The night was like a curtain that had fallen over the earth.
The village, already ablaze, sent flames skyrocketing, illuminating the frenzied cadavers and casting long, ghostly shadows that seemed to dance.
Time was of the essence, and any combat carried the risk of infection, so Lin Baici had no desire to fight these lesser creatures, but he hadn’t ridden far before the soldiers met their doom.
After tackling a tall soldier, the lead living corpse bit him savagely, like a wild dog. The tall soldier dropped his longbow and drew his sword, striking the creature twice.
The blade cut through flesh, blood sprayed wildly, but the cadaver didn’t care and bit down even harder.
The tall soldier’s cry was full of panic.
No one could spare the time to help him, and it was too late anyway; within seconds, more undead were upon him, engulfing him.
The soldiers’ breathing, the living corpses’ shrieks, the sounds of gnawing on bone and flesh, and the crackle of burning buildings tangled together, composing a skin-crawling symphony of death.
The soldiers, who had never seen such monsters, swung their swords as if they were fending off bandits or refugees, hacking away.
A living person would usually be incapacitated after receiving a blow, but these living corpses continued to thrash even after being struck.
The soldiers missed their mark with the first strike and had no chance for a second, as the living corpses closed in and pounced on them.
In the blink of an eye, half of the soldiers were bitten, and the rest were in disarray, fleeing for their lives. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel★fire.net
"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"
The bearded man yelled, tugging the reins, ready to make his escape. He estimated there were over forty of these unkillable monsters.
Desperate, he planned to return and inform Lord Zhao to dispatch troops to exterminate these creatures.
"Stay back, watch this woman."
Lin Baici shouted and, dismounting, he slapped the horse on the rump to send it away. Then he charged at the living corpses.
"Why bother killing these monsters?"
Gu Qingqiu didn’t understand.
"What if it spreads and becomes a tide of corpses?"
Lin Baici suddenly thought of this. With the ancient government’s organizational ability and arms, they would likely be no match for a horde of the undead.
"Even if you kill all of these right now, you can’t stop the tide. There must be more living corpses in the village that have left."
Gu Qingqiu tried to persuade him.
"I know, I just want to delay the outbreak, even if by a few days."
Lin Baici planned to use the time to resolve the contamination of the rules.
A few living corpses, seeing Lin Baici moving against the flow of the soldiers, roared and rushed over, one young man running fastest.
By the light of the fire, Lin Baici saw his yellow teeth, then swung his sword.
His sword cut through iron as if slicing cake, easily severing the neck of the corpse.
A head spun through the air and fell to the ground, eyes open in death, as a gush of blackness poured from the severed neck.
Lin Baici began his massacre.
These living corpses were slightly stronger and more agile than an ordinary person and felt no pain, which made them difficult to deal with, but Lin Baici, having enhanced his body and with a sufficiently sharp weapon, could kill them nearly instantly, one sword stroke per corpse.
The bearded man was slack-jawed.
Was this not too powerful?
The Nine States Man advanced unceasingly, single-handedly cutting a path through the enemies. Wherever he went, living corpses were beheaded, collapsing with thuds.
Like souls striking the great drum at the gates of hell, they played the death march of war.
Kim Myungjin yelled, guarding Dae Jang Geum to prevent her from running away.
The bearded man and the few remaining soldiers looked at each other, hesitating to move.
They knew their own limitations all too well and understood that just because someone else made killing these monsters look easy, it didn’t mean they could do the same.
"Is this what it feels like when a sword blade cuts flesh?"
The hand feel is great!
Lin Baici had never before so unrestrainedly slaughtered "humans"; to be honest, it was exhilarating, like an unmatched cleave through grass.
Just when Lin Baici thought he was in a one-sided battle, Gu Qingqiu suddenly shouted.
A short-statured zombie, appearing to be only about eleven or twelve, moved quietly behind Lin Baici and, seizing the moment, lunged forward.
Lin Baici’s bronze sword was slicing through a female zombie’s neck; weaponless now, but he didn’t panic. He lunged forward three steps, grabbed the clothes of the female zombie in front of him, and executed a massive back throw.
With a whistling sound, the female zombie spun like a windmill into the air and then rapidly crashed down, hitting the small zombie behind Lin Baici.
It smashed into the ground.
Lin Baici drew his sword and struck down another approaching zombie while simultaneously launching a kick at the mouth of the small zombie attempting to bite his ankle.
The small zombie’s jaw and nasal bridge shattered, scattering teeth everywhere.
Ten minutes later, Lin Baici had killed fifty-nine zombies, and the scene finally quieted down.
Severed limbs and disemboweled entrails sprawled everywhere, making the place resemble a slaughterhouse.
Dae Jang Geum sat on horseback, stunned.
Is this the fighting strength of a Nine States man?
No wonder the nation has always been so utterly oppressed!
We cannot provoke them!
Lin Baici got slightly stained with blood, which irked him.
The bearded man immediately dismounted and came over, offering a water jug, "Sir, please use this to wash up a bit?"
Compared to before, the bearded man’s attitude was much more respectful.
Lin Baici pushed the water jug away, walked up to Dae Jang Geum, gazed at her for a few moments, and then yelled, "Lee Taehyun, come out!"
"Is the Tiger Hunter Army also here?"
The bearded man looked around, bellowing, "Come out quickly, or I will execute your entire clan!"
The night wind brought the scent of ashes.
The bearded man realized that Lin Baici was bluffing.
Lin Baici stopped shouting and swung his sword, striking towards Dae Jang Geum.
Lin Baici’s bronze sword was hit.
Kim Myungjin exclaimed in surprise.
"According to the era, it should be a flintlock gun!"
Gu Qingqiu analyzed that such firearms were cumbersome to load and not very accurate,
"Is there someone really there?"
The bearded man was shocked and quickly ordered his men to be on guard, followed by a bout of fear. If the Tiger Hunter Army had shot at him, he would have been dead.
"This medical woman knows you’ve cooked human flesh, yet when speaking of you, she still calls you ’big brother,’ indicating a good relationship between you two. And, given the season, the predators in the woods are starving. She wouldn’t be insane enough to go into the mountains to gather herbs alone, so there must be someone with her."
Lin Baici declared loudly, "Come out, tell me everything you know!"
When the bearded man heard Lin Baici’s words, he was awestruck. Such meticulous thinking!
Why didn’t he think of it himself?
"Lee Taehyun, just give up. You wouldn’t want me to interrogate this medical woman under torture, would you?"
Lin Baici patted Dae Jang Geum’s cheek with the flat of his sword.