Chapter 140: Valley of Purgatory

The largest golden-furred rat king in the group was clearly agitated. It directly pounced on a nearby zombie, and the immense impact knocked the zombie to the ground. The golden-furred monster rat it was gripping in its hand naturally slipped from its grasp.

The golden-furred rat king immediately began to gnaw. The sound of bones being crunched sent sharp pains through the ears of the two people in the tree. This creature was truly fierce; the zombie visibly lost several fingers. The zombie struggled repeatedly to get up, but unfortunately, it was pinned down by the golden-furred rat king and couldn't succeed.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" The golden-furred rat king shrieked angrily at the zombie. It was unclear if it was seeking justice for its companions or merely showing off its power.

Its response came in the form of a large wooden club! Another zombie approached, swinging a wooden club. It struck the golden-furred rat king so hard that it flew several circles in the air before finally landing on the ground.

"Squeak!" The golden-furred rat king was clearly enraged. It arched its back, and the golden fur on the back of its head stood on end.

"My goodness," Zu'an muttered, clicking his tongue in amazement after a glance. This rat king was clearly much stronger than its companions. The quills on the back of its head were now over a meter long, each gleaming with a golden luster, like javelins.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Several sharp quills shot out. The zombie, somewhat slow in its movements, couldn't dodge them. It was directly struck by several quills and, carried by the immense force, was pinned to the mountain wall.

"Squeak, squeak!" The golden-furred rat king was clearly pleased; the revenge for the club strike had finally been exacted.

Ji Xiaoxi couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "If those huge quills hit us, we'd probably be severely injured, if not dead!"

Zu'an nodded. Judging by its individual strength, this golden-furred rat king was likely at least a high-tier third-rank creature, and fourth-rank wasn't impossible. He wasn't very familiar with the classification of dangerous creatures in this world. If he were to fight it one-on-one, without using his special abilities, he probably wouldn't be able to defeat it.

"What... what is that!" Ji Xiaoxi gasped, pointing in one direction, her voice trembling slightly.

Zu'an looked in the direction she was pointing. He saw the zombie that had just been pinned to the mountain wall move. It lowered its head to look at its chest, and its half-rotted eyeballs nearly fell out, half-hanging from their sockets. It was unclear if this indicated shock or something else. Then it reached out and pulled the quills from its chest one by one. There was no blood splatter, only some mysterious fluid, perhaps bodily fluid or pus, flowing out.

Zu'an's face twitched. Fortunately, he had already eaten; otherwise, he would have lost his appetite completely after seeing this scene. As for Ji Xiaoxi, she had already turned her face away.

The zombie pulled out all the quills, then brandished the club in its hand and charged towards the golden-furred rat king.

"Squeak!" The golden-furred rat king's fur bristled all over. It wasn't preparing to attack; it was terrified. Its ultimate move had been used, yet the creature was completely unharmed, so what was the point of fighting? So, it took off running. If it had previously felt a shred of responsibility as a king, to protect and rescue its subjects, the current situation made it realize that simply saving its own life was a good outcome.

Watching the golden-furred rat king vividly demonstrate what it meant to "run away like a rat with its head in its hands," Zu'an couldn't help but frown. These zombies' defense was practically invincible. Even after suffering such an attack, they were completely unaffected—no, not "unaffected people," but "unaffected zombies." So how could they be killed?

"Xiaoxi," Zu'an asked the girl beside him, "have records of this secret realm ever mentioned these zombies before?"

Ji Xiaoxi shook her head. "I've never heard of zombies in the Yaoguang Secret Realm. Not only is there no mention in the academy's records, but my father never brought it up either."

A thought sparked in Zu'an's mind. He suddenly remembered that the secret realm had opened early this time, and Jiang Luofu had also mentioned that it was behaving unusually. Could it be that the secret realm was acting up because he was entering it? "Damn, this is totally the kind of treatment a protagonist gets!"

Despite his sarcastic thoughts, Zu'an didn't forget the most pressing question. "Is there light-element magic or something in this world? How can we kill these things?"

"Light-element?" Ji Xiaoxi frowned, her pretty brows furrowed. "Legends do speak of cultivators who awakened such elements, but they are extremely rare. There don't seem to be any in Brightmoon City, at least. As for ways to deal with zombies, there are some records: apparently, cutting off and destroying their heads should work. Also, there are rumors that fire-element cultivators deal extra damage to them."

"Fire-element?" Zu'an looked troubled. Clearly, neither of them possessed this ability. He wondered if ordinary fire would work. However, this valley was so dark and cold that starting a large fire probably wouldn't be easy.

He reviewed all the skills he knew and found none that could be used against these zombies. Even his proud "Evil-Ward Dispel Sword Manual," which was excellent for dealing with flesh-and-blood creatures—each move striking at vital points—would have its power greatly reduced against these highly defensive zombies. After all, even if you stabbed their heads, if you didn't completely destroy them, it still wouldn't have much effect on the zombies.

The golden-furred monster rats ultimately only managed to escape about one-third of their number. The majority were caught and gnawed on by the zombies. After all, there were zombies everywhere underground, and these golden-furred monster rats couldn't fly, so they suffered heavy losses. The fact that one-third escaped was also thanks to the fact that not many zombies had awakened at first. However, as their flesh and blood spread throughout the valley, more and more patches of ground began to stir, and zombies, still bearing rotting flesh, crawled out from underground one by one.

"Do you have any scent-blocking medicine? Sprinkle it around quickly, or it'll be too late," Zu'an said in a deep voice. Initially, the ground below was swarming with golden-furred monster rats. Now it was teeming with even more formidable zombies. The two of them had no chance to escape. Their only hope now was to avoid being discovered.

"Yes, I do." Ji Xiaoxi hurriedly took out a medicine bottle and sprinkled its contents around them. Zu'an finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"When will these zombies finally retreat?" Looking at the decaying corpses wandering below, Zu'an's mood grew heavier. It had been daytime when they first entered, but the valley's *yin* energy was so strong that little sunlight penetrated. Judging by the sky outside, it was probably almost dark. Would these zombies roam around all night? He suddenly grew curious about how this secret realm was formed. It had day and night, and sunlight during the day. He wondered if the moon would appear once night fell.

At that moment, the zombies below were engaged in a gruesome feast. The smell of flesh and blood was clearly a delicacy to them, though not so pleasant for the living. Zu'an could smell the increasingly thick scent of blood in the air, and several times he felt nauseous, but he forced himself to endure it.

Ji Xiaoxi, however, was not so fortunate. As a girl, she was naturally afraid of such things. Moreover, she had just eaten a lot, and the combination of the bloody smell and the gruesome sight of zombies gnawing on the golden-furred monster rats finally overwhelmed her, causing her to retch and vomit. It had to be said, even the cutest little fairy's vomit wasn't pink and strawberry-flavored.

"Oh no!" Zu'an's heart skipped a beat. There was no time to worry about that now. Sure enough, the feeding zombies all turned their heads. Their empty eye sockets stared at their hiding place. Even though many lacked eyeballs, Zu'an was still certain they could see them. The zombies that hadn't caught golden-furred monster rats earlier began to converge on the large tree. Zu'an's expression changed slightly. This tree had just been gnawed extensively by the rats; it probably wouldn't withstand many more assaults from these zombies before collapsing. A shiver ran down his spine as he recalled the gruesome fate of the golden-furred monster rats that had fallen into the zombie horde.

He quickly asked the girl beside him, "What about your poison? You shouldn't have any moral qualms about using it on zombies now, right?"

"My poison only works on living creatures. These undead beings are clearly not afraid of poison," Ji Xiaoxi said, her face pale. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault." If she hadn't been so gluttonous just now, she wouldn't have been unable to control herself and attracted these monsters.

"There's no point talking about that now," Zu'an said quickly. "Later, I'll go down and lure them all away. Make sure you don't make a sound."

Ji Xiaoxi gasped, "No, I'll go with you!"

Zu'an shook his head. "My movement technique is quite unique, and these zombies aren't very fast. I do have a chance. But if I take you, we'll both die. Besides, if you stay here, you might be able to alert someone to rescue me after the zombies leave."

"Brother Ah Zu..." Ji Xiaoxi's eyes immediately reddened. She understood that he was speaking the truth and that her going down would only complicate things for him. But knowing it rationally was one thing; emotionally, it was another. If she hadn't dragged him down today, he wouldn't be in such a dangerous situation.

Noticing her expression, Zu'an grew anxious. "You absolutely must not act impulsively and do anything foolish. If you do, my risk will be for nothing."

"Okay, but Brother Ah Zu, you have to promise me you'll stay alive!" Ji Xiaoxi said, tears welling up in her eyes as if they might spill over at any moment.

"What, if I survive, will you marry me?" Zu'an teased, while simultaneously observing the distribution of zombies below.

Ji Xiaoxi's face flushed. "You're annoying, you already have a wife..."

"Haha, my wife doesn't mind me finding other women. I'm off!" Zu'an chuckled. He had already spotted a gap and swiftly darted out.

The zombies were clearly attracted to him; a large portion turned towards him. However, another portion looked up at the tree canopy where Ji Xiaoxi was hidden. Seeing this, Zu'an immediately stopped, clapped his hands, and shouted, while flailing his arms to attract their attention. "Hey, bony big shots, look over here! If you dare, come and chase me! If you catch me, I'll let you... heh heh heh!"

It was unclear whether they understood his words or if the commotion he made was simply too loud. All the zombies abruptly turned to face his direction and simultaneously lunged at him. Zu'an dared not hold back in the slightest. He immediately activated "Sunflower Illusion" and dodged through the horde of zombies, luring them further away. However, there were simply too many zombies on the ground. At one point, he took a step and had just landed when a dark silhouette came whistling down towards his head. It was precisely when his old strength was depleted and new strength had not yet emerged, leaving him no time to dodge again.