Chapter One Hundred: Crisis

The battle proceeded far more smoothly than expected. Chen Yuanshan’s fire bucket formation proved extraordinarily powerful. Beneath the city walls, only a dozen or so mutated zombies still hopped about, but they showed no sign of causing any real trouble.

Judging by Chen Yuanshan’s expression, victory was within grasp. A faint smile appeared on his face—this time, not a single comrade had been lost. Although a considerable amount of resources had been consumed, having wiped out such a large horde of zombies meant no immediate threats would arise anytime soon.

Moreover, Chen Yuanshan had gained far more than anticipated from this battle. First, the fire bucket formation, with its immense power, could be widely adopted. More importantly, he had acquired a rare talent for command: Yang Zhenyuan. Yang’s leadership of the crossbow team had played a crucial role in the fight. Even those who had initially doubted him now looked upon him with utmost respect.

The bodies of the fallen zombies had piled thickly beneath the walls, emitting a foul stench. But Chen Yuanshan’s fire had largely cleared them away. Though not entirely spotless, it was enough to prevent any outbreak of plague.

“Well done, everyone!” Chen Yuanshan began to encourage his troops. The few zombies remaining outside could easily be wiped out if he led the charge, provided Yue Qi could hold the mutated zombies at bay. Otherwise, facing a dozen or so mutated zombies alone would be foolish.

“Not at all, it’s all thanks to the captain’s command,” said a burly man with a beard, clutching a wooden bucket he hadn’t yet discarded.

“Exactly! If it weren’t for the captain devising this fire bucket formation, we wouldn’t have achieved such a great victory. Right, everyone?” added another middle-aged man, his eyes gleaming.

“Yes, yes!” The group’s confidence soared after the victory. Yue Qi also relished this feeling—seeing the zombies attacking their home repel without any casualties was exhilarating beyond words.

“Report, captain! Dozens more zombies have been spotted within five miles!” Li Mengda, still performing his duties, grimaced as the smile faded from his face.

“Old Li, what’s there to fear? We’ve taken down hundreds and thousands before. A mere few dozen won’t scare us. When they come, I’ll toss another fire bucket and blow them all to bits,” said a comrade close to Li Mengda, trying to bolster morale.

“Hey, let’s not be complacent. As the ancients said, we must despise the enemy strategically but respect them tactically. Everyone, stay prepared!” Chen Yuanshan smiled but spoke with caution.

At this moment, the dozen mutated zombies had retreated, leading a small group of regular zombies away. Surprisingly, no zombies remained beneath the city walls. Chen Yuanshan was astonished; previously, some zombies would linger to prevent anyone from venturing out, but this time, they’d all withdrawn.

Yue Qi gazed at the few zombies approaching and was suddenly gripped by a sense of foreboding. As the dozens of zombies drew closer, the feeling intensified.

“How could this be…” Yue Qi pondered, noticing Qin Luo nearby also wore a grave expression, seemingly having sensed something.

“You feel it too?” Yue Qi asked, approaching Qin Luo, who looked solemn.

“I don’t know what it is exactly, but I have a feeling this isn’t a simple matter. It’s like I’ve never encountered such a problem before. There’s an inexplicable pressure weighing on my mind,” Qin Luo replied seriously, setting aside her usual cheerful demeanor.

“Forget it. We’ll meet force with force. I’ll go warn the others,” Yue Qi said, striding swiftly to Chen Yuanshan’s side. “Brother Chen, those zombies over there are strange. You’d better have everyone take cover—they could be dangerous!”

Chen Yuanshan frowned. In earlier times, such words would have been deemed disruptive to morale and punished severely.

“Come on, young man, don’t tell me you’re scared of those zombies?” Not everyone knew Yue Qi’s true strength; many only saw a young man who had mostly run around during the fight, apparently doing little.

“Brother Chen, I’m just giving you a warning. If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do,” Yue Qi said, ignoring the doubter and heading toward Qin Luo.

Chen Yuanshan hesitated, but a man who had just spoken up couldn’t tolerate being ignored and sneered, “Kid, you’re not even grown up. Why don’t you go drink milk from your mother?”

But as soon as he said this, he realized something was wrong. Many around him were staring oddly, especially Yang Zhenwu, who looked at him as if he were already dead.

Before the man could react further, a shadow appeared beside him with lightning speed—faster than any of the so-called mutated zombies.

“Looking for death!” The figure was Yue Qi. In a flash, he appeared before the man and delivered two sharp slaps across his face. The crowd was stunned.

“Brother Yue, please show mercy!” Chen Yuanshan shouted in alarm, suddenly recalling why he had let such a wild card into their ranks. A cold sweat broke out.

“Brother Chen, you should control your subordinates,” Yue Qi said coldly. He rarely struck anyone for mere insults, but when someone insulted his mother, even sparing the man a broken limb was leniency.

“Alright, Brother Yue, calm down!” Chen Yuanshan sighed, regretting ever allowing this troublemaker in. But recalling Yue Qi’s earlier warning and his unfathomable power, he dared not hesitate and addressed the defenders on the walls: “Prepare for battle! Be ready to face any new zombies!”

Hearing this, Yue Qi frowned but felt relieved, knowing he wouldn’t have to stay here long.

As for the man who had been slapped, he wished he could disappear. Hearing Chen Yuanshan’s words and no intention to vindicate him, his heart turned cold, and he left the wall in a huff.

The zombies drew nearer. Yue Qi stood apart from Qin Luo, watching everything intently. The pressure grew stronger. From a distance, these zombies ran nearly as fast as the mutated ones, but Yue Qi believed that a mere few dozen mutated zombies alone would not trouble him.

The zombies closed to within a hundred or two meters, well within attack range from the walls.

“Crossbowmen! Fire at will!” Yang Zhenwu, though trusting Yue Qi’s instincts, had to obey Chen Yuanshan’s orders and reluctantly gave the command.

But before the crossbowmen could release their arrows, the lead zombie suddenly conjured a massive fireball. The power rivaled even Yue Qi’s own spells.

“This… this is a cultivator turned zombie,” Yue Qi was stunned. Cultivator zombies were entirely different from regular or mutated zombies—they were stronger, with much tougher bodies, and, most dangerously, their spells were instantaneous.

“How is this possible? Zombies casting spells?!” Chen Yuanshan was shocked beyond belief. If zombies could wield magic, could he still protect this city?

“Right, and Yue Qi!” Chen Yuanshan looked toward Yue Qi, hoping that since he had sensed something earlier, he might have a solution.

Chen Yuanshan clung to this hope, his eyes pleading. Yue Qi seemed to sense this but still frowned deeply. Facing more than twenty of these cultivator zombies was beyond his ability.

Before anyone could dwell on this, the lead zombie unleashed its spell.

A familiar technique—a fire spell: Flame Dance! A second-tier fire spell!

Its power might not match the compressed spiritual force Yue Qi wielded, but being instant cast, and with over twenty zombies—four or five of them at the foundational cultivation level—this was far beyond what Yue Qi could handle alone.

“Get down!” Yue Qi roared and threw himself to the ground first. Many others didn’t react in time. Those hit by the spell immediately burst into flames.

“Get down! Watch out!” Chen Yuanshan shouted desperately. Until now, countless zombies had attacked without so much as a scratch, but a single spell like this had already claimed over a dozen lives.

“What should we do?” Qin Luo looked at Yue Qi calmly. She trusted that even if these zombies breached the city, Yue Qi would lead them all to safety.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to use formations,” Yue Qi murmured. He trusted the formations taught by the old master. Whether cultivator zombies or themselves, their defenses were relatively weak. Whoever fell victim to the other’s spell first would likely be defeated.

“Formations? How can we set them up? The zombies are already outside, and we can’t plant formation nodes here!” Qin Luo frowned.

“Senior Sister, I heard your spiritual power has reached the level of object manipulation,” Yue Qi said with a raised brow. This was the first time he addressed Qin Luo as Senior Sister, clearly preparing to entrust her with something important.

[End of chapter]