CHAPTER 238: CHAPTER 238 ENCOUNTERING A ZOMBIE

At 1 p.m., the weather gradually heated up again, so they packed up the tableware and floral cloth, and returned to Taohua Village.

Yan Hongxia had no interest in mahjong and chess, but was slightly intrigued by Xiaocui’s carving work.

She picked up a carving knife and imitated a little monkey Xiaocui had previously carved.

"Scratch, scratch, scratch—"

Moments later, an identical little monkey appeared in her hand.

"Simple!" Yan Hongxia picked up another piece of wood, her carving knife twirled and danced, and quickly another wooden carved peach blossom appeared.

Xiaocui: ⊙_⊙

Do Sword Cultivators get a boost in carving skills?

Then, throughout the afternoon, each of the sale-ready carvings Xiaocui had prepared gained a fraternal twin from a different father and mother.

...

After spending a cool afternoon under the old peach tree, they had dinner in Taohua Village, and the three of them then bid farewell and headed back to Tonglin County.

As they journeyed along the mountain path, Yan Hongxia gritted her teeth, seemingly determined, and said, "I’m planning to leave tomorrow!"

Liu Qingyan was shocked at the news, "So soon?"

She knew Yan Hongxia wouldn’t stay for long, but didn’t expect her to leave the very next day.

"Isn’t that too rushed?" Liu Qingyan tried to dissuade her, "There are still a few scenic spots nearby, Yu Ling Garden has two signature plays, and I have many things to learn from Hongxia."

Yan Hongxia shook her head, "I’ve taught you everything I can; I don’t primarily cultivate flying swords, I also don’t know some of Feiyu Mountain’s secret teachings.

Additionally...

These past three days have been too comfortable. If I stay any longer, I fear I won’t want to leave. No, no! I must go!

Oh, oh... one more thing... can you prepare some food for me?"

Yan Hongxia swallowed and blinked expectantly, "Like chocolates and milk candies..."

"Of course." Liu Qingyan stepped forward and grabbed Yan Hongxia’s hand, "Qingyan will prepare them for you back home. Tonight, let’s talk through the night, and if your travels bring you here again, please visit Tonglin County often."

Yan Hongxia laughed, "Naturally."

Lu Zheng also smiled, "Leaving tomorrow, right? I’ll prepare something for you too."

Yan Hongxia smirked mischievously, "Okay, then I won’t stand on ceremony!"

...

They chatted and laughed, briskly making their way along the forest path.

Leading the group, Lu Zheng suddenly paused, and Yan Hongxia and Liu Qingyan also stopped instantly, turning toward the depths of the eastern dense forest.

"Nether Qi."

"And Corpse Qi."

A wave of Nether Qi wafted over together with Corpse Qi.

"Let’s go take a look!"

Yan Hongxia’s gaze sharpened, Sword Qi surrounded her, and her figure leapt forward, swiftly darting into the dense forest on the right.

Lu Zheng pulled Liu Qingyan along, their figures floated elegantly and lightly, seemingly slow but moving fast, closely following Yan Hongxia.

Liu Qingyan grasped Lu Zheng with one hand and clasped the Red Jade Sword with the other, vigilant, prepared to strike with Sword Control at any moment.

In less than two miles, they reached the origin of that recently spreading Nether Qi and Corpse Qi.

Two corpses and a pair of blood-red eyes... a zombie?

The two corpses were ignored, but as for the zombie, wearing tight attire, its face was darkened, two fangs slightly exposed, sharp fingers, pupils entirely red, appearing to have lost its mind.

"Roar!"

Upon seeing the three appear, the zombie growled lowly and charged straight at them.

"Hmph!"

Yan Hongxia refused to halt her pace or evade; instead, she slightly opened her mouth, and a chilling Sword Qi shot straight out, piercing the zombie’s neck.

Sword Qi sliced through its neck, swiftly severing it as if it were a material blade.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

The zombie’s head rolled off its shoulders, down a slope to the side.

"Thud!"

The zombie’s body collapsed onto the ground and lay motionless.

"Zombie?"

Yan Hongxia quickly reached the zombie head, casually snapped a tree branch, and poked at the zombie’s head.

"Chomp! Chomp!"

The zombie head was still snapping its jaws, attempting to bite the branch.

Lu Zheng glanced at the two corpses, noting their pale green appearance, seemingly affected by Corpse Poison without turning into zombies.

"Their Divine Souls were too weak, directly killed by Corpse Poison," Liu Qingyan remarked with furrowed brows.

Yan Hongxia extended her hand, releasing a thread of Sword Qi, which penetrated the zombie head, annihilating its Divine Soul True Spirit.

"Completely polluted by Corpse Poison, devoid of any intelligence."

Lu Zheng blinked, "So it’s not a first-generation zombie?"

Lu Zheng had spent the past year here, aware that zombies existed, formed when Divine Souls lingered, locked within bodies, gradually absorbing Extreme Yin Qi from the earth.

Technically, there was no essential difference between them and Giant Corpses, Water Corpses, or Corpse Infants.

Hmm, the sole difference was that zombies possessed a special Corpse Poison, capable of slowly corroding Divine Souls, transforming those not directly killed into zombie-like creatures.

These creatures, however, lacked intelligence, only instinctive actions, hence sometimes called Corpse Puppets.

But not everyone could become a Corpse Puppet, as demonstrated by the surrounding two, both perished completely by Corpse Poison.

"Is there a zombie nearby?" Lu Zheng scanned the vicinity.

"The zombie should be inside a tomb."

Liu Qingyan approached the other two corpses, using a stick to flip through their belongings, uncovering various knick-knacks related to tomb raiding.

"Grave robbers?"

"They likely ventured into a tomb and unexpectedly encountered a zombie inside."

"Uh... quite tragic..."

"We should burn them, otherwise, whether someone passes by or animals feast upon them, the Corpse Poison will surely spread," Liu Qingyan suggested.

Thus, the three gathered branches, found an open space, and burned all three bodies.

"The zombie won’t come out, will it?"

"It shouldn’t, right? We’ve resided in Tonglin County for quite some time and haven’t witnessed any zombie-related trouble."

"But what if it had been dormant and the grave robbers woke it?"

"..."

"Can we locate its tomb?"

"No, only Corpse Poison remains, these bodies lack any aura."

Yan Hongxia interjected, "That zombie was a Martial Artist during its life, and we’re probably not close to its tomb."

So finding the tomb was difficult.

Lu Zheng surveyed the area; the mountains were tall, the forest dense, truly challenging to search.

"Let’s head home first, wait and see. If a zombie causes havoc, word will surely spread in the county, we won’t need to hunt for it, it’ll come seeking us."

Thus, they continued heading back to town.

"I’ll stay for now!" Yan Hongxia suddenly announced seriously, "Let’s wait for a few days, see if the zombie emerges, and if it causes trouble, I’ll deal with it before departing."

"Great." Liu Qingyan joyfully clung to Yan Hongxia’s arm, "Then there’s no hurry. We won’t find it tomorrow, should we go see the performance of ’Red Silk’s Story’ at Yu Ling Garden?"

"Is it? Great, great!" Yan Hongxia’s eyes lit up as she nodded enthusiastically.

Lu Zheng: (ー_ー)!!