MMLZ CH8
“Never panic when something happens. Stay calm and steady. If you encounter a zombie you can’t defeat, retreat immediately and wait for me at the town entrance.”
With his peach wood sword and a few talismans, Uncle Jiu disappeared into the woods, leaving Qiu Sheng and Xu Yan staring at each other.
Their master really had a big heart!
He just left the two of them—practically rookies—on their own. If a group of zombies appeared or one of the first corpses to turn showed up, it’d be game over for them.
Uncle Jiu took the peach wood sword, but left the more powerful “Coin Sword” behind. Xu Yan checked the equipment—clearly, their master had thought things through and left them the stronger weapon.
Xu Yan practiced the Thunder Art and Lightning Fist, which paired with the Coin Sword made for a deadly combo.
“Hoo~~”
A cold breeze swept past, making Qiu Sheng shiver involuntarily. He clutched a pouch of coins and looked around nervously.
“Junior Brother, why don’t we just follow Master? What if we run into a powerful zombie and can’t handle it?”
“If you want to be beaten to death by Master, go ahead.”
Qiu Sheng was clearly scared, and even Xu Yan felt a bit unsure. But he wanted to see just how powerful his Lightning Fist was when combined with the Thunder Art—even if he’d only mastered the first level.
A bit of lightning is still lightning, right?
Zombies fear thunder and lightning the most.
Besides, he had plenty of talismans and the Coin Sword. If he couldn’t beat them, he could still run.
Thankfully, Wen Cai, the most useless of them all, didn’t come along. Xu Yan respected Uncle Jiu’s foresight.
Qiu Sheng might be a troublemaker with poor training, but at least he was physically strong and wouldn’t drag them down.
“Here. Be careful—don’t get bitten by a zombie. If you do, I won’t be able to save you.”
Xu Yan handed some talismans to Qiu Sheng, then stepped forward with the Coin Sword in hand, silently reminding himself to prepare better next time—bring sticky rice, ink lines, stuff like that. They were more effective against zombies.
To his credit, Qiu Sheng pulled himself together after the initial fear. Gritting his teeth, he followed Xu Yan with coins and talismans in hand, determined to help if anything went wrong.
Though their master said nothing, Xu Yan believed Uncle Jiu must have sensed something, which was why he’d split them up.
Maybe the strongest zombie was waiting on the other side for Uncle Jiu, while the ones they would encounter were the newly turned—perfect for training.
If they couldn’t win, they could still escape. And zombies weren’t ghosts—as long as they didn’t get bitten in the neck or lose too much blood, sticky rice and other tools could still be used to heal them.
“Stop!!”
Perhaps due to his innate lightning spirit body, Xu Yan was very sensitive to yin energy. After walking down the forest path for a short while, he felt a chill—it was the same feeling as when he and Uncle Jiu had gone ghost hunting.
Qiu Sheng panicked, stuffed the coins into his clothes, and struck a battle pose. Xu Yan was speechless—why didn’t he do that earlier? Also, where was his bag? Absolutely ridiculous.
“Aoo!!”
A beast-like roar came from within the forest. Two dark figures leapt at them. Qiu Sheng trembled, but when Xu Yan saw their faces, he let out a breath of relief.
Beginner-level zombies—just as expected!
Two low-grade black-haired zombies. They didn’t even have fangs yet, which meant they’d only been turned recently. Their yin energy was weak. These zombies were bottom-tier—couldn’t even hop properly and could still run like humans.
“One each. I’ll help you after I’m done with mine.”
“Okay!!”
Gritting his teeth, Qiu Sheng charged forward with talismans in hand, leaving Xu Yan with his words stuck in his throat. He’d wanted to tell Qiu Sheng to grab a stick from the ground—it’d be easier to fight with something in hand.
But Qiu Sheng was already off, so Xu Yan let it go. Maybe letting him take a few hits would be a good lesson. He was always thinking about girls instead of practicing seriously.
“By the decree of the Supreme Elder, obey immediately!!”
Qiu Sheng shouted as he held the talisman and mumbled a stream of incantations. Xu Yan nearly turned to stone—was all that really necessary? He didn’t think so.
A gust of cold wind passed. Xu Yan focused up and ignored Qiu Sheng. First, deal with his own zombie.
“Evil creature, die!!”
With what little spiritual energy he had, Xu Yan activated the Coin Sword, which began to glow. Strands of lightning crackled around it.
Touching this sword would feel like grabbing a live wire—but this wasn’t just regular electricity.
“Go!!”
Xu Yan had no intention of fighting hand-to-hand. He channeled his energy, launching the Coin Sword forward. Wrapped in lightning, it flew straight at the zombie. Any high-level zombie would have dodged instantly.
But this was just a low-grade zombie—barely had any intelligence, let alone fear.
The Coin Sword shot into the zombie’s body.
“BOOM!!”
With a loud explosion, the zombie blew apart like a firecracker—chunks of meat flying everywhere. Xu Yan barely avoided being covered in gore.
“Maybe that was overkill…”
If Uncle Jiu had seen this, he would’ve scolded Xu Yan like crazy. Using Lightning Fist and the Coin Sword on a little zombie? What a waste of energy.
“Holy sh*t!!”
Qiu Sheng yelled in shock, nearly getting grabbed by the zombie he was fighting.
Even Xu Yan hadn’t expected such power. The combination of Lightning Fist and the Coin Sword was overkill against these weaklings.
But Xu Yan was a beginner. He lacked experience. If Uncle Jiu had been there, he’d have solved it with a peach wood sword to the heart—no need for any flashy moves. Maybe a talisman or a bit of ink string at most.
The smell… was disgusting.
With the zombie blown to bits, the stench of rotting meat filled the air. Xu Yan almost threw up. He grabbed the Coin Sword and rushed to Qiu Sheng, kicked the zombie off him, and stabbed it in the heart.
“Aaargh!!”
The zombie let out a final screech and fell still. Xu Yan retrieved the Coin Sword, tossed a fire talisman on the corpse, and quickly backed off—the smell was unbearable.
Damn, all zombie flesh is rotten, huh?
Qiu Sheng, also overwhelmed by the stench, covered his nose and ran over.
“Junior Brother, you’re so strong! Why did you waste so much time earlier?”
Xu Yan blushed. “How was I supposed to know they were so weak? Let’s get out of here. It stinks. I need a serious bath after this.”
He couldn’t understand how those corpse handlers put up with this. Xu Yan swore—he’d never deal with zombies again. Absolutely disgusting. The smell was just like decaying bodies.
He’d just learned the hard way what it meant to “use a cannon to kill a mosquito.”
Xu Yan made a mental note: never go overboard again. Sure, the power was great—but his limited spiritual energy was now drained.