In the outskirts of Hong Kong’s New Territories, away from the main roads, the area was surrounded by forests with very few farmlands in sight.
“Big brother, are those Westerners really here?”
Zhang Guo, wearing leather armor, kept her mechanical repeating crossbow ready at her waist and nervously gripped the hilt of her sword.
After a rather “cordial” conversation, Wu Ming reluctantly agreed to help her complete this mission so she could pass her school’s evaluation. In return, the young Zhang Guo would handle all the procedures for borrowing books from him.
In reality, Wu Ming was doing this mostly out of compassion, giving the girl a helping hand.
Otherwise, with her inexperience, she would likely end up getting herself into serious trouble.
“Of course! Did you forget why we went to the crime scene?”
Wu Ming smiled calmly. “According to my Daoist technique of tracing light and shadows, they’re hiding somewhere around here!”
“How amazing! How did you do it?”
Zhang Guo’s eyes sparkled with admiration.
She then stuck out her pink little tongue playfully. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend any of your taboos, did I?”
“No, it’s nothing really. I just collected a trace of their aura left at the scene and followed the clues here,” Wu Ming explained while taking out a crystal ball. “Everyone’s aura is unique, just like a torch shining brightly in the dark to me.”
“Haha… That reward is definitely ours!”
Zhang Guo excitedly clenched her little fist, while Wu Ming responded rather unimpressed, “These Western bandits are ruthless and powerful. You really think you can take them all down by yourself?”
“As tempting as the military merit and contribution from the bounty might be, you also need to consider whether you have the life to enjoy it… We just need to confirm their presence here and report the intelligence to the Protectorate General, and that will be the end of it.”
“How boring!”
Zhang Guo pouted slightly, her clever black eyes twinkling as she thought about something.
Wu Ming could guess what the girl was thinking and rolled his eyes inwardly. He glanced at the sky where a blazing sun hung high, creating multiple shadows.
The sun in this world was different from others. Not only was it much larger, but its solar essence was extremely fierce, creating numerous shadows that made it seem as if there were several suns lined up in the void, which was very strange.
Moreover, Wu Ming could sense terrifying power emanating from these solar illusions.
“One of the Eight Principal Deities of the Great Chang Empire, the Solar Deity?”
The Great Chang Empire had reached the peak of the divine path, with eight principal deities believed to be embodiments of cosmic laws, without definite physical forms.
Among them, the Solar and Lunar Deities were widely regarded as the Sun and the Moon.
“Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, the Four Seasons…”
If taken literally, this was extremely terrifying. Even the weakest among them was the War God representing warfare and slaughter, not to mention the Four Seasons, which directly involved time itself.
“Even a Great Luo Immortal, can he become the sun in this world?”
Wu Ming looked at the blazing sun in the sky, somewhat puzzled.
In other worlds, not only Great Luo, even Golden Immortals were eternal and indestructible. What difficulty would there be in becoming the sun?
But this world was different!
The original world of Ser was already the center of the universe, yet here it was just a small part of a much larger territory.
Such a vast world might have already transcended his previous concepts of universes and dimensions, existing at a level far beyond them.
In such a world, becoming the sun was beyond the capability of even Golden Immortals.
Even Great Luo Immortals, Wu Ming was skeptical.
“Alright, let’s get to work!”
Wu Ming took out a crystal ball, inside which floated an unstable white thread, seemingly alive, wandering within the crystal ball. Suddenly, it pointed to a location.
It was a black valley, surrounded by lush vegetation almost concealing its entrance.
“Found it!”
Zhang Guo cheered excitedly and without hesitation ran towards it.
“Wait a second!”
Wu Ming watched helplessly as Zhang Guo crossed the valley entrance, which immediately triggered a reaction, and several unsteady “figures” emerged.
“Ahh!”
The girl screamed as the figures finally revealed their true forms—pale-faced, emaciated, their bodies already rotting in many places, exposing white bones and emanating a foul stench.
“What… what kind of zombie demon is this? Giggling… giggling…”
Zhang Guo gripped her sword but couldn’t help trembling, her teeth chattering in fear.
“Just ordinary revenants! They probably used nearby farmers as materials, and even their souls were just randomly replaced with a few beasts. Relying on some corpse poison, they can only deal with ordinary people and serve as a warning at best…”
Wu Ming stood by with a look of amusement. “Now that you’ve awakened them, the necromancer behind them will definitely notice!”
“A necromancer?”
Zhang Guo screamed again. “Isn’t that a forbidden profession in the West? Among those Westerners who attacked, there’s actually a necromancer. If he spreads a plague, the entire New Territories Port will be destroyed…”
“Now is not the time to worry about the New Territories Port, but about yourself!”
Wu Ming reminded her, “You deal with these revenants yourself!”
He had no intention of being a babysitter all the time. It was good to train the girl’s courage and battlefield experience a bit. If she still couldn’t handle it in the end, then she should just drop out!
Someone who couldn’t even handle a few zombies, wanting to become an adventurer? Dreaming of making a name for herself in the cultivation world? She must be dreaming!
“Grrr…”
The revenants paid no heed to Zhang Guo’s screams, growling as they opened their arms and lunged at her. Their emerald green nails clearly indicated the presence of a very potent toxin.
They were still wearing some linen clothes and the distinctive attire of the Great Chang Empire, which unmistakably pointed to their identities.
“Heya! Die!”
Zhang Guo looked pleadingly at Wu Ming. After several unsuccessful attempts, she seemed to finally accept her fate. Dodging the attack, she thrust her sword forward.
Whoosh!
A flash of cold light, the sword accurately pierced the throat of one of the revenants, demonstrating the precision of her diligent practice.
“Ahh!”
Unfortunately, the revenants were not ordinary people. Even with their throats cut, they continued their assault on Zhang Guo without any change in movement.
“I forgot to tell you, these revenants have no vital points. Unless you smash their heads or tear their bodies apart, even if their hearts are removed, they can still move around for a long time…”
Wu Ming reminded her with a tone of amusement from the side.
For some reason, the zombies howled and completely ignored Wu Ming standing right in front of them, relentlessly chasing after Zhang Guo.
“You should have told me earlier…”
Zhang Guo shouted in frustration, but she didn’t have much foundation. As soon as she opened her mouth, her speed slowed down, and she was knocked to the ground by one of the zombies.
Bang!
In the midst of the chaos, she let go of her sword and finally remembered she had a weapon on her. She pulled out her repeating crossbow and shot the zombie in the head.
After the loud bang, splatters of white and red bodily fluids covered Zhang Guo’s face and body.
She screamed again, her face changing colors dramatically, and suddenly leaned to one side, dry heaving.
“Seriously, getting distracted at a time like this might get you killed, you know!”
Zhang Guo had almost vomited her guts out when she noticed that all the zombies around her had somehow stopped moving, as if they were statues.
“A group-wide human-like paralysis spell… How is that? Pretty good, right?”
Wu Ming winked, a slightly mocking smile on his lips. “Revenants are just the most expendable troops of a necromancer. So, do you still want to go deeper?”
“Of course, as long as you’re still here.”
It took Zhang Guo quite a while to calm her nausea, her face pale as she answered.
After this experience, she finally understood that without her older brother and others’ help, she was practically helpless—just a cannon fodder could nearly cost her life!
“Now… we have a problem… because the enemy has discovered us. Even if we leave immediately, they will soon move, and they might scatter and break into smaller groups… making it impossible to complete the mission!”
Wu Ming didn’t hesitate at all as he stepped forward. “Therefore, we have only one choice—we must take them down now!”
…
Inside the valley.
“Black Jas, what’s going on?”
Inside a cave, the ground was covered with straw mats, forming a simple camp.
Many Westerners with blond hair and blue eyes gathered together, exuding a fierce aura. They were clearly the culprits who had wreaked havoc on the port.
At this moment, a leader-like figure asked a black-robed wizard seated on the ground.
The wizard was completely wrapped in a black robe, emanating an aura that kept others at a distance, and there was also a foul smell. Despite the cramped space in the cave, there wasn’t a single person sitting on the nearby straw mats.
“My revenants have been destroyed…”
Black Jas’s voice was quite calm. “It should be some adventurers who discovered this place and are trying to enter…”
“Have we been discovered already?”
The leader was not at all surprised by this. “Immediately prepare to break through and evacuate in batches!”
“Wait! My little pets have just sent back the latest news.”
Black Jas smiled. “The people who came seem to be not many, only one or two… and there’s no master-level person among them.”
“Do they want to die?”
The leader laughed sinisterly. “Gods, could these be such foolish scouts? They must be.”
He knew very well how serious the situation was. If the Protectorate General was informed, there might even be an army sent to wipe them out.
But under current circumstances, it didn’t seem like a planned extermination but more like an accident: “Just a few adventurers or mercenaries trying to earn some commission?”
The leader sneered and licked his lips. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such rookies. Who among you will go and take care of them?”
“I’ll go!”
Black Jas stood up. “After all, they destroyed several of my revenants. I can use their bodies as replacements…”
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