Chirp... Chirp...
A flock of birds screamed and flew chaotically in the air, cutting half of the crop field. The man straightened up and looked up at the flock of startled birds flying by. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked sideways at the muddy road on the ridge of the field in front of him. There was a small woods extending there. His child was standing alone on the edge, looking into the woods.
"Ah Si, what are you looking at there? Come over here and help Dad get the hoe!"
The man shouted, but the little man over there remained motionless, staring blankly into the woods.
'This child...'
With a murmur, the farmer picked up his hoe and walked onto the ridge of the field. He washed his feet in the ditch beside him, fanned himself with his straw hat, and walked across the muddy path in the field.
"Ah Si, Dad is calling you."
However, when I got closer, I found that my son was standing there in a daze, his whole body trembling slightly, as if he heard an adult's voice. The child slowly turned his face with trembling lips. His face was pale and bloodless, and a layer of fine cold sweat oozing from his forehead. He stuttered and spoke weakly between his lips.
“… Dad… Dad…”
"What's wrong with you? Are you suffering from heat stroke?"
The man who came over quickly put down his hoe and took a few quick steps. The woods on one side rustled and shook, and a strong wind blew. His eyes blurred, and right under his eyelids, a black shadow rushed out of the woods, grabbed the child's shoulder and dragged him into the woods.
“Ah… Ah Si!!”
The man was stunned for a moment, then reacted and shouted loudly, "Someone come, there is a big monster that eats people—"
After shouting twice, he ran back, picked up the hoe on the ground, and rushed into the woods with it raised in his hand. Some farmers working in the nearby fields walked to the entrance of the village. When they heard the shouting, they picked up their sickles and hoes and shouted loudly. The old, young, women and children in the village also picked up their carrying poles and hatchets.
"Shout louder and scare the beast away!"
"Let's do it together, otherwise we will be in trouble in the future!"
"Ergou's family, hurry up, it's time to kill the big bug."
"Whoever has a gong, bring it along."
“… I’ll see you later and beat you to death!”
There were dozens of households in the village, nearly a hundred men, women, young and old, all of whom rushed out in groups of three or five with weapons in their hands, and the noise spread across the fields with great momentum.
The villagers rushed into the woods over there. The man who had been eager to save the child before was now holding a hoe, but he was looking ahead motionlessly.
Someone shouted at him, "What are you doing? Where's the tiger?"
"Yes, where is the tiger roar?" "Everyone look around, how dare they come to our village..."
"Oh my, what is this? Hey... it's blood."
The shouting and yelling gradually died down. Someone jumped up and walked around the blood-stained leaves at his feet. Just as he was about to continue speaking, the villagers around him followed the direction the man was looking in silence. They turned their heads and saw the body of an adult hanging on a branch of a crooked dead tree. His neck was covered in blood, and blood was flowing down his chest, staining his belt red, and dripping from his toes to the ground bit by bit.
At some point.
The shaking corpse fell from the branch with a bang and hit the ground. The wind blew, and a bloody smell filled the forest. On the shaking branch, a skinny old man crouched, holding a child in his hands. Between his gray hair and beard, bloody fangs were exposed and rubbed gently against the child's face.
The child was so frightened that his face turned pale. He kept his mouth shut tightly, not daring to make the slightest sound.
Whoosh…
In the woods, the villagers gathered together and dared not make a sound. The man who came running behind with the gong was immediately held down by his companions, who covered his mouth and nose and carefully pointed to the dead tree over there.
"Don't talk, there are zombies."
Just as the words came out, the skinny figure on the branch suddenly opened his mouth, and the villagers who were huddled together subconsciously moved their feet back. A "crackling" sound came from the dry branches under their feet. The figure who had originally opened his mouth suddenly shook off his beard and hair, and looked over here with white eyes.
Everyone was so frightened that they became paralyzed and couldn't even muster the strength to move.
At this moment, a cool breeze blew in from outside, brushing over their heads. A small sword slashed across the sky, sank into the darkness of the forest, and pierced the zombie on the branch.
"Corpse demon, how dare you do evil here—"
The moment a loud shout was heard, the corpse demon deflected the flying sword, and a figure in a red robe and leather armor stepped over the shoulder of a person below, turned his hand and slapped him with a palm. The branches broke with a crackling sound. The man used the recoil force to grab the child over there with his other hand, and immediately pulled himself to the side to create some distance. He kicked his feet again, and the nearby trees were shaken.
He floated to the front of the crowd, threw the child to the villagers behind him, and turned his thick beard and eyebrows to the side: "You guys leave quickly, if I don't come out, move out of here immediately!"
"Thank you, Master. We will leave immediately. You must come out..."
A group of villagers looked panicked and fled outside with their children. The bearded man was none other than Yan Chixia who had rushed over. They had originally thought it was a corpse demon resurrected by the evil spirit of the earth, but after a brief look, they realized it was not a simple corpse demon at all. Without magic attached to the sword, they could not break the opponent's body at all. The palm thunder just now had left him unscathed.
"Whatever, just fight first—"
Shaking off his worries, Yan Chixia bit his fingertips, drew yin and yang on his palm, and wrote the word "imperial" in the air. At that moment, the zombie who had lost its prey smelled the blood and suddenly became manic, raising its arms and head and roaring!
"roar-"
The bloody wind was shaking the fields and the woods were shaking wildly, as it swooped down towards the large man carrying the box below.
The forest swayed, and the sound gradually became quieter as it traveled into the distance. The one-armed knight walking on the muddy road still heard the roar. He turned his head to look at the village located halfway up the mountain in the distance, and ran wildly with a sword in hand.
Before they got close, a fierce fight had already exploded in the forest. A big tree, dragging a dense tree cage, broke and fell. Yan Chixia stepped over the crossbar and jumped into the air. The golden light between his hands turned into golden balls that kept flying out and exploding along the ground.
"The magic sword slays the devil!"
He landed on the ground, pinched the spell in front of his chest and raised it to the top of his head. The sword box behind him opened, and small swords flew out with golden light. Yan Chixia took his feet to the left and right, retracted the spell and pointed it forward, shouting: "Go!"
As the corpse monster on the opposite side released the remaining power of its palm thunder, his keen hearing detected a dense and continuous stream of sounds.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
Countless golden lights flashed and drew straight lines. When the first small sword was pressed against his skinny chest, a flying sword with golden light followed one after another. Sparks flew like iron being hammered. His skinny body shook wildly, and two deep scars were left on it.
"Friend Yan, Zuo is here to help you—"
A majestic roar rang out in the woods, and among the swaying branches, a figure stepped diagonally over the tree trunk and leaped into the air. The long sword in his hand reflected the swaying light spots, and he pulled out the sword with a swish.
when!
The blade cut into the skinny bones, splashing sparks, but it also knocked Zuo Zhengyang backwards. He turned and moved in mid-air to release the force before falling to the ground.
His brows furrowed on his darkened face.
"Why can't I cut it..."
"It's human blood!"
Yan Chixia maintained his magic power and pushed the zombie back against a tree. He tilted his head and shouted, "He sucked human blood and his Taoism increased greatly. Chop off his head. Don't let him suck human blood again, otherwise he will jump out of the five elements and it will be difficult to stop his Taoism!"
Over there, Zuo Zhengyang gripped the hilt of his knife tightly, enduring the discomfort coming from his body, and summoned his magic power to ignite flames on the blade. However, the corpse that Yan Chixia had pushed against the tree with his magic sword suddenly sank downwards, sank into the ground, and disappeared without a trace in an instant.
"Earth Escape..."
The two of them retracted their magic power and walked over quickly. The ground under the tree was normal. After kicking away the thick fallen leaves, there was no sign of burial.
Zuo Zhengyang covered his chest and took a look, remembering that there was someone like him in the past who could use it.
"This earth escape technique is much more advanced than that of Taoist Sun."
On the side, Yan Chixia picked up some mud and rubbed it between his fingertips a few times, "This is a spell from the Six Dings and Six Jias... This corpse demon actually knows Taoism, this is trouble."
He tilted his head, looked at Zuo Zhengyang, and said, "We must kill this monster as soon as possible..." The words suddenly changed: "Old Zuo, what's wrong with you?"
The latter staggered with his long sword and fell to the ground with a bang. The sunlight passed through the woods and fell on Zuo Zhengyang's face, which was covered with bruises and his lips were black and purple. It was obvious that he was poisoned too badly.
Corpse poison...
Yan Chixia hurriedly pressed several acupuncture points on his body, tore off his clothes and armor, took out a handful of glutinous rice from the cloth bag at his waist and patted his back, rubbing it vigorously. Black smoke floated out from between his fingers, and bursts of "chi chi" sounds were heard.
After a while, he let go of his hand and saw a yin-yang pattern made of glutinous rice on Zuo Zhengyang's back. Yan Chixia took cinnabar powder and traced along the pattern to temporarily contain the corpse poison and prevent it from spreading.
“Hold on!”
Having said that, Yan Chixia did not dare to delay for a moment. He carried Zuo Zhengyang on his back, held a long sword in one hand and a sword case in the other, and ran out of the forest, flying towards Chang'an.
…
The setting sun dyed the world red.
On the long cliff at the foot of the mountain, a figure crawled out from the ground, hid in the shade of a tree, sat under it, and stared blankly with his white eyes at the huge city in the distance immersed in the glow of the sunset.
'Uh uh... uh... the Yang family is right there... right there... they are full of vigor and vitality and rule the world...'
The skinny upper body, chest, ribs, shoulders, and abdomen were all riddled with holes from the sword tip. The corner of the old man's gray mouth was also broken by the palm thunder, and his right gum and a fang were exposed to the air, looking hideous and terrifying.
Fortunately, my body no longer feels pain, and I can't feel the heart-wrenching pain. I just look at the prosperous and huge city, and in my vague memory, I think of the prosperous homeland in the past, and I feel indignant and heartbroken.
"I will also let you experience the pain of losing... the emperor, the pain of having your country in chaos..."
But when he thought of this broken body, which could not even defeat two cultivators, he leaned against the tree helplessly. What's more, there was Lu Liangsheng in the city, who was once the leader among the young talents of the Southern Dynasty. At a young age, his cultivation was not much worse than when he was alive.
… Well, maybe a little higher.
'That evil star fell into the world, and it couldn't even stir up the wind and waves... Hehe... It's useless. If the world is not in chaos, there is no hope for the restoration of our Chen Dynasty...'
As I was looking at the outline of the city over there expressionlessly, I suddenly felt something. I raised my head and heard the gentle sound of the wind in my ears, and it seemed like something was floating towards me in the sky.
"Such a familiar aura... so fierce... the demon star... is the demon star still there?"
The moment he was thinking about it, a ray of red air in the sky seemed to have found its target. It swooped down like lightning and sank into the center of the brow of the old man who was looking up on the cliff.
The corpse qi and the red qi merged and spread throughout the old man's body from his brows. Two small red dots condensed in the middle of his originally white eyes, like human pupils.
The chaotic red air mixed with corpse qi spread all over his body. Chen Fu walked out of the shade of the trees and was exposed to the sunlight, without any burning sensation.
He opened his palm, waved his long nails twice, then clenched it into a fist. Chen Fu looked at the city over there, and a chuckle came out from between his ragged lips, which gradually turned into a rampant laugh.
“Hehehe… Hehehe… Whaaahahahaha—”
The gray hair fluttered in the wind and the old man raised his arms towards Chang'an in the distance.
"I am not afraid anymore... Fight into Chang'an, the Sui Dynasty is leaderless. Clear the obstacles for my disciple, and the restoration of the Southern Chen Dynasty is just around the corner—"
at the same time.
Just before Chang'an closed the city gates, Yan Chixia carried Zuo Zhengyang into the city gates.