Chapter 198 - 116: This Jiangshi is on Fire
But this thing before them...
It was like a mindless, shambling corpse, yet it possessed a terrifying power comparable to a Tier Eight Great Demon!
This completely overturned his understanding of the world.
Even the worldly and knowledgeable Tang Guixin was stunned and bewildered.
"How can this be? How could a mindless corpse possess the power of a Tier Eight? It defies all logic!"
Suddenly, the Demon in the blood mist stopped in its tracks.
It slowly turned its head, looking in the direction where Jiang Mu and Tang Guixin were hiding.
Two crimson, blood-red beams of light shot from its eyes, piercing through the fog like searchlights, radiating a cold, murderous intent.
"We’re in trouble!"
Jiang Mu felt his heart clench as if an invisible hand had seized it in a ruthless grip.
An oppressive aura, as heavy as a mountain, washed over him, making it nearly impossible to breathe. His chest tightened, and his Qi and Blood roiled.
Jiang Mu tightened his grip on his saber’s hilt, preparing for a desperate fight to the death.
Just then—
"AAAAAH—!!"
Another sharp, ear-piercing shriek came from the direction of the summit.
It was the Zombie Queen!
The shriek contained a violent Corpse Qi and a powerful pressure that swept down like a shockwave, forcefully dispersing more than half of the blood mist shrouding the mountain’s base.
Even the mist cloaking the Demon in the blood mist was blasted apart.
Revealing its true form.
It was a middle-aged man.
His face was a ghastly white, covered in liver spots, with well-defined features. His eyes were as red as lanterns, with no visible whites.
Most striking of all, he was wearing a suit of black armor.
The style of this armor was completely different from the common armor used by the Great Qing Army today.
"This is..."
Upon seeing the armor clearly, Tang Guixin first froze, then her eyes widened in disbelief as she let out a low, astonished cry.
"The Black Armored Divine Soldiers of Jing Country!?"
"What?"
Jiang Mu was completely confused.
Tang Guixin’s face had turned a little pale as she explained in a low voice,
"This Demon must have been one of the Jing Country’s ’Black Armored Divine Soldiers’ when he was alive, serving directly under the imperial family."
"Before Jing Country fell, this army was tasked with protecting the royal family and occasionally participated in major battles. Their combat strength was immense. It’s rumored they were blessed with the cursed power of the Witch Deity. As long as the Witch Deity’s power did not wane, they were nearly immortal."
Jiang Mu’s heart pounded as he listened.
’Immortal bodies?’
He frowned deeply and asked, "How did a royal guard of Jing Country end up here? And how does he have Divine Abilities similar to a mist Demon?"
Tang Guixin shook her head, the confusion in her eyes deepening.
"I can’t figure it out either. Logically, after the fall of Jing Country and the dissipation of the Witch Deity’s power, these soldiers should have long since turned to dust."
As the Zombie Queen’s shriek faded, the dispersed mist around the Demon in the blood mist began to coalesce again.
It seemed to have lost interest in Jiang Mu and Tang Guixin.
It merely glanced in their direction before turning and continuing its stiff-legged walk into the depths of the forest.
Soon, it disappeared from their sight.
As it departed, the surrounding blood mist also gradually dissipated, revealing the lush green mountainside once more.
Apparently, it had chosen to back down under the Zombie Queen’s intimidation.
"It’s gone?"
Jiang Mu let out a long sigh of relief, only then realizing his back was drenched in a cold sweat.
"This is no place to linger. Let’s go, quickly!"
Tang Guixin didn’t dare to delay for a second. She grabbed Jiang Mu, ready to retreat.
However, misfortunes never come singly.
Just as the two were about to get up, they saw shaky figures crawling out of the earth all around them in the mountain forest.
Zombies!
There were at least fifty or sixty of them!
They wore ragged clothes, their skin shriveled and purplish-blue, with nails as sharp as knives. Most of them were only low-tier zombies.
The one leading them was exceptionally tall, its body wreathed in Corpse Qi so dense it looked like black smoke.
It was a Tier Five zombie.
And in the distance, shadowy figures suggested that even more zombies were converging on their position.
"This is bad."
Tang Guixin’s expression darkened.
"These zombies have an unusually keen sense of smell. They must be the eyes and ears sent out by the Zombie Queen to scout. It seems the true master of this White Deer Peak is indeed the Zombie Queen."
"She was likely hibernating or in seclusion before and was only awakened by that Black Armored Divine Soldier from Jing Country."
Jiang Mu also felt this was a thorny situation.
He had killed a Tier Five zombie before, but with this many, he doubted his "kiting" tactic would be effective.
Tang Guixin decisively took out a small porcelain vial.
"Xiaojiang, these zombies will sniff us out sooner or later. I’ll lure them away. You take Cuicui and the others and get down the mountain, fast!"
As she spoke, she uncorked the vial, about to pour the special powder—which was attractive to Demons—onto herself.
"Aunt Tang!"
Jiang Mu grabbed her hand and snatched the vial back. "Let me do it. When it comes to running away, no one’s better than me."
His experience wasn’t as deep as Tang Guixin’s, so he couldn’t guarantee he could lead the twenty-some people out of the encirclement safely. But if it was just a matter of luring the enemy away and fending for himself, he was fully confident.
Besides, looking at the dense swarm of zombies, a bold idea suddenly popped into his head.
’So many experience packs...’
’It’d be a waste not to harvest a wave of them.’
"No! You—"
Tang Guixin panicked, trying to stop him.
But Jiang Mu had already uncorked the vial and dumped all of the foul, pungent powder onto himself.
"Aunt Tang, see you at the bottom of the mountain!"
Jiang Mu grinned, wasted no more words, and unleashed his Spirit Snake Body Step to its full potential. He transformed into an afterimage, sprinting in the opposite direction of their group’s hiding place.
"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"
Drawn by the enticing scent, all the zombies frantically gave chase.
"That boy..."
Watching Jiang Mu’s figure lead the horde of zombies away, Tang Guixin’s eyes instantly reddened. She bit her lip, then turned and ran toward where Ming Cuicui and the others were hiding.
...
Jiang Mu executed his Spirit Snake Body Step. His body moved like a slippery loach, weaving rapidly through the rugged mountain forest.