Donglingzi noticed that I was walking very slowly, hesitating and looking around, clearly terrified. He scolded me again: “Xiao Qi. You’ve consumed five precious worms from the Insect Clan and the Yin Snake refined by Guo Tianjie. What are you afraid of?”
I replied, “At this critical moment, I actually forgot about that.” With two quick steps, I reached the massive stone coffin and grabbed the jade ruler. The lid of the stone coffin exploded with a deafening crash, sending stone fragments flying in all directions, accompanied by a surge of red corpse energy. The stones clattered to the ground, but Little Rascal dodged quickly and wasn’t hit. The zombies and people who had been kneeling earlier now stood up, scrambling to avoid the falling debris. One stone landed on the corpse-raiser, bounced off, and clattered to the ground before finally coming to rest.
After the stones settled, silence descended. The entire stone tomb grew quiet. Everyone knew that the so-called elixir of immortality was inside the stone coffin, but no one dared to approach it. If the Corpse King tore them to shreds, they’d be dead—what use was immortality then? Everyone understood this logic. Gu Xiulian sneered, “Japanese, didn’t you want immortality? Go ahead and fetch the undying elixir.”
Anbei Kun, however, was suddenly humble. “Taoist Master, you’re young and capable—surely your skills are unmatched. Why don’t you give it a try?” Gu Xiulian then turned to Hua Changsheng. “Young Master Hua, why don’t you go see what’s inside the coffin?” Hua Changsheng nodded. “Fine, I’ll take a look.”
But Hua Chongyang grabbed him. “You foolish monk. The early bird gets the worm—and the bullet. If you go up first, the Corpse King will kill you, and everyone else will just step over your corpse without a second thought.”
At this critical juncture, no one dared to move. The red corpse energy in the air mingled with the crimson bloodstains on the ground, evoking the imagery of the underworld. Already trapped in an ancient tomb, the thought made my blood run cold. But compared to the Corpse King, this group of people was even more terrifying. As Hua Chongyang had said, if I stepped forward and the Corpse King killed me, the others would likely just trample over my body.
Gu Xiulian muttered, “Waiting like this won’t solve anything!” He grabbed Dai Hao’s stiff, lifeless body and, with all his strength, hurled it like a projectile into the stone coffin. No one wanted to see what happened inside at that moment. Dai Hao’s corpse landed squarely in the coffin, still dripping blood.
I cursed, “How clever of you. Now you’ve fed the Corpse King with fresh blood.” Gu Xiulian shrugged. “No worries, we have numbers on our side.” His sleeves rustled as he prepared several talismans—likely Taoist spells designed to combat zombies. The other seven corpses also readied themselves.
A commotion erupted from the coffin. Suddenly, a zombie leaped out—the Corpse King. Right behind it, another emerged—the Corpse Queen.
Sweat poured down my forehead. I hadn’t expected both the King and Queen, their mouths smeared with blood, now fully fed and undoubtedly stronger. I took a deep breath and unleashed a Six Ding Six Jia talisman. The Corpse King turned and blew a gust of foul breath, knocking the talisman aside.
The King and Queen stood facing each other, their hollow eyes rolling in their sockets, their bodies wreathed in red corpse energy. These guardians of the elixir of immortality harbored nothing but hatred for intruders—they would slaughter them all.
I shouted, “If you want immortality, first make sure you stay alive. Don’t let yourself become the undead!” Gu Xiulian retorted, “The Corpse King isn’t so impressive.” He hurled his talismans, chanting incantations under his breath. Hua Changsheng, meanwhile, employed Buddhist exorcism techniques, reciting the Diamond Sutra to counter the Corpse Queen.
Soon, the battle split into two fronts.
Gu Xiulian and I faced the Corpse King, with Gu Rechang and Xie Xiaoyu assisting. The Hua and Guo families focused on the Corpse Queen, with Guo Furong and the Silver-Armored Corpse surrounding her.
The corpse-raiser stood dumbly to the side, staring at the coffin. Anbei Keiko and her group retreated. Donglingzi laughed. “So you’re just going to watch from the sidelines and reap the rewards?” Anbei Kun replied, “We’re not experts in dealing with zombies.”
The Corpse King was formidable. My talismans barely fazed it. I tried to strike its weak point with the jade ruler but missed. The group had already wasted the best opportunity—feeding Dai Hao to the King and Queen. Utter stupidity.
Gu Rechang was seized by the Corpse King, slammed into the ground, and decapitated. His eyes rolled once, and his headless body staggered forward, crashing into a wall before finally collapsing. Gu Xiulian screamed, “Master!” His eyes burned with fury as he unleashed more talismans, but they had no effect on the Corpse King.
Fearing Xie Xiaoyu would meet the same fate, I shielded her. Sweat poured down my face. Hua Chongyang called out, “Let me help!” He inhaled deeply, drawing in the red corpse energy from the Corpse King. But the energy was endless—his stomach swelled uncontrollably, and he collapsed, his body undergoing grotesque changes. Still, he had weakened the Corpse King’s energy, making it vulnerable to the jade ruler.
The Corpse King was nearly invincible. The Queen was no slouch either—surrounded by Hua Changsheng and the Silver-Armored Corpse, she still held the upper hand, even seeming stronger than the King. The Silver-Armored Corpse’s strikes, capable of splitting a bull in half, barely fazed her.
Anbei Keiko pulled out a pistol and shouted, “Move!” Two shots rang out—aimed at the Queen’s eyes. The bullets, sharper than any hidden weapon, struck true.
Donglingzi cursed. “Foolish woman! Do zombies even use their eyes? Ridiculous!” Anbei Keiko retreated sheepishly. Hua Changsheng, distracted, was slashed by the Queen’s nails. Blood seeped from his wounds. Combined with the corpse energy he’d inhaled, his lips turned black, and his body stiffened—he was turning into a zombie.
Hua Changsheng cried, “Xue Youniang, shoot me in the forehead! I don’t want to become a zombie!” He mistook Anbei Keiko for Xue Youniang, someone he knew from Famen Temple. In his last moments of clarity, he begged her to end him.
Anbei Keiko sighed. “If I shoot you there, you’ll have no chance of revival.” Hua Changsheng insisted, “I don’t want to be a zombie.” She relented. “Fine.” Glancing at her companions—most of whom were convulsing on the ground, soon to dissolve into blood—she steeled herself.
Hua Chongyang lay writhing, the red corpse energy in his belly overwhelming him. His lifelong accumulation of various corpse energies now ran rampant. Watching Hua Changsheng’s imminent transformation, he laughed bitterly. “All for the sake of ‘Seven Corpses Rise, Immortality Achieved.'” He cried out, “No!”
Hua Changsheng’s nails twisted together, his body frosting over. “Youniang… do it.”
Anbei Keiko yelled, “Xiao Qi! What should I do?” I was barely holding my own against the Corpse King—if not for my immunity to the red corpse energy, I’d already be dead. I had no answer for her. “Do what you think is best.” She stamped her foot. “You tell me to decide, then leave it to me?” But she understood—Hua Changsheng was beyond saving.
Gritting her teeth, she raised her gun, aiming for his neck—a clean kill to prevent his reanimation.
She sighed. “All this scheming, and now we’ll all die here.” Donglingzi stepped forward, lowering her pistol. “This body is useless. If I were in my prime…” He forced a rock into Hua Changsheng’s mouth and dragged him aside. “He has ten minutes. After that, he turns—then we kill him.”
Donglingzi turned to Gu Rechang’s headless, stumbling corpse. He adjusted its posture, but his left hand—already rotting from the red corpse energy—lost three fingers in the process.
Patting Gu Rechang’s chest, Donglingzi said, “You were skilled—a rare Taoist who turned himself into a zombie. But without a head, just sit down and rest.” Gu Rechang obeyed, motionless.
Donglingzi roared, “If I were alive, I’d have dealt with these two already! Xiao Qi, can’t you do better?!”
I wasn’t holding back—the gap in power was just too vast. The jade ruler barely kept the Corpse King’s lightning-fast claws at bay. Its nails were sharper than daggers.
I knew my immunity to the red corpse energy wouldn’t save me from exhaustion. The Corpse King’s relentless assault left no opening to strike its weak spot.
Donglingzi fumed. “Each generation grows weaker.”
Summoning my last strength, I unleashed a few more talismans, rescuing Gu Xiulian from danger—though my hand was grazed by the red energy. Gu Xiulian gasped, “Thanks. After all this, have you spotted the Corpse King’s weakness?”
I shook my head. “No. This monster has none.” Gu Xiulian’s half-deformed face twisted into a grin. “I’ve found it.” I demanded, “What weakness?”
Gu Xiulian whispered, “The entire time… the Corpse King never once opened its mouth.”
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