a strong local accent slowly drifted over from afar.
A Taoist priest wearing glasses could be seen hopping along in front, followed by a group of people—or no, a group of zombies.
Huh? Why were there sounds of fighting in this remote wilderness? And what was that intense corpse aura? No, he had to take a look. If it was a fellow cultivator, he might be able to lend a hand.
The Taoist slowly hopped along with the zombies. Heh, this place was no ordinary place. It should be a century-old corpse-transformation ground.
The Taoist settled the zombies in place, then sneaked up the hillside.
"Three Pure Ones Ancestor above, am I seeing things?" In disbelief, he repeatedly wiped the glasses as thick as bottle caps. When had such a fierce expert appeared around Ren Family Town? He was actually resisting a zombie with his physical body—and a century-old hopping zombie at that. Even if the Taoist himself encountered a hopping zombie, he would have to fully arm himself before slowly surrounding and fighting it.
Yang Xuan was both bored and happy. He was bored because he couldn't break the zombie. He would knock it down, and it would get back up. He simply couldn't make it submit. He was happy because it was rare to find such a good punching bag. It wasn't easy to come across one—he could finally use every move in Baji Quan. It felt unbelievably satisfying.
Huh? There was actually someone nearby. Hopefully they didn't have bad intentions. It was the Republic of China now, and guns already existed. He would finish this quickly.
After blasting the zombie away with one move, Yang Xuan said mischievously, "Little Zombie, thanks for keeping me company for so long. I'll send you off to be reincarnated now."
Mountain-Pressing Lean! With a boom, the zombie was sent flying more than ten meters. This time, its bones seemed to have been scattered, yet it still staggered back to its feet.
Seeing this, Yang Xuan didn't say another word. With a thought, Black Flame instantly appeared in his hand. He suddenly sprang more than ten meters into the air and accumulated energy according to the circulation route.
Axe Aura—Mountain Split!
From more than ten meters above the ground, he slowly brought the axe down. To the naked eye, its speed seemed very slow, but in the blink of an eye, the zombie had already been split in two.
Tsk, and here I thought zombie bodies were impervious to blades and spears. It still got split in half. Yang Xuan proudly hoisted the axe onto his shoulder.
"Friend, you've been watching for so long. You can come out now." Yang Xuan addressed the grass beside him.
"Heh heh, friend, what impressive skill. You took down this century-old hopping zombie in just a few moves." The Taoist spoke ingratiatingly.