AFTCKCTCKATD - Chapter 87
Chapter 87
“You Smell Very Good… I Like It A Lot.”
---
Ji Yanqing remained expressionless.
Feng Yimo glanced ahead of himself, then looked back at the city behind them. He turned, trotted two steps in the wrong direction, then corrected himself and headed toward the city.
Two steps in, Feng Yimo’s grip tightened on his long blade. A cold, surging killing intent spilled forth once more, sweeping toward the urban sprawl.
This time, the Thrice Evolved Corpse Kings remaining in the city reacted.
Countless beast-form Corpse Kings lowered their bodies, muscles coiled tight. Baring their fangs, they launched a collective assault the instant Feng Yimo stepped within the city limits.
Feng Yimo’s blade danced, slicing through the neck of one Corpse King with lethal precision and speed; a torrent of blood sprayed instantly.
The claws of two other Corpse Kings descended toward his skull simultaneously.
Feng Yimo sidestepped, dodging the blow while his blade whirled again.
A roar of pain, laced with terror, erupted from the two attackers, accompanied by the heavy thud of the first Corpse King hitting the ground.
In the blink of an eye, three Corpse Kings were felled. A flicker of hesitation appeared in the depths of the eyes of the surrounding horde; they had all heard the tales of Death.
But the hesitation lasted only a heartbeat. In the next moment, the Corpse Kings roared and pounced again. The mental imprint of the Heavenly Flame’s leader was burned into their minds—the condition of their servitude was absolute.
In this battle, there was no retreat. It was victory. Or death.
Seeing Feng Yimo slaughter his way in, the Elder, trembling with excitement, didn’t hesitate to sprint toward the city, rapidly summoning his distant subordinates to assist.
On the outskirts, Ji Yanqing felt the ground tremble. Watching Feng Yimo weave between countless colossal figures, he tightened his grip on his axe.
He looked at Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi. “Find a place to hide. And stay there.”
The city held few ordinary zombies, replaced instead by a city full of Thrice Evolved Corpse Kings. This battlefield was clearly ill-suited for Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi.
His words spoken, Ji Yanqing immediately sprinted in Feng Yimo’s direction.
Ji An and Ji Le followed instantly, moving with incredible speed.
Behind them, Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi followed without hesitation, flanking left and right.
True, this battlefield wasn’t suitable for them, but it wasn’t suitable for Ji Yanqing either—he was just a human, after all.
The city was populated by Thrice Evolved Corpse Kings, mostly in beast form. Even Ji Yanqing would have to hack away for a long time to kill just one of those overgrown monsters.
Hearing the commotion, Ji Yanqing looked back. Seeing Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi close behind, he opened his mouth to speak but swallowed the words.
He knew it was futile.
Besides, outside the city wasn’t necessarily safer than inside.
Dropping the issue, Ji Yanqing glanced at Feng Yimo, who was already deep in the city and surrounded by dozens of Corpse Kings. “We need to find the Heavenly Flame leader,” he said quickly.
They were certain the leader was in this city, but they didn’t know his specific location.
“This way.” Lan Zi scanned the area, quickly spotting a high-rise. She led the way.
Compared to the ubiquitous giant Corpse Kings in the city, their group was like a line of ants, almost unnoticed.
The five of them carefully navigated the alleyways, avoiding every Corpse King charging toward the commotion Feng Yimo was causing, and dashed toward the building Lan Zi had spotted.
It was a hotel, eleven or twelve stories high—the tallest structure in the vicinity.
Reaching the base, they rushed into the lobby without hesitation.
The power had long been cut; the elevators were dead. The only way up was the stairs.
They charged into the emergency stairwell, sprinting upward.qq: que that one scene from final fantasy 7 remake xD
Ten minutes later, Ji Yanqing pried open the access door, and they stepped onto the roof.
The wind was strong up there, the view expansive; the entire city lay beneath their feet.
Ji Yanqing, Xia Shen Shu, and Lan Zi quickly spread out to three sides, scanning different directions.
The Heavenly Flame leader was an Intelligent Type, meaning he retained human form. They didn’t know his specific appearance, but knowing Feng Yimo was slaughtering his way in, the leader wouldn’t sit inside waiting to die. He would definitely emerge.
“He’ll have subordinates protecting him,” Ji Yanqing reminded them.
The enemy had been hiding his tracks, unwilling to be discovered. He was clearly afraid of Feng Yimo. In this situation, he would never appear alone.
“Over there!” Xia Shen Shu suddenly called out.
Ji Yanqing and Lan Zi immediately moved to his side.
“That street ahead. In front of those two beast-form Corpse Kings.” Xia Shen Shu pointed out the location.
Ji Yanqing and Lan Zi looked over.
On a wide street, a humanoid Corpse King was leading two others toward the city outskirts, frequently glancing back at Feng Yimo’s location with an uneasy expression.
“Is that...” Xia Shen Shu was about to ask if they should pursue when Lan Zi set up her rifle beside him.
She wasn’t using the scrap guns from before; she now wielded a professional sniper rifle.
Setting it up with lightning speed, she took a single glance and fired.
Bang.
The bullet tore through the air, accurately striking the humanoid Corpse King just as he turned to look back. It pierced his left eye socket, burying itself deep in his brain.
Before the two beast-form Corpse Kings behind him could react, the humanoid Corpse King pitched forward and collapsed, motionless.
Humanoid Corpse Kings had bones far harder than ordinary zombies, but they couldn’t armor their eyes.
A clean headshot. Lan Zi lowered the gun. “Guess not.”
Ji Yanqing and Xia Shen Shu, who had been debating whether to go down, felt their lips twitch in unison. They remained as quiet as mice; Lan Zi was becoming increasingly terrifying.
“Keep looking,” Lan Zi said.
“Over there!” Xia Shen Shu’s voice rang out again.
Ji Yanqing and Lan Zi turned to look.
This time, they didn’t need Xia Shen Shu to point it out; the anomaly was obvious at a glance.
On a street further ahead than the previous one, a group of over twenty humanoid Corpse Kings and more than ten beast-form Corpse Kings were running toward the city limits, all while looking back toward Feng Yimo.
Feng Yimo had carved a bloody path from the edge of the city deep into its heart. In his wake, only bodies remained, strewn across the streets like discarded toys. The pungent stench of blood was overwhelming, accompanied by roars of anger and terror.
“Feng Yimo!” Ji Yanqing roared from the rooftop, intending to signal the target’s location.
Feng Yimo, mid-swing, heard the voice and turned, spotting Ji Yanqing instantly.
Ji Yanqing raised his hand to point toward the group of humanoid Corpse Kings.
Before the words could leave his mouth, the roar of a beast erupted from behind him.
“Ji Yanqing!”
“Look out!”
Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi shouted in quick succession.
Before Ji Yanqing could react, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble violently, as if something had slammed into the building with massive force.
Crash!
Something had indeed slammed into the building.
Five or six Thrice Evolved Corpse Kings charged from various directions, all colliding with the structure. They might not have been as large as the high-rise, but their strength far exceeded that of any demolition equipment.
As they rammed the building simultaneously, the structure cracked at the base, tilted, and began to topple sideways.
“Careful!”
“Grab on to—”
Lan Zi’s warning was cut short as she was flung outward, the building collapsing in her direction.
The collapse was sudden, the inertia violent; despite grasping desparetely onto the access door, she was thrown out, door handle and all.
Seeing Lan Zi sliding toward the drop, Xia Shen Shu, who was closer to her, let go of the railing he was clutching. He took two quick steps on the rapidly tilting floor, leaped off the roof edge, and grabbed the falling Lan Zi.
“Nngh...” As he caught Lan Zi’s hand, Xia Shen Shu grunted, pelted by falling debris.
Watching from a distance—clinging to a railing on the near-vertical roof with Ji An and Ji Le—Ji Yanqing’s pupils constricted, his heart leaping into his throat.
Almost simultaneously, the toppling roof slammed into the top of an adjacent building.
The downward inertia collided with the violent impact, shaking the entire surface and sending more debris flying.
Ji Yanqing bent his waist to dodge an oncoming boulder of debris, released Ji An and Ji Le, and scrambled across the twisted, deformed railing toward Xia Shen Shu amidst the chaos.
Xia Shen Shu was about to lose his grip.
Reaching him, Ji Yanqing dropped into a crouch, grabbed Xia Shen Shu’s slipping hand, and with a heave of his waist, hauled him up.
After securing Xia Shen Shu, Ji Yanqing immediately reached for Lan Zi, who was dangling from Xia Shen Shu’s other hand.
Lan Zi had smashed against the railing when she flew off; she was still dazed.
The high-rise was now lying horizontally across a five-story building. Beneath their feet was nothing but twisted railings and empty air.
“You okay?” Ji Yanqing asked.
“Careful.” Xia Shen Shu held Lan Zi with one hand and death-gripped the railing with the other.
Ji Yanqing also grabbed the railing, glancing at Ji An and Ji Le.
The roof beneath them shuddered again as the Corpse Kings that had rammed the building began climbing up the side, coming for them.
“We need to leave,” Ji Yanqing started, but a Corpse King’s head popped up above them.
At the same moment, Feng Yimo appeared on the street below.
Ji Yanqing didn’t hesitate. He pointed directly where the group of humanoid Corpse Kings had fled. “He’s over there! We’ll handle things here!”
If they missed this chance, the enemy would never let them find him a second time. If that happened, this battle would drag on endlessly.
Feng Yimo glanced at Ji An and Ji Le, then without hesitation, sprinted in the direction of the fleeing group. As he ran, a horde of Corpse Kings within the city peeled off to chase him.
Watching Feng Yimo leave, Ji Yanqing turned his attention to Lan Zi.
She had recovered from her dizziness, raising her gun to aim at the Corpse King descending toward them.
Bang!
The bullet struck the creature in the mouth.
Shooting upward was difficult, and the gun’s recoil shook the precarious railing beneath them.
Lan Zi didn’t dare fire again.
“Papa.” Ji An spoke up. Not far ahead of him was a jagged crack in the concrete caused by the building’s collapse.
Ji Yanqing supported Lan Zi as they moved quickly toward it, Xia Shen Shu following close behind.
The crack was small—Ji An and Ji Le could squeeze in, but the adults couldn’t.
Just as Ji Yanqing frowned, Ji An reached out, gripping both sides of the fissure. With his slender, soft-looking arms, he pulled, tearing the concrete apart and ripping out a massive chunk of the wall.
Tossing aside a piece of concrete larger than an adult, Ji An looked at Ji Yanqing.
Xia Shen Shu looked at the gaping hole, then at Ji An, his expression a complicated mix of shock and awe.
Ji Yanqing didn’t hesitate. He ushered Lan Zi inside first.
Xia Shen Shu followed, then Ji An and Ji Le.
By the time Ji Yanqing entered, the Corpse King from above had climbed down to their level, and others were leaping up from different directions.
They didn’t stay in the collapsed building. Navigating through the wreckage, they emerged onto the roof of the five-story building the hotel had fallen onto.
They climbed out of a window, but before they could find their footing, a massive shadow leaped down. A Corpse King landed right in front of them.
“Scram!”
Ji Le’s milky voice carried a chilling, undeniable command. He was already adept at using his ability.
As his voice rang out, the Thrice Evolved Corpse King mid-pounce suddenly swerved, smashing directly into a nearby structure instead. The force was immense; the wall caved in, and the Corpse King was left dazed and reeling.
---
Ji Yanqing cast a distant glance towards Feng Yimo’s figure in the near distance, then quickly led the others downstairs.
Feng Yimo had already caught up to the group of human-form Corpse Kings, but as he drew near, the Intelligence-Types of the group seized control of even more Corpse Kings and hurled them at him, intent on tearing him apart using sheer numbers.
By the time Ji Yanqing and the others reached the ground floor, Feng Yimo was completely buried beneath layer upon layer of frenzied Corpse Kings.
Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi were recovering their breath after having run alongside Ji Yanqing toward the chaos.
But several beast-form Corpse Kings that had earlier crashed into the high-rises leaped down from the buildings and charged at them.
Lan Zi sprinted forward, seizing every opportunity to twist around and fire. Unlike the early days when she needed Xia Shen Shu’s guidance, she now had her own refined technique. She never stopped to aim carefully; instead, she relied on split-second instinct.
She didn’t aim anywhere else—every shot targeted the Corpse Kings’ eyes, and every shot hit.
Those Corpse Kings might have bodies of iron and bone, but their eyes and mouths could never be strengthened. Several of them were blinded by Lan Zi’s bullets.
Xia Shen Shu didn’t stop either. His sniping skills weren’t as sharp as Lan Zi’s, so he abandoned precision altogether. With a gun in each hand, he fired relentlessly, targeting whatever weak spots Lan Zi had exposed—when she blinded one, he poured shots into that same opening. The bullets in his guns were specially treated, carrying highly corrosive agents. Even if they couldn’t kill a Corpse King outright, they ensured the wounds couldn’t heal quickly.
Their coordination was flawless. In mere moments, they had blinded half of the five Corpse Kings chasing them.
Seeing the carnage and hearing the enraged roars, Ji Yanqing’s scalp crawled.
He lopped off an ordinary zombie’s head and was about to accelerate when his forward momentum abruptly halted.
To his left, in the narrow alley behind a row of buildings, a figure was running swiftly in the opposite direction.
A man. Early twenties. Dressed in a black pinstriped suit, clutching a walkie-talkie.
Ji Yanqing stopped so suddenly that Xia Shen Shu, running behind him, slammed into his back.
“What the—”
Before Xia Shen Shu could finish, Ji Yanqing veered left and plunged into the narrow gap between two buildings.
“Ji Yanqing?” Xia Shen Shu scrambled after him.
Lan Zi fired one last shot before following.
The alley was too narrow for the massive beast-form Corpse Kings; they were all blocked at the entrance. One of the blinded ones, mad with rage, leaped onto the rooftops with agility. Others simply began ramming the buildings, intent on smashing their own path through.
They would kill these damned human pests if it was the last thing they did!
Up ahead, Ji Yanqing burst through the buildings and immediately scanned the direction in which the suited man had fled.
The man was fast—already at the end of the alley, about to round a corner.
Seeing him again confirmed everything.
“After him!” Ji Yanqing ordered.
Up ahead, the suited man disappeared around the corner.
As he turned, his peripheral vision caught Ji Yanqing’s group in pursuit. Surprise flickered in his eyes.
That reaction all but confirmed it for Ji Yanqing: this man was the true leader of Heavenly Flame, the Corpse King they had been hunting all along.
Ji Yanqing rounded the corner at full speed.
The suited man seemed to recognize him and accelerated. By the time Ji Yanqing made the turn, he had already gained considerable distance—a hundred meters stretched between them.
Seeing the man about to dart into another alley, Ji Yanqing shouted without looking back, “Shoot him! Don’t let him escape!”
Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi had no idea what Ji Yanqing was doing, but their guns were already tracking the man.
Bang bang bang!
The shots rang out before their conscious minds could catch up.
Bullets slammed into the man’s back—most of them hit.
They weren’t enough to kill him, but the impact staggered him, forcing him to slow down.
Stung by the gunfire, the suited man looked back at Ji Yanqing, his eyes burning with venomous fury.
Ji Yanqing closed the distance. “He’s the leader of Heavenly Flame! Don’t let him get away!”
“What?”
“Him?”
Lan Zi and Xia Shen Shu struggled to process this.
Wasn’t the main group of human-form Corpse Kings on the other side? Hadn’t Feng Yimo gone after them? How could this one be the leader?
Confused but unhesitating, they kept pace with Ji Yanqing, firing whenever they had a clear shot.
The gunfire drew the attention of the five rampaging beast-form Corpse Kings behind them. Spotting their quarry, they gave chase with renewed fury.
The roars closing in from behind, the trembling ground beneath their feet—sandwiched between two threats, Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi felt goosebumps rise on their skin. The suffocating pressure of imminent death bore down on them.
Just as terror clawed at their spines, Ji An and Ji Le—who had been running behind them—stopped simultaneously and turned.
The five Thrice-Evolved Corpse Kings all froze mid-charge.
It was only an instant—but that instant was enough. Ji An had already plunged into their midst.
Ji An was tiny, just a little blunt-toothed cub in a sea of bears. He had no sharp claws to rend with, no teeth to snap spines or bone.
His method was simple: he planted his foot against the lead Corpse King’s leg and kicked with all his might.
Ji An’s strength was immense. The Corpse King staggered sideways, crashing into its neighbor. The three behind them couldn’t brake in time and piled into the tangle.
Their attention wrenched away from Lan Zi and Xia Shen Shu, fixed now on Ji An and Ji Le.
Behind them, Ji Yanqing had closed in on the suited man, shielded by Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi’s covering fire.
Closing the distance, Ji Yanqing wasted no words. His axe swung straight for the man’s neck.
This Corpse King was different from the others Ji Yanqing had faced. He clearly understood how to fight someone his own size. He ducked low, dodging the blade while simultaneously kicking at Ji Yanqing.
Ji Yanqing sidestepped left.
Seizing the opening, the suited man turned to flee again.
Lan Zi didn’t give him the chance. She put a bullet directly into his knee.
It wasn’t enough to shatter the joint, but at close range, it was enough to throw him off balance.
As he stumbled, Ji Yanqing’s axe arced high and came crashing down.
Hearing the whistling blade, the man dodged sideways.
The axe grazed his neck and embedded itself deep in the wall beside them.
The man’s face darkened as he glanced at the wall, then touched his own gashed neck. He stopped running and faced Ji Yanqing instead.
His expression grim, he asked, “I’m curious. How did you recognize me?”
For a human, Ji Yanqing had done remarkably well. But the man genuinely couldn’t understand. There were other human-form Corpse Kings in this city. More of them were over where Feng Yimo was fighting.
Ji Yanqing advanced, axe in hand. “Most Corpse Kings don’t pay much attention to human trinkets. They consider it beneath them.”
The man before him was the same. Though their encounter had been brief, though he hadn’t said it outright, the look in his eyes when he regarded Ji Yanqing was pure contempt—as if he were some insignificant, disgusting insect.
But this Corpse King, who looked down on humans, was using human things. He was holding a walkie-talkie.
Ji Yanqing had found it strange before—that the leader of Heavenly Flame would study a map. He realized now he had underestimated the man. He not only read maps; he used walkie-talkies too.
The suited man followed Ji Yanqing’s gaze to the device in his own hand. His already dark face contorted.
Static crackled from the walkie-talkie, beneath which were constant roars and cries of pain. The other end of that signal was wherever Feng Yimo was fighting.
The human-form Corpse Kings being hunted by Feng Yimo—Ji Yanqing guessed—were this man’s subordinates.
They had been bait. Decoys. Sacrifices.
“Kill him.” The suited man tossed the walkie-talkie aside like garbage.
As his command faded in the air, over a dozen mutated creatures, each no larger than an ordinary dog, came racing from the far end of the street.
Shrinking their bodies wasn’t unique to the Black Beast and the Pangolin Corpse King—it was an ability shared by all Thrice-Evolved beast-form Corpse Kings. Most simply disdained it, preferring their massive forms to project power.
Beast-form Corpse Kings worshipped strength.
The creatures swelled in size, instantly filling the entire street. Every one of them loomed over Ji Yanqing, their bloodshot eyes gleaming with murderous intent.
Confronted by those sky-obscuring, towering forms, Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi quickly pressed their backs against Ji Yanqing’s, facing the Corpse Kings from all sides.
Ji An and Ji Le closed in as well.
Under suffocating pressure, Ji Yanqing drew a deep breath, then roared with all his might,
“FENG YIMO!”
A child’s voice, clear and piercing, cut through the sounds of beastly howls and echoes across half the city.
The suited man, Xia Shen Shu, and Lan Zi all froze in surprise at the power of that shout.
Then the suited man, secure in his overwhelming advantage, sneered. “You think he can find his way here?”
Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi desperately wanted to side with Ji Yanqing, but at this moment, they couldn’t find words.
As if hearing a joke, the man’s eyes grew even colder. “He will never find me.”
He might not be able to defeat Feng Yimo, but Feng Yimo would never be able to kill him either. At worst, they would split the world between Heavenly Flame and Death, and they’d see who outlasted whom.
With that, the suited man turned without hesitation toward the corner ahead, preparing to leave.
He had lost this round—letting Ji Yanqing find him was an error on his part. But next time, he wouldn’t be caught.
Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi’s faces darkened. They raised their weapons to fire—this wasn’t just a fight between Corpse Kings; it concerned the future of humanity.
The moment they moved, the surrounding Corpse Kings reacted, lunging at them.
“Stop!” Ji Le’s power surged, but he was only one, and these were all Thrice-Evolved. He could at most control five or six.
Claws and fangs descended. Death loomed. In the darkness, everyone held their breath.
CRASH!
Something came flying out of the alley at the far end of the street, slamming into the opposite building with such force that the wall buckled inward.
Debris sprayed. The impact shook the ground.
In the sudden silence, everyone turned to look.
The suited man, who had just fled in that direction, was sliding down the wall. His face was bloodied, his eyes wide with disbelief. “You…”
Feng Yimo emerged from the alley’s end, drenched in blood.
Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi’s minds went blank.
“Impossible…” The suited man crumpled to the ground, several bones in his body broken. His eyes were filled with shock. Had his deductions been wrong?
Had Feng Yimo actually known the way all along? Had he been faking it before?
Feng Yimo was directionally challenged. From where they lived to the county gate was barely two hundred meters, yet Ji Yanqing often saw him walking in circles, like an ant cut off from its scent trail. But Feng Yimo had never been wrong about one thing: no matter what, he could always find Ji Yanqing.
Feng Yimo didn’t need to know the way. Ji Yanqing knew it for him.
Feng Yimo couldn’t find someone? Ji Yanqing would find them for him.
---
Feng Yimo cast a cold glance at the group of Corpse Kings surrounding Ji Yanqing, then shifted his gaze to the man in the suit.
Having fought his way here from underneath the pile, Feng Yimo was splattered with blood from head to toe. It clad him in an aura of brutal killing intent.
Covered in that blood, even if Feng Yimo remained silent, even if there were no obvious emotions in his eyes, his gaze alone was chilling.
“We can cooperate...” the man in the suit began.
Feng Yimo cared nothing for his words. The long blade in his hand surged toward the man with explosive speed.
His movement was so fast that Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi hadn’t even reacted before the wall behind the suit-wearing man was sliced open with a gaping breach.
The man in the suit managed to dodge, but Feng Yimo was too quick. All he could do was throw his body forward, landing clumsily on the ground in a clumsy dive, his knees scraping raw.
He had no time to tend to the injuries. The moment he hit the ground, he rolled sideways, scrambled to his feet, and ran.
The Corpse Kings originally surrounding Ji Yanqing and the others abandoned their target, rushing toward Feng Yimo instead.
Amidst the chaos, Ji Yanqing chased after the man in the suit.
Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi coordinated to handle the surrounding Corpse Kings, while Ji An and Ji Le also joined the battlefield.
The scene instantly descended into unholy chaos.
Feng Yimo moved swiftly toward the man in the suit. As for the Corpse Kings lunging at him, any that drew near were nearly all slain with a single stroke of his blade.
Whether in speed or strength, Feng Yimo completely overwhelmed those Corpse Kings. Under his immense power, the originally hard necks of those Corpse Kings were like tofu.
Seeing the surrounding Corpse Kings fall so quickly, the man in the suit’s expression grew even uglier. Just as he was wondering what to do, a figure appeared in front of him.
Ji Yanqing swung the axe in his hand, putting all his strength into blasting it toward the man’s neck.
Ji Yanqing’s strength might not compare to Feng Yimo’s, but it absolutely far exceeded that of an ordinary human. With this rocket-strike, he sent the man in the suit crashing violently against the wall.
“Ugh...” A whimper escaped the man. His eyeballs rolled, glaring viciously at Ji Yanqing.
Ji Yanqing pulled his axe out, intending to switch from hammering to slashing, but his axe was seized.
Ji Yanqing looked over.
The man in the suit didn’t dodge; instead, he lunged at Ji Yanqing!
As long as he controlled Ji Yanqing, Feng Yimo would have no way to touch him.
He didn’t know what the relationship was between Ji Yanqing and Feng Yimo, but Feng Yimo clearly cared about Ji Yanqing.
Facing the man’s head coming straight at him, feeling the attack graze past his cheek, Ji Yanqing’s mind went blank for an instant, but his body instinctively dodged to the side.
Everything happened in a split second; even Ji Yanqing’s own vision barely kept up.
Having dodged, Ji Yanqing was about to retreat when the clothes on his chest were grabbed. The man in the suit, his hand stained with his own blood, thrust toward Ji Yanqing’s neck.
“Send my regards to the people in your county town.”
Ji Yanqing’s pupils contracted.
Before Ji Yanqing could recover, the attack was already before him.
The man in the suit had been forced into a desperate situation. He no longer cared about his status as the leader of Heavenly Flame; right now, he only wanted to survive.
“What did you do?” Ji Yanqing quickly raised his axe to block, holding it horizontally in front of him.
“Haha...” The man in the suit didn’t speak, only laughed.
Dodging the next strike, Ji Yanqing kicked the other in the stomach, sending him flying. “What did you do!?”
Ji Yanqing leaned forward, about to charge, when a blade sliced through the air ahead.
With a single stroke, the man in the suit, the leader of Heavenly Flame, had his neck severed from his body.
In a county town surrounded by mountain ranges.
The Black Beast, eyes burning red, glared fiercely at the four Corpse Kings in front of it. Its body was already covered in wounds, but the four opponents were not faring much better.
“Gurr...” After a moment of stalemate, two of the four Corpse Kings lunged at the Black Beast simultaneously.
The Black Beast did not hesitate, immediately responding with an even more ferocious attack.
At the same time as the Black Beast moved, the other two Corpse Kings in the opposing squad attacked from behind, biting into the Black Beast’s back.
“Ugh-ao!...” The Black Beast felt the pain.
At the same time, the two Corpse Kings beneath its mouth and claws also let out whimpers.
Seeing the Black Beast sustain additional wounds, the badger-like Pangolin Corpse King, who was fighting a Corpse King alone nearby, prepared to step forward and help. However, the Corpse King in front of it took the opportunity to lunge and bite its tail.
Feeling the pain coming from its tail, the badger-shaped Corpse King instantly flew into a rage. It hated it most when others touched its tail! “Roar!”
Ignoring the Black Beast for a moment, it angrily pounced back, intending to tear apart that Corpse King’s mouth.
The Black Beast ignored the wounds on its back, staring unwaveringly at the two Corpse Kings in front.
Staring just as unwaveringly were the two Corpse Kings behind the Black Beast, ready to ambush at any time.
“Roar!” The two Corpse Kings lunged at the Black Beast again. The Black Beast immediately met them head-on; fighting four alone, it had no chance to dodge.
Feeling the attack coming from behind, the Black Beast’s body shrank in an instant, dodging the attack from the two Corpse Kings behind.
The moment it landed, the Black Beast targeted the neck of one of the Corpse Kings, its body rapidly gigantifying as it opened its mouth wide and pounced.
Biting down on the opponent’s neck from below, the Black Beast clenched its jaws. Ignoring the opponent’s struggle and cries of pain, it used immense force to directly bite through the Corpse King’s entire neck.
Seeing the Black Beast actually kill one of the Corpse Kings in their squad, the remaining three Corpse Kings, after a brief stun, all pounced.
“Bang!” Gu Wenmo took the opportunity to fire, hitting one of the Corpse Kings in the eye.
“Roar!” That Corpse King felt the pain and roared angrily at Gu Wenmo.
While it was distracted for that moment, the Black Beast bypassed the two Corpse Kings beside it and pounced directly from the side rear, biting firmly onto the opponent’s neck.
“Mm...” After a period of violent struggle, that Corpse King completely stopped moving.
“Ao!” The Black Beast stared fiercely at Gu Wenmo. Get lost, don’t cause trouble.
Gu Wenmo looked at the Black Beast, already covered in wounds, with some worry. “Are you okay?”
This was not the first Corpse King squad to pester the Black Beast.
As soon as the words fell, Gu Wenmo didn’t wait for the Black Beast to answer before running to the side with his own squad; another new Corpse King had appeared over there.
The Black Beast withdrew its gaze, its bloodshot eyes glaring viciously at the only two Corpse Kings remaining in front. They couldn’t win against it even when it was one against four; now there were only two left…
“Roar.” The Pangolin Corpse King suddenly pounced from the side, biting the neck of one of the Corpse Kings whose attention was entirely on the Black Beast.
The other Corpse King was startled. It subconsciously looked over, but before it could see clearly, the Black Beast had already pounced on it.
The Black Beast spat out the chunk of neck covered in blood, its bloodshot eyes looking quietly toward the human squad nearby. Seeing Gu Wenmo, also covered in blood, struggling to climb up from the ground amidst the crowd, it rushed over at extreme speed and pounced on the Corpse King in front of him.
It didn’t like owing favors.
The badger-shaped Corpse King followed closely behind to help.
Amidst the violent trembling of the ground, Gu Wenmo crawled forward a distance in a clumsy manner before finally having the chance to wipe the blood from his eyes. He looked back.
Seeing the Black Beast and the badger-shaped Corpse King pinning down the Corpse King their squad had just been fighting, he breathed a sigh of relief.
In merely an instant, his heart was suspended high again.
Lu Qing’s gatling gun at the start had taken down more than thirty Corpse Kings. This was already very impressive, but it was still far from enough.
Even excluding those thirty-plus Corpse Kings, the opposing side had brought nearly a hundred Corpse Kings.
The Corpse Kings of Death’s Faction stationed in the mountains had dragged away and dealt with half. Of the remaining nearly fifty Corpse Kings, forty-plus were dragged into the open ground outside, the Black Beast and badger-shaped Corpse King resolved ten or so, and a few had run into the county town.
After the previous attack, Tong Yue had kept all combat squads stationed around the county town. This time, there were twelve fully equipped squads participating in the operation, totaling over two thousand people.
Bai Haoxuan returned to the county town and, upon learning of the attack, quickly modified a batch of off-road vehicles. He had installed a section of rolling blades on the outer side of those vehicles’ wheels, coated with corrosive mutated plant liquid.
The entire battlefield was a mix of Corpse Kings, humans, and weaponized vehicles.
On the outer side of the mountain range, Kang Xiaodong was manipulating ordinary zombies to attack the human-shaped Corpse Kings on the opposite Heavenly Flame side, while hugging a gun and chasing after them.
“If you have the guts, don’t run, you trash!”
The human-shaped Corpse King from Heavenly Flame had a blackened face. It was one thing for Kang Xiaodong to break the rules by using human weapons, but to keep shooting while cursing endlessly made him want to kill him even more.
“Bang!” Kang Xiaodong’s bullet hit the opponent’s arm.
“Ha, feel good? Want me to give you another one?” Kang Xiaodong immediately showed off.
Hearing Kang Xiaodong’s words, the group that had followed to assist him, originally from his own squad, couldn’t help but twitch the corners of their mouths. Kang Xiaodong used to be a bit more restrained, but now that his identity as a Corpse King was exposed, he was completely unrestrained.
Could he not … say less?
Kang Xiaodong was showing off when a beast-shaped Corpse King pounced from the woods behind him.
Kang Xiaodong immediately dodged to the side, but it was too late. The strength-type Corpse King was far faster.
“Ugh!...” Kang Xiaodong’s right arm, along with his shoulder, was bitten by that Corpse King.
“Captain!” The people of the combat squad’s pupils constricted.
Bang bang bang!
Gunfire rang out continuously. The beast-shaped Corpse King glared fiercely at the people of the combat squad, quickly biting deep into Kang Xiaodong’s shoulder and running toward one side of the mountain range, carrying him along.
The human-shaped Corpse King from Heavenly Flame immediately followed.
The people of the combat squad immediately followed, but their speed was far inferior to the Corpse Kings, and the distance between the two sides quickly became a chasm.
At the boundary of the woods on the outer periphery of the mountain range, the beast-shaped Corpse King stopped.
Kang Xiaodong tried to struggle, but his entire arm had been nearly bitten off by the beast-shaped Corpse King’s teeth. That arm was barely hanging, connected only by some strips of flesh.
Intense pain came, causing all smiles to vanish from Kang Xiaodong’s face, and leaving his forehead covered in cold sweat.
“Heh.” The human-shaped Corpse King from Heavenly Flame also wanted to say a few mocking words, but he clearly didn’t have Kang Xiaodong’s eloquence. After holding back for a long time, he only managed to squeeze out a sound.
He was quite dissatisfied with this, so he quickly approached Kang Xiaodong, he had decided to end Kang Xiaodong’s life personally.
Just as he was about to approach Kang Xiaodong, his hurried steps suddenly stopped.
He abruptly turned his head to look into the distance. Fear and unease instantly swallowed all his reason. “My King...”
---
“Huuuh...” Seeing the enemy draw near, Kang Xiaodong glanced at the beast-form Corpse King biting his arm. Gritting his teeth, he dragged his arm directly across the creature’s razor-sharp teeth.
The arm, already sporting broken bones, was severed instantly by the sharp teeth, and a massive amount of blood gushed out immediately.
Kang Xiaodong didn’t even look at it. Holding his gun in his left hand, he sprang forward, charging at the man rushing towards him.
He shoved the gun straight into the man’s mouth, tackling him before he could react, and fired wildly into his skull.
Bang bang bang!
Kang Xiaodong kept firing until the bullets tore a massive, rotting hole through the man’s entire face. Bang bang bang!
The combat team members, running up from the side, opened fire on the beast-form Corpse King that was about to pounce onto Kang Xiaodong.
“Ao...”
With a mournful shriek, the beast-form Corpse King collapsed.
As they drew closer, seeing Kang Xiaodong covered in azure-green blood, seeing his severed arm, everyone’s breath hitched.
“I won’t die.” Kang Xiaodong was bloodthirsty; having gotten up, his gaze swept past the crowd, locking onto the other Corpse Kings in the distance.
Aiming at a Corpse King, Kang Xiaodong rushed over without hesitation, yelling “You little brat!
Hearing Kang Xiaodong’s vigorous roar, the combat team members, who had just been filled with worry, were suddenly covered in black lines.
Inside the city.
The man in the suit felt a sudden chill run down his spine, and immediately after, his entire head slid uncontrollably to the side.
The moment his head began to fall, the man in the suit looked back in disbelief.
Feng Yimo had appeared behind him at some unknown time. His face and body were now covered in blood. His usually expressionless face was filled with icy coldness, and those gloomy eyes burned with a monstrous rage capable of incinerating everything in this world.
The suit-wearing man’s pupils constricted. He suddenly realized that he might have made a wrong choice.
He had angered Feng Yimo.
Feng Yimo, having killed his way there, looked coldly at the head on the ground. “Get lost.”
Thump. The suit-wearing man’s head hit the ground and rolled to the side.
The world stood still in an instant. Roars and gunshots ceased.
In the silence, Feng Yimo looked at Ji Yanqing.
Seeing the anger in the depths of Feng Yimo’s eyes, sensing the rage beneath his cold expression, Ji Yanqing’s heart raced.
It had always been him protecting others; now, there was someone who wanted to protect him.
To the side, Xia Shen Shu rolled on the ground and, daring not to hesitate for a second, scrambled to his feet. The gun in his hand fired rapidly at the Corpse King ahead.
As he shot, the corner of Xia Shen Shu’s mouth twitched violently. Could Feng Yimo not spare them a glance from the corner of his eye?
Feng Yimo’s gaze swept over Ji Yanqing, confirming he was uninjured. When he was satisfied, he turned, the killing intent in his eyes no longer suppressed. He stepped back into the fray and continued the slaughter.
He originally had no interest in the Corpse Kings of Heavenly Flame, but at this moment, he wanted to wipe them out completely. They shouldn’t have set their sights on Ji Yanqing.
Feng Yimo moved extremely fast. In mere moments, he finished off the few Corpse Kings before them and disappeared around the corner.
“Ji Yanqing?” Lan Zi asked.
Ji Yanqing withdrew his gaze and quickly scanned the surroundings.
The entire street they were on was littered with body parts; the ground and walls were splattered with azure-green blood. All the Corpse Kings had been slaughtered by Feng Yimo.
“We’re leaving the city.” Ji Yanqing stepped forward quickly to support Xia Shen Shu, dragging him as they ran towards the city limits.
Lan Zi, Ji An, and Ji Le followed closely behind.
They weren’t far from the city exit; it only took them over ten minutes to get out.
Rushing in one breath into the woods where they had stayed before, they stopped at the edge of the forest. Panting heavily, the group immediately looked back.
The entire city had long since turned into a sea of blood, with corpses of all sizes visible wherever the eye wandered.
After the death of the suit-wearing man, the mental imprints left in those Corpse Kings’ brains no longer held power. Many of the Corpse Kings that had been controlled to attack Feng Yimo began to flee as their consciousness returned. However, there were still plenty who were direct subordinates of the suit-wearing man, not just mind-controlled thralls.
The death of their own King plunged those subordinates into irrational madness. They surged forward one after another, crashing like a wave towards Feng Yimo, only to be killed endlessly.
Besides them, Feng Yimo didn’t let go of those Corpse Kings trying to escape either. He seemed intent on slaughtering every Corpse King in this city, chasing ceaselessly, killing without mercy.
Roars, bellows, whimpers of pain, pleas for mercy in terrorful wails, blood, and corpses. The entire city was hell, hell itself ravaging this mortal coil.
And Feng Yimo was the King of that Hell.
Watching this scene from afar, Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi, who had escaped the city, couldn’t help but hold their breath.
By the time they reacted, goosebumps had broken out all over their bodies, and a chill ran down their spines.
They all knew Feng Yimo was powerful, but this was the first time they truly realized that Feng Yimo was not the same species as them.
Feng Yimo was the one referred to as Death by a group of Corpse Kings, the future King of all Corpse Kings, one they themselves had supported and pushed forward.
“Bandage your wounds.” Ji Yanqing took off his backpack.
They were all more or less injured, and they were all stained with Corpse King blood. Leaving it unattended was dangerous.
Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi snapped back to reality and moved quickly.
After cleansing and bandaging the wounds, stripping off the blood-stained clothes, and quickly changing into clean ones, the group could finally stop and take a breath. The sky had already darkened by then.
The gray night shrouded the entire city. Its presence didn’t hide the slaughter within; the fear brought by the endless corpses and blood was instead amplified under the shroud of darkness, becoming even more terrifying.
The chaos continued until late at night.
After coaxing Ji An and Ji Le to sleep, Ji Yanqing stood at the edge of the city, watching from afar. The moment he saw Feng Yimo stop and walk towards him, his body relaxed.
Under the night sky, the man, who had killed until his even his eyes were stained red, stood quietly in front of Ji Yanqing.
He looked at Ji Yanqing, then at his own blood-soaked clothes. He seemed afraid of soiling Ji Yanqing, and didn’t dare step forward.
Ji Yanqing watched quietly in the darkness.
He reached out and wiped the blood from the corner of Feng Yimo’s mouth.
Feng Yimo was never a bloodthirsty person, at least the Feng Yimo he met wasn’t. But this time, Feng Yimo had killed until it looked like he was crying bloody tears.
“Thank you.” Ji Yanqing’s voice was very soft.
Feng Yimo nodded, but his mind seemed to be torn. He needed to clean the blood; he couldn’t be close to Ji Yanqing if he was dirty.
Ji Yanqing walked aside, took out his own change of clothes from his backpack, and handed them to Feng Yimo.
In the hazy moonlight, Ji Yanqing quietly watched Feng Yimo change his clothes, watching him transform from a blood-soaked god of killing into a silly goose-dog who, after changing clothes, still secretly sniffed himself before approaching.
The next day, the Elder came looking for them just as dawn broke.
He talked non-stop with an excited face, saying he was leaving, going north, saying he was going to tell all the world’s Corpse Kings that the God of Death would take over the entire new world.
Ji Yanqing didn’t stop him, only urging him to be careful.
Seeing the old man off, Ji Yanqing and the others took another look at the city, which still looked like hell incarnate after a night of settling. After breakfast, the group quickly prepared to return to their Paradise.
The words the suit-wearing man had said earlier made Ji Yanqing uneasy; he wanted to return as soon as possible.
The distance was too far to walk, so they returned to the city once more.
They found a van in the city that was still drivable and replenished their gasoline, food, and water.
The cities here had hardly been visited by survival teams due to the Corpse King occupation, so supplies were relatively abundant, and things were easy to gather.
By the time they finished, it was already ten in the morning.
The weather had reached its hottest two hours; just standing under the sun gave the skin a burning sensation.
This weather wasn’t suitable for traveling, but Ji Yanqing and the others didn’t dare linger.
After loading the supplies they found, the group got into the car.
Leaving the area around the city where corpses were everywhere, the car soon drove into a wilderness surrounded by greenery. The giant trees gave them the illusion of entering the Land of Giants from a certain fairy tale as they drove through the forest.
Ji Yanqing opened the window, looking at the scenery rapidly retreating outside.
The air in the northeast was more humid than in other directions. This made the wind blowing on their faces lack that dry, burning pain, feeling instead cool and refreshing.
Ji Yanqing narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling the coolness.
The fatigue accumulated over the past year on his body seemed to be swept away, replaced by a faint expectation for the future.
Something pressed onto Ji Yanqing’s shoulder.
He looked back. Feng Yimo was leaning on his shoulder, seemingly asleep.
His long, slightly curly eyelashes drooped, his nose bridge high. Asleep, Feng Yimo was quieter than usual, that quietness holding less coldness and more peaceful serenity.
Ji An and Ji Le were squeezed off to side by Feng Yimo, their cheeks puffed out in anger.
Ji Yanqing pinched the two little guys’ cheeks.
“Ji Yanqing.” Feng Yimo’s voice was very soft.
Ji Yanqing was startled. Feng Yimo wasn’t asleep?
“You smell very good.” As Feng Yimo sat up, he pulled at the collar of his clothes and sniffed lightly. Those clothes carried Ji Yanqing’s scent.
Ji Yanqing’s heartbeat missed a beat.
“I like it very much,” Feng Yimo said.
Lan Zi looked from the rearview mirror, her eyes full of smiles and curiosity. Feng Yimo would say shocking things from time to time; she was slowly getting used to it.
Xia Shen Shu also looked from the rearview mirror.
Just as Ji Yanqing was feeling uncomfortable under their gazes, something fell onto his shoulder from the storage rack behind the back seat.
It was a snakeskin bag. Ji Yanqing thought it contained supplies, but upon opening it, he found it empty. He looked confused at Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi in the front. “We’re keeping this?”
Xia Shen Shu and Lan Zi, both injured, looked back.
Lan Zi shook her head, looking confused.
“Yes,” Xia Shen Shu said.
Ji Yanqing was puzzled.
Xia Shen Shu curled his lips into a sincere smile. “That holds my dream.”
“What?” Ji Yanqing didn’t hear clearly.
“A lofty dream,” Xia Shen Shu said with a smile.
Heavenly Flame was gone. The King of Corpse Kings’ beau had decided that the only thing they needed to do next was continuously build up and supply the county town they had declared home, aiming for self-sufficient survival as soon as possible.
No longer having to stay by the Corpse Kings’ side constantly, having his own
time, Xia Shen Shu decided to be brave for once. Life couldn’t be left with
regrets.
----
Comments
Post a Comment