CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 55: UNCLE

The lone wolf gazed at Wen Yan’s figure in the distance. He was sure Wen Yan must have some significant backing, but he trusted his own instincts even more—Wen Yan himself probably wasn’t all that strong.

That foul-mouthed cat-headed bird was even weaker. Just one blow, and he was confident he could finish off that noisy bird.

Kill them, and it would all be over. In any case, this wasn’t his turf anyway.

Downwind, Lady Lie looked toward the lone wolf in the woods, her golden earrings swaying softly beneath her ears.

She was all too familiar with the type—lone wolves, grudge-bearing and vicious. Unless totally overpowered, it would always want to test the waters, to see if it could push things to the limit.

If it failed once, only then would it finally give up and retreat for good.

She noticed the lone wolf’s hesitation, and she hesitated herself as well. She needed someone to test things out. She just gave a little nudge, and the lone wolf could no longer hold back.

As for this Young Master Su’s own strength, she didn’t really care. If he was strong, then all the better.

There’s no way she could just believe after a few words that he had some background she could neither fathom nor even guess at. She would have to probe a bit.

Even if Young Master Su wasn’t powerful himself, those with powerful backgrounds always have something up their sleeves to protect themselves in a pinch.

She just needed to interfere a little, then at the right moment, she would step in to save him, finishing her test and drawing them closer.

If they couldn’t withstand even a few moves from the lone wolf, then let them die. If his backers didn’t give him some protection—even for their juniors—then those backers must not be all that.

...

Wen Yan sized up the hopping corpse, secretly impressed—it had really taken his words to heart and was strictly following orders.

He’d told it: don’t move unless he called for it.

Even after coming in here, the hopping corpse really stayed completely still, not even opening its eyes, everything about it withdrawn—just like a real corpse.

He recalled the scene in the stone forest, and could clearly feel that his own Scorching Sun was vastly outclassed by others’ Scorching Sun.

After all, his was just a Temporary Ability—basically a trial version.

By the Scorching Sun Department’s advancement theory and his own ability progress, his Scorching Sun probably wasn’t even at 1%. Maybe not even close.

Getting the hopping corpse to vaguely understand, to calm down and allow him to guide and control it—already wasn’t bad.

Just then, wind roared in the mountains; the lone wolf charged in, seeming to stride on air, covering more than ten meters almost in a blink.

Sparrow Cat’s body suddenly shrank, as if it had shriveled up several times, flattening itself on the ground, blending in with the piles of rocks.

Wen Yan felt the howling wind; he didn’t even get the chance to turn around before he sensed that undisguised malice. He immediately shouted.

"Uncle!"

The hopping corpse that had been still all this time suddenly opened its eyes—its gaze was vacant, a hint of gold glowing in its pupils.

The hopping corpse sprang into the air, leaping several meters instantly, colliding with the lone wolf midair.

The giant wolf claw slammed onto the hopping corpse with a dull thud. The lone wolf hadn’t expected this— the hopping corpse didn’t dodge at all, just raised both arms, nails extending like bayonets, and as he was struck, they plunged directly into the lone wolf’s body.

The lone wolf cried out in pain, both shocked and furious. He’d sensed that this zombie had a weak presence, probably just barely a hopping corpse.

But then, the moment they fought, the danger he felt from it exploded.

Where it was stabbed, at the very first jolt of pain, the lone wolf lost all sensation there. Corpse poison spread along the wound, forming tendrils of black web, radiating outward.

The hopping corpse’s face stayed blank, eyes hollow, no malice or viciousness, letting the writhing lone wolf bite deep into his shoulder.

Its bones, under that crushing bite, cracked and snapped. And the coffin nail embedded in its shoulder, at the instant of the bite, pierced clean through the lone wolf’s upper jaw.

The moment the pain hit, the lone wolf instantly sobered up and wanted to retreat. It knew there was nothing it could do.

This terrifying hopping corpse was still even restrained right now.

But it was already too late to back off.

Neither zombie nor wolf had landed yet, but the hopping corpse’s neck twisted with a horrible crunching sound, breaking its own neck to slam its head toward the wolf’s throat.

The hopping corpse’s mouth gaped open, revealing its fangs for the first time.

Thick fangs stabbed right through the lone wolf’s throat like it was just paper.

The instant they hit the ground, the lone wolf flailed its claws frantically, but within a second or two, its strength faded fast.

Its life force and blood burst forth as if a dam had broken, flooding out of it maniacally.

Its eyes went dim, its body shriveled rapidly—there wasn’t even time to regret.

In just a few seconds, its body crumbled to ashes, scattering to the ground.

The hopping corpse closed its mouth again, the leftover blood vanishing without a sound.

There was still no viciousness in its hollow eyes. Its broken bones righted themselves, coffin nails lodged all over squeezed their way out one after another.

Across its body, a layer of fine black fur with a metallic sheen began to grow—even its face was covered.

In an instant, the hopping corpse’s appearance changed dramatically. Sleek, dense black fur covered its body, as if it wore a thick black armor. Heavy deathly energy and miasma curled around it, the pressure growing ever more intense.

After killing the lone wolf, it just stood there, closed its eyes, and went still again.

The whole thing had taken just a few seconds.

Wen Yan had sensed the danger, turned his head, and saw the lone wolf clamped on the hopping corpse’s shoulder—then, a few seconds later, it had been completely devoured, turning to ash.

Wen Yan’s heart hammered. Danger had come too fast; he’d sensed it, but his body couldn’t keep up. Before he could even react, that lone wolf was already dust.

He really hadn’t expected that lone wolf to be so braindead, actually daring to charge like that. Weren’t these lone wolf types supposed to be extremely patient and restrained?

Just goes to show—you can’t trust everything in the books. Every individual’s different. Who’d have thought this one was so spiteful—got taunted by Sparrow Cat, lost it, and suddenly tried a sneak attack.

If Uncle hadn’t arrived, he’d have been in deep shit.

He honestly didn’t have much faith he could beat a lone wolf tough enough to face Uncle even for a move.

Once the hopping corpse’s transformation finished, Wen Yan received a new notification at the same time.

"Black-haired Zombie (Big Executor).

The fiercest among the haired zombies—impervious to blades and bullets, barely touched by talisman fire, unbelievably strong, and no longer slowed by bodily stiffness.

The good news: he’s your teammate now—a teammate with little spiritual intelligence, but extremely reliable.

Temporary Ability: Scorching Sun."

Wen Yan absorbed the new information in his mind, marveling at how absurdly fast Big Executor Corpse leveled up.

The past few days, Big Executor Corpse just sat there doing nothing and still got stronger by the day. Swallowing that wolf demon earlier, it evolved again on the spot.

But he only marveled at it for a moment—his mind was elsewhere.

If Uncle was already counted as his teammate, why did his Natural Enemy Professional Ability still give a response?

Could it be that activating Natural Enemy Professional Ability didn’t actually require the target to be an enemy?

Or maybe, even if it’s an enemy, it might not always trigger—like last time, riding in a car with Mo Zhicheng, the Natural Enemy Profession didn’t really react.

Wen Yan felt the doors of a bigger world slowly opening.

He walked up to Uncle, and with genuine sincerity, bowed in respect.

"Thank you, Uncle."

He picked up the coffin nails that had fallen to the ground and put them away, hesitated a moment, then casually tossed out the small trinket Lady Lie had given him.

He hadn’t meant to take the thing back anyway—who knew if it had some kind of tracking function?

...

Downwind, Lady Lie crept closer. She had just seen the lone wolf charge out and was about to join too, but who’d have guessed—it was all over in a few seconds.

She peered toward the stony riverbank and saw Wen Yan standing there with the little zombie on his back, and another pitch-black, extremely dangerous silhouette beside him.

Her golden earrings trembled faintly. She vaguely heard Wen Yan call that person Uncle.

Catching a glimpse by moonlight, she realized—that was an utterly savage black-haired zombie. She didn’t dare move a muscle, terrified of being noticed.