"Corpse stench... Is it a zombie?"
Hearing Li Yan speak, Wang Dao Xuan immediately went on alert.
Zombies were no easy thing to deal with. Especially in these deep mountains, after absorbing moonlight and Yin Energy for long enough, they would become impervious to blades and spears. Even if their heads were chopped off, they could still pounce on people. Only by dispersing their Wrathful Souls could they be stopped.
Li Yan shook his head. "No. It's a dead person."
"You stay here. I'll sneak over and take a look."
With that, he lowered his body and slipped into the brush, vanishing from sight.
"Coo-coo!"
Before long, a birdcall came from the distance.
It was the signal they had agreed on beforehand.
Two calls meant it was safe. Three meant danger and concealment.
Wang Dao Xuan and the others hurried after him. With Zhao the Donkey leading the way, they soon found Li Yan.
Li Yan stood beneath an old tree, bending over to examine a corpse.
The corpse was already highly decomposed. Black flesh had mingled with mud, and after drying and shrinking, it exposed a stark-white gumline. Its appearance was utterly ferocious.
Sha LiFei glanced at the wooden platform hidden in the tree and said, "It's a bandit Hidden Stake. How come no one collected the body even after he died?"
With that, he reached out to turn it over.
"Don't touch it!"
Li Yan stopped him with a grave expression, then pointed around them.
Beside the corpse lay quite a few insect and ant shells. There were even several dead rats farther away.
"What a vicious poison!"
Sha LiFei sucked in a cold breath. "No wonder the wild beasts didn't drag him away."
Li Yan rose, then sniffed the air several times. In a low voice, he