Many Thanks for the Reward

At the intersection of a "rice"-shaped canyon, a Wild Boar lay quietly in the tall grass, his body coated in fresh river mud as he suppressed his scent with all his might.

There was no danger in the immediate vicinity, yet his face was etched with deep worry.

He had located the largest ley line node in the area and could detonate it at any moment. He had even found an escape route; there was a hidden cave right next to the node, into which he could dive the instant he triggered the blast.

The only problem now was—where were the zombies?

This ley line node was as scorching as molten lava, a place the zombies avoided at all costs!

Blowing up the node was pointless; he needed to blow up the zombies!

Should he stab himself to see if he could lure them in?

Zhu Jiusi could not bring himself to do something so suicidal.

Perhaps he needed to join forces with other Path Seekers. He could contact a few who excelled in speed, have them lure the zombies over, and then he would trigger the explosion.

In the end, they could split the Life Stone and Soul Jade.

Zhu Jiusi was a man who knew his own limits; this cake was too big for him to bake or consume alone, so he had to let outsiders lend a hand.

The sky was gradually brightening—this was the only place in Journey Survival where one could see a normal sunrise and sunset.

Finding a sheltered, inconspicuous spot, he lay on his side beneath a tree stump and drifted into a half-waking, half-sleeping state.

The secret realm would be open for quite some time, and he hadn't truly rested in ages. To achieve great things, one must first maintain their health.

His sleep that day was far from peaceful, but Zhu Jiusi was accustomed to it; he hadn't entered a deep sleep in three years.

Zhu Jiusi was jolted awake by a faint, pervasive scent of blood.

A pig's nose was even sharper than a dog's, and the faint metallic tang drifted in from all directions on the wind.

Zhu Jiusi snapped to attention and looked toward the top of the canyon.

It was extremely difficult for a pig to look upward, so he could only see the rock wall in front of him. He stood on his hind legs, pressed against the tree, and looked straight up—he could see nothing!

He could only see a gray, hazy expanse.

The sun set early in the canyon, and it was already gone, leaving only scattered afterglow.

Nocturnal animals had already begun to rustle about, and those with keen senses, much like Zhu Jiusi, were showing signs of unease.

In Journey Survival, one had to be twelve times more cautious whenever something was out of the ordinary.

For the scent of blood to be drifting in from all directions for no reason meant that something had gone wrong.

Moreover, the scent was thin and lacked the chaotic impurities of other fluids. It had the distinct, delicate quality of human blood.

Someone was intentionally wounding people in all directions at once to spread the scent of blood!

Had someone else discovered this ley line node and arrived at the same conclusion as him?

They were not kind-hearted folk!

Zhu Jiusi smelled a milky scent within the blood. It was the blood of an unweaned infant, cut to release the scent.

Damn it!

Zhu Jiusi leaped up and bolted outward.

Just then, a faint, distant scream echoed from the cliffside, followed by a rolling, thumping sound.

Someone had been thrown directly off the cliff!

And not just one person!

Thump, thud!

A human head smashed onto the ground right in front of Zhu Jiusi.

Along with the head fell a wooden board, shattered into pieces, yet the blood-stained writing on it was still legible.

"Master of Cloud Stack Cave? Surprised? Shocked? —A gift from Bright Moon Illuminating People and Mountains and Seas Affection."

Zhu Jiusi's eyes narrowed.

It wasn't that someone had the same idea as him; this group had tracked his location and intended to lure zombies to kill him!

As the scent of blood dispersed, the sound of a zombie's howl drifted in from outside.

"Howl!"

At the left entrance of the canyon, a Green-Haired Zombie took the lead and charged in.

It pushed off the ground with both feet, leaping high like a kangaroo, covering two or three meters with every bound.

The White-Haired Zombies following behind were far inferior, able only to hop forward step by step.

But without exception, all the zombies had blood-red eyes; their bloodlust had been completely ignited by the scent of blood.

They followed the scent, only to find no living humans, just a lone Wild Boar standing stunned at the bottom of the canyon.

A living creature!

A living creature with vigorous vitality!

The zombie immediately changed direction, roaring as it charged toward Zhu Jiusi.

Several people on the cliff were scrambling for a hand-crafted telescope.

"Let me see, let me see!"

"What do you see, Brother Bright Moon Illuminating People? How is that Wild Boar doing?"

Bright Moon Illuminating People, his face deathly pale, couldn't stop his body from trembling.

He had been bitten by a zombie before and knew the feeling of despair when being hunted by one; the moment he saw the zombies, he immediately entered a state of shock.

Yet, even so, he watched intently, refusing to look away for even a second.

"How is it?" his companions pressed, trying to snatch the telescope, but Bright Moon Illuminating People swayed his body and dodged them.

Of course he had to see this scene with his own eyes!

He would never miss an opportunity to watch a zombie hunt from such a close, all-encompassing perspective.

He had to kill zombies in this dungeon too; every extra look was an extra chance, so how could he let anyone else have it?

"Don't snatch, don't worry. That Wild Boar is being hunted by the Green-Haired Zombie with no way up to heaven and no door into the earth."

"Is he running toward the other valley entrances?" the others hurriedly asked.

They hadn't just lured this one group of zombies. If that Wild Boar were chased into other canyons, he would truly know what it meant to be attacked from both front and back!

"No!" Bright Moon Illuminating People looked puzzled. "He's darting left and right, circling the zombies like a king evading an assassin around a pillar, but he isn't fleeing, nor is he fighting!"

What was he doing?

"How much longer until the other valleys?" Bright Moon Illuminating People asked.

"Don't know, there will be a signal when we arrive..." Before he could finish, a firework shot into the sky from the west, exploding overhead.

The western route had arrived!

Immediately after, fireworks rose one after another from all directions, exploding in mid-air.

The zombies were all gathered!

Howls erupted from the valley below, with figures leaping one after another in a continuous wave.

Bright Moon Illuminating People was providing a live commentary.

"That Wild Boar still hasn't fled; instead, he's provoking the zombies. He charges in, then immediately retreats into the crowd of Walking Corpses, using them to block the White-Haired and Green-Haired ones."

Bright Moon Illuminating People adjusted the telescope to look closer.

He watched the Wild Boar, and he watched the zombies.

How the White-Haired ones attacked, how the Green-Haired ones leaped, and how the Walking Corpses moved.

And how the Wild Boar responded—this pig was too abnormal. He wasn't fleeing; he was teasing them, gathering the zombies. He wanted to pull them all together!

"That Wild Boar is wrong!" he suddenly said during his observation, and his companions looked over.

Bright Moon Illuminating People frowned deeply: "He couldn't dodge in time just now and got swiped by a White-Haired Zombie. But the zombie's claws didn't shatter the mud shell on his body!"

"Mud?"

"The Bronze Gourd!" Mountains and Seas Affection, standing nearby, was stunned, suddenly realizing.

That day during the heavy rain, this pig had said he opened a lump of mud from the Bronze Gourd!

"Nothing will go wrong, right?"

Bright Moon Illuminating People gritted his teeth: "No! Absolutely not! There are thirteen Green-Haired Zombies now, plus over thirty White-Haired ones, and countless Walking Corpses. They'll wear him down to death!"

Boom!

Zhu Jiusi rolled, crashing into the crowd of Walking Corpses. The mud armor on his back, baked into brick by the flames, had cracked and was falling off in chunks, revealing new, hairless skin underneath.

If not for this armor, he would have died in the horde long ago.

He had reached his limit!

It was only because there were enough zombies and they lacked intelligence that he could dart around and barely survive.

With enough enemies, they became obstacles to one another.

He couldn't hold on much longer!

But at least he had lured most of the zombies to the vicinity of the node.

Those Green-Haired and White-Haired ones, swift and agile, were all here.

The newly exposed skin and the scent of fresh flesh drew roars from the zombies.

A Green Zombie hissed, stomped its feet, and lunged over, its sharp nails glinting with a dark, sinister light.

Zhu Jiusi didn't retreat but advanced to meet it, slamming his head into the zombie, only to be knocked flying in return.

That strength was immense!

Zhu Jiusi let out a startled cry, adjusted his posture in mid-air, and dove headfirst into a cave on the ground.

"Roar!"

A corpse-howl echoed, and the Green-Haired Zombie followed closely behind.

But the very instant the Green-Haired Zombie lunged into the cave, a deafening blast erupted outside.

BOOM!

A streak of red light shot into the sky, illuminating the entire canyon.

Points +30

Points +10

Points +1