Going It Alone

The bad news didn't stop there. Behind them, the trees on the mountain swayed, and several figures appeared behind the trees. Some were covered in blood, some were dark-skinned, and some had scratches all over their exposed skin.

Without exception, they all stared silently at the dim lights in the camp, or rather, at the group of people who slowly walked out of the tents with solemn expressions.

Unbeknownst to them, the dead had already surrounded their makeshift camp.

Yu Xing stood up warily, her fingers silently resting on the lid of the painting tube.

There were too many dead bodies. If they all rushed at him, his short dagger wouldn't be suitable for fighting them. He would have to switch to a Tang sword to have any chance of breaking through.

Outside the tent to the side.

Brother Sun felt a chill run down his spine and dared not make any sudden movements. He lowered his voice and said, "We've stumbled into a den of dead men... Don't move, don't make a sound, see if they're targeting us..."

"Is there any other possibility? We checked everything before setting up camp; there's no one else for miles around." Finley broke out in a cold sweat, gripping his weapon tightly. "And are you sure these dead bodies identified their targets through sight and hearing?"

Look at that blood-soaked person, all facial features are gone, does it look like they have any senses?

Brother Sun couldn't be sure, but it was the only thing he could comfort himself with when he was extremely anxious.

"Stop talking. This can't end well tonight. We can't stay here." Scarface said in a deep voice, watching the approaching corpses. "Let's run. Leave the camp here for now, and come back to clean up tomorrow morning."

"Where did you run off to?" Alice asked.

Everyone is in very poor condition right now. Some haven't even had their wounds disinfected. If they run like this, their wounds might get infected, and if they get a fever, they're basically done for.

Scarface said, "Run back. Although there are insects and vines on the mountain, at least we've traveled this route before, and I've marked it along the way, so we won't get lost. We don't need to run too far; just get rid of these bastards."

A Long, dragging his injured arm, listened in silence.

Seeing the troubled expressions on everyone's faces, Finley spat and said angrily, "I agree with Scarface, let's hurry up and leave, or we'll be surrounded and won't be able to get out! Why did I team up with a bunch of cowards to go into the tomb, damn it."

Indeed, if the dead got any closer, they wouldn't be fast enough to break through.

Yu Xing listened to their discussion and frowned.

These people are so slow! Can't they see the dead bodies deep in the valley? The closest one is almost within reach of "Ade" rushing towards them!

Sure enough, the moment he had this thought, the blood-red corpse pounced on the group like a cat pouncing on a mouse, disappearing into the silence. Everyone, already aware of it, quickly dodged. Brother Sun shouted, "Run!"

The first blood-soaked figure seemed to signal an attack; after it, the undead suddenly sped up, approaching the squad one by one and pouncing when they reached a certain distance.

The moment Brother Sun said to run, the team members chose the direction to head into the mountains and rushed off. Most of them only carried weapons. Alice some medicine in her pocket, and Scarface had somehow pulled out a flamethrower and tucked it under his arm, running behind Brother Sun and Yu Xing.

He naturally noticed Yu Xing's full gear, and amidst the tension, he felt a sense of something indescribable.

When did this kid bring these supplies? He even has the painting tube!

Yu Xing ran wildly with a clear conscience. There were five or six dead bodies ahead of them, scattered about. Finley pointed to the right, where a bloodied figure had fallen behind. "Break through this one!"

Scarface immediately overtook Yu Xing and Brother Sun, taking the lead. Because he was in a hurry, he directly aimed his flamethrower at the blood-soaked man and fired!

Flames shot towards the blood-soaked man. Although the man felt no pain, his body was inevitably charred, and his joints lost their ability to bend. He opened his mouth wide, trying to bite people, but his mouth couldn't close in the flames, and the aroma of roasting meat wafted through the air.

Alice gagged groggily.

They passed the blood-soaked figure and had already reached the edge of the mountain, but the dead figures behind them had caught up.

Even though the movement of a single dead person is silent, the rush of a group of dead people creates gusts of wind and the sound of fallen leaves being crushed underfoot, all of which cause a tremor in the hearts of the team members like a drumbeat.

"This way, this way!" Brother Sun kept shouting to guide the group, but unfortunately, it was pitch black, the moonlight was blocked by the branches and leaves of the trees, and there were so many tree roots and stones on the ground. Before they had run far, Luke tripped and fell to the ground.

"Help me!" Luke cried out in terror as he sensed the approaching corpse behind him.

Brother Sun gritted his teeth, stopped, and went back to pull him up. Luke's foot seemed to be sprained; he turned pale with pain whenever he moved it.

"Scarface, block it!" Brother Sun shouted at Scarface. Scarface didn't seem to agree, but he still used his dagger to cut off the nearest dead man's claw.

"Hurry up!" Scarface frowned. "If you dawdle any longer, they'll all catch up."

Brother Sun helped Luke up, and Luke gritted his teeth and hopped forward on one leg, but that was too slow.

As more and more people died, Brother Sun asked with difficulty, "Did you sprain your ankle? Can you run?"

Luke's eyes were bloodshot. "I can't run... I can't escape..."

A ruthless glint flashed in Brother Sun's eyes.

"Since you can't escape, I can't let you drag the whole team down." Brother Sun knew Scarface wouldn't last long, so he shook his head regretfully and released his grip under Luke's shocked gaze. "Sorry, Luke, you're unlucky!"

Scar understood and stepped back, immediately exposing Luke to the dead man's attacks without cover.

"Brother Sun!" Luke roared shrilly, barely managing to raise his dagger to parry twice before being torn apart by the dead man. His screams reached everyone's ears.

They didn't have time to mourn for Luke; their minds were filled with the thought that they couldn't be grabbed by the dead man. But in helping Luke up, they had wasted some time and gotten closer to the dead man again.

Yu Xing unlocked the painting tube and realized that this team was really not very good, especially in terms of decision-making. The leader, Brother Sun, tried to find a balance between interests and loyalty, but ended up failing to do well on either side.

If he continues to follow this group, similar dangers will likely occur countless times. He would be better off breaking away from the group and secretly following behind, where he would know the route but would not be subject to their control.

Now all that's missing is an opportunity to leave the group.

He silently ran a little to the left, mentally predicting when the dead would catch up with the group and force them to break apart. He had already hooked the Tang sword hidden in the painting tube in his hand. The moment he gripped the hilt of the Tang sword, he felt an impulse to kill.

As expected of bloodied Tang knife, it is particularly prone to stirring up violent emotions in people's hearts during such a crisis. Fortunately, the emotions it evokes are not obvious, and even if it were someone else wielding it instead of Yu Xing, they would be able to control themselves.

The mountain path was difficult to traverse, and before long, the gap between the groups widened.

Finley was in the lead, followed by Yu Xing, then the unnamed companion, and finally Alice, A Long, Brother Sun, and Scarface. The last two were slightly behind because they were halfway through rescuing Luke, but they would catch up soon. A Long was clutching his arm, his strength almost completely exhausted.

He lost too much blood and couldn't hold on any longer.

But he didn't want to be abandoned like Luke.

A Long mustered all his willpower and kept up with the others. But even if he survived tonight, he wouldn't choose to stay in the team any longer. Brother Sun was ruthless to others and to himself. He was all smiles on the surface but full of bad intentions. Ah Long didn't want to be used as cannon fodder.

The nearest dead body was only a meter away from the group, and Scarface had to keep pushing them back to barely keep the group from being overtaken. Finally, a cliff appeared ahead, with another layer of mountain below it, about three meters higher.

They didn't come this way, and when they returned, they didn't know exactly where they were going, only a general direction. Yu Xing's lips curled up. Following this path, the team would use the rocks in the middle to jump down the cliff, and he could take the opportunity to disappear!

"Jump!" Finley, who was at the front, shouted a warning. Yu Xing leaped, but instead of jumping, he rolled behind a bush after landing and then immediately moved away from the straight path.

Several dead bodies spotted him and relentlessly followed, while the rest of the team, unaware of anything amiss, sped away, leaving Yu Xing to discreetly lie in wait.

Once the sounds of the team had faded into the distance, Yu Xing, prying at the leaves and withered branches, finally managed to pull out the bloodied Tang knife.

The long, cold weapon was heavy, cool and solid in the hand, its straight blade reflecting the moonlight. Several dead men who had been attracted by it noticed him standing still and also stood motionless, seemingly preparing to attack again.

"Finally, I can dissect and study you bunch of freaks." Yu Xing held his sword in front of him, taking the initiative and slashing diagonally at the dark, poisonous man on his right. With a flash of cold light, the sword sliced off half of the poisonous man's chest, splitting the dead man in two at the chest. But then a horrifying scene unfolded.

The body fell to the ground from the chest up, rolled a few times in the mud, and then slowly crawled towards Yu Xing, its arms barely supporting it.

Every few steps he climbed, one of his hands would swing upwards, fierce and oppressive.

Its legs were the same; although it had lost its upper body, its legs seemed to bend as if they had a mind of their own, and began to do the power-gathering action before jumping.

The next moment, its half-body lunged at Yu Xing, but unfortunately it had no means of attack.

Yu Xing disdainfully used his knife to parry the attempt on the half-dead man's body, then ducked to avoid a claw swung by a blood-soaked man, leaned forward to dodge an attack on his waist and abdomen by a poisonous man, and with a swift and ruthless stab, he pierced straight into the knee of the dead man who had been separated from his chest. With a twist of the hilt, he crushed the knee.

Then, he decisively cut off the upper half of his arm.

The completely black, poisonous corpse remained motionless behind it. The other undead were not afraid of Yu Xing's blade at all and pounced towards it.

He used the same method, dodging the relentless attacks of the dead while simultaneously disabling one of their joints. In just two minutes, he had completely shattered the mobility of several dead men.

Yu Xing looked down at the Tang sword... Since the blood in the bodies of the dead had long since dried up, there was no bleeding at all, and the blood-drinking groove of the Tang sword had not changed.

This is good news; it proves that his Tang sword can be used many more times.

In Yu Xing's view, the horror of these dead people was no different from that of poisonous insects and vines, except that there were more of them, they were quieter, and they appeared out of nowhere.

Anyway, if they encounter a swarm of insects, they have to run; if they encounter a swarm of vines, they still have to run; if they encounter a group of dead... they still have to run.

He crouched down and examined the clothes of the dead. The one that was best preserved was wearing dark blue overalls and had disheveled hair; it was a female corpse.

The woman's body was covered in fingernail marks, suggesting that she had lost her mind in extreme pain and ultimately killed herself.

There's another thing: the blood-soaked person corresponds to the vines, the black poisonous person corresponds to the poisonous person, and a corpse is a corpse. So, which category does the woman's corpse's manner of death correspond to?

"Flowers"?

Yu Xing kept a watchful eye on things, guessing that the flower's attack method was closely related to illusions... Only illusions could easily drive someone insane and kill them.

There was nothing on the female corpse that could prove her identity. Yu Xing planned to guess her origins when she saw similar work clothes again. The most urgent thing was to quickly climb Heavy Yin Mountain, find the entrance to the tomb palace, or run into Carlos's team as soon as possible and hitch a ride with a better one.

He estimated that Carlos's team should have already located the exact area of the tomb that wasn't marked on the map, and might be making preparations to enter the tomb. If he acted quickly, he could still catch up.

After standing there for a moment and thinking it over, Yu Xing made a bold decision to return to the Valley of the Dead.

Now that Brother Sun's team has entered the mountains, he needs to reach the Valley of the Dead, the only way to cross the mountains, to ensure he can still find the team by dawn tomorrow. He needs these people to act as living maps; otherwise, it will take him a very long time to find the location of the tomb.

He didn't know if there were any more dead people in Valley of the Dead, but he could handle it; it wasn't something he needed to worry about.

Without further ado, while he was still not sleepy, Yu Xing walked for about ten minutes and made his way back to the campsite in the valley. He found a nearby tree that could provide cover and climbed up it.

This was a lush tree, its green leaves providing excellent concealment. He lay sprawled among the high branches, gazing with interest into the depths of the valley while keeping an eye on whether Brother Sun's team had sent anyone back to retrieve supplies.

After a while, instead of the person arriving, they saw a signal flare launched into the night sky.

About thirty seconds later, another red signal rose into the air from a different location, as if in response to the first signal.

"Two?" Yu Xing looked at the conspicuous red signals facing each other in the dark night and realized that their team members might have gotten separated, which was why they needed to fire signal flares to confirm their positions.

A sly glint flashed in his eyes.

They got separated...? Then he can do even more things!

Furthermore, other teams in the vicinity must also be able to see these two signals, and if Carlos is smart enough, he might send someone to pick him up.