The Terror of the Heavens Begins with Gu

Chapter 247 Escaping by Using Fire and Zhou Le'an's Loyalty
Upon seeing that dark, smudged face, Li Zhen recognized it as Zhou Le'an.

He never expected Zhou Le'an to help him in such a drastic way at this time.

Without hesitation, Li Zhen picked up the Five Elements Compass left on the ground, slung it over his shoulder, and let the Red-Eyed Bat break open the door and rush inside.

After a moment's hesitation, the vampire and the banshee followed Li Zhen into the fire.

If the vampire were at its peak, it might not obey Li Zhen's order.

After its corpse energy was shattered by the flying zombie, greatly reducing its ferocity, it was no longer able to resist Li Zhen's will.
With a determined look, the demonic fetus dragged "Uncle Dong's" corpse into the fire.

The temperature inside was too high. As soon as Li Zhen entered, he felt as if his whole body was being roasted, and he felt a burning sensation.

Even without looking, he knew his hair should be completely curled by the heat.

"Here, follow me!"

Zhou Le'an waved to Li Zhen from the side where the fire was less intense.

After Li Zhen ran over, he saw that there was an underground passage leading to the surface.

After Zhou Le'an entered the passage, he grabbed the red-eyed bat and followed it into the passage.

The passageway was very narrow, allowing him to walk with his back bent.

The vampires and banshees that followed also entered the passage.

Since the vampire couldn't bend over, Li Zhen reached out and grabbed the vampire's collar, dragging it forward.

The clothes on the vampire were almost on fire, and smoke was coming out from many places. Li Zhen's hand, which was gripping the vampire, also felt a burning pain.

But he didn't care and just moved forward quickly.

The smoke outside, carrying heat, began to pour into the passage.

Zhou Le'an, who was in front, couldn't help but cough a few times.

After a few breaths, he said to Li Zhen, "Jump from here, be careful."

After saying that, he jumped down first.

A "whoosh" sound came from below.

There was water underneath!

Li Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, pulled the vampire zombie down, and a cool sensation rose from his feet, instantly making him feel refreshed.

The water below wasn't deep, seemingly only up to his knees, and beneath his feet were hard stones, like an underground sewer.

The female demon and the demon fetus also jumped down one after another.

In the darkness, Zhou Le'an said, "Move this plank up there to block the way."

Li Zhen groped around under himself a few times and found a damp wooden board.

One side of the wooden board was wrapped in cloth.

He picked up the plank and pushed it upwards.

The hole above wasn't big; the wooden plank was enough to completely cover it.

Just then, a faint light appeared in the darkness.

Li Zhen squinted as he looked over.

Zhou Le'an, holding a tinderbox, stood two or three meters to his left, looking at him with a terrified expression.

His younger siblings hid behind him, watching Li Zhen and the vampire in fear.

The vampire's black robe had been torn, exposing its entire upper body, making it look exceptionally terrifying.

Putting aside Zhou Le'an and his two children, even an adult would be terrified if they saw this.

Moreover, Li Zhen was carrying a red-eyed bat, and behind him were the demonic fetus and Uncle Dong after his zombie transformation.

In this pitch-black environment, their ability to remain calm has already impressed Detective Li.

Zhou Le'an stammered, "It's not covered properly, smoke will seep in."

Li Zhen looked up and saw that the hole was a cave carved out of the wet stone wall, with a crooked wooden plank squeezed into the hole, leaving many gaps around it.

He adjusted the wooden board and then used the hanging pieces of cloth to fill all the gaps.

Zhou Le'an whispered, "This is an underground river, and the well is over there. Only my older brother and I know this path. My older brother told me..."

At this point, his expression became somewhat melancholy: "He told me that if someone came looking for trouble while he was away, we could hide inside and no one would be able to find us."

Li Zhen washed his face with the cold groundwater and asked Zhou Le'an, "Why did you help me?"

“You helped me too.” Zhou Le’an scratched his curly hair. “If you hadn’t thrown me into the house in the first place, I would have been the one who died first.”

As he spoke, a look of fear appeared on his face: "That thing... the one that can fly, you saw it too, it really exists! I saw it bite people, just one suck and it drains them dry, then it carries them away. That's how Wang Shu was eaten."

“I told them, but they didn’t believe me. They said I was talking nonsense, that I was possessed, and no one believed me…”

Suddenly, a loud "bang" interrupted Zhou Le'an's words.

Zhou Le'an suddenly turned his head and looked at the wet stone wall behind him. The fear that had just disappeared returned to his face.

There was no gap there, just a solid stone wall formed by the impact of water. How could there be a sound coming from there?
His younger brother and sister had already huddled in his arms in fear.

Li Zhen naturally knew that it was probably that flying zombie that was unwilling to give up and had burrowed underground to search for his traces.

That thing can fly and burrow underground; it's not difficult for it to go underground.

However, judging from the current situation, that thing is also unable to pass directly through the huge rock.

Besides sensing the breath of living things, that thing also tracks living things by sensing their temperature.

The environment here not only isolated the aura but also lowered the temperature of Li Zhen and the others to some extent, which effectively suppressed the thing's ability to sense things.

Li Zhen shushed Zhou Le'an and the others, then silently walked to the stone wall, placed one hand on it, and listened to the vibrations emanating from it.

The tremor didn't last long and quickly disappeared.

Not long after, a loud noise suddenly came from above their heads.

The noise came from a very short distance, almost directly above their heads, startling Zhou Le'an's sister into letting out a soft gasp.

Li Zhen acted quickly, reaching out to cover Zhou Le'an's sister's mouth as soon as the sound rang out.

The noise overhead suddenly disappeared.

The flying zombie, like a wild beast, was silently observing their movements.

Even without being able to see the other party, Li Zhen could imagine what the flying zombie looked like at that moment.

The underground river was so quiet that only the sound of flowing water could be heard from afar.

After a dozen or so breaths, the vibration sounded again and then gradually faded away.

"It's gone." Li Zhen breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew his hand.

Only after hearing Li Zhen's words did Zhou Le'an and the other two dare to breathe heavily.

Zhou Le'an asked with lingering fear, "What kind of monster was that? Was it a zombie?"

“It’s a zombie.” Exhausted, Li Zhen wiped the talisman clean with his clothes, and then wiped the water off the talisman arrow.

There's only one of these left. If it gets wasted here, it would be a huge loss.

After Li Zhen finished his work, Zhou Le'an asked, "The rumors say that zombies are invulnerable to swords and spears and can suck human blood? I know that zombies are afraid of fire."

Li Zhen said solemnly, "This zombie is many times more powerful than the zombies in the rumors. Not only is it impervious to swords and spears, but it can also fly and burrow underground. If an ordinary person encounters it, as long as it opens its mouth and sucks, all the life essence in their body will be sucked out."

Zhou Le'an hugged his younger brother and sister tightly: "Then...then with this thing around, isn't everyone in the county in danger?"

“If we don’t completely obliterate it, not only this county, but countless people in the surrounding counties will die at its hands,” Li Zhen said. Zhou Le’an swallowed hard, then hesitantly asked Li Zhen, “You…you’re a mage? Did you come here to capture that zombie?”

"It is."

"You really haven't seen my older brother?"

"Did your older brother say anything to you before he went missing?"

“My older brother told me to wait for him at home, saying he would be home overnight.”

"Didn't I tell you where to go?"

"No."

When did they go missing?

"Two nights ago."

"Did anything unusual happen that day?"

"Does the fact that...the casino owner, Mr. Wang, killed someone count as an incident?"

"Not counting."

"Then...then...does the story of Master Jiang outside the city arranging a new bride for his foolish son count?"

"Is it that Master Jiang who lost four or five daughters-in-law?"

"It's him. Many people say that there are ghosts in Master Jiang's house, and every woman who marries into it dies."

Li Zhen fell into deep thought.

The Jiang family got married only two days ago, and the flying zombie is already that powerful?

If we can't get rid of that zombie soon, it will definitely become more and more terrifying.

After a while, he said to Zhou Le'an, "That zombie came to Fukang County before the Jiang family got married. It is afraid of light and does not like to be active during the day. Therefore, it hides in its den during the day and only comes out to hunt for food at night. This county is its hunting ground."

"For so long, it has been secretly devouring countless people, but it has been doing it so discreetly that most people have not yet noticed the large-scale disappearances of people in the county."

"Under these circumstances, if you were to encounter that zombie at night, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Zhou Le'an lowered his head in silence.

After a long while, he wiped away his tears and stubbornly said, "My older brother must not be dead, he must not have been... eaten, he will definitely come back."

His younger brother and sister, who were being held in his arms, reached out and wiped away his tears.

Li Zhen nodded: "Your older brother may not be dead after all. When it gets light, tell me your older brother's birth time, and I can try to help you find him."

The earlier statement that Zhou Le'an's older brother might be dead was just a precautionary measure to prepare Zhou Le'an for what would happen later.

If a flying zombie disappears at night in its foraging area, it has the highest probability of being eaten, and the probability of surviving is extremely low.

Zhou Le'an's eyes suddenly lit up: "That's right, you're a mage, you must know all sorts of amazing spells!"

"I heard from my older brother that a man called the Corpse-Driving King of Xiangxi appeared... He was incredibly powerful; he knew all kinds of magic! With a wave of his hand, a ball of fire appeared and blew up the straw man!"

A thought flashed through Li Zhen's mind: "Is the Xiangxi Corpse-Transporting King still in Fukang County?"

Zhou Le'an shook his head: "I don't know about that."

Li Zhen didn't say anything.

According to the plot, the Xiangxi Corpse-Transporting King should still be alive, but it's unclear whether he's in Fukang County at this point in time.

If they were alive, under the pressure of the flying zombies, the only ones who could influence the situation in Fukang County would be him, the Taoist master and his disciples from Maoshan, and the Xiangxi Corpse-Driving King who could control corpses.

Master Ji and his goal should be aligned for the time being, while the Xiangxi Corpse-Driving King is an unreliable factor...

At this moment, Zhou Le'an suddenly said, "Won't the fire I started kill a lot of people?"

Li Zhen comforted her, saying, "The houses next to yours are all made of brick, so they don't burn quickly, unlike yours."

"Even if it catches fire, no one is resting at this time, so there won't be any casualties."

"Moreover, by lighting a fire and driving away the zombie, you saved their lives."

More importantly, he didn't mention that he had sent the Mahjong Ghost out to deal with the people next to him.

After retreating, Li Zhen did not summon the Mahjong Ghost back, in order to leave the Mahjong Ghost outside to sense the situation outside.

If anything unexpected happens, the Mahjong Ghost will give him a hint through its senses.

Zhou Le'an breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I can't afford to compensate for all the things that were burned. Uncle Wang over there helped me out and gave us food..."

"I will help you compensate."

"Do you...do you have money?"

“Some of the losses you caused can be attributed to me.”

"Wow, what a loyal friend! I, Zhou Le'an, won't save you for nothing!"

Being young, Zhou Le'an's worries came and went quickly. Hearing Li Zhen's words, he laughed like a little adult.

Li Zhen shook his head slightly.

If it weren't for Zhou Le'an's help, he would definitely still be fighting the flying zombies up there.

This can be considered a reward for his kindness.

If he hadn't thrown Zhou Le'an into the house and made sure Zhou Le'an was safe, Zhou Le'an might not have taken such a big risk to help him.

After realizing that the flying zombie had not returned, Li Zhen sent the demon fetus upstairs to check on the situation.

After learning that the fire above was burning brighter and brighter, Li Zhen asked Zhou Le'an, "Besides the original route, is there any other way out here?"

Zhou Le'an gestured to one side with the tinderbox in his hand: "This way leads to the outside of the city, but it's a bit far. If we go this way, we need to hurry, otherwise we definitely won't have enough tinderboxes. This is a tinderbox that my older brother made himself; it burns very quickly."

Li Zhen glanced over there and said, "Let's go this way and get out first."

"I'll lead the way." Zhou Le'an led his younger brother and sister forward.

Li Zhen followed behind with the vampire zombies.

"Is that...that one behind you a zombie too?"

"Yes."

"Don't bite? Don't drink human blood?"

"I only let it drink the blood of bad people."

"This is good, this is good! No wonder I find you so pleasing to the eye. I like dealing with a chivalrous person like you who is loyal, repays kindness and avenges wrongs, and specializes in killing bad guys."

Li Zhen smiled.

The skin on my face felt burning painful after being pulled.

After walking for about twenty minutes in the darkness, Zhou Le'an reminded them, "We're almost there. This is a deep pool leading downwards. We need to go around it. Be careful not to fall in."

Li Zhen followed Zhou Le'an past the deep pool it had mentioned, then grabbed onto the vines beside him and climbed up for a while before finally seeing the night sky again.

Exhaling a breath of stale air, Li Zhen looked towards the direction of Fukang County.

The fire that Zhou Le'an started has not yet gone out.

The blazing flames, like a giant torch, were extremely eye-catching against the night sky.

Looking at Zhou Le'an over there, he said with worry, "Why hasn't it been destroyed yet? How can we afford to compensate for this?"

(End of this chapter)