Volume One, Chapter 47: Survivor or Unfortunate One.

It was only at this moment that everyone realized something was wrong. Both the Black Dragon and Xu Congcong had heard Xue Qi's repeated words in their mind, and cold sweat broke out instantly across all three. If everyone was dead—what did that mean?

It meant that the old woman before them might not be alive either.

Old Lady Mei gazed quietly at them. "Eat, why have you stopped eating? Is it because my cooking isn't good?"

They wanted to eat, but after hearing Xue Qi say that everyone in the village was dead, their appetite vanished completely.

They had roughly counted the village—nearly fifty households. Fifty households dead, that meant at least fifty people, perhaps a hundred. It confirmed their suspicion: when they first entered, not a dog nor a living soul was to be seen.

From the moment they stepped into the village, there had been no living people left.

All three drew sharp breaths. Xu Congcong, fighting nausea, spoke up. "Granny Mei, we need to go outside to meet a friend."

Granny Mei replied, "Alright, hurry back soon. It's cold outside."

Though the season was early autumn, the three felt as if plunged into the depths of winter.

Once outside, they felt as though breaking free from shackles. Putting distance between themselves and the old woman's house, they hurried toward the team leader's location.

Fortunately, he wasn't far. At the sight of him, the three finally felt at ease.

Fang Longcheng asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you all? Chased by wolves?"

Xu Congcong's legs were weak from fright. "There's…there's still one alive—a granny. We just ran out of her house."

Fang Longcheng's gaze froze. "What?! Still alive? Impossible. All the living people here should have been killed by zombies. There shouldn't be anyone left."

Both Black Dragon and Xue Qi nodded, and Fang Longcheng fell silent.

Chong Li spoke, "Is it possible that the old woman is working with the zombies?"

Chong Li and Fang Longcheng had just been looking around the village's perimeter, not entering directly, but slowly noticed something strange—an extraordinary silence.

"It's very possible," Xue Qi said. "That old woman greeted us at the village gate. It was odd. I suspect she might be a corpse keeper."

"You children are so disobedient," Granny Mei's voice drifted from nearby, leaning on her cane. "Running about in this cold weather, after I told you to hurry back. Why aren't you listening?"

They finally understood: Granny Mei, who had seemed so kind, was not as she appeared.

They immediately grew wary. Chong Li drew his iron sword from the case on his back.

"Why?" Granny Mei asked, her voice now changed, cold and sinister. "Why did you come to the village? If you hadn't, maybe fewer people would have died. So disobedient."

Her initial warmth had vanished; her voice now was deep and eerie, nothing human.

Fang Longcheng said quietly, "Prepare for battle."

Granny Mei stood not far away and beckoned with her hand.

"Old man, look what I've brought you—fresh food." Her words sent their hearts plummeting.

Food. Old man.

Crack—crack—crack—

The village, shrouded in darkness, was lit only by pale moonlight. From the woods beneath the moon, the nauseating stench of blood and rot drifted, foul and sickening, bone dust swirling in the mist.

"Damn. The intel was wrong. This isn't what we expected—it's a jumping corpse!" Fang Longcheng narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze on the zombie.

Jumping corpse, Vajra realm—and it retained a measure of its former intelligence.

Fang Longcheng was only in the early stage of the Vajra realm himself; he had no certainty against such a foe.

Old Lady Mei said, "Children, don't blame me. If I don't save the old man, I have no hope of surviving myself."

Usually reserved, Fang Longcheng couldn't hold back. "You're insane! Your old man died, so you want the whole village to follow him to the grave? Lunatic!"

The zombie seemed to understand, and in a fit of rage, lunged at Fang Longcheng. With a single leap, it landed before him.

Its nearly ten-centimeter-long black fangs snapped toward him, and its claw-like fingernails slashed at Fang Longcheng's chest, as if the zombie had taken offense to his disrespect for Mei.

Chong Li reacted instantly, intercepting the attack with his sword. Black Dragon's muscles bulged and swelled, until his clothes tore.

Black Dragon used his body to crash into the zombie—though "crash" was an overstatement. The zombie merely staggered back two steps, its legs planted like stakes, unmoving.

Bang—

The zombie raised its arm and slapped Black Dragon, sending him flying. Fang Longcheng gritted his teeth and stood up. "This zombie is Vajra realm, third stage. Wait for your chance, don't confront it head on!"

Between the Vajra and True Qi realms, ten peak True Qi practitioners might barely wear down an early Vajra stage opponent, and only at the cost of all their lives. If they rushed in, they'd be killed instantly. So Fang Longcheng made his decision: he would take the lead.

Preparing his battle plan, a faint shadow of a Taiji diagram appeared beneath his feet.

The zombie ignored Black Dragon, charging straight at Fang Longcheng.

Man and zombie faced each other. Fang Longcheng's family had passed down Taiji boxing for generations. His cultivation path was through martial arts, and Taiji was his foundation.

Taiji teaches to counter hardness with softness, to fight speed with slowness, and slowness with speed. The zombie was swift but its movements were rigid.

For Fang Longcheng, this was an ideal opponent.

Several attacks from the zombie were easily neutralized by his soft, yielding style.

But the jumping corpse's intelligence was its greatest asset. Realizing Fang Longcheng couldn't be taken easily, it shifted tactics, its sweeping hand suddenly curved, its trajectory abruptly changing.

This caught Fang Longcheng off guard—a heavy blow landed on his chest.

Xu Congcong seized the moment to scatter a handful of medicinal powder. As the powder dispersed, the group had already vanished.

The zombie, now in a frenzy, stared at the blood on the ground and fell into madness.

The survivors supported one another as they escaped. Chong Li said coldly, "We need to find my senior brother, or we'll never make it out alive!"