Zombies had no lifespan; the passage of years meant nothing to them.
Chen Jin told time mainly by the alternation of day and night.
To him, every day was a new day.
Over the next few days, he let no opportunity to cultivate slip by. Whenever the weather was clear, he would sit atop the tree crown early in the evening, waiting for the moon to rise.
At such times, the monkey king would also appear, climbing the tree with great agility.
At first, it dared not show itself, hiding among the branches and leaves to watch. Gradually, it grew bolder and crouched on the other side of the crown, though it still dared not come too close.
Only after confirming that the immortal master was neither angry nor driving it away did the monkey king creep closer, imitating his posture and sitting cross-legged with painstaking care.
Yet however closely it copied him, the moonlight fell only upon the immortal master.
It gained nothing. It watched anxiously but dared not move recklessly, and could only wait in silence.
The monkey king believed that the immortal master would surely teach it.
Before that, however, it first had to pass the relevant trials.
When such a large monkey appeared beside him, Chen Jin was initially startled. Not knowing what it wanted, he refrained from making any rash moves lest he anger it.
This inevitably distracted him.
But after observing it, he found that it meant no harm and was instead copying his posture.
A talent for imitation was one of the traits of monkeys.
Chen Jin left it alone. Cultivation came first; he had to seize the time to absorb the moonlight.
A zombie and a monkey sat one after the other atop the tree crown, forming a peculiar sight.
Around the hillside, the monkeys took their respective positions and kowtowed in a circle.
They were not worshipping the moon, but bowing to the immortal master.
Each black-furred mountain monkey harbored its own thoughts, hoping that one day, like the monkey king, it might have its head stroked by the immortal master.
Then it would be qualified to climb the tree, receive the moonlight, and seek the Dao of immortality.
The moonlight shone everywhere, falling upon the towering cliff as well.
Hanging coffins of differing shapes and designs stood in close-packed rows, like scales on a fish or teeth in a comb, creating a striking visual impact.
At that moment, someone was actually moving among them, as nimble as an ape.
He was a young man dressed in white hemp clothing, with a large "Yan" character enclosed in a circle on his back, marking him as a disciple of the Yan Household Great Stronghold.
His head was wrapped in a white hemp kerchief, and his cheeks were white as well, with scarcely a trace of blood in them. His entire person looked lifeless.
The Yan Household disciple landed beside a hanging coffin and carefully inspected the bird-script talismanic inscriptions carved into its lid, as well as whether its other parts were intact.
Once he finished, he leaped to another hanging coffin.
About an hour later, he suddenly discovered a wooden coffin with its lid lifted off. Fear appeared on his wooden face, and he hurriedly blew a bone whistle.
"Toot, toot, toot!"
The whistle sounded urgently.
After a while, another Yan Household disciple in identical clothing hurried down and asked, "Yan Ji, what happened?"
"Yan Li, something terrible has happened! A zombie escaped, and it's gone!"
The first Yan Household disciple, Yan Ji, spoke.
Yan Li hurriedly examined the coffin, first checking a number carved inside it:
Three-zero-three.
"Strange. This is only a white zombie with less than three years of maturation. How did it escape?"
Yan Ji asked, "Yan Li, you were responsible for coming down to inspect them seven days ago. What was the situation then?"
Yan Li answered with certainty, "Everything was normal. There were no problems at all. But late that night, there was thunder and lightning, fierce winds and torrential rain. Could the wind have blown the coffin lid open?"
"Absolutely impossible!"
Yan Ji immediately rejected that explanation.
Ever since this cliff had become the Yan Household's corpse-nurturing ground, hundreds of corpses had been nurtured here. Esoteric formations had been laid throughout it, chiefly drawing in the essence of moonlight to nourish the zombies. No one had ever heard of wind lifting a coffin lid.
He looked around. "How the zombie escaped no longer matters. What matters is finding it as soon as possible."
The two immediately split up and carefully searched the surrounding area, but found nothing.
They met up again to discuss it:
"I think the zombie most likely fell into the Nether Passage River below and drifted away."
"What should we do, then? If Great-Uncle finds out, neither of us will escape punishment under the household rules."
In the Yan Household Great Stronghold, an escaped corpse was no small matter. The punishment for such negligence was more than an ordinary disciple could bear.
But if they could retrieve the zombie in time, they could make amends through their service.
Yan Li thought for a moment. "There's no point panicking now. Why don't we launch a bamboo raft and search downstream?"
Yan Ji nodded. "That's all we can do."
The two fetched a bamboo raft and headed downstream, each holding a long pole.
"Savage Ford is just ahead. Should we go ashore and take a look?"
"No. A mutant toad has made Savage Ford its territory. It's already attained some cultivation, and it's extremely formidable. It eats people."
Yan Li was taken aback. "Since there's a Demon Beast wreaking havoc here, why hasn't the clan sent experts to kill it?"
Yan Ji snorted. "You think we can kill it just because we want to? Never mind that the toad has bronze skin and iron bones, impervious to blades and spears. Even if we could beat it, once it dives into the water and hides somewhere, who could find it?"
"Oh," Yan Li said, then changed the subject. "The wilds are so vast. We don't even know how long that zombie has been gone, much less where it ran off to. Why don't we make a matching wooden lid, cover the empty coffin, and bluff our way through?"
Yan Ji said irritably, "Do you know how to carve a Coffin-Sealing Talisman? One look and they'd see through it. Yan Li, we still have a full three months before our shift changes. We have plenty of time to come and search. That white zombie couldn't have gone far. It's most likely hiding somewhere... Huh?"
As he spoke, a splash rang out. Water scattered as something leaped out of the river and landed on the bamboo raft.
By the moonlight, they saw that it was indeed a huge toad.
It was as large as a wicker basket, with thick limbs and a pair of bulging eyes gleaming with menace.
Yan Li, who was closer to it, was badly startled at the sight. His reactions were quick, however: he drew the saber at his waist and took a defensive stance.
Yan Ji was no slower. Curved saber in hand, he said gravely, "Yan Li, don't make any sudden moves. This toad might just be curious and have hopped up to take a look. Once it's finished, it'll go back into the river."
Yan Li answered, gripping his saber tightly while studying it. He saw a charred-black patch on the toad's back, as though it had been burned by fire, but had no idea what had caused it.
Whoosh!
The toad suddenly opened its mouth. Its long tongue shot out, striking Ji Li squarely in the chest and piercing straight through his heart.
Ji Li had no time to react at all. Disbelief covered his face as his body toppled.
"What?"
Shocked and furious, Yan Ji knew there was no retreat. He swung his saber down fiercely, staking everything on a fight to the death.
Bang!
What met him was an impact like a massive boulder.
The toad rammed him headfirst, sending him flying into the water.
In that instant, Yan Ji felt as though every bone in his body had shattered, and he coughed up great mouthfuls of blood.
The toad opened its cavernous, blood-red maw, first picking up Yan Li, who lay on the raft, in a single bite and swallowing him whole.
Then it entered the water and seized Yan Ji in its mouth, sparing him no more than the other, chewing him up with crunch after crunch.
After swallowing two men in succession, it seemed to feel a little bloated. Its belly bulged, so it opened its mouth and let out a blast:
"Burp!"
That felt better.
After belching, its huge body floated in the water. It raised its head and looked around, trying to find a trace of that red-haired corpse monster.
But it saw nothing and had no idea where he had gone.
Its instincts told it that he would not have gone too far.
The lightning strike last time had nearly killed it. Fortunately, its thick skin and tough flesh had allowed it to endure the blow. Yet the incident had cast a deep shadow over its mind, leaving the toad afraid to venture ashore lightly.
All of this had been caused by that damned red-haired corpse monster.
The toad harbored an intensely powerful desire for revenge, but the time had not yet come. For now, it would slowly digest the delicious blood food in its belly, which would help heal its wounds.
It slowly sank to the riverbed and continued lurking there.