As Lin Yu pinched his middle finger until blood dripped out, the Ghost King's Corpse Qi enveloped his entire body, masking any human life force.
He took a few steps back, watching as the zombie poked open the cabinet, its heels touching the ground as it leaped up, its posture shifting from looking down to looking up.
Lin Yu: "..."
This zombie... it's a bit too tall outside.
Judging by sight, he was at least two meters tall, wearing the same dark blue long robe typical of Fragrant Tree Village, with festering sores on his cheeks and lifeless gray eyes.
The zombie looked around, seemingly trying to catch the scent of Lin Yu's presence in the ancestral hall, its stiff hands constantly poking at the pillars.
"Ahhh, that's dangerous! Brother Yu, run!"
Lin Yu has absolutely no talent for catching ghosts!! It's all Jiang Nuo's fault!
Lin Yu remained motionless, lowering himself to hide behind the last pillar, pressing his thumb against his bleeding middle finger, muttering to himself.
They attempted to use the Ghost King's power to suppress the zombies and control them to kill Jiang Nuo.
"Hah..." The zombie sensed an unusual power and cautiously hopped around the room in circles, as if searching for something.
As the zombie became more wary, Lin Yu began to struggle to control it. He hadn't expected that controlling this zombie would require so much power; even the power of the Ghost King could only barely suppress it.
However, this confirmed another of his conjectures: in this inconspicuous little mountain village, there was a demon whose strength was definitely above that of the Ghost King.
The zombie suddenly spotted him, leaped dozens of meters, and stood quietly behind Lin Yu, its foul-smelling, festering lips parted.
The viewers in the live chat were on the edge of their seats.
Lin Yu turned around, leaped up the pillar, and gripped the zombie's neck tightly with his blood-stained hand, his eyes filled with cruel coldness.
Unlike Jiang Nuo's madness, Lin Yu at this moment seemed more like a condescending mockery and scrutiny after a successful scheme, sending chills down one's spine.
[... ah?]
Holy crap, I thought I was going blind! Is this really my gentle and kind idol?!
This transformation is just too successful... Holy crap!
"Damn, is drastic character remakes all the rage in the entertainment industry lately? First Jiang Nuo, then Lin Yu, they're practically unrecognizable."
After several rounds of back-and-forth, the zombie was finally brought under control. It suddenly raised its head and stiffly jumped out of the ancestral hall.
Lin Yu smiled slyly, eagerly anticipating Jiang Nuo's reaction upon seeing the zombie, and thus followed along.
--
"They've arrived."
Jiang Nuo's ears twitched slightly, and she spoke up keenly.
At this moment, the entire formation was set up. The Dragon God bypassed the objects representing the five elements and, together with the peach wood sword, ink thread, and iron filings of the corpse-driving people of Fragrant Water Village, arranged them into a ghost-subduing formation.
Jiang Nuo stood at the very front of the formation, leaning against the now-docile wooden barrel, with the frightened little girl Pu Sang on his right, waiting for the zombie to approach.
Just as they expected, the zombies came straight this way, their target appearing to be Pu Sang.
The zombie leaps dozens of meters at a time, its body nimble and agile, already showing signs of evolving from a jumping zombie into a flying zombie. Wherever it goes, the slime on its body lands and immediately withers a patch of wildflowers and weeds.
The group of guests all looked up in unison.
Jiang Nuo: "Wow... so tall."
His neck was a little sore from looking up, so he reached out and pressed it, then reached behind him with his other hand and grabbed a bell.
Ring ring!
With a ring of the bell, the zombie sped up, suddenly leaping into the air, growling and emitting low growls, its stench carried on the night wind.
Pu Sang formed a mudra with his ten fingers, his hands glowing with white light, attempting to purify himself and escape danger.
When the zombie got close, Pu Sang realized that its purpose seemed to be...
" Nuonuo!!"
Si Yan was also startled by the zombie's sudden change in attacking actions and instinctively wanted to rush forward, but was stopped by Wu Chou and Pu Sang.
"Hey, Brother Yan! You need to guard the formation and not run around."
Wu Chou clenched his fists, drew a peach wood sword and held it upright in his palm, when he heard a corpse driver roar behind him.
"Superior!"
The corpse-drivers who were summoned immediately grabbed their magical weapons and rushed over.
We must wipe out this zombie tonight.
Wu Chou didn't even have time to stop it.
Jiang Nuo fought the zombies, feeling utterly hopeless and finding the fight utterly meaningless.
Zombies are immortal and indestructible, devoid of any emotions, and utterly unappealing. They are more troublesome than ghosts, and truly boring.
While dodging, he observed the zombie's appearance and figure. Although the zombie was much taller than him, its body was stiff and it could not stand upright or bend over. Jiang Nuo took advantage of this and bound it with a red rope.
The corpse-driver, holding an ink thread, was the first to rush forward. He pinched the ink thread between two fingers, hooked it up, jumped up, somersaulted in the air, and landed steadily behind the zombie. The ink thread wrapped around the zombie's neck and arms, and he kicked the zombie's back with both legs, pulling it backward.
"Hey! I think..."
"Aaaaaah!!"
Jiang Nuo stared wide-eyed as the man was sent flying, two of his fingers still clinging to the zombie's body; the ink lines had served no purpose whatsoever.
He frowned, drew out a sound, and muttered, "Didn't you promise to listen to me...?"
Zombies of this level are immune to even a hundred lines of ink soaked in black dog blood, let alone a single one.
However, there are always those who refuse to give up.
Jiang Nuo had just rolled over to dodge the zombie's stinking finger attack, and before she could even react, another corpse-driver was brought up.
The corpse-driver who rushed forward was tall, and his magical weapon was covered with rust and iron filings. He reached the zombie in just a few steps.
There are also folk tales that say zombies are afraid of iron filings.
Jiang Nuo thought it was pure nonsense.
He grimaced as he watched the second corpse-driver who rushed forward nearly get torn to pieces, crashing heavily to the ground and unable to get up for a long time.
Perhaps it did have some effect. The zombie, who had been determined to fight Jiang Nuo, suddenly trembled, struggled to turn around, and its ten fingers shot straight at Pu Sang.
Thinking he was safe, Pu Sang took a deep breath.
It didn't say anything about getting into trouble while watching a play!
Pu Sang could only follow the original plan, running backwards while luring the zombies into the formation.
Just when success seemed imminent, the zombie trembled again, and its target shifted back to Jiang Nuo.
"No... wh... what do you mean?!"
Pu Sang was out of breath from running, and so angry that he could barely speak.
"You're making a fool of me!"
Jiang Nuo tilted her head to look behind the zombie, blinked, and said, "Oh, it seems to be under control."
He pulled out a handful of talismans and sprinkled them out—wind, fire, and water talismans—but they were all useless against the zombies. Instead, they made him run around until he was exhausted.
"Oh my!"
Jiang Nuo put her hands on her hips and sighed deeply.
I'm tired.
[Hahaha, so Nuonuo, sighing online.]
Holy crap, zombies are harder to kill than ghosts! Nothing I use to get rid of them works... it's terrifying.
" Nuonuo!"
Hearing Si Yan's call, Jiang Nuo subconsciously turned around, her eyes lighting up.
The formation can be activated!
"Good--"
He answered crisply, moved his ankle, and stood up again, the red rope hooking the zombie as it ran towards the formation.