Chen Jin gripped the earthen rim with both hands, then sprang out with a whoosh like a groundhog waking from hibernation.
Landing on the ground, he reached out to brush off the dirt clinging to him and discovered that the ancient blue-green kasaya draped over him had rotted into tatters, no longer fit to wear.
The burial shroud underneath, however, was made of fine material and remained undamaged.
The garment had originally been designed for zombies to wear when buried in the earth to receive nourishment from earth Yin Qi, so it was extremely tough and sturdy.
"Then how long have I been hiding underground?"
Chen Jin thought of the question of time.
That night, trapped in the grove of old pines, he had been besieged on all sides, unable to escape even had he grown wings.
After telling Yuan Bai to flee, he had waited for the black bear spirit to charge out, then immediately circulated his True Qi and cast the Earth Escape Technique.
Earth Escape belonged to the Five Elements Escape Arts and was a high-level technique.
As it happened, he knew it too.
One could only say he knew a great deal.
Chen Jin had already known all these various arts, but when putting them into practice, the limitations of his physical condition could lead to failure.
For instance, he might cast Wood Escape only to get stuck in a tree trunk, or fail to pass through a wall and ram straight into it instead, raising a lump on his forehead...
Under the circumstances at the time, the only thing Chen Jin had much confidence in was Earth Escape: burrowing into the earth to flee.
After all, zombies themselves were compatible with the nature of earth.
But tangled roots and hard rocks also lay within the earth, so he had needed to be extremely careful.
At the same time, the expenditure had been enormous.
After traveling some distance underground, he had exhausted his True Qi and could go no farther.
He had not reached a safe distance. If he poked his head out, the people of the Demon-Slaying Alliance would very likely discover him, and he would be walking straight into their net.
Thus, he could only stay still and begin a long wait.
Though a zombie, Chen Jin did not like living underground, where neither daylight nor sky could be seen. He stubbornly maintained that he was human.
And a human should face the sunlight, where spring was warm and flowers bloomed.
That was why he had kept striving in cultivation, seeking to reverse death and return to life.
Yet now, to survive, he had no choice but to hide here, facing boundless darkness.
For a person to live openly and uprightly-it turned out that was no easy thing.
Perhaps because he was in danger, perhaps because he was alone and helpless, Chen Jin felt he was letting his thoughts run wild again.
These were delusive thoughts, liable to breed inner demons.
So he swiftly gathered his mind, reined in his will, and began cultivating.
As a zombie, he needed neither food nor breath. Even underground, without sight of the sun or moon, he could practice Embryonic Breathing and draw in the endless earth Yin Qi.
Lost in cultivation, he forgot himself and took no account of the passing years.
In such a state, he was both in meditation and seemingly deep asleep.
Until one day, sensing the tremors of spring thunder, the corpse monster woke beneath the earth and broke out through the soil.
Crack!
Thunder erupted over the ground, and a silver serpent struck.
In an instant, Chen Jin's scalp prickled, and the red hair all over his body stood on end.
Fortunately, his long period of secluded cultivation had filled his True Qi to the brim and left him in excellent condition. He dodged in time and escaped being struck.
Has this lightning tribulation locked onto me?
Secretly alarmed, he fled swiftly, searching for shelter from the lightning.
A little later, he spotted a cave on a nearby hill and ducked inside without hesitation.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The lightning in the sky seemed to have lost its target, rumbling and striking at random.
One bolt as thick as an arm smashed into the grass outside the cave, sending sparks of lightning fire flying.
At the sight, Chen Jin felt inexplicably pleased. Being able to escape the lightning tribulation struck him as a truly remarkable feat.
To battle heaven was endless joy!
By now, he could be certain that this lightning tribulation had indeed locked onto him.
Because I borrowed a corpse to return to life?
Or was this zombie itself so heavily yin that it readily attracted lightning?
After lying dormant for a winter, he had absorbed who knew how much earth Yin Qi. Yin Baleful Intent had indeed accumulated within this body, with yin flourishing and yang declining far too severely. It urgently needed refining.
Before that, however, he needed to examine the surroundings and see whether this place was suitable for cultivation.
The cave was shallow and surrounded by hard rock; it could be called a stone cave.
To his surprise, a fair amount of dry firewood and dead branches lay piled in a corner, along with traces of a campfire.
From this, it was clear that some travelers had once used the place as a resting spot.
Now Chen Jin had become a traveler here.
A place frequented by people was certainly unsuitable for a prolonged stay.
There was no helping it. Anyone who saw him looking like this would take him for either a corpse monster or a demon, and would surely raise a commotion, leaving him no peace.
Chen Jin began considering leaving, but when he poked his head out and saw the approaching night and the silver serpents writhing through the dark clouds, he finally abandoned the idea, thinking he could stay here for now and decide after tonight.
As his gaze swept around, he happened to notice that the lightning strike earlier had accidentally set some nearby dry grass ablaze, and the lightning fire had yet to go out. He hurriedly fetched dry wood, caught the flame, and built a campfire.
Nothing more needed saying: thanks to heaven for the gift.
At that thought, the corpse monster's mood grew even brighter.
The firelight illuminated his black, blue-tinged face, which seemed almost to smile, a thoroughly frightening sight.
Soon, it grew completely dark outside.
A heavy rain arrived on schedule.
With the rain, the thunder and lightning subsided, vanishing to who knew where.
Chen Jin stood at the cave entrance, holding his sword in both arms as he watched the vast curtain of rain. He was not admiring the rain, but keeping watch for any outsiders who might intrude.
From the look of things, no one would be coming.
Good.
He watched a while longer before turning and sitting beside the campfire.
First, he drew his sword to inspect it.
The Slay Evil Sword had been well preserved within its scabbard. Cold light shimmered along it, its edge as keen as ever.
After all, it was a magic sword, made of extraordinary material.
The scabbard, hilt, and other parts were likewise undamaged, looking as good as new.
Setting the sword aside, Chen Jin sat in the lotus position and began refining Qi.
First of all, he directed his Qi to act upon his nasal apertures. Truly, as water flowed, a channel formed; they opened naturally.
In just an instant, his sense of smell revived, picking up all sorts of odors.
"Hm? Why does it stink so much?"
Chen Jin twitched his nose, then lowered his head for another sniff and confirmed it: this was the corpse stench emanating from his own body.
He was practically a salted fish gone bad.
It suddenly occurred to him that this lingering odor could easily betray his whereabouts, unless he was buried in the earth.
To remove the smell completely, he would have to connect and open all twelve primary meridians, regenerate his Qi and Blood, rise from death, and become a truly living person.
Then he would shed his corpse skin, and a human scent would replace the corpse stench, restoring him to normal.
At present, his three hand yang meridians and three hand yin meridians had all been opened and brimmed with vitality. Next came the three foot yang meridians and three foot yin meridians.
With his earlier groundwork and experience having opened the way, he could now absorb the essence of the sun and moon directly, and his subsequent cultivation would proceed more smoothly.
Chen Jin abruptly rose and strode to the cave entrance.
This time, he was admiring the rain.
"All night in barren hills, I listen to spring rain; come morning, peach blossoms bloom in the wild woods!"
He suddenly recited aloud, leisurely and content, unconcerned with whether those mountain woods actually held any wild peach trees.
He supposed they did.
Because Yuan Bai had once said that peaches were its favorite food.
All at once, Chen Jin missed that big monkey, wondering whether it had escaped with its life and where it had fled.
The heavy rain fell audibly, unbroken and unending.