What a lucky world!

Chapter 279 Preaching in the Pavilion!

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Zhang Mu saw the dilapidated gate of the former Qingping Martial Village. He could smell the stench of rotting corpses from afar. Zhang Mu circulated his inner energy and sealed his mouth and nose.

As Zhang Mu approached, he saw several corpses lying at the entrance, still wearing the uniforms of Zhenyuan Escort Agency. They must have been the escorts brought by Chief Escort Li Zeyun.

Seven or eight days had passed since Li Zeyun encountered the demon. His body was rotting, his face was no longer recognizable, and maggots were crawling all over it.

Further inside, the corpses in the martial village were even more decomposed, some with bones still visible. Flies swarmed, maggots roamed freely, and rats, each as big as a kitten, gnawed at the corpses, showing no fear of Zhang Mu's arrival.

"Hoo—" Even with his mouth and nose sealed by his internal energy, Zhang Mu still felt a sense of oppression in his heart as he stood there, and he let out a long breath.

To be fair, Qingping Martial Village was not weak. Although it had fewer people, it was still considered a mid-to-high level among the many martial villages in Taiping County. Now, it had become a dead village, and no one even dared to come and collect the corpses.

A sudden sense of fear flashed through Zhang Mu's heart. If he were to encounter an invincible enemy in the future, would his Qianyuan Martial Village also end up in the same state?
However, Zhang Mu quickly suppressed this emotion.

Being sentimental is useless.

In chaotic times, people are as insignificant as weeds; only by becoming stronger can one protect more people.

With the Heavenly Secrets Scroll in hand, the Hidden Abyss Martial Village will surely be able to establish itself in this chaotic world!
The present state of Qingping Martial Village cannot be the future state of Qianyuan Martial Village!
Suddenly, Zhang Mu's eyes narrowed.

wrong!

Having experienced massacres and annihilation of entire clans and villages several times, why am I suddenly so sensitive to the sight of Qingping Martial Village today?
Weird!
Just as Zhang Mu was calming himself down, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest and sensed something was wrong. He immediately took a step to the side, and then a sharp arrow shot past the spot where Zhang Mu had been standing and stuck in a beam not far away!

Zhang Mu turned around and saw that the rotting corpse that had been lying on the ground had actually stood up, holding a longbow in its hand. At this moment, the corpse drew another sword, re-stringed it with its skeletal hand, and aimed it at Zhang Mu.

At the same time, the other rotting corpses also stood up one by one. The scene was somewhat similar to a zombie apocalypse, which seemed very eerie in the silent Wuzhai.

……

"brush!"

The sword's cry was like a song.

Zhang Mu dodged the incoming arrows and beheaded a rotting corpse that lunged at him with a single sword strike.

But the headless, rotting corpse staggered to its feet again, maggots still writhing on its body, and continued to attack Zhang Mu with its weapon in hand.

Zhang Mu frowned, used his movement technique to quickly avoid the approaching corpses, and retreated all the way to the outside of the martial village.

With his combat strength, dealing with these rotting corpses was not a problem, but the key issue was that these rotting corpses felt no pain and attacked endlessly.

At this moment, the corpses of the镖头 (bodyguards) outside the gate of the martial village also stood up, shouting and rushing towards Zhang Mu, but they made no sound. Only maggots could be seen wriggling in their mouths.

Zhang Mu's gaze turned slightly cold. He sheathed his sword, patted the weapon box, and a silver dragon appeared in an instant!

Holding the Bright Silver Dragon Spear, Zhang Mu unleashed the Frosty Dragon Killing Spring move, causing the surrounding temperature to drop rapidly. Wherever Zhang Mu's spear passed, the corpses of the镖头 (镖头 is a type of镖师, meaning镖师, or镖师) were quickly frozen into ice blocks. Zhang Mu then swept his spear horizontally, instantly shattering the rotting corpses and ice blocks one by one.

Standing before the ice block of rotting corpses, Zhang Mu looked at the martial village again. The rotting corpses inside were still rushing towards him. Zhang Mu hesitated for a moment, and seeing that the martial village was still full of countless corpses, he finally turned around and quickly left the martial village.

……

After leaving the martial stronghold, Zhang Mu discovered that the horde of rotting corpses within had not pursued him, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Without a doubt, this attack by the rotting corpses must have been the work of that great demon.

Zhang Mu, wielding the Yinhu Sword, was naturally unafraid of the rotting corpses. However, the corpses attacked relentlessly, and it seemed that only by severing their limbs or using the Frost Dragon Killing Spring technique could they be subdued.

But the key issue is that there are many rotting corpses in the martial arts stronghold, at least a thousand, how could he possibly kill them all!
Even if I manage to kill them all, my internal energy will probably be depleted by then. If that great demon launches another sneak attack at that time, I will be in danger.

However, judging from the current situation, this great demon's control over corpses must be subject to some restrictions, which is why it cannot chase after them, giving me some space to think of a countermeasure.

Following the mountain path downhill, Zhang Mu soon arrived at the pavilion halfway up the mountain.

With nothing else to do, Zhang Mu walked to the pavilion and sat down, pondering his next move. Zhang Mu's first thought was to set it on fire!

Water and fire are merciless. Since the Cold Dragon Killing Spring can freeze corpses, setting fire to the entire Wu Village and burning it can be considered a way to deliver the souls of the dead, a meritorious deed indeed.

However, Qingping Martial Village is located in the mountains and has its own fire-prevention facilities to isolate it from the forests, so it is necessary to use strong fire oil.

If he wanted to burn Qingping Martial Village along with its thousands of corpses, he would need a lot of oil for the fire, which would be too much for him to handle by himself.

However, even if they ask others for help, they cannot avoid the great demon manipulating the corpses to attack again.

If it were in Qianyuan Mountain, it wouldn't be a big problem; he could mobilize his troops. But now he's in Lanling County, a thousand miles away from Qianyuan Mountain.

It seems that using fire to attack the enemy is not feasible in the short term.

It's tricky!
This was the first time Zhang Mu had encountered such a situation.

Then Zhang Mu thought of another problem.

How exactly did that great demon manage to do it?
The fact that the demon could manipulate corpses to attack indicates that it possessed the ability to control them.

Based on previous encounters, there were no mechanisms like threads on the corpse. In Zhang Mu's understanding, there was only one way—

Seize the house!

It's not the kind of possession of a person's body as described in Taoist legends, but rather the separation of a part of one's soul to manipulate the corpse, essentially like a wireless remote control.

This reminded Zhang Mu of the legends about "shamans" from his previous life.

In simple terms, the principle of shamanism is that a person uses a spirit as a horse to invite a spirit to possess their body, thus relinquishing control of the body and becoming completely under the control of the spirit.

Is the principle behind this great demon's magic similar?

Considering his ability to steal people's luck, perhaps there is some kind of mysterious connection that allows him to control these corpses.

Zhang Mu nodded to himself, feeling that his guess was probably correct.

Therefore, attacking the soul is the best solution!
Zhang Mu pursed his lips and sighed softly.

He has no means to attack the soul!
The sword's cry in the "Treading Song Sword Technique" can induce illusions in the enemy, which is a soul attack, but it cannot directly kill the soul.

As for the Frost Dragon Killing Spring, to achieve the level of freezing the soul, it's more cost-effective to simply freeze the corpse.

So, it's more practical to think about how to burn down Qingping Martial Village...

As he hesitated, Zhang Mu's gaze swept casually across the area and suddenly stopped on one of the pillars in the pavilion.

He stood up, walked to the pillar, and stared at a sword mark on it.

The sword mark was clearly made recently, and it was still covered with a layer of sword intent.

Zhang Mu reached out and touched the sword mark, and the next moment his finger was cut open by the sword energy on the mark, and blood flowed out.

Zhang Mu was startled. The next moment, he calmed his mind and carefully sensed the sword intent on the sword mark. Then, a set of sword moves seemed to appear in his mind.

At the same time, the Heavenly Secret Scroll also provided a hint—

"With a single sword strike, illusions vanish and corpses are slain; in the blink of an eye, a fleeting glimpse of the soul is captured."

"Sensing the peerless martial art—the Tai Xu Po Wang Sword Technique (incomplete move), have you comprehended it?"

"Cost: One hundred one-coin coins!"

(End of this chapter)