In fact, Chen Jin could make sounds now. He could open his mouth and rasp out low, hoarse growls that sounded nothing like a human voice.
For a living person, that would amount to losing the power of speech.
He felt the root of his tongue stiffen, while something seemed to be blocking his throat.
It was not a transverse bone, but perhaps an affliction that muted his throat.
Whatever it was, he could clear it by gathering the essential Qi of moonlight, refining it into true Qi, and slowly channeling it into his throat while working on his tongue aperture as well.
The whole process might take a little longer than opening his eye and ear apertures.
There was no hurry. He could proceed step by step.
Winter came, and the biting north wind blew through the densely arrayed hanging coffins and up onto the high cliff.
The clearing atop the cliff had been developed into a courtyard compound with earthen walls and thatched roofs.
That day, someone drove a mule cart up the mountain road.
There were two men.
Both wore white hemp shirts and hemp shoes, with curved sabers at their waists.
One was burly, with a large gold hoop hanging from his left ear; the other was lean, with a silver hoop hanging from his ear.
Holding the mule's reins in one hand, the silver-hooped man chuckled. "This supply run was delayed for a reason. Yan Li and the other fellow must be getting impatient. They'll surely have plenty of complaints when they see us."
The gold-hooped man said calmly, "That younger brother of mine is a little impetuous. Making him cool his heels a bit isn't a bad thing. Besides, there was a reason for it. There's nothing to complain about."
Lowering his voice, the silver-hooped man asked, "Brother Yan Ji, something seems to have gone wrong when the Holy Maiden came back to the stronghold on business this time. What exactly happened?"
Yan Ji said, "I'm not very clear on the details either. I only know the Holy Maiden was angry. She said there were more and more Demon Beasts in the mountains, and they were growing increasingly unruly. We need to organize men to go into the mountains and give them a thorough clearing out. So she sent letters inviting quite a few fellow martial artists to come exterminate the demons. You know how widely connected the Holy Maiden has always been. The stronghold will be lively then."
The silver-hooped man asked doubtfully, "Couldn't we just lead some men out to kill the Demon Beasts? Why bring in outsiders?"
Yan Ji glanced at him. "Yan Fei, if we can use outside help for these things, why expend our own strength? Do you think those Demon Beasts are so easy to deal with? In short, remember this: whatever the Holy Maiden tells us to do, we do."
Yan Fei's heart tightened, and he hurriedly flattered him. "You're right, Brother Yan Ji."
As they spoke, they drove up outside the compound. The gate stood open, but no one was in sight.
Yan Fei shouted, "Yan Li, Yan Ji, come help unload!"
There was no reply. The surroundings were unusually quiet, with only the howl of the north wind passing through.
"Where is everyone? Where have they all gone?"
Yan Fei shouted again.
Still, no one answered.
Yan Ji frowned and strode inside.
No one was in the courtyard, no one was in the main hall, and no one was in the rooms either.
His expression began to grow grave.
Yan Fei asked in surprise, "Could those two brats have gone to the cliff to check on the zombies?"
Yan Ji shook his head. "No. Look at the rooms. Dust has piled up, as though no one's lived here for a long time."
Yan Fei froze. "What's going on?"
"Come on."
Yan Ji went out first and headed straight for the high cliff.
Looking down from above, he saw that all the densely packed hanging coffins within view were neatly arranged. Nothing seemed amiss.
In particular, the jade coffin near the upper center remained safe and sound, its lid firmly shut.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then said heavily, "Yan Fei, let's go down and take a look together."
"All right."
Yan Fei also knew something might have happened and did not hesitate at all.
Both were seasoned hands from the stronghold, with formidable martial skills and nimble movement. They had been stationed here as guards before and knew the ropes, so they checked their way down.
Half an hour later, they discovered the empty wooden coffin with its lid thrown open.
Yan Fei sucked in a cold breath. "A corpse escaped... but where are Yan Li and the other fellow?"
After a moment's thought, he quickly understood: Yan Li and Yan Ji had naturally gone looking for the zombie.
In the stronghold, allowing a zombie to escape was a grave offense, punishable under clan law, and would utterly ruin their prospects. Their only way to make amends was to find the zombie and bring it back, redeeming their offense through merit.
Yan Ji bent down and carefully examined the wooden coffin, doubts rising thick in his heart. This was only a White Zombie with less than three years of maturation. How could it have escaped?
He checked the formation next. It was working properly, without any flaws.
So where had things gone wrong?
He had no idea.
Yan Fei looked over and asked hesitantly, "Brother Yan Ji, what should we do? Should we go back down to the stronghold and report this to Granduncle?"
"No."
Yan Ji was adamant. "If we do that, Yan Li and Yan Ji are finished."
Yan Fei did not care what happened to those two, but he had always followed Yan Ji's lead and could not make up his own mind. He also knew how close the two brothers, Yan Ji and Yan Li, were. With his younger brother's future at stake, Brother Yan Ji was capable of anything.
Yan Ji's gaze was sharp as he said heavily, "Our most pressing task is to find them first, then ask exactly what happened."
Yan Fei grumbled inwardly. Who knows when this happened, or where the zombie ran off to? And Yan Li and Yan Ji are missing too.
How are we supposed to find them in this vast wilderness?
Aloud, he replied, "Brother Yan Ji, I'll follow your lead."
They soon fetched a spare bamboo raft, lowered it down, and prepared to search along the banks first.
Yet many days had passed, with wind and rain throughout. Any traces had been muddled beyond recognition, leaving no clues whatsoever.
"Brother Yan Ji, Savage Ford is just ahead. A mutant toad occupies this place. It's vicious and difficult to deal with. We'll have to be careful."
Yan Fei offered the warning.
Unable to find any trace of his younger brother, Yan Ji was irritable. Saber in hand, he said, "If that toad dares come out, I'll slaughter it."
He looked up at the sky. "It's getting late. We'll stop at the ford to rest and spend the night, and search the shore while we're at it."
Yan Fei groaned inwardly but dared not disobey. In his view, when a zombie escaped, the best course was naturally to inform Granduncle and ask him to bring out the Immortal-Driving Bell. A shake of it would make the zombie hop right out, as long as it was nearby.
The problem was that doing so would expose the matter, leaving no room to turn things around.
Until he found his younger brother Yan Li, Yan Ji would never do that.
They secured the bamboo raft and stepped onto the dilapidated landing, keeping their guard up.
Yan Ji was no ordinary fighter. Ranked among the strongest in the stronghold, he was a prospective cultivator who had reached the fourth realm, "Aperture Opening," and was fierce and skilled in battle. Yan Fei, meanwhile, had just entered the third realm, "Entering Jin," this year. Though still stuck at the last of the three mortal barriers, he was quite a capable fighter himself.
It was precisely their confidence in their strength that emboldened them to enter the toad's territory.
Yet the toad never showed itself at all. Perhaps it had hidden somewhere to hibernate.
That saved them some trouble.
Looking around, they found the place filthy and foul-smelling, unsuitable for camping overnight. It was also too close to the water, where, according to rumors, water ghosts would emerge in the dead of night to suck the Yang Qi from the living.
Thus, to rest well, they needed to go a little farther ahead and find somewhere dry, preferably a hillside or the like.
The two continued deeper in.
Suddenly, Yan Ji raised his head and saw an old banyan tree rising from the hillside ahead, its luxuriant branches and leaves spreading into a lofty canopy like an enormous umbrella.