Chapter Eighty-Two: Escape

Yue Qi kept retreating and, in his backward movement, failed to notice what lay behind him. Then, suddenly, he felt his back strike something solid. Looking over his shoulder, he saw, to his astonishment, a thick wall.

He had not paid attention to the surroundings just now. He had only come out by the rear door of the inn. The place was indeed somewhat secluded, but he had not thought much of it. After all, even if this town had a few side streets, they all led everywhere and connected to one another. He had never imagined that behind him would be a dead end.

Yue Qi’s heart jolted. Yet the few zombies in front seized the opening and surged forward. They had obviously seen his predicament as well. From this height of one or two dozen meters, even if Yue Qi transformed into a mutated zombie, he could not possibly leap up, not even with the Wind-Riding Spell enhancing him.

While retreating and fighting just now, Yue Qi’s spirit power had recovered a little. He was not too worried now about exhausting his magical energy; after all, he still had plenty of spirit stones in his storage bracelet.

“Going on like this won’t do…” Cornered, Yue Qi felt a headache coming on. But this was a matter of life and death, and there was no time for such thoughts.

With his back to the wall, Yue Qi gripped the sword Bai Lian had given him and kept sweeping out bands of sword radiance. The seven zombies could not get near him. After all, they were in a narrow alley. But if Yue Qi used spells, he still could not hit them, because at any moment they could slip away from behind…

A sudden howl rang out. One of the zombies abruptly lunged at Yue Qi. As usual, Yue Qi swept out a band of sword light, only to see that zombie nimbly spring upward.

The sword aura struck empty air, and the zombie above then suddenly swooped down at Yue Qi’s head. Clearly, this zombie no longer intended to toy with him. It had decided to kill him in one blow.

“Good!” Yue Qi advanced instead of retreating, sword light flashing in his hand, blocking the six zombies in front while also preventing the one above from crashing straight down onto him.

But to Yue Qi’s surprise, the zombie in midair actually endured several strikes of sword aura, then came roaring down toward the top of his head.

Yue Qi was shocked. He could see that those sword rays had left shallow wounds on the zombie, blood trickling from them, yet it still pressed forward relentlessly. Yue Qi knew that if he did not dodge, he was dead for sure. But if he did dodge, the zombies in front would most likely swarm him, and then he would be in real danger.

Between danger and death, Yue Qi made a very wise choice and chose the former. He suddenly stepped back, then unleashed several Water-Commanding Spells. Yet his target was not the sky, but the bluestone pavement beneath him.

Whether because of the damp weather or some other reason, the bluestone tiles were already somewhat slick. With Yue Qi’s spell striking them, the ground itself seemed to turn into ice, smooth beyond measure.

The zombie overhead failed to hit Yue Qi and instead landed on the ground. But as soon as it stepped onto the frozen path, it slipped, its whole body toppling over. Because of this, the three zombies behind it also crashed to the ground.

“I’m brilliant!” Yue Qi smiled, quite pleased with his plan. But even so, three zombies had already rushed up to him.

There was no time to defend. Yue Qi crossed the sword before his chest. The lead zombie clawed out, and Yue Qi only felt a heavy pressure in his chest. Then his vision swam, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

If Yue Qi were a mage, then these zombies would be seven warriors. What happened when a mage was caught in close combat by warriors? The answer was obvious.

Yue Qi only felt a tremendous force slam into him, and his entire back smashed against the wall. With no time to think further, he hurriedly braced himself on the sword. If he fell now and those zombies caught up, things would truly be dire.

Without even looking, Yue Qi hurled several Thunder-Commanding Spells forward, hoping to stop the zombies from closing in. But how could such hurried spells possibly hit them? The zombies easily evaded them and kept rushing straight at him.

“Damn it!” Yue Qi steeled himself and actually charged forward against the sword edge. If he truly were driven to death in this corner, then it would not end with just vomiting a mouthful of blood…

The moment the zombies saw Yue Qi charge, they became even more excited. Clearly, the blood he had spat out had further stimulated them, driving them into still greater frenzy.

Three mutated zombies were still manageable for Yue Qi, though he would likely suffer some injuries. So long as there was even a sliver of hope, he would not give up. Someone had once said that man is not born to be defeated. Yue Qi believed that too. Everything depended on human effort. If even he gave up, then there would truly be no hope left.

Suppressing the churning blood in his body, Yue Qi raised his sword to meet one of the zombies. The sharpness of this magical weapon was far beyond the blade he had once used. If it struck a zombie’s body, and with sword aura added to it, it could inflict a very severe wound, perhaps even sever an arm or a leg.

That was precisely Yue Qi’s intention. Since he could not kill these zombies, he would at least cripple their fighting ability.

As the saying goes, the soft fear the hard, and the hard fear those with nothing to lose. Yue Qi was exactly the last kind of person. Now wounded and driven to the brink, a ruthless determination rose in him: if I must perish, then I’ll drag you down with me.

He slashed at the thigh of the zombie running at the front. The zombie sidestepped, and Yue Qi surged forward a few more steps. But very soon, the second zombie pressed in on him.

Fearing a sneak attack from the sides, Yue Qi held the sword across his chest and smashed several lightning orbs straight into the zombie charging at him.

At such close range, he struck it easily. But the zombie, aggrieved by the pain, became even fiercer. Ignoring the lightning orbs, it actually reached straight for Yue Qi’s heart. It was obviously prepared to gamble everything.

“Not good…” Yue Qi was startled and hastily forced back another zombie, then stepped back two paces, only to find himself surrounded in a ring by these three zombies.

“Smart…” Yue Qi could not help but marvel at the zombies’ intelligence. First they had done everything possible to corner him, and now that he had escaped, they had penned him within a circle. And this was still with the other four zombies not yet fully recovered. Otherwise, if all seven had besieged him, even if he had wings, he would likely never have flown out of this iron fortress…

But since he was being attacked by only three, Yue Qi could only think of breaking through one of them. If all seven zombies fully recovered, he would be finished.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, Yue Qi spotted the zombie he had just wounded with a Thunder-Commanding Spell.

“You!” Yue Qi let out a low roar. Forgetting the other two zombies, he lunged straight toward the injured one.

Taken for a soft target, that zombie was clearly displeased and snarled as it struck at Yue Qi. But how could Yue Qi let it succeed so easily? With a sweep of his sword, the zombie dared not meet it head-on. Yue Qi then twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the attack of the second zombie, and fled through the opening.

But before his body had even fully landed, Yue Qi suddenly felt a tremendous force strike his waist and abdomen.

A mouthful of blood sprayed out. Yue Qi felt as though every bone in his body was about to fall apart, and even the spiritual energy in his dantian could no longer be summoned.

It was the last zombie. Seeing that Yue Qi’s body was unguarded, it had struck down with a single punch.

Seeing Yue Qi fall, the three zombies swarmed him at once. Even the four that had toppled behind were slowly climbing back up, though they still looked somewhat dazed.

Yue Qi rolled away on the ground. If the three zombies pounced on him, the outcome was obvious. He did not want to be buried beneath them like a stack of bodies. While rolling, his sword did not stop either; he lashed it straight at one of the zombies. That zombie was already about to fall and had no time to dodge. It could only watch helplessly as Yue Qi’s sword came down toward its head.

But Yue Qi’s sword only went halfway in before getting stuck. The defense of mutated zombies was truly not to be underestimated. More importantly, the defense at their heads, their vital point, seemed even stronger than elsewhere. No one knew whether that was due to survival of the fittest.

Even so, having its head cleaved did not feel good. Yue Qi vaguely saw a look of pain on its face, then it quickly returned to normal and crashed to the ground.

Yue Qi wanted to run, but he was already beyond his limit. He could not draw on his spiritual power, and the Wind-Riding Spell on his legs was almost gone. If he ran with no other means, he would never outrun these zombies.

“Am I really going to die here today?” Yue Qi thought. Then another surge of force struck him from behind. Fortunately, he had protected his heart meridian; otherwise, he would already have vanished from the world.

Even so, this could not stop his injuries from worsening. He coughed up yet another mouthful of blood. Yue Qi knew that if he could not treat his wounds soon, he truly might have to leave his life here.

“If I am going to die, I’ll take you all with me!” Yue Qi’s eyes hardened. The Binding Dragon Rope suddenly shot out, tying up the two zombies closest to him.

“Brother Qi! Run this way, quick!”

At that very moment, Yue Qi suddenly heard Bai Lian’s voice.

“Am I hearing things?” he wondered, but he still turned toward the street opening. Sure enough, Bai Lian, dressed in green, was shouting from that side.

“This is…” A glimmer of hope ignited in Yue Qi’s heart. He swung his sword with all his strength, keeping the last zombie from closing in. With his spiritual energy gone, he could not even release sword aura anymore.

The Binding Dragon Rope trembled with struggle. Yue Qi lacked the strength to sustain it, and it was about to slip from his control. But that little time was enough. Yue Qi took another strike from a zombie at the risk of injury, then ran hard toward Bai Lian.

“Get down!”

Bai Lian shouted again from not far away. Yue Qi froze. Though he did not know why, he still sprang forward and threw himself to the ground.

Then, behind him, came a thunderous explosion.

Yue Qi recognized it. It was the thing in Xin Zi’s hands.

Feeling the scorching heat behind him, Yue Qi struggled to his feet again and staggered toward Bai Lian.