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Chapter 157: Fire Corpse - The Road Ahead
Ji Zichen followed the soldiers to their last assembly point, but there was no one there. He instructed them to search the area while he remained alert for any possible traces.
The ground was scattered with small stones, and torn pieces of cloth hung from some branches, stained with blood. From the looks of these rags, they resembled the coarse sleeves of villagers. Ji Zichen urged the soldiers to move forward, weapons at the ready for any sudden developments.
Ji Zichen sensed that something was off in the surroundings. To confirm his instincts, he began to carefully survey the area. There were no corpses; aside from the blood-stained rags on the branches, nothing else seemed noteworthy. If that soldier had encountered the Cult of the Hall of Malevolence and had been killed by them, there should have been bodies left behind.
The absence of corpses suggested that those soldiers might still be alive, yet their whereabouts were unknown—what could this situation mean? Ji Zichen found it puzzling, and the soldiers beside him shared his unease.
Suddenly, a fog rolled in without warning. Ji Zichen furrowed his brow and instinctively raised his hand to signal others to stop. A figure gradually emerged from the mist about five paces away, holding a weapon—it was one of the missing soldiers.
Man Chengwen relaxed upon seeing him and exclaimed, "Where have you been? We came here to scout; why are you wandering off?"
The soldier did not respond and walked with a strange gait, limping slightly. As he approached within a yard, Ji Zichen noticed that his armor was caked with dirt and he wore a ghastly grin.
Ji Zichen was shocked by the soldier's eerie smile; it wasn't a smile at all. The right side of his face had been torn open, creating an illusion of a grin. One of his eyes had been gouged out, and there was a large hole in his chest.
The soldier awkwardly limped toward them, and everyone wondered if this was still a living person! The soldiers raised their weapons in alarm. Through the gaping hole in the soldier's chest, Ji Zichen suddenly saw several more figures behind him.
The scene before them was bizarre, but Ji Zichen did not hesitate. He drew his Demon-Slaying Sword and swung it, sending the soldier flying like a wisp of willow fluff.
It wasn't until Ji Zichen struck down that soldier that the other soldiers snapped back to reality. Man Chengwen stared in disbelief at the fallen soldier and said, "You killed him!"
Ji Zichen replied gravely, "He was already dead! Hurry! More are coming!"
Man Chengwen looked ahead and indeed saw more figures approaching. Due to some distance between them, he couldn't discern whether these newcomers were in similar condition as the one they had just encountered.
But it seemed they were; those figures moved clumsily as well. Man Chengwen gasped in horror, "They are dead too…!"
Suddenly, the soldier Ji Zichen had knocked down sprang back up from the ground, his face and chest even more horrifying than before. He continued to stagger toward them while those behind him looked even more terrifying—some were torn apart from head to toe, while others were missing limbs. All wore blank expressions as they trudged forward relentlessly.
"Night Demon?" Ji Zichen recalled the Night Demon from Corner Lodge. "But those controlling the Night Demon are people from Western King; how could they be here? Could Western King be colluding with the Arbitrator?"
Ji Zichen felt uncertain about this thought; he believed Western King and Arbitrator would not conspire together. Although these soldiers behaved like Night Demons, their bodies were not like those soulless corpses. Regardless, they could not stay here any longer. Ji Zichen shouted, "Follow me!"
Without hesitation, Ji Zichen led the soldiers away from those Night Demon-like figures before they arrived. They quickened their pace along the path they had come from. Upon reaching the intersection where they had previously met, Ji Zichen instructed a soldier to notify those on Gaoqiu to retreat. One soldier blew a signal horn just as Man Chengwen urged everyone to head in the opposite direction.
"Why take that path?" Ji Zichen asked.
Man Chengwen nervously replied, "This road is a bit safer."
Ji Zichen nodded, signaling for the others to follow Man Chengwen. However, they had barely taken a few steps when a group of Demon Beasts, mixed with soldiers and villagers, emerged from the weeds by the roadside.
Among these creatures was an elderly woman, wearing a blood-stained coarse shirt, who lunged wildly at Ji Zichen. Ji Zichen thrust his sword through the Old Woman's neck, but she did not die. Instead, she staggered forward step by step along the blade towards Ji Zichen. With a shout, Ji Zichen withdrew his sword and kicked her away, then struck down hard on her head with another blow.
In this situation, the Old Woman still moved, desperately reaching out to grab anything within her grasp. Ji Zichen thought to himself, "These monsters are just like the Night Demons; blades and guns are useless against them! Could it really be that woman?"
Ji Zichen realized that entangling with such an undead creature would be futile and only waste his strength. However, using fire to burn them would surely attract the Hall of Malevolence Cult inside the valley, which would alert them.
Ji Zichen scanned his surroundings and suddenly shouted, "Watch out!"
He yelled at the nearest soldier, but the warning came too late. Five monstrous villagers grabbed the soldier and tore at him, bringing him down to the ground. The soldier reacted quickly enough to slash off one villager's hand with his sword, but that was all he could do. After that, he had no chance to strike again as he was overwhelmed by the monstrous villagers who bit into him. One villager tore open his throat before he even had a chance to scream.
At this point, trying to rescue him was useless. While the monstrous villagers feasted on the soldier's corpse, Ji Zichen thought they could buy some time to escape. He shouted, "You all keep retreating! I have a way to deal with these creatures!"
Man Chengwen felt uneasy and thought, "We can't leave you behind!" Though afraid, he said, "I'll stay with you! The rest of you hurry and go!"
The other soldiers hesitated. Ji Zichen insisted, "We won't delay for long; you need to go now! That's an order!"
The soldiers were reluctant to leave, but staying meant risking more lives. They didn't know what abilities Ji Zichen possessed, but since he was leading them, there must have been a reason for it.
"Follow me!" one soldier commanded the others.
The soldiers quickly retreated, leaving only Ji Zichen and Man Chengwen behind. Ji Zichen turned to face the approaching horde of monsters and said, "Lead them into the nearby weeds; we'll set them ablaze!"
Now that everyone else had retreated early, even if the fire attracted the Hall of Malevolence's people, it wouldn't matter anymore.
Man Chengwen nodded and charged forward with his sword. With a furious roar, he began attacking from all sides. These creatures couldn't be killed by swords; every thrust drew their attention towards him as he retreated into the weeds.
Ji Zichen followed suit. Seeing that most of the monsters had been lured into the weeds, he shouted, "Alright! Get out now!" Man Chengwen kicked down several monstrous villagers and created an opening to escape from the thicket.
Once Man Chengwen was out of the weeds, Ji Zichen's Fire Buddha Bead dimmed slightly as a fire dragon burst forth; upon touching the grass, flames ignited.
The fire quickly spread. The monstrous villagers continued charging recklessly out of the thicket despite being engulfed in flames. Those already on fire staggered forward as well, igniting their companions in their wake.
Ji Zichen said, "Alright! We should hurry too!"
Just as they were about to retreat, three monsters suddenly appeared behind them, blocking their escape route. Man Chengwen could fight to the death against those monstrous villagers, but these soldiers, though already dead, were still his companions. He was reluctant to harm their bodies with weapons. With a swift kick, he knocked one soldier down.
However, another soldier lunged forward and grabbed Man Chengwen's ankle. Ji Zichen saw this and was about to help when a villager, still on fire but not yet reduced to ashes, grabbed hold of Man Chengwen. After struggling for a moment, Man Chengwen pushed the villager away with his weapon. Ji Zichen swiftly severed the hand of the soldier holding Man Chengwen's ankle, but flames began to engulf Man Chengwen's clothes.
Man Chengwen rolled on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the fire, but the situation worsened. Another Fire Corpse lunged at him, leaving him no time to react.
Just as the Fire Corpse was about to reach him, Ji Zichen kicked it away and rushed forward to help put out the flames on Man Chengwen. Grabbing Man Chengwen by the shoulder, Ji Zichen hurled him three yards away and shouted, "You need to get out of here!"
The Fire Corpse emerged from the burning grass, forming a wall of fire that separated Ji Zichen from Man Chengwen. Ji Zichen called out, "We need to split up!"
The terrifying Fire Corpses attacked from all sides, forcing the two to flee in different directions. Ji Zichen braved the flames as he swung his Demon-Slaying Sword again and again, taking down the approaching Fire Corpses.
As he fought and retreated, Ji Zichen found himself alone when he was ten yards away from the burning thicket.
He scanned his surroundings anxiously; he knew he couldn't afford to linger here—the people from the Hall of Malevolence would soon be drawn by the flames. Ji Zichen didn’t know the way back but had no choice but to rely on his instincts.
Though there were no longer any threats from those monsters, finding his way back was giving Ji Zichen a headache. To make matters worse, his usually reliable sense of direction had failed him.
Feeling increasingly lost and unsure of his location, Ji Zichen turned a corner and followed what seemed like a safe path. The ground was littered with broken branches and leaves, surrounded by scorched earth and some collapsed buildings. Even so, he still couldn't determine where he was.
Cursing himself inwardly for agreeing to Wei Ye's request, he realized that it was also his own fault for wanting to show off.
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