Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 50 - 48 Animated Corpse

Chapter 50: Chapter 48 Animated Corpse

Thump, thump, thump...

In the silent black night, the staggering footsteps filled with intense malice grew closer and closer.

But before that, a stench so potent, as if it could scorch one’s nostrils, had already made its way into Wang Yuan’s bedroom.

His eyes snapped open, and a fleeting green light flashed within his pupils.

Keenly sensing danger drawing near, Wang Yuan’s back and buttocks muscles twitched slightly, propelling him up from the bed in a single bound to stand beside the door.

Peering through the crack of the door.

Under the thick cover of night, a somewhat obese figure was approaching closer and closer toward him.

By the moon’s faint light, the newcomer’s face was purplish-green, already beginning to decay and rot, with a distended belly as swollen as a drum—exhibiting the "Bloat" of the nine post-mortem changes.

Looking at his clothing, it was shockingly the burial attire meant for the deceased.

This was clearly a dead man who had just crawled out of his grave!

Chitter, chitter...

Just then, the sound of birds chirping suddenly reached Wang Yuan’s ears.

"Rotten... people... so many... so many..."

"On the mountain... cave..."

He didn’t need the "Human Face Beast Heart Pill" to instinctively understand their beast language.

After a brief shock, Wang Yuan immediately detected more footsteps steadily approaching from the direction of Beimang Mountain outside his courtyard wall.

It was only because his small courtyard was the closest to Beimang Mountain that it was visited first.

Without hesitation, Wang Yuan flung open the door and charged out.

"Roar!"

The ghastly Yin Object opened its stinking mouth and let out an angry roar full of hatred with its rotting vocal cords.

But then.

In its eyes, it suddenly saw flames bursting from both of Wang Yuan’s shoulders and atop his head—flames that burned fiercely red, almost lighting up half of the courtyard in a red glow.

These were the three fires of the human body—spirit, qi, and essence; fortune, prosperity, and longevity!

The "Taoist Military Skill" starts with oneself as the basis, emphasizing swallowing mountains and rivers, spitting stars, breathing the universe, and laughing to contain all streams.

The first realm, "Bone and Flesh Outer Appearance," is enough to carve a name for oneself in the Green Forest; the second realm, "Refining Marrow and Changing Blood," can bolster the "Daoist Soldier."

The third realm, "Spirit Communication Transformation," allows promotion to "Dao General"; the fourth realm, "Military Dao Dharma Image," qualifies one to be a leader of an army.

The fifth realm, "Heavenly People No Leak," while still not granting immortality, ensures one’s combat power is on par with the likes of the "Green Seal Sage," nearly a terrestrial immortal.

With qi-blood as luminous as the grand sun and fierce flames burning intensely, any brutal spirit or Yin Object that drew near would be instantly turned to ash.

Even though Wang Yuan was worlds apart from such an extraordinary realm comparable to terrestrial immortals, after undergoing his non-human transformation and igniting the three fires, wasn’t his vitality more than ten times stronger than that of ordinary people?

Sizzle...

As the living corpse encountered the three fires, its chilling Yin energy melted away like ice and snow under the blazing sun, dissipating in the blink of an eye.

A glittering cold light flashed from Wang Yuan’s hand and shot forth.

The living corpse’s head, already decaying, exploded like a watermelon, and it collapsed onto the ground, reverting back to a decaying body.

"Although these creatures aren’t Weird, their appearance is almost certainly related to the Weird in some way."

The "Unsightly Observation" that came with the "Eyes Like Dark Blue" is a passive ability that is always active as long as one’s eyes are open.

Although Wang Yuan didn’t discern anything grotesquely unbearable from the animated corpse, he did notice some traces.

For example: a very small piece of pitch-black feather smeared with yellow corpse oil on the center of its forehead.

Under the scrutiny of Yin energy, the combat power of this living corpse was only slightly stronger than that of an ordinary adult, not difficult to deal with, just disgusting and terrifying.

Wang Yuan gave it a single glance and paid it no further attention.

He then noticed that while he had been asleep, the "Yin Morality" in the "Small Book of Life and Death" had jumped from 785 points after capturing White Mountain Lord to a sudden 996 points.

Without guessing, it was clear that Zhou Jingyao, whom he had captured, had likely been used as "medicine bait" in place of him and been consumed by the "Owl God Tomb" after nightfall.

Wang Yuan couldn’t help but sigh; he earned little from killing Zheng Yong, and even though he was only one of the participants in the Prince’s kidnapping case, he still received more than two hundred points, which goes to show just how evil Zhou Jingyao was.

And now that Zhou Jingyao was already beheaded.

The most likely possibility for such a strange occurrence in Daling Village was that the bandits responsible for the second phase of the plan had also interfered with the nine accompanying tombs on the mountain.

Wang Yuan darted out of the courtyard gate like a spiritual cat.

Looking up, he saw vague figures to the north of Daling Village, near the direction of Beimang Mountain, and for a moment, he couldn’t see clearly how many living corpses were rushing over.

At the same time, a strong stench carried by the wind also instantly awakened the tightly-wound Tomb Guardians of this period.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

With a series of whooshing sounds piercing the air,

One by one, members of the Wang Family Tomb Guardians dressed in black convinced clothing, with the emblem of the tombstone divine beast "Evil Exorcism" embroidered on their robes, stepped onto the walls and rooftops, converging beside Wang Yuan.

Facing the tide of corpses surging towards the village, the gleaming standard Tiger Head Sabers at their waists were unsheathed with a clang.

The blade bore a fiery vermilion Seal Script [Heyan Killing Ghost Seal] that, sensing the presence of yin energy, quietly lit up with a red glow.

At that moment,

A surprised voice suddenly rang out from behind Wang Yuan:

"Mr. Cui, you’ve returned?

The Clan Leader and Fairy Peach went up the mountain during the day with people, and they still have not returned. Please, go up the mountain to help. The Wang Family will be greatly indebted to you."

Wang Yuan turned around to see that the speaker was a lean middle-aged man.

Cui Tong might not recognize who this person was, but he knew him well.

It was Wang Yunhu’s cousin, Wang Yunfang—the two shared the same great-grandfather and were very close kin.

This man had always been a devoted follower of the Clan Leader, and was one of the most steadfast lackeys of Wang Yunhu.

Wang Yuan pondered briefly before agreeing.

"Fine, I’ll go up the mountain to have a look," he said.

In his heart, the ideal scenario was for both Wang Yunhu and Master Ge to perish along with the [Owl God Tomb]. Before then, it was entirely in his interest to weaken the benefits of the [Owl God Tomb] as much as possible.

It wasn’t the right time to let the bandits’ forces suffer too heavily, only to benefit the [Owl God Tomb] for nothing.

Besides, he was very curious about what exactly was happening on the mountain at this time.

Did it have anything to do with the secrets he had been pursuing for the past fifteen years?

As for how many of the Wang Family clansmen in Daling Village would die, that was completely outside his consideration.

Casually drawing out a Tiger Head Saber engraved with [Heyan Killing Ghost Seal] from a Tomb Guardian beside him, he took strides that covered several meters at a time, speeding faster than a galloping horse.

Like a whirlwind, he sliced through the vague shadows ahead and charged up Beimang Mountain.

But behind him, amidst the Tomb Guardians who were now clashing with the undead horde, several cries of shock suddenly erupted:

"Dad (Mom), how did you run out of the Elder Care Pavilion?"

Some of the corpses were not so thoroughly decomposed, allowing the Tomb Guardians to barely recognize them—they were their parents who they, along with their kin, had forcefully sent to the Elder Care Pavilion!

Or rather, they were the empty husks left by the [Owl God Tomb] after consuming their parents.

...

On Beimang Mountain,

Besides the subordinate representing the "Righteous Wealth" position by the accompanying tomb, everyone else who had stayed on the mountain had gathered.

A combination of Daoist Soldiers, Magicians, Tomb Guardians, plus a few dozen bandits endowed with "Integrated Force," gave them the courage to linger in the outer regions of Beimang Mountain at night.

All were seasoned murderers, each one carrying a blood debt, their fierce aura more terrifying than ghosts.

Humans fear ghosts, but ghosts fear evil men even more.

As long as they didn’t provoke the [Owl God Tomb], or "Wangren Town," "No Return Cliff," they could roam unchecked on Beimang Mountain.

But at this moment,

The sticky, horrific stench of rotting corpses was turning everyone’s faces green.

"Ptui, what bad luck!"

They had opened up one of the subsidiary tombs during the day, but they had not anticipated that the experienced Earth Scholar Fan Zhang would capsize so completely.

Firstly, because the ventilation in the underground palace was excessively poor, the airing time exceeded expectations.

And because the tomb’s layout was so unusual compared to others, the bandits had squandered too much time in the disordered underground palace.

This delay continued into the night, and they carelessly allowed the tomb lord, who had survived the past calamity, to escape from the main chamber, which also triggered a riot of animated corpses in the nearby Elder Care Pavilion.

What was even stranger was,

If they didn’t actively attack these animated corpses, the rampaging undead tide would not attack them.

Except for... Wang Yunhu and the group of Tomb Guardians he had brought up the mountain.

When Wang Yuan sneaked up there, he just saw one of the Tomb Guardians being suddenly overwhelmed by a decayed animated corpse that sprang from the ground and was bitten, rapidly turning into a new animated corpse.

"Ah!"

And standing in front of that unremarkable tomb was a shadowy figure with a black Owl Head on its neck, dressed in the official garb of a Prince Mansion subordinate.

Its body was covered in grimy black feathers and dripping with fetid, dark yellow corpse oil, exuding a terrifying stench.

It appeared as though it had been fermenting for hundreds of years in a casket, having just crawled out from the ground.

It was a "Heavenly Facing Householder" who had dedicated his life to a Prince’s tomb and had now turned into a grotesque [Weird]!