AFTCKCTCKATD - Chapter 79
Chapter 79
Was Feng Yimo Death?
---
The moment the voice rang out, the black Corpse King beneath the old man shuddered and spun around, sprinting back toward the city they had just left.
By the time the pair reached the edge of the city, the other twenty-odd Corpse Kings finally reacted.
The next moment, the entire group leaped into the air like a clowder of startled cats and fled in panic.
Sprinting all the way back into the city and hiding behind the buildings, the twenty-plus Corpse Kings looked back toward the distant mountains in shock, still not quite understanding what had just happened.
“Grrr?”
“It’s him.” The old man’s heart pounded against his ribs. After a moment of sheer terror, his face flushed a visible red.
“Roar…”
The Corpse Kings looked around at each other. They hadn’t even had time to see their King clearly.
“Spread the word. Tell them we’ve found the King. Prioritize summoning the Corpse Kings from the Devil’s City, especially the other two Elders. Tell them to get here immediately!” The flush on the old man’s face spread down his neck and to his ears as his voice trembled with excitement.
The Corpse Kings exchanged glances.
They had all joined later, drawn by the legend of Death. In their entire faction, only three Corpse Kings had actually seen Death. They were known as the Elders.
There was a rule in Death’s faction known to all Corpse Kings: if you find the King, do not approach him. Notify the others first.
They had never quite understood why. If they found their King, shouldn’t they immediately show their loyalty?
“Roar?”
Why don’t we just go over there?
“Sure, go ahead then,” the old man said, looking at the one who asked. “If you come back alive, congratulations, you’ll be the fourth Elder of our faction.”
The Corpse King looked at the mountains, then at the scar on the old man’s face. “Whine…”
I’m fast. I’ll go notify the other two Elders. The one who spoke muttered before dashing off.
The other twenty-odd Corpse Kings turned into streaks of lightning alongside him, some heading toward the Devil’s City, others toward more distant locations.
Five minutes later, only five Corpse Kings remained in the city: four strength type beasts, and the old man.
“Grrr?”
What do we do now?
“Watch from a distance. We’ll wait for the other two Elders to arrive.” As he spoke, the old man looked excitedly toward the mountains.
They had gone to such lengths to find their King. This time, they would absolutely not let him slip away.
As long as they waited for the other two Elders, for all the Corpse Kings of Death’s faction to gather, they could go together and explain the situation to him.
Their King would surely be happy. They were now the strongest faction among all the Corpse Kings.
Imagining the scene, the old man’s face turned a deep, excited purple.
*
Outside the forest.
The twenty-odd Corpse Kings were mostly beast-forms, massive creatures weighing tons. When they all ran at once, the ground trembled and shook beneath their feet.
In the forest, the group of humans, their faces blue with tension, nearly choked on those tremors.
“They…” It was a long time before anyone in the forest spoke.
Hearing the voice, everyone’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“What just happened?” Huang Rongyue’s palms were slick with sweat as she gripped her gun, her voice trembling.
Seeing this, the other leaders followed suit.
Outside the forest, Ji Yanqing, nerves taut and mind racing, had heard the full-throated roar and saw the Corpse Kings turn and flee. His mind had gone blank.
When he recovered and looked again, the group had already run back into the city.
They acted as if they had encountered a terrifying monster. Hiding far away wasn’t enough; they were even peeking out from between the buildings to spy on them.
As he looked, several of them were so scared they yanked their heads back out of sight.
“Ji Yanqing?” Tong Yue emerged from the trees.
“Are you okay?” Xia Shen Shu and the others followed close behind.
They had been ready to rush out the moment the enemy attacked. Now, faced with this sudden turn of events, they were bewildered.
“I’m fine.” Ji Yanqing glanced at Feng Yimo ahead of him, at Ji An and Ji Le beside him, and at Kang Xiaodong, the black beast, and the pangolin who had followed him out.
“What happened?” Tong Yue asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Why did they run?” Huang Rongyue asked.
“I don’t know…”
Seeing that he knew nothing, the group looked in the direction the Corpse Kings had fled.
“Let’s leave first,” Ji Yanqing was the first to react.
Hearing this, the group, still in shock, snapped back to reality and hurriedly called for everyone hiding in the forest to get into the vehicles.
There were eight thousand of them, but no one dared to delay. In just two minutes, everyone was on board.
They had brought over two hundred vehicles, but most were now full of supplies. Only a few dozen were empty. There wasn’t enough room inside, so many people climbed onto the roofs.
As soon as everyone was on, the drivers floored the gas pedals, racing across the plain toward the highway.
To hide, they had driven off the highway and tucked the vehicles behind the forest.
Once the convoy of over two hundred vehicles was back on the road, their speed increased again, the long line of cars slithering away like a giant snake.
Amid the roar of engines, inside one crowded truck where there was barely room to stand, Ji Yanqing held onto the door frame with one hand and gripped his axe with the other, looking back through the open rear doors.
The city and the mountain forest beside it were receding rapidly. In just a few breaths, they had become a blurry black line on the horizon.
Even as the line faded from view, no one in the convoy dared to relax. Everyone held their breath, staring fixedly in that direction.
One second, three seconds, five seconds passed. Still no sign of pursuit. The people in the truck, their lungs burning and ears ringing, finally let out a long breath.
“What the hell?”
“Scared me to death…”
“I thought we were done for.”
…
Confirming they had shaken off the Corpse Kings, everyone was flooded with joy.
Laughter and sighs of relief filled the truck, but then the radio on Ji Yanqing’s belt crackled with static, followed by Xia Shen Shu’s familiar voice.
“They’re following us.”
Hearing those words, the joyful group felt as if they had been choked.
The truck went deathly quiet.
Ji Yanqing grabbed the radio. “Are you sure?”
Xia Shen Shu, in the last vehicle, replied quickly. “Positive. But only four of them are following. That old man who spoke seems to be with them.”
There were over forty radios in the convoy now. His words were broadcast directly to every team leader. The moment he finished speaking, the channel erupted in chaos.
“The others didn’t follow?”
“Did they circle around to the front?”
“I’m at the front. No Corpse Kings in sight.”
“Should we just fight them?”
“What do they want?”
“Fight with what? We have no ammo.”
…
“Quiet,” Ji Yanqing said.
Hearing his voice, the channel settled down, waiting for his next words.
“Teams with guns and ammo move to the left lane. Half to the front, half to the back.” he ordered. “All other vehicles move to the right lane.”
The long convoy moved swiftly. Vehicles carrying supplies and unarmed personnel moved right. Armed squads moved left.
There were nearly twenty armed vehicles in the left lane. The ones in front accelerated to the head of the convoy, while the ones behind slowed down to guard the rear.
In less than three minutes, the convoy had reorganized.
Ji Yanqing grabbed the door frame and leaned out, looking toward the rear. He was near the front.
A mile or two behind the convoy, only a few figures were running at high speed.
They had entered a basin. The highway was surrounded by vast, open plains, flanked by mountains and forests on both sides.
If Corpse Kings flanked them from the mountains, they would be trapped instantly.
Ji Yanqing held his breath and waited, but even as the convoy drove out of the basin and into a wider wilderness area, they were not attacked.
“Something’s wrong,” Xia Shen Shu said. “They don’t look like they’re trying to catch up.”
Ji Yanqing, who felt the same, had a bad premonition.
“Are they planning to follow us back to the county?” Tong Yue asked.
---
Hearing Tong Yue’s guess, a commotion broke out in the crowded truck behind Ji Yanqing, and similar unrest spread through the rest of the convoy.
“We have to shake them!”
“This is the fastest the trucks can go, and there’s nowhere to hide this many vehicles.”
“We can’t just lead them back to the county.”
“It’s getting dark.”
Ji Yanqing looked at the sky. The setting sun hung low over the mountains, painting the clouds in mottled shades of fiery red—beautiful, yet thrillingly ominous.
He had no time to appreciate the scenery; his brow furrowed in deep thought.
Once the snow started, the vehicles would soon be unable to move.
As his mind raced, an excited roar came from behind the mountains two or three li to their right.
It was far away, but only a Corpse King could make a sound like that. There were indeed Corpse Kings behind the mountains.
Silence fell over the radio channel again.
“Find a wider space up ahead to stop,” Ji Yanqing ordered. “Those without special ammo will transfer to the empty trucks. Everyone with ammo stays behind to hold off the Corpse Kings. The unarmed group will take the opportunity to drive back and get more ammunition.”
The channel remained silent.
His order was essentially a death sentence for those staying behind, but everyone knew they had no other choice.
They couldn’t shake the Corpse Kings, and they couldn’t kill them. If they did nothing and led them back to the county, everyone would die.
The convoy drove for another half hour, entering a more open area. The lead vehicle quickly pulled into a clearing, and the others followed.
As soon as they stopped, everyone got out.
Without needing to be told, the group split up. Those without special bullets boarded the empty trucks. Those with ammo formed up.
Lan Zi’s squad was out of special ammunition. She looked at Ji Yanqing hesitantly. “Ji Yanqing…”
“Take the boys…” He started to entrust Ji An and Ji Le to her, but before he could finish, the two little ones hugged his legs tightly.
He looked down into their eyes—anxious, yet determined. He swallowed his words.
“I’ll find a way to hold them off. You guys hurry.”
If Lan Zi and the others were fast enough, they might be able to save some of the people.
She looked at him, gritted her teeth, and quickly boarded a truck.
The engines roared to life, and the vehicles sped back onto the highway.
The Corpse Kings were less than a li away.
“Charge!”
Of the thirty-plus squads remaining, the front few charged forward, followed immediately by the rest. Everyone was prepared to die fighting.
But just as the vanguard reached the Corpse Kings and opened fire, the monsters suddenly turned and fled as if terrified, running far into the distance.
The Corpse Kings were fast despite their massive forms; in the blink of an eye, they were nothing but dark shadows on the horizon.
Watching them flee, the group who had charged with the resolve to die was dumbfounded.
We’re the ones who should be scared and hiding. Why are they running?
“Ji Yanqing.” Lan Zi’s voice came over the radio, laced with unease.
Before he could process his surprise at the fleeing Corpse Kings, Ji Yanqing looked back in the direction Lan Zi’s group had gone.
Their vehicles were already far away, almost disappearing around the foot of the distant mountain. But behind their convoy, several Corpse Kings had appeared out of nowhere and were following them into the mountains.
Tong Yue’s face turned black. “So following us back to the county really is their goal.”
“What do we do?” Lan Zi asked. They couldn’t lead these monsters back.
“Come back first,” Ji Yanqing said into the radio. “Everyone, stand down.”
The entire force pulled back.
A few minutes later, Lan Zi’s convoy reappeared on the highway.
The Corpse Kings following them didn’t attack; they even moved aside to let them pass.
Seeing this from a distance, the realization dawned on everyone, and their faces turned as dark as charcoal.
They knew Corpse Kings possessed intelligence rivaling humans, but they hadn’t expected them to be this shameless. They were determined to follow them home and catch everyone in one fell swoop!
“Now what?” Lan Zi got out of the truck.
Tong Yue, Huang Rongyue, Qin Yue, and the other leaders clenched their fists, grinding their teeth in anger and murderous intent, but they were helpless.
The Corpse Kings were faster and stronger. If they were determined not to fight and just follow from a distance, there really was nothing the humans could do.
Ji Yanqing looked at the sky.
Night had fallen. The fiery clouds were gone, replaced by freezing air, less than ten degrees, and drifting snow.
“We camp here,” he said.
Hearing this, the panicked group froze.
The squad leaders looked at each other, unsure.
Camp here? Surrounded by Corpse Kings? How? Sleep in a pile of monsters?
“We can’t run anyway,” Tong Yue said, his face dark.
The leaders exchanged glances again. Since Tong Yue agreed, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and set up camp.
They had brought over two hundred vehicles. On the way out, they were empty, so they could sleep inside. Now, most were full of supplies, so they had to build tents.
Some people parked the vehicles side-by-side to form a large windbreak, while others climbed onto the roofs to secure the tarps.
Outside the tents, they lit fires.
There were Corpse Kings everywhere; hiding was pointless. They might as well have a fire for warmth and cooking.
As they worked, everyone kept glancing around.
Seeing that they had stopped running, the Corpse Kings in the night were even more brazen, having found spots to squat and lay leisurely as they stared at the group from a distance.
Meeting those inquisitive eyes, the busy humans felt a creepy chill in their hearts, mixed with the burn of unfair aggrievement.
In the past, the Corpse Kings they met were cruel and bloodthirsty, hunting humans for sport. But these ones were toying with them.
“Ignore them,” Ji Yanqing said.
Around the fires, the group, eating their tasteless food in silence, looked at him.
They looked at the boxes full of supplies around them, and their expressions softened slightly.
His words didn’t ease their anxiety, but they did make them feel a little better. Thinking about the Corpse Kings having nothing to eat while watching them feast, many felt their dinner suddenly tasted much better.
“Should we post extra guards tonight?” Li Pingsen asked.
“No need.” Ji Yanqing glanced at the distant figures. “Don’t we have all those eyes watching over us?”
Li Pingsen was speechless.
“Corpse Kings standing guard? That’s a luxury not everyone gets to enjoy,” Xia Shen Shu quipped, his mood improving.
Hearing him, the tension in the camp eased further. Conversations started up, and the atmosphere became livelier.
The snow soon grew heavier. The howling wind brought cold from all directions, and Ji Yanqing’s hands and feet quickly went numb.
After eating and stretching his stiff limbs, he was about to go back to sleep when he looked back and realized that one of the three Corpse Kings Feng Yimo had tied up was missing.
The white rat was gone.
The black dog and the scaly one remained. The latter was curled up on the ground, seemingly regretting its missed opportunity to escape.
Seeing its state, Ji Yanqing quickly guessed what had happened.
He reached out and patted the black beast’s head.
Lost in thought, the beast sensed something approaching and instinctively bared its teeth.
Feng Yimo’s dark, abyssal eyes shot it a cold glare.
The beast immediately deflated.
“Thank you,” Ji Yanqing said, stroking its head.
If the white rat could escape, the black beast and the pangolin could have too. But he remembered that when he walked out of the forest, the beast had followed and stood beside him.
The black beast, depressed about being unable to beat Feng Yimo, froze. It looked up at Ji Yanqing. Meeting his eyes, which held a faint smile, it felt a strange sensation in its chest.
It was warm, maybe a little itchy. It was indescribably weird, but not entirely unpleasant.
Nearby, Kang Xiaodong looked from Ji Yanqing to the black beast, his expression turning strange.
Since Ji Yanqing could tell at a glance that he wasn’t human, he must know the black beast was a Corpse King too. Yet he was saying thank you to…
A Corpse King?
---
Ji Yanqing’s group was being besieged by a pack of Corpse Kings. Everyone was filled with anxiety and fear, yet Ji Yanqing was thanking one of them.
“Why?” Kang Xiaodong couldn’t help but ask.
Ji Yanqing looked at him.
“And when exactly are you planning to let me go?” Kang Xiaodong squirmed like a worm. He had been tied up by Ji Yanqing and hung from the car door.
He was a Corpse King, a thrice-evolved one at that. It wasn’t that he lacked the strength to break the rope; he just didn’t want to. If he struggled too hard, Ji Yanqing would definitely come at him with that axe.
“You can untie yourself,” Ji Yanqing said, picking up his axe.
“Then put down the axe first.” Kang Xiaodong’s mouth twitched.
Ji Yanqing looked away, ignoring him.
Kang Xiaodong immediately started twisting his body. “Murder! Arson! Help!”
He was strong, and his thrashing made the whole car rock back and forth, attracting quite a few stares.
Seeing Kang Xiaodong trussed up like a pig and hung from the door, the expressions on many team members’ faces were quite strange. But knowing it was Ji Yanqing’s doing, they all chose to watch in silence.
“Will you shut up on your own, or shall I help you?” Ji Yanqing raised the axe.
Kang Xiaodong went silent instantly.
The corner of Ji Yanqing’s mouth twitched. He had the urge to rub his temples.
The reason he had Feng Yimo watch Kang Xiaodong was simple: Kang Xiaodong was a Corpse King, and he couldn’t guarantee what he might do.
Spending time with them had only confirmed his suspicion that intelligence-type, thrice-evolved Corpse Kings were all missing a screw or two. Feng Yimo went without saying, Lou Ye was the same, and inevitably, so too was Kang Xiaodong. Ji An and Ji Le didn’t count; after all, they had his surname.
Ignoring Kang Xiaodong’s aggrieved look, Ji Yanqing walked to the vehicle nearby. Ji An and Ji Le, who had gotten used to going to bed early recently, were so sleepy they could barely keep their eyes open. They sat huddled together, their heads nodding.
Ji Yanqing approached and settled the two little ones in to sleep.
Seeing Ji Yanqing leave the fire, Tong Yue also stood up and walked away.
He walked out of the makeshift fort of vehicles and looked from the front of a truck toward the pairs of glowing eyes in the distant darkness. Confirming the Corpse Kings were still there, he kicked the snow on the ground, which was getting thicker.
Footsteps approached from behind.
Tong Yue looked back. It was Qin Yue and Huang Rongyue.
They were looking at him, walking toward him. Clearly, they were here for him.
“Something wrong?” Tong Yue’s tone wasn’t friendly. He had a short temper to begin with, and in this situation, he was in no mood for idle chatter.
“What’s going on with Ji Yanqing?” Qin Yue asked.
Tong Yue paused. “What do you mean?”
In that moment, the gruff-voiced man and the other two major team leaders also arrived. Except for the old professor and Ji Yanqing, all the leaders of the eight major teams were here.
They exchanged glances, checked their surroundings to ensure no other members were nearby, and frowned.
“What are you guys doing?” Tong Yue was confused.
“Things are a little strange. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed,” the gruff man said, looking at him.
“Strange?” Tong Yue raised an eyebrow.
“Ji Yanqing wasn’t the only one outside the forest at that time,” Tong Yue said. “There was also Feng Yimo, Kang Xiaodong, and those two kids.”
The gruff man frowned at him. This didn’t sound like Tong Yue.
Tong Yue’s brother, who had followed him, also frowned.
“Something like this has happened before…” Qin Yue hesitated, then spoke up, looking at Huang Rongyue. “When I first met you guys.”
Huang Rongyue had already remembered that incident, and her face grew even grimmer.
Once could be a coincidence. Twice was definitely not. Especially something as absurd as an entire group of Corpse King being scared off by humans.
“What happened?” the gruff man asked.
“When I first met them…” Qin Yue quickly recounted the story.
“Ji Yanqing knows… Corpse Kings?” one of the other two leaders asked.
“That’s unlikely, isn’t it?”
“And that lake incident was also very strange.”
Silence fell in the darkness again.
“…Could Ji Yanqing be a Corpse King?” someone whispered.
At those words, everyone shuddered.
Ji Yanqing was the Commander-in-Chief of their alliance. If he was a Corpse King, wouldn’t their alliance be a joke? An alliance formed by a Corpse King. Were they just livestock being corralled for eventual slaughter?
“He’s not,” Tong Yue said, his voice edgy.
“How do you know?” the gruff man asked.
“I asked him. Besides, many of you have seen him bleed. His blood is red. And you’ve seen him injured,” Tong Yue said. “At the gathering.”
When Ji Yanqing was found by Xia Shen Shu’s group at the gathering, both his hands were wrapped in gauze.
“Whew…” Huang Rongyue let out a long breath, relaxing physically. She didn’t want to doubt Ji Yanqing, but everything was just too weird.
“Then how do you explain what happened before?” the gruff man asked.
Silence descended again as everyone fell into thought.
“Is it possible that it’s not Ji Yanqing, but someone around him…” Qin Yue’s Adam’s apple bobbed, unable to finish the sentence.
“So what?” Tong Yue looked at him.
Everyone looked at Tong Yue, their eyes filled with surprise, confusion, and complexity.
So what?
They were talking about a Corpse King. A Corpse King that would slaughter humans for fun.
“If I could, I’d kill every Corpse King in this world,” Tong Yue said. “But the reality is we’re trapped here by twenty-something of them, unable to go anywhere.”
“So?”
“So,” Tong Yue continued, “there are thousands upon thousands of Corpse Kings in this world. This isn’t something we can stop. Even if we have a way to deal with them now, the situation is bound to repeat. Even if we kill every existing Corpse King, the zombies in the cities will keep awakening, keep evolving into new ones.”
Everyone was silent.
Since they had found the weapon against Corpse Kings, they had tried not to think about this. They preferred to immerse themselves in the fleeting joy like fools.
Even if they had weapons, so what? The Corpse Kings of this world were endless. They could never kill them all.
“There are Corpse Kings in the county, and there are Corpse Kings around Ji Yanqing. Didn’t you all realize that long ago?” Tong Yue cut straight to the point.
His gaze swept over their pale faces one by one. Huang Rongyue, Qin Yue, none of them were stupid. Their minds might not be as quick, but this much time was enough for them to figure things out.
“…What exactly is Ji Yanqing trying to do?” Qin Yue finally choked out after a long silence.
“He wants to coexist with those Corpse Kings,” Tong Yue said.
“Haha… Coexist. Is he sick in the head? Who does he think he is? Does he think those Corpse Kings—” The gruff man laughed, but the laughter died in his throat. Because Ji Yanqing was exactly the kind of person who would do that.
When he proposed the alliance, they all thought it was impossible, but he did it.
When he proposed the anti-Corpse King drug, they also thought it was impossible—too many people, too much selfishness—but he made that happen too.
“Funny, right? I think it’s hilarious too. But do you have a better idea?” Tong Yue asked coldly.
Everyone remained silent.
If they had a better idea, would they be standing here?
“Then what do you say?” The gruff man looked at Tong Yue. Although he hated to admit it, Tong Yue was indeed the quickest thinker among them.
“Either join in or get out. But I’m betting on him,” Tong Yue said.
“I can’t think of any other way. I’m out of options. Let him do whatever he wants. What else can we do?”
The most terrifying thing in the apocalypse wasn’t pain or injury, but despair. That endless darkness where not a sliver of hope could be seen.
He was truly in the grips of despair. Completely.
In terms of human capability, creating a drug to fight Corpse Kings was the absolute limit of their effort. But even so, what difference did it make? They were still trapped here.
The bullets weren’t infinite. They required materials to make, which took time and manpower. If any step went wrong, if they couldn’t keep up with consumption, the county they had worked so hard to build would collapse in an instant.
The previously streaming voices were swallowed by the darkness and snow, leaving only the howling wind.
This silence lasted longer than any before, long enough for a thick layer of snow to accumulate on their shoulders and foreheads.
“What are you guys doing out here?” Ji Yanqing’s voice, tinged with confusion, came from the darkness.
Numb from the cold and crushed by despair, the group turned toward the voice. Ji Yanqing approached against the light, his face obscured.
Following him were Feng Yimo, Ji An, Ji Le, the hopping, bound Kang Xiaodong, and his own team leaders—Xia Shen Shu, Lan Zi, Li Pingsen—who were helping him search.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Ji Yanqing stopped in front of Tong Yue and the others.
Frozen until their lips were blue, the group couldn’t speak. For a moment, they didn’t know how to react.
When they had first suspected Ji Yanqing, their feelings had been extremely complex. They had thought about breaking away, but now, they felt only powerlessness.
As Tong Yue said, what else could they do?
“I have something to tell you,” Ji Yanqing said, having made a major decision.
Tong Yue and the others didn’t speak, just stared at him with blue-white faces.
Stared at by those frozen faces, Ji Yanqing felt a little creeped out. “Are you guys okay?”
“Fine.”
“Speak.”
“Did you find a way to deal with the Corpse Kings surrounding us?”
Ji Yanqing looked at Tong Yue. “How did you know?”
“What is it?” Tong Yue asked.
“I want to go talk to them.”
No one spoke.
“There’s a Corpse King on our team. I want him to represent us in the negotiations.”
No one spoke.
Ji Yanqing, who had steeled himself to say this, was choked by their silence. He looked at them with a complex expression. Couldn’t they give some kind of reaction?
He had prepared himself for a huge argument, even prepared a whole speech…
“…Who is it?” Huang Rongyue asked.
“Kang Xiaodong.”
Everyone turned in unison to look at Kang Xiaodong.
Having been taken down from the car door and then led around on a leash searching for people, Kang Xiaodong paused. A moment later, he realized what was happening.
“Huh???” He looked completely bewildered. What does this have to do with me?
---
In the darkness, the old man, sheltering from the wind and snow beneath the warm furry belly of his subordinate, spotted Feng Yimo in the distance. His face flushed red with excitement, and his grin stretched from ear to ear.
Their King was still as imposing, handsome, unique, and magnificent as ever.
Sensing the old man’s excitement, the black Corpse King, who was serving as both mount and shelter, secretly rolled its eyes.
Just as the old man was grinning foolishly, another Corpse King stopped in front of him.
“Roar…”
The old man’s face fell. “What?”
“Grrr.”
The Second Elder has arrived.
The old man scrambled out from under his subordinate, shoving aside the Corpse King blocking his view. “Where is he?”
“Roar.”
…Hiding in the mountains behind us. He said he doesn’t dare come over…
“Useless.”
The old man cast a reluctant glance at Feng Yimo, then turned toward the mountains. After two steps, he turned back. The mountains were too far; walking on his own two legs would take half a day.
Understanding his meaning, the black Corpse King, who had been sitting on the ground acting as a windbreak, shook itself, deliberately flinging a face full of snow at him, then lay down.
A few minutes later, the old man appeared in the forest nearby.
As soon as he arrived, a Corpse King shaped like a hound, covered in scales, approached him.
“Grrr?”
Are you sure it’s him?
“I swear on the scar on my face.”
Back in the day, he had been the overlord of a city. When he sensed a strange aura entering his territory, he thought it was another Corpse King coming to challenge him. He accepted the challenge gladly. As an intelligence-type, he immediately controlled countless zombies in the city to attack.
He had never failed before, but that time, he lost everything.
All the ordinary zombies he sent out were killed, every single one.
The first time, he thought he had been careless, so he sent out even more ordinary zombies, along with all his Awakened Zombie subordinates. But this time, he lost even more thoroughly.
All the ordinary zombies with his imprint were killed, and his Awakened Zombies were slaughtered. Knowing he was outmatched, he tried to lure the intruder out of the city.
But three times he lured him out, and three times the intruder fought his way back in.
Knowing the intruder wouldn’t let him go, he could only bite the bullet and approach, intending to surrender. But before he could even get close enough to see clearly, he had a new scar on his forehead.
He thought he was dead, but the wound was shallower than expected.
Knowing he wouldn’t die, he immediately used his healing ability to recover. But not long after the intruder left, he came back a few hours later and slashed him again.
That time, he almost died. But that encounter left an indelible impression on him: resilience, cruelty, and a refusal to let go once he had set his mind on something. Those qualities won his admiration.
“Roar…” The hound-like Corpse King rudely interrupted the old man’s reminiscence.
“Heavenly Blaze? Why would they be here?” As soon as he said it, the old man realized. “Smelled something, did they? They run faster than anyone.”
Death was currently the largest faction among all Corpse Kings, followed by the Devil’s City and Heavenly Blaze. Now that the Devil’s City had been wiped out by their King, it was natural for Heavenly Blaze to be anxious.
“Ignore them for now. Our priority is to make contact with the King,” the old man said excitedly.
The hound-like Corpse King took a fearful step back, its scales tightening.
The old man gave it a disdainful look. “Useless.”
The ground trembled as a Corpse King ran quickly into the forest.
The old man looked over.
“Roar…”
They’re coming.
“Who?” The old man was stunned for a moment.
The next instant, he realized, and his whole body trembled with excitement. Beside him, the hound-like Corpse King was already sprinting full tilt toward the back of the mountain, trying to get as far away as possible.
Trudging through snow that was almost knee-deep, Ji Yanqing led Feng Yimo, Ji An, Ji Le, Kang Xiaodong, the black beast, and the pangolin forward.
As they got closer, a familiar figure and several massive shapes emerged from the edge of the forest ahead.
Both sides approached simultaneously. When there was only fifty meters between them, the other side stopped advancing and began to retreat.
Ji Yanqing slowed to a halt.
He looked pointedly at Kang Xiaodong.
“We want to talk to you!” Kang Xiaodong yelled, his face dark, across the fifty-meter gap.
The old man looked at Feng Yimo, grinning from ear to ear. “Talk about what?”
Ji Yanqing and his group took a few steps forward. As soon as they moved, the old man and the Corpse Kings immediately retreated in sync.
The corner of Ji Yanqing’s mouth twitched. He looked back at his own group.
The fact that the other side was actively keeping their distance felt strange. It was as if his team had some terrifying monster that they were afraid of.
Looking around, Ji Yanqing choked. His team consisted of five human-forms and two beasts; apart from him, everyone else was a Corpse King. The other team only had four Corpse Kings.
Numerically speaking, his “human” team had more Corpse Kings than the actual Corpse King team. They did seem a bit scary…
“Do you remember me?” the old man asked, but he wasn’t talking to Kang Xiaodong.
Ji Yanqing looked closer. Through the heavy snow, he finally saw that the old man was talking to Feng Yimo.
“Don’t know you.”
“We’ve met.”
“Don’t remember.”
…
Ji Yanqing looked back and forth between them. Even from this distance, he felt embarrassed for the old man.
“You’re following us because of him?” A strange feeling rose in Ji Yanqing’s heart.
The old man ignored him. He and the beast-form Corpse Kings beside him stared intently at Feng Yimo.
Their eyes were bloodshot, their expressions agitated, as if Feng Yimo were a long-lost relative.
Seeing their reaction, the strange feeling in Ji Yanqing’s heart grew stronger, and an absurd thought surfaced in his mind.
The old man leading them knelt on one knee in the snow, bowing his head in the most reverent and respectful salute to Feng Yimo. “We are here specifically to welcome your return, King.”
Behind him, the Corpse Kings also bent a foreleg and lowered their heads, offering their highest respect.
Hearing the last word, the corner of Ji Yanqing’s mouth twitched violently. He had the urge to facepalm.
Something churned wildly in his chest. He had suspected this before, but when he asked Feng Yimo, he had denied it so decisively…
Beside him, Kang Xiaodong looked left and right, bewildered.
King?
Aren’t they Corpse Kings from Death’s faction?
They found their King?
Their King is here too—
Kang Xiaodong suddenly realized. He looked at Feng Yimo in disbelief.
Ji An and Ji Le, almost blown away by the wind in their puffy coats, also looked up, their clear eyes full of surprise.
In the snowstorm, Feng Yimo’s coat flapped loudly, and his long hair danced in the wind. His dark eyes were colder than the snowy night.
“You’ve got the wrong person.”
“We wouldn’t mistake you. We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” the kneeling old man exclaimed, his voice trembling with emotion.
Feng Yimo said nothing.
He lowered his head in thought. He didn’t know what was going on.
“King.” Calling out the title that had been lingering in his throat for so long, the old man’s eyes grew moist with excitement. “You truly are our King. Our entire faction was built for you, in your honor. All our Corpse Kings are united because of you. How could we be mistaken?”
“Roar…”
“Grrr.”
In the wind and snow, the Corpse Kings behind the old man also uttered low growls. Even Ji Yanqing, who couldn’t understand them, could feel the sincerity and pleading in their voices.
They were genuinely looking forward to their King’s return.
Feng Yimo, who had been deep in thought, looked up. He drew his sword.
If I don’t understand it, I’ll cut it.
“Wait—” Seeing him draw his sword, Ji Yanqing immediately grabbed his hand to stop him. He looked back at the old man. He felt it was possible that there had been a mistake.
After all, Death and the Feng Yimo he knew were vastly different.
Ji Yanqing looked back, but the old man and the Corpse Kings, who had just been kneeling sincerely on the ground, had vanished. They had fled to the edge of the forest.
Seeing their retreating figures sprinting through the snow, the corner of Ji Yanqing’s mouth twitched violently. He couldn’t be sure if Feng Yimo was Death, but he was certain that they understood Feng Yimo’s nature quite well.
He looked back, his feelings complex, only to meet Feng Yimo’s disapproving gaze.
They were blocking our way. If I cut them, we could leave.
“You really don’t know?” Ji Yanqing didn’t know how to ask.
“I’ve never been to the north.”
Ji Yanqing’s face was expressionless. Feng Yimo’s words had zero credibility.
“I’ve never actively hunted any Corpse Kings.” Feng Yimo paused, then added in a very quiet voice, “Not before I met you.”
After meeting Ji Yanqing, he had hunted them, because they wanted to kill Ji Yanqing.
He hadn’t known he liked Ji Yanqing back then, but he knew he wouldn’t be happy if Ji Yanqing died.
Ji Yanqing was speechless.
The city where he met Feng Yimo was exactly where he had first heard rumors of Death.
The time he caught Feng Yimo in the city coincided exactly with when Death stopped hunting Corpse Kings.
When Feng Yimo disappeared recently, the Devil’s City was wiped out.
Feng Yimo was Death.
Feng Yimo was the terrifying existence said to be the most likely candidate to become the King of the New World.
---
Ji Yanqing looked at him.
“I’m not.” Feng Yimo’s eyes were dark. “Let’s go back.”
Whether he was or not, he didn’t want to be this Death.
Ji Yanqing took a deep breath. “Let’s talk to them again.”
Feng Yimo’s eyes showed resistance.
Taking another deep breath, Ji Yanqing led the way toward the forest.
Seeing that Feng Yimo wasn’t chasing them, the old man and the other Corpse Kings stopped to watch.
Ji Yanqing walked toward them. Feng Yimo watched his back, then followed reluctantly.
Ji Yanqing stopped about fifty meters from the old man.
He looked at them carefully.
After what had just happened, the old man and the Corpse Kings looked wary. They stared fixedly at Feng Yimo, ready to run the moment he drew his sword.
“Your King won’t go back with you!” Ji Yanqing shouted into the darkness.
Hearing his words, the old man and the Corpse Kings, who had previously ignored him, all looked at him. Feng Yimo looked at him too.
“He is a member of our alliance now, a member of our survival team.” Ji Yanqing grabbed Feng Yimo’s hand. “He isn’t going anywhere.”
Feng Yimo didn’t understand human emotions very well, so he could say things without hesitation, could loudly proclaim his love regardless of the surroundings.
Ji Yanqing couldn’t be as frank and direct as Feng Yimo, but that didn’t mean Feng Yimo wasn’t important to him. He wouldn’t let him leave, wouldn’t let him go to some place without him to be the king of a new world.
Feng Yimo stared at the hand holding his.
Ji Yanqing was human. He had no resistance to the cold. After standing in the snow for so long, his hand was freezing, devoid of warmth.
But when that hand held his, it was strong.
The corners of Feng Yimo’s mouth couldn’t help but curve up. A warmth generated in the palm held by Ji Yanqing, instantly engulfing him.
He was filled with motivation. He wanted to go cut down twenty Corpse Kings right now. No, a hundred!
“But if your Death faction wants to join our alliance, we might consider it!” Ji Yanqing shouted.
Feng Yimo’s eyelashes trembled. He looked at Ji Yanqing innocently.
Have I just been sold?
“Think about it carefully.” Ji Yanqing said no more, pulling Feng Yimo back toward the camp.
After two steps, remembering the two short-legged little ones, he let go of Feng Yimo and turned back to pick them up.
Before coming here, he had prepared for the worst. He hadn’t wanted to bring Ji An and Ji Le, but they had silently clung to his pant legs and refused to let go.
“Don’t do this again,” he scolded them gently.
They lowered their heads, pouting.
They were Corpse Kings too. They were strong, but he didn’t believe them.
Ji Yanqing felt both amused and helpless.
Feng Yimo stood still, an inexplicable sourness in his chest.
Did Ji Yanqing only hold my hand because he wanted Death’s faction to join the alliance?
He didn’t want to think of Ji Yanqing that way, but once the thought appeared, he couldn’t shake it.
Ji Yanqing had never said he liked him.
He had never said he loved him.
But he often told Ji An and Ji Le that he liked and loved them.
“What’s wrong?” Ji Yanqing stopped and looked back.
Feng Yimo followed.
Ji Yanqing waited quietly until he caught up, then continued walking.
“Are you really…” Kang Xiaodong walked beside them, looking at Feng Yimo in disbelief.
Kang Xiaodong wasn’t that different from other Corpse Kings. From awakening to becoming an ordinary Corpse King, he had been bloodthirsty too. But after the third evolution, he suddenly found it boring.
He suddenly didn’t want to kill humans anymore.
The humans were terrified, hiding everywhere, but they had to enter the city because it was the only place they could find food.
Becoming a survival team captain hadn’t been his plan; it was an accident. While observing from the shadows, he saw a small team being attacked and couldn’t help but intervene.
The humans mistook him for one of their own and started calling him “Captain.” He didn’t know why, but he didn’t refuse.
He led them to places in the city with plenty of food, let them eat their fill, and then escorted them out.
He had intended to leave once they were safe, but a strange impulse made him stay.
He decided to be a good captain when his team grew to nearly fifty people.
Once he made that decision, he started to intentionally learn about Corpse Kings and humans, because only then could he ensure the safety of the people around him.
Death was the Corpse King he knew the most about, because all the Corpse Kings talked about him, and so did the humans.
He didn’t like Death. The rumors painted him as bloodthirsty and powerful. If Death found the humans Kang Xiaodong had raised so carefully, he would surely kill them all immediately.
That was why, upon learning of Ji Yanqing’s alliance, he decided to bring his people there. He wanted to leave them in the human alliance so he could leave.
Who knew that the moment he entered, Ji Yanqing would recognize him, then Feng Yimo would target him, and then he would find out that Feng Yimo was Death.
Kang Xiaodong looked at Feng Yimo in disbelief. Feng Yimo was nothing like the Death of his imagination. The aura of a Corpse King on him was faint, and he got along well with humans. He wasn’t bloodthirsty at all.
Feng Yimo ignored Kang Xiaodong’s gaze. He kept his eyes fixed on Ji Yanqing. The sour feeling in his chest grew stronger and stronger, so acidic it felt like his heart was melting.
He had never felt this way before.
Ji An and Ji Le sensed it. Held in Ji Yanqing’s arms, they stole glances at Feng Yimo.
They had accepted the fact that Feng Yimo had saved them and turned them into Corpse Kings, but they still liked Ji Yanqing more. They had always been a little afraid of Feng Yimo.
Feeling the sourness radiating from him now, they exchanged a look, unsure of what to do.
Should we comfort him?
All the way back to the camp, before Ji Yanqing even got close, people rushed out to meet them.
The night was deep, and the snow was heavy, but that didn’t stop their hurried footsteps.
“What happened?”
“Are you alright?”
“What did they… say?”
Tong Yue and the others threw out their questions in a single breath, then stared urgently at Ji Yanqing, waiting for an answer.
“They are Corpse Kings from Death’s faction. They came here to find Death. That’s why they were chasing us.” Ji Yanqing put down the children.
Tong Yue and the others exchanged glances. They had more or less guessed that the enemy was from Death’s faction. The question was, why were they following them?
Looking for Death in a human camp? Was there something wrong with their heads?
“Death is on our team.”
“What?” Tong Yue suspected he had misheard.
“Feng Yimo is Death.”
“What?” Qin Yue was baffled.
“I asked if they wanted to ally with us.” Ji Yanqing paused. “I think there’s a good chance they’ll agree.”
He looked at Feng Yimo beside him.
Feng Yimo was clearly distracted.
“…What?” Xia Shen Shu asked. He hadn’t even processed Ji Yanqing’s first sentence yet. With the next three hitting him in succession, his mind went blank.
Tong Yue rubbed the bridge of his nose. His brain, which he usually took pride in, had stopped working.
Before the meeting, when Ji Yanqing suddenly said Kang Xiaodong was a Corpse King, his brain had crashed.
Because when Ji Yanqing said that, Kang Xiaodong was tied up so tightly he had to hop to move.
Corpse Kings were powerful and cruel; they all knew that from deep experience. Such a powerful existence had been tied up like a dumpling, gagged, stuffed in a box, and carried all this way?
Kang Xiaodong was nothing like the Corpse Kings in their memories.
Now, before he could fully accept that Kang Xiaodong was a Corpse King, Ji Yanqing was telling him that Feng Yimo was the Corpse King ‘Death’, and that Death’s faction wanted to join their alliance?
A group of Corpse Kings joining their alliance?
“What’s wrong with you?” Ji Yanqing noticed that Feng Yimo had been distracted for a while.
Feng Yimo looked up, his dark, abyssal eyes staring straight into Ji Yanqing’s. He usually spoke his mind, but in this moment, he was afraid to speak.
“Feng Yimo?” Ji Yanqing stepped closer. What’s wrong with him?
“You just said I wasn’t going anywhere.”
“Yes.”
“Was it because you wanted them to join the alliance?” A soft buzzing filled Feng Yimo’s ears, and his heart sank rapidly, as if falling into a bottomless abyss.
“Of course not,” Ji Yanqing retorted instinctively. “I said I wouldn’t let you go because I didn’t want you to go.”
“…Ji Yanqing.” Feng Yimo’s heart, which had been plummeting, began to soar. It felt light as air.
“I love you.”
Ji Yanqing’s breath hitched.
“I want to hear you say … that you love me too,” Feng Yimo said.
Tong Yue and the others, whose brains were currently crashing, stared blankly into space.
Should we really be hearing this?
----
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