When Old Man He hurried over, he discovered that the bands currently trapped in the market had already gathered of their own accord.
They were all seasoned travelers of the martial world, none of them simple-minded, for fools never lived long.
Sensing that the situation was turning bad, they called their friends together to discuss what to do.
For now, they had mainly divided into two groups.
One group was led by a man called Niu Ben, who possessed innate divine strength and a body-tempering martial art that made him impervious to blades and spears. Standing among the crowd, he was imposing as an iron tower;
the other was led by a man called Lu Gao, a Fourth Realm cultivator from a collateral branch of the Lu Household, skilled in the strange art of paper figures.
Though Old Man He was getting on in years, he was nimble. He slipped through like a loach, desperate to hear what they had worked out.
The mountain exit could have collapsed at any other time, yet it had chosen this exact moment. Naturally, that aroused suspicion.
At first, however, many people had not dared believe it.
After all, within Xi Prefecture, the Yan Household was a prominent heterodox house. How could they do such a thing?
And how would they dare?
At that moment, someone remarked quietly that if everyone present died in the mountains, how would anyone outside know that the Yan Household had done it?
The Yan Household would only need to lay the blame on that thousand-year-old snake demon.
At those words, everyone stood stunned.
Another seasoned veteran pointed out that many years ago, Stream Mountain had also been bustling and prosperous, its ferry landing open and boats coming and going. Only after some great upheaval had it fallen into decline.
All this time, everyone had thought a demonic calamity was to blame. Looking at it now, things clearly were not so simple.
A conspiracy. There had to be a conspiracy behind this!
Once suspicion took root in their hearts and they strung the various events together, everything looked increasingly suspicious.
"Bad news! The Yan Household disciples guarding the gates and patrolling have all disappeared!"
Someone rushed over to report, shouting the news.
Upon hearing it, everyone's heart sank. No doubts remained.
"Light fires! Hurry and build bonfires all around the market!"
Niu Ben immediately issued orders. He had become a leader not merely through brute strength; he had brains as well.
Zombies were innately creatures of yin and Baleful Intent, and plainly feared fire.
His followers hurried to gather wood, piling it around the perimeter and setting it alight.
A first outer defensive line formed from bonfires could effectively hold back the zombies' attacks.
They only needed to hold out until dawn. Once the red sun rose in the east, their situation would improve greatly, and only then would they have a way out of this predicament.
Lu Gao likewise ordered his followers to help.
The outlook was grim. They had all become grasshoppers on the same string, and only by working together would they have a sliver of hope of survival.
In an instant, everyone in the market was rushing about.
Old Man He stamped his foot. He knew that under these circumstances, he had to stay with his family, both to watch out for one another and to prepare for the worst. Even if they died, they would die together.
He hurried back and told his son and daughter-in-law what was happening.
He Tie took out a steel saber and said through gritted teeth, "Father, if we get a chance later, we'll charge out together."
Old Man He sighed and said nothing.
The Yan Household had clearly plotted tonight's situation with painstaking care, arranging every last detail. How could they leave anyone alive?
Suddenly, a thought struck him. Once the fighting descended into chaos, would his family fare better if they followed Chen Jin?
That settled it.
He had a vague feeling that Chen Jin was more reliable than Niu Ben, Lu Gao, and the others.
The moonlight was lovely that night. The moon hung high in the sky, and the vast night heavens were clear, dotted with stars that shone like luminous pearls set into black cloth.
Yet no one was in the mood to admire such beauty. Tense and anxious, everyone rushed about setting up defenses and bringing out all manner of weapons, as well as magical implements and the like.
Then they stared beyond the market.
Outside, the night stretched dark and boundless, with cold breezes stirring. Now and then, the wind picked up and gave a low howl.
The sound made their hearts quail, afraid that at the very next moment, zombies with blue faces and protruding fangs would come swarming out.
It was not that they were timid. In fact, many of them had encountered zombies during their travels, and had even killed them.
But wild zombies and deliberately raised zombies were two different things.
Most wild zombies were weak enough that even an ordinary, strong man could kill them; raised zombies were entirely different, becoming far more formidable.
Besides, tonight was a setup, a conspiracy.
Like prey caught in a trap, everyone was filled with dread and unease, their fighting spirit scattered.
Just then, an eerie wind swept in. In mere moments, the dozen or so bonfires blazing around the market's perimeter went out one after another, like candles snuffed by a cold wind, with scarcely the effort of blowing away dust.
Witnessing this, they saw profound despair on one another's faces.
"Run!"
"Run, quickly! We can't beat them..."
Panic spread, and several people used their Movement Methods to rush outside.
"Aah!"
An instant later, their screams rang out from the boundless darkness.
Those screams frightened the people behind them who had wanted to follow. They no longer dared move rashly. After all, their chances of survival might be better if they stayed with everyone else.
Ring, ring, ring!
The sound of a bronze bell rose and drifted on the wind, its direction impossible to discern.
Along with the bell, someone chanted an Incantation in a low, hoarse voice that seemed to rise from underground:
"Heavenly soldiers suppress Baleful Intent, the Northern Dipper binds yin; enter caves upon meeting mountains, cross bridges upon meeting water; my magic commands, obey and halt at my decree... reveal yourselves at once!"
With a series of cracks, the ground shook and split open. One zombie after another burst from the earth, dressed in burial shrouds, their faces blue and their fangs protruding.
Right inside the market.
No wonder the market had been built here. An ambush had long since been buried beneath it.
The moment the zombies emerged, they lunged at the people nearest them.
In an instant, startled cries, sounds of fighting, and screams mingled together.
The corpse calamity erupted, plunging the entire market into chaos.
"Get away!"
Niu Ben roared furiously, wielding a gold-melon hammer. He smashed it into an oncoming zombie with a resounding bang, as though striking ironwood.
Clearly, this zombie had already been nurtured to a certain degree. Its body was hard as iron, unafraid of ordinary weapons.
Fortunately, Niu Ben's heavy weapon was inherently somewhat effective at battering and restraining zombies. Though one blow could not kill it outright, it could knock the creature back.
But the zombie had no sensation, much less any fear of pain. After a brief pause, it lunged again, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.
The two became locked in a deadly struggle.
Even someone as valiant as Niu Ben could only fight a single zombie to a standstill. The others fared miserably. Even with two or three people attacking one zombie, they struggled to gain the upper hand. The slightest lapse, and the zombie's sharp claws wounded them.
The claws carried poison. Once corpse poison entered a person's body, they fell.
Meanwhile, Old Man He's family had also heard the bronze bell and the chanting. The sacred banner they had hung up stirred without wind, shaking like dead leaves in autumn with a rattling sound, as though it were about to tear apart.
In the blink of an eye, the ground at the shack's entrance caved in, and a zombie sprang out.
Old Man He and the others paled in horror at the sight. The young girl He Juan even screamed.
Bang!
The next moment, a figure flashed into view as though descending from the sky. Both feet landed on the zombie's head, forcibly stomping it back into the muddy pit.
Back where it came from.