Chapter 141: Absolute Survival

With no other option, he extended his sword to block. However, swords are not suited for head-on collisions with heavy weapons, and the dark, formidable weapon in his opponent's hand clearly looked out of the ordinary. Therefore, he used a skillful maneuver, employing the "pick" technique from the Thirteen Forms of Basic Swordsmanship, to deflect the weapon aside.

Even so, a tremendous force still surged through his arm. It appeared the opponent's strength was not much different from his own, and coupled with the weapon's weight advantage, it put him at a slight disadvantage.

He rolled on the ground, narrowly dodging the zombie's subsequent attacks. As he looked at the large craters dug into the ground, he finally got a clear look at the weapon in his opponent's hand.

It was a hoe!

His gaze flickered. Most of the zombies he had encountered so far carried weapons like wooden clubs or carrying poles. Others had hoes, sickles, or even machetes. Only a select few were armed with proper weapons such as knives, swords, or spears.

Why do they look so much like refugees?

Zu An suddenly had a realization. Initially, when he saw their tattered clothes, he assumed they had deteriorated from prolonged exposure to the underground environment. Now, however, he suspected their clothing had always been so ragged.

The scene before him bore a strong resemblance to the surges of refugees he had seen in historical dramas.

Whether they were refugees or ordinary citizens, they were all zombies now. Zu An dared not let his attention waver, focusing all his energy to activate Sunflower Phantom and evade the attacks coming from all directions.

His initial intention was to escape the valley. The earlier golden-furred rats had shown that path was a viable escape route, and by common deduction, these zombies should only be active within the valley.

Unfortunately, the golden-furred rats had attracted too many zombies to the valley entrance during their escape, creating a dense, impassable crowd. He tried to push through several times but was blocked each time, finding himself in increasingly perilous situations.

With no other choice, he was forced to flee deeper into the canyon.

He was well aware that if this area was so dangerous, the canyon's depths might be even more perilous. However, with attacks coming from all directions, those wielding hoes were roughly his equal in strength, while the ones armed with swords and knives were clearly a cut above him.

Had it been a one-on-one fight, he wouldn't have been afraid, thanks to Sunflower Phantom. But with so many enemies, he felt like he was on a battlefield, where merely defending himself consumed all his energy, let alone launching an attack.

In fact, it was largely due to his peculiar movement technique that he could nimbly dodge within the crowd. Otherwise, even a student from the academy who was stronger than him would likely have been overwhelmed by this zombie tide.

"What are you looking at!""What are you looking at!""Why aren't you looking?!"

Zu An's frustrated shouts echoed through the valley. Several times he tried to use the phrase "What are you looking at?" to distract the zombies, but they merely stared back as if he were an idiot, completely unfazed.

It appeared the "What are you looking at" tactic was only effective on sentient, speaking beings. As these zombies were undead creatures, it obviously had no effect whatsoever.

He didn't know how long he had been running, but Zu An was finally cornered. Sunflower Phantom, after all, had its limits. With zombies packed shoulder to shoulder in the valley, no matter how agile his movement technique, there was nowhere left to dodge.

With his back pressed against the mountain wall, he watched the zombies form a semicircle around him. Zu An nervously swallowed, wondering if this was where he would meet his end today.

Damn it, his seal hadn't even been broken yet; dying now wouldn't even make him a complete man.

At this moment, he finally understood the obsession of the eunuchs in the palace: no matter the danger, they would retrieve their "treasure" before death to be buried with it.

What the hell am I even thinking?!

A shiver ran down Zu An's spine. At that moment, the horde of zombies eagerly surged forward. He immediately summoned "Great Wind," and a phantom of a strange bird materialized before him, soaring to a tree perched on the cliff. His own body then teleported there, and he clung tightly to the tree trunk, suspended in mid-air.

The zombies, perplexed by his sudden disappearance, were momentarily confused. Then, a zombie pointed in his direction, emitting a harsh, grating sound from its mouth.

All the zombies looked up. Many of those closer to the cliff began to climb, moving with an astonishing agility, like monkeys.

Zu An was horrified. Weren't these zombies supposed to be slow-moving? How could they be so skilled at climbing?

He looked up and around. With his increasing elemental power, he could now summon "Great Wind" twice. However, everywhere his gaze landed, there were only zombies. Even if he moved to another location, the outcome would be similar, so it was better to save his last "Great Wind" summoning for a life-or-death situation.

In that brief moment, some zombies had already climbed halfway up the cliff and were now scrambling along the tree trunk towards him.

Zu An snorted, then used his long sword to thrust and parry, knocking the zombies from their precarious positions in mid-air with just a few swift movements.

Seeing this, he was greatly invigorated. He now held the advantage of terrain. The large tree was sturdy enough, its roots untouched by the golden-furred rats, and its location high on the cliff meant the zombies couldn't easily destroy it.

If only a few could climb up at a time, their "sea of zombies" tactic wouldn't work. Could he not, then, hold out indefinitely?

Zu An couldn't help but sigh. It was a shame this wasn't a game; killing these monsters yielded no gold and no dropped equipment.

The zombies continued their attempts, launching several charges, but Zu An, utilizing the terrain advantage, knocked them down one by one. The zombie horde then ceased trying to scale the cliff face.

Zu An breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "Have the zombies given up? If I can just hold out until dawn tomorrow, I can reunite with Ji Xiaoxi. I risked my life to save her this time; even if she doesn't offer herself to me, at the very least her favorability rating will be maxed out, right?"

Suddenly, a commotion arose from the zombie horde at the bottom of the valley. The zombies automatically parted, revealing dozens of new zombies arriving at the valley floor.

"Huh, these zombies are much cleaner," Zu An mused. After witnessing so many repulsive, festering undead, this group, appearing relatively clean and neat, almost seemed presentable to him.

However, the smile quickly vanished from his face as he watched the new zombies retrieve longbows from their backs, each one drawing an arrow and aiming directly at him.

Zu An: "What the...!"

He was practically cursing to himself. Zombies even had archers?!

This wasn't a bunch of refugees at all; they were clearly an army!

Just then, the archers unleashed their volley. Hundreds of sharp arrows whistled through the air, and Zu An, startled, immediately ducked behind the large tree.

Zu An flinched, then painfully shuffled a short distance forward. He turned back to see several broken arrowheads protruding from the tree trunk, each bearing a trace of fresh red blood.

Damn it!

Only then did Zu An realize his oversight. This was a cultivation world, and these were no ordinary zombies. How could arrows shot by them be stopped by a mere tree? He blamed the influence of those "heroic" TV shows from his previous life, where people could block bullets by hiding behind car doors. Wasn't that setting a terrible example?

He was suffering from his lack of practical experience!

He wondered if tetanus existed in this world. Moreover, these zombies were all decaying flesh and pus; who knew how many viruses and bacteria they carried? Their arrows were certainly not clean.

The thought sent a shiver down Zu An's spine, but a new wave of whistling arrows left him no time to dwell on it. He quickly turned around, no longer daring to rely solely on the tree to block the projectiles. Instead, he tried his best to deflect the incoming arrows with his sword.

Because he had just been struck by several arrows in the back and was not lightly wounded, his strength and agility were now considerably boosted beyond their normal levels. Yet, even so, facing wave after wave of arrows, he felt he couldn't sustain it much longer.

While he could deflect the arrows aimed directly at him, he couldn't intercept all those striking the tree. His wrists were already growing numb from the constant impact of the arrows. He could predict that with the force these arrows carried, it wouldn't be long before the tree was severed, and a fall would still mean certain death.

In that moment of distraction, he failed to block an arrow, which struck him directly in the shoulder. The immense impact nearly caused him to plummet from his precarious position.

Fortunately, Zu An gripped a tree branch tightly, managing to stabilize himself.

Am I going to die here today?

Just then, a desolate yet majestic horn call suddenly echoed from a distance, as if possessing an inexplicable magic that set one's blood boiling.

But Zu An couldn't bring himself to be happy. Having watched countless TV shows in his previous life, he was all too familiar with that sound: the blare of a military horn in ancient warfare.

He had suspected it before, and now it was finally confirmed: these zombies were indeed an army!

It was over. He couldn't even handle the current group, let alone if they had reinforcements.

Huh, wait, why aren't they shooting arrows anymore?

Zu An looked down, astonished to see that the zombies who had been targeting him had all simultaneously turned their heads to face the other side of the valley.

Although the zombies were incapable of speech and barely had any flesh left on their faces, Zu An could still sense their tension and solemnity from their "expressions."

What's going on?

Zu An was momentarily stunned. The zombies' abnormal behavior below greatly surprised him, but he dared not waste time. He immediately seized the opportunity to take out wound medicine and apply it to his injuries.

He didn't use the "Believe in Brother Chun" item he had drawn from the keyboard system, as that was reserved for life-saving situations, and using it for such injuries would be a waste. He even regretted having used a bottle previously for what were merely injuries from the Whip of Lamentation.

The wound medicine he was currently using had been given to him by Ji Xiaoxi earlier. More precisely, it was gifts from classmates who were trying to curry favor with her, which she had then passed on to him.

"Those people wouldn't be so sinister as to deliberately send poisoned medicine to harm me, would they?" Zu An's mind quickly spiraled. If someone had guessed that Ji Xiaoxi would pass it on to him, they might well have tampered with it.

However, he shook his head, dismissing the thought. Firstly, he didn't believe those people were that cunning, and secondly, he trusted Ji Xiaoxi. After all, she had likely examined the medicine when it passed through her hands, and with her medical expertise, she would surely be able to detect any issues.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

A series of synchronized footsteps approached from a distance. Zu An's expression shifted. These perfectly coordinated steps seemed to make one's heart pound along with them, creating an inexplicably oppressive sensation.