Master, I Knew This Would Happen

Not long after Daoist Qianhe and his party had left, the sky suddenly darkened and torrential rain began to pour. Thunder roared overhead without pause.

Seeing this, the group, who had been eager to press on, had no choice but to stop and put up their tents.

"Master, the ink-dipped net is soaked."

Dong, the eldest of Qianhe's four disciples, said anxiously.

"Don't worry. Let the rain keep falling."

Qianhe remained calm and collected, showing not the slightest hint of panic.

"Huh?"

Dongnanxibei were all confused. What was their master playing at?

Once the tents were up and the Little Prince had gone inside, Dong urged him again:

"Master, we can put the coffin inside now."

"I said, don't worry."

Qianhe shot his disciple an unhappy look, but couldn't explain outright, so he could only hint:

"You'll understand in a moment."

The rain grew heavier, and thunder continued to rumble. One bolt of lightning was drawn to the dense corpse aura surrounding the coffin and came crashing down.

Boom!

The Golden Coffin was blasted into the air, tumbling several times overhead.

"How powerful!"

Dongnanxibei were startled, but then they realized what had happened and looked at Qianhe with admiration.

"Master, did you know this would happen all along?"

The youngest disciple, Bei, was Qianhe's favorite. Now he was utterly in awe of him.

Qianhe had been startled too, but seeing the admiration in his four disciples' eyes, he straightened up and stroked his beard. "Don't make a fuss over nothing. Of course I knew this would happen."

Just then, the Golden Coffin suddenly began to shake violently.

The rain had weakened the ink-dipped net, leaving it with barely half its power. It held the coffin back for only a moment before a loud bang rang out, and the zombie burst straight through it.

As it turned out, gold conducted electricity exceptionally well. The lightning hadn't killed the Royal Zombie; instead, it had stirred its ferocity and driven it to break out of the coffin.

The zombie's official robes had been scorched and torn. Its face twisted into a savage grimace as it thrust out both hands and lunged at the nearby soldiers, who were frozen in terror.

"Wretched beast!"

Qianhe shouted from beside it. He drew a Peach Wood Sword, leaped forward, and thrust it at the Royal Zombie's throat.

The Royal Zombie could see, unlike ordinary zombies. It swept both hands aside and knocked the Peach Wood Sword away.

Though Daoist Qianhe's attack had failed, it drew the Royal Zombie's attention. The zombie abandoned the soldiers and lunged straight at him.

"Move!"

Lu Yan and the others had arrived some time ago. Seeing what was happening, Simu rushed forward first, carrying the Great Dharma Sword as he charged at the Royal Zombie.

"Junior Brother, I'll help you!"

Daoist Simu broke into a run, raised the Great Dharma Sword high, and brought it down on the Royal Zombie's head.

Clang!

The Royal Zombie's skin was like iron and its bones like steel. The sword strike only sent it stumbling back a few steps. It let out a furious roar, then wheeled around and charged at Simu.

Just then, Master Yixiu came running up from behind, swinging a large string of prayer beads at the Royal Zombie.

The Buddhist power in the beads collided with the corpse aura, triggering a violent reaction. Crackling explosions erupted across the Royal Zombie's body, and Master Yixiu sent it flying with a single blow.

"Good heavens! I never expected Master Yixiu to be so fierce."

Lu Yan, Chen Yulou, and the others hurried over right behind him.

Hua Maguai had delivered things to Daoist Simu a few times and had met Master Yixiu on several occasions. He'd never imagined that the kind-looking, kindly-faced Yixiu could fight with such ferocity.

Lu Yan activated his Sharingan and stood by to watch over the fight, in no hurry to join in.

When the Royal Zombie fell, Daoist Simu seized his chance and pounced on it, sticking a Corpse-Suppressing Talisman to its forehead.

"Done!"

Seeing the Royal Zombie lie motionless, Simu gave a pleased smile and stood up.

But only a few seconds later, the talisman couldn't withstand the Royal Zombie's surging corpse aura and suddenly burst into flames.

"So fierce?"

"I'll stick on another one!"

Startled, Simu pulled a stack of Corpse-Suppressing Talismans from his robe and slapped them all onto the Royal Zombie's forehead.

"Let's see if I can't hack you to death!"

Taking advantage of the moment, Simu thrust his ritual sword at the zombie's chest.

Clang!

The corpse aura surrounding the Royal Zombie was so dense that Simu's strike had no effect. Instead, his sword snapped in two.

As if sensing danger, the corpse aura around the Royal Zombie suddenly intensified. All the talismans caught fire, and it sprang upright, thrusting both hands toward Simu.

"Look out!"

Seeing that Daoist Simu hadn't reacted yet, Lu Yan drew Ivory and fired rapidly at the Royal Zombie.

Bang!

A few shots sent the Royal Zombie flying, then triggered a violent explosion.

The bullets Lu Yan had just used were Wind Blast Bullets. Enemies hit by them were lifted into the air by the wind before a violent explosion followed. They were one of Lu Yan's crowd-control rounds, and packed quite a punch.

Chen Yulou and the others, standing beside Lu Yan, stared in astonishment. They could understand Daoist Simu and Master Yixiu's fighting styles, but what was that gun Lu Yan had used?

As the leader of Xieling, Chen Yulou was the biggest arms dealer in Western Hunan. He had plenty of skilled gunmen under him, but after seeing the power of Lu Yan's gun, he thought their weapons were nothing more than fire pokers.

Lu Yan paid them no mind. Ivory made a round trip through the Kamui Dimension, and he had already loaded a different kind of bullet. While the Royal Zombie was down, he fired several shots at the ground around it.

In an instant, the hard ground turned into a swamp. Though the Royal Zombie possessed immense strength, it had nothing to push against and could only thrash and roar in the mud.

"Done!"

Lu Yan blew on the muzzle of Ivory, looking completely at ease.

"Brother Lu, impressive!"

Chen Yulou stepped forward, his eyes shining as he looked at Lu Yan. Now that was a true expert.

"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Lu."

Seeing that the battle was over, Qianhe hurried over to thank him.

The fight had ended quickly, but it had been perilous. Without Lu Yan and the others' help, Qianhe was certain he would never have been able to defeat this Royal Zombie, which had already become a Furry Zombie.

"Daoist Qianhe, there's no need to thank me. What do you plan to do with the zombie?"

Lu Yan waved a hand to show there was no need for such formality, then asked Daoist Qianhe.

"This Royal Zombie is impervious to blades and bullets. I say we wait until daylight, when the yang energy is strong, then burn it slowly. I refuse to believe its corpse aura is endless."

Simu had suffered at the Royal Zombie's hands, and spoke up before Qianhe could answer.

"Amitabha. That plan will work."

Master Yixiu pressed his palms together, agreeing that Simu's idea was a good one.

"Wait! This is our prince. Who gave you permission to do anything to him?"

Steward Wu had been scared senseless earlier. Now that he'd seen Lu Yan and the others deal with the zombie so easily, he came out to cause trouble again.

"Oh? Then I'll throw you in with him, so you can get acquainted."

Lu Yan narrowed his eyes and spoke without expression.

"You—you dare!"

Steward Wu jumped in fright. After seeing Lu Yan's prowess, he was afraid of him, so he turned and berated Qianhe instead.

"Qianhe, you were ordered to escort the prince to the capital, yet you dared to burn his body without permission!"

"Steward Wu, the prince's body has become a Furry Zombie. If we don't get rid of it, it could bring about a disaster."

Qianhe knew this assignment had gone badly, and that he probably wouldn't get away with it. He was already prepared to part ways with the remnants of the Qing court, so he wasn't afraid in the slightest. He answered calmly, neither servile nor overbearing.

"You—you people..."

Steward Wu sputtered angrily a couple of times, but didn't dare make a scene. He could only turn and go back.